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Climatic and environmental conditions play a pivotal role in the evolution of the biosphere, serving as the primary natural factors influencing biological evolution and the development of human civilization. The study of the evolution of Earth’s habitability primarily revolves around the reconstruction of climatic and oceanic conditions in geohistorical periods, shedding light on their dynamic changes. This paper collates classic geological indicators and geochemical proxies associated with paleo-climatic and oceanic environmental conditions. The latest “big data” analyses and simulations made possible by the availability of previously unimagined massive datasets reveal several key findings: During the early Paleozoic, atmospheric oxygen levels were low, and widespread oceanic anoxia was prevalent; the Devonian era witnessed a greenhouse climate, followed by the Carboniferous ice age characterized by higher oceanic oxidation levels and alkalinity. The latest Paleozoic deglaciation occurred under high pCO2conditions, extending into much of the Mesozoic and early Cenozoic, marked by multiple hyperthermal and anoxia expansion events, until the resurgence of global glaciation in the middle-late stages of the Cenozoic, ultimately bringing environmental and climatic conditions closer to modern levels. By correlating the aforementioned long-term trends with major geological events, we can delineate the co-evolution of paleoclimate and oceanic environments in tandem with the development of Tethys tectonics as follows. (1) During the Proto-Tethys stage, global paleo-elevations were relatively low, and atmospheric oxygen levels were also relatively modest. Despite the occurrence of significant tectonic movements that led to noticeable transgressive-regressive cycles, their effects on climate and oceanic environments were somewhat limited due to the relatively weak interactions. (2) The emergence of the Paleo-Tethys was a significant event that coincided with the formation of the supercontinent Pangaea. Intensive orogenic movements during this period increased the global land area and elevation. This, in turn, led to enhanced terrestrial weathering, which elevated sea surface productivity and resulted in massive nutrient input into the oceans. Consequently, this process contributed to the rise of oxygen levels in the atmosphere and a decrease in atmospheric pCO2. These changes are considered potential driving mechanisms for late Paleozoic glaciation and oceanic oxygenation. (3) The transition from the Paleo-Tethys to the Neo-Tethys was closely linked to the breakup of Pangaea. During this period, the terrestrial weathering processes were relatively weak due to decreased continental elevations. This resulted in a long-term greenhouse climate and intermittent global oceanic events, which were responses to the high atmospheric pCO2levels during the Mesozoic and early Cenozoic eras. (4) The Neo-Tethys stage ended with the dramatic uplift of the Alps-Himalaya Mountain ranges due to the collision of India and Asia. This uplift had a profound global impact, significantly increasing continental elevations. As a result, weathering and carbon burial processes intensified, leading to a reduction in atmospheric pCO2. Concurrently, this uplift played a crucial role in the establishment of the East Asian monsoon and North Atlantic deep-water circulations, both of which played a part in triggering the late Cenozoic ice age. These models suggest that the teleconnections between land and sea (orogeny-terrestrial weathering-marine carbon burial) span over the whole Phanerozoic and might have played a key role in balancing the Earth surface system. Combined, the tectonic, volcanic, paleo-climatic, as well as paleoenvironmental events recorded in the Tethys oceans and adjunct continents represent valuable natural experiments and lessons for understanding the present and the future of Earth’s habitability.

