Ostracod fauna across the Permian-Triassic boundary at Chongyang, Hubei Province, and its implication for the process of the mass extinction

Thirty species of 10 ostracod genera were identified from 440 fossil specimens isolated through the hot acetolysis of the rock samples collected across the Permian-Triassic boundary at Chongyang section. Twenty species of 6 genera are found to occur in the limestone of Changxing Formation, and 11 species of 7 genera above the main faunal mass extinction horizon. The os-tracod assemblages identified at the Chongyang section are obviously different from those previously reported in the contem-poraneous microb...     

Paleo-redox conditions across the Permian-Triassic boundary in shallow carbonate platform of the Nanpanjiang Basin,South China

Ocean anoxia has been widely implicated in the Permian-Triassic extinction.However,the duration and distribution of the ocean anoxia remains controversial.In this study,the detailed redox changes across the Permian-Triassic boundary(PTB)in the shallow platform interior at Great Bank of Guizhou(GBG)has been reconstructed based on the high-resolution microfossil composition and multiple paleo-redox proxies.The shallow platform is characterized by low sulfur(total sulfur(TS)and pyrite sulfur(Spy))concentrations,low Spy/TOC ratios,and low DOP values before the mass extinction,representing oxic conditions well.Following the mass extinction,the shift of multiple geochemical proxies,including high Spy/TOC ratios and DOP values,indicates dysoxic-anoxic conditions in shallow ocean.Furthermore,we reconstruct the transition of the redox conditions of Nanpanjiang Basin:the intense volcanic eruptions,which release huge CO2 and SO2 before the mass extinction,provoke the temperature rising and the collapse of terrestrial ecosystem.As a result,the increased weathering influx causes the carbon isotopic negative excursion and the expansion of the ocean oxygen minimum zone(OMZ).When the OMZ expanded into the photic zone,the episodic H2S release events enhance the pyrite burial at Dajiang section.Thus,intense volcanic eruptions,temperature increase,and oceanic hypoxia together lead to the PTB extinction.Recent studies show high temperature might be the key mechanism of the PTB extinction.In addition,this study confirms that the microbialites were formed in the dysoxicanoxic shallow water.     

Ecological evolution across the Permian/Triassic boundary at the Kangjiaping Section in Cili County,Hunan Province,China

The stratigraphic sequence of calcimicrobialite facies at the Permian-Triassic (P/Tr) boundary has well recorded the biotic and environmental transition across the end-Permian catastrophic events. The biostratigraphy, microfacies, carbon isotopes, and fossil records across the P/Tr boundary have been studied at the Kangjiaping Section in Cili County, Hunan Province. Three biostratigraphic zones, Palaeofusulina-Colaniella Zone, Hindeodus parvus Zone, and Isarcicella staeschei Zone, are identified. The excursion of δ¹³C_carb exhibits a sharp negative shift in the calcimicrobialite at the P/Tr boundary, which is roughly accordant with the abrupt bioclastic decline. In addition, five types of microfacies are recognized, including algal-foraminifer bioclastic limestone, algal-laminated calcimicrobial limestone, oolitic grainstone, vermiculate limestone, and intraclastic wackstone. The results indicate that the changeover of ecosystem from metazoan reef to calcimicrobialite in Cili is a classic case of marine ecological evolution during the Paleozoic-Mesozoic transition. Supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 40830212, 40621002, 40730209) and National Basic Research Program of China (Grant No. 2006CB80640)     

Coupling relationships between brachiopods and Girvanella during the Late Devonian F-F transition in Guilin, South China

The abundance curves derived from area proportions of brachiopods and Girvanella in the thin sections from the Yangdi section, South China, exhibits complex relationships during the Late Devonian Frasnian-Famennian transition. The living activity of brachiopods such as grazing and borrowing did great damage to the growth of Girvanella. However, there was more to just a mere a survival competing relationship between them, Girvanella actually improved marine environments by oxygenating the dysoxic ambient sea-water through photosynthesis in the lower Kellwasser Horizon. Profited from this improvement brachiopods' abundance increased subsequently and suppressed Girvanella again. Nonetheless, without Girvanella's photosynthesis, brachiopods were wiped out by the farther anoxic environments in the upper Kellwasser Horizon. The complex relationships between Girvanella and brachiopods may be a key to unlocking the relationships between geomicrobes and metazoans in the geological overturn periods.     

