The upper Paleocene-lower Eocene Margaret Formation exposed at Stenkul Fiord on southern Ellesmere Island, Nunavut, Canada, represents a nearly continuous terrestrial succession of microfossil-rich clastic sediments and coal. These strata were deposited at a time of extensive tectonic activity associated with Eurekan deformation. The precise chronology of the Eurekan deformation is poorly known. Prior studies at Stenkul Fiord provided a stratigraphic overview and relative age estimates for exposed strata but lack the absolute age control required to investigate the timing of deformation events. Strata at Stenkul Fiord preserve evidence of Arctic forests that may have grown during hyperthermal events that characterized the Paleogene, namely, the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) and Eocene Thermal Maximum 2 (ETM2). A quantitative palynological approach is herein used to define a new higher-resolution biostratigraphic framework for the Margaret Formation strata at Stenkul Fiord. This resulting improved biostratigraphic framework is integrated with new absolute age control of 53.7 ± 0.06 Ma provided by U-Pb ID-TIMS of zircon preserved in an ash bed within the studied succession. Nine pollen zones are defined based on cluster analysis, NMDS ordination, first- and last occurrences of taxa, and angiosperm pollen taxa diversity (H′). The presence of thermophilic pollen taxa at Stenkul Fiord provides evidence of climates related to the globally warm climates during the early Paleogene.

在加拿大努纳武特南部Ellesmere岛南部的Stenkul Fiord露出的上古新世-下始新世玛格丽特地层，几乎是连续的陆相的富含微化石的碎屑沉积物和煤层。这些地层是在与Eurekan变形有关的广泛构造活动时沉积的。Eurekan形变的精确时间顺序知之甚少。Stenkul Fiord先前的研究提供了裸露地层的地层概况和相对年龄估算，但缺乏调查变形事件发生时间所需的绝对年龄控制。Stenkul Fiord的地层保存着北极森林的证据，这些北极森林可能是古近纪特始新世-始新世热最大（PETM）和始新世最大热2（ETM2）的古热时期生长的。本文采用定量古生物学方法为Stenkul Fiord的玛格丽特形成地层定义了一种新的高分辨率生物地层学框架。这种改进的生物地层学框架与新的绝对年龄控制（53.7±0.06 Ma）集成在一起，该年龄控制由研究序列中保存在灰床上的锆石的U-Pb ID-TIMS提供。根据聚类分析，NMDS排序，分类单元的首次和最后出现以及被子植物花粉分类单元的多样性，定义了9个花粉区（H '）。Stenkul Fiord上存在嗜热花粉类群，为古近纪早期与全球温暖气候有关的气候提供了证据。