AbstractMarine macroinvertebrate fossils from two petroleum exploration cores, Apium-1 and Redback-2, are described, and found to contain two separate assemblages. The assemblage from the Apium-1 core was recovered from an ca5-m-thick interval (2756.35–2751.28 m) in the basal Hovea Member (‘inertinitic interval’) of the Kockatea Shale and includes the following forms: ?Spinomarginiferasp., Cimmeriellasp., ?Etherilosiasp., Elivinasp., Cleiothyridinasp., and Paeckelmanelloidea gen. et. sp. indet. (all brachiopods). The age of this assemblage is interpreted as Changhsingian, as constrained by its association with the palynofloral Dulhuntyispora parvitholaZone. The assemblage from the Redback-2 core was recovered from the ‘sapropelic interval’ of the Hovea Member of the Kockatea Shale between 3806 m and 3786 m and comprises the following forms: Lingulidae gen. et sp. indet. (brachiopod), Claraia perthensisDickins & McTavish, Crittendeniacf. australasiatica(Krumbeck), ?Paralledonsp. (bivalves), ?Otocerassp. (ammonoid), Microconchus utahensisZatoń, Taylor & Vinn (microconchid) and Magniestheria mangaliensis(Jones) (spinicaudatan). Among these, the first local appearances of the lingulid species, ?Otocerassp. and M. mangaliensisare associated with the palynofloral Protohaploxypinus microcorpusZone and are interpreted as latest Changhsingian in age. Other occurrences of the Redback-2 fossil assemblage overlap with the palynofloral Kraeuselisporites saeptatusZone and are considered to be of earliest Triassic (Griesbachian) age.G.R. Shi [guang@uow.edu.au] and Sangmin Lee [sangminlee76@gmail.com], School of Earth, Atmospheric and Life Sciences, University of Wollongong, Northfields Ave, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia; Ian Metcalfe [imetcal2@une.edu.au], Earth Sciences, Earth Studies Building C02, School of Environmental and Rural Science, University of New England, Armidale, NSW 2351, Australia; Daoliang Chu [chudl@cug.edu.cn], State Key Laboratory of Biogeology and Environmental Geology, School of Earth Sciences, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430074, PR China; Huiting Wu [ht_wu415@163.com], College of Geoscience and Surveying Engineering, China University of Mining & Technology, Beijing, PR China; Tinglu Yang [yang@geology.hk], Faculty of Geosciences, East China University of Technology, Nanchang 330013, PR China; Yuri D. Zakharov [yurizakh@mail.ru], Far East Geological Institute, Far East Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Vladivostok, 690022 Russia.

Extinction selectivity determines the direction of macroevolution, especially during mass extinction; however, its driving mechanisms remain poorly understood. By investigating the physiological selectivity of marine animals during the Permian–Triassic mass extinction, we found that marine clades with lower O2-carrying capacity hemerythrin proteins and those relying on O2diffusion experienced significantly greater extinction intensity and body-size reduction than those with higher O2-carrying capacity hemoglobin or hemocyanin proteins. Our findings suggest that animals with high O2-carrying capacity obtained the necessary O2even under hypoxia and compensated for the increased energy requirements caused by ocean acidification, which enabled their survival during the Permian–Triassic mass extinction. Thus, high O2-carrying capacity may have been crucial for the transition from the Paleozoic to the Modern Evolutionary Fauna.

The Triassic rocks are widespread in China, and both marine and terrestrial strata are well developed. The Triassic stratigraphic architecture of China is very complex in both spatial variation of the so-called “South Marine and North Continental”, i.e. the southern areas of China occupied mostly by marine facies while the northern China by terrestrial facies during the Triassic Period, and temporal transition of the “Lower Marine and Upper Continental”, i.e. the lower part of the Triassic System composed mainly of marine facies and the upper part of terrestrial strata especially in South China. Although the Global Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) of the Permian-Triassic boundary is located in South China, the Triassic of China except for some marine Lower-Middle Triassic depositions shows significantly local characteristics and is hardly correlated with the global chronostratigraphic chart. Consequently, the Triassic of China contains not only the international research hotspots but also difficult points in stratigraphic study. This paper aims to present a brief review of the Triassic in China, including chronostratigraphy, biostratigraphy, magnetostratigraphy and chemostratigraphy, and summarize an integrated Triassic stratigraphic framework of China. Accordingly, a stratigraphic correlation is proposed for the lithostratigraphic sequences among the three tectono-paleogeographic stratigraphic regions. The comprehensive study indicates that ammonoids are the classic index fossils in Triassic biostratigraphy but conodonts are more advantageous in the study and definition of the Triassic chronostratigraphic boundaries. China still has the potential to optimize the GSSPs of the Induan-Olenekian boundary and Olenekian-Anisian boundary. The correlation of the Permian-Triassic boundary between marine and terrestrial facies might be achieved with the help of the Permian-Triassic “transitional bed” and its related biotic and environmental events in association with the biostratigraphic study of conchostracan, vertebrate and plant fossils. In addition, the carbon isotopes have been proved to be one of the powerful methods in marine Triassic stratigraphic study, whereas the oxygen and strontium isotopes may be additional important bridges to establish the correlation between the marine and terrestrial strata, but as yet lacking of relevant studies in terrestrial strata. Considering the most stratigraphic intervals of the Triassic and the terrestrial Triassic in China are difficult to be correlated to the global chart, the proposed Chinese (regional) Triassic chronostratigraphic chart of marine and terrestrial stages would be of importance to the study of Chinese Triassic stratigraphy and related aspects, but the stages must be conceptually in line with international standards and studied as soon as possible in order to finalize the definition.