Pioneer organisms after F-F mass extinction in Dushan region, Guizhou Province, and their significance in establishing new ecosystem

After bio-mass extinction, the ecosystems in most areas were damaged seriously and may become an “ecologically barren area” lacking or even without ecosystems. To know what the pioneer organisms would be and their development, and to trace the es- tablishment process of the ecosystems are of great importance for the study of the biological evolution and recovery in aftermath. As one of the “big five” mass extinctions in the geological history, the Late Devonian Frasnian-Famennian (F-F) e…     

Negative carbon isotopic excursion on the Lower/Middle Cambrian boundary of Kaili Formation,Taijiang County,Guizhou Province,China: Implications for mass extinction and stratigraphic division and correlation

The stratigraphic division and correlation of the Lower/Middle Cambrian boundary is a global problem that has not yet been solved even up to now. That is because there existed two distinctly different biogeographic regions during the Early and Middle Cambrian[1]—— the Indian-Pacific biogeographic region and the Atlantic biogeographic region. In the Atlantic biogeographic region the traditional Lower/Middle Cambrian boundary was marked by the extinction of Olenellids trilobite and the in…     

Correlation between the bedded chert sequence of southwest Japan and δ13C excursion of carbonate sequence, and its significance to the Permian-Triassic mass extinction

Abstract Stratigraphic productivity variations of radiolarians below the Permian-Triassic boundary are examined with Ishiga Diagrams in bedded chert sequences of southwest Japan. The diagrams of two different outcrops, drawn from the thickness variation of chert beds, show common stratigraphic variation, which indicates the diagram is a useful tool for correlation of bedded chert sequence. The common stratigraphic productivity variation is also well correlated to a compiled δ¹³C excursion of shallow carbonate sequences. Bedded chert records a dramatic extinction event in a shallow surface zone of oceans below the Permian-Triassic boundary. The Permian-Triassic mass extinction is divided into three intervals based on the Ishiga Diagrams, the stratigraphic lithological variation of bedded chert sequences, and the δ¹³C curve. The preceding extinction interval in the late Djulfian stage was not as serious an event and the biosphere soon recovered. The event of the main extinction interval commenced in the Dorashamian stage and caused a serious destruction of the biosphere. An event of the aftermath interval during the Early Triassic caused a delay in the recovery from the main extinction interval.     

Coupling relationships between brachiopods and Girvanella during the Late Devonian F-F transition in Guilin, South China

The abundance curves derived from area proportions of brachiopods and Girvanella in the thin sections from the Yangdi section, South China, exhibits complex relationships during the Late Devonian Frasnian-Famennian transition. The living activity of brachiopods such as grazing and borrowing did great damage to the growth of Girvanella. However, there was more to just a mere a survival competing relationship between them, Girvanella actually improved marine environments by oxygenating the dysoxic ambient sea-water through photosynthesis in the lower Kellwasser Horizon. Profited from this improvement brachiopods’ abundance increased subsequently and suppressed Girvanella again. Nonetheless, without Girvanella’s photosynthesis, brachiopods were wiped out by the farther anoxic environments in the upper Kellwasser Horizon. The complex relationships between Girvanella and brachiopods may be a key to unlocking the relationships between geomicrobes and metazoans in the geological overturn periods. Supported by NSFC Innovation Research Group Program (Grant No. 40621002), MOE Innovative Research Team Program (Grant No. IRT0546), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 40472020, 40730209, 40802005 and 40872001) and SINOPEC Project (Grant No. G0800-06-ZS-319)