The use of spore–pollen assemblages to reconstruct vegetation changes in the Permian (Lopingian) Zechstein deposits of northeast England

New boreholes have enabled, for the first time, extensive palynological sampling through the entire Lopingian Zechstein sequence of northeast England. Palynomorph assemblages have been recovered from throughout the sequence from all five of the evaporation-replenishment cycles (EZ1–EZ5). These assemblages are dominated by pollen grains, with rare trilete spores, and even rarer marine forms such as acritarchs and foraminiferal test linings. The assemblage of pollen grains is of low diversity (35 species) and dominated by taeniate and non-taeniate bisaccate pollen. The assemblage varies to only a limited extent both within and between cycles, although some minor variations and trends are documented. Based on the composition of the dispersed spore–pollen assemblages, and previous work on the Zechstein megaflora, the hinterland vegetation is interpreted as being dominated by conifers that inhabited a semi-arid to arid landscape. This flora is shown to have persisted throughout the entire Zechstein sequence, despite previous assertions that it disappeared as conditions became increasingly drier over the course of the latest Permian.