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Updated: Jan 15, 2026

Synthesis and Microdiffraction at Extreme Pressures and Temperatures
Published on: October 7, 2013
Buried, not erased: palynofloras in ultra-high-pressure metamorphic rocks
Rodolfo Carosi1, Chiara Montomoli2, Salvatore Iaccarino2
1Department of Earth Sciences, University of Torino, Via Valperga Caluso 35, 10125, Torino, Italy. rodolfo.carosi@unito.it.
Abstract:
Fossils are rare in metamorphic rocks due to recrystallization and deformation, especially under high-pressure metamorphic conditions. Here, we report the discovery of exceptionally preserved Paleozoic palynofloras in ten graphite-rich samples collected from the Dora-Maira Massif (Western Alps), which underwent blueschist-facies to ultra-high-pressure (UHP) metamorphism (~ 28 kbar, 520 °C). These findings challenge the assumption that fossils cannot survive such conditions, offering a new biostratigraphic tool for reconstructing the geological and tectonic history of metamorphic basement in collisional orogens worldwide.
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