Search

The largest mass extinction event in the Phanerozoic, known as the end-Permian mass extinction (or EPME, ca. 252 Ma) is coincident with the main eruption phase of Siberian Traps volcanism (ca. 252 to 250 Ma), a large igneous province (LIP). This LIP is estimated to have a volume larger than 2 × 106 km3 and to have released both mantle carbon dioxide (CO2) through extrusions and thermogenic methane (CH4) and carbon dioxide (CO2) through intrusions. The climatic consequences of these greenhouse gases is detrimental to both marine and terrestrial life and may have delayed the recovery of ecosystems after the extinction. Quantitatively, the amount of CO2 released can be estimated using global carbon (C) cycle model or plant and soil-based proxies with varying time resolution. In light of the recent advances in geochemical proxies of ocean anoxia and acidification, we review the latest uranium isotopes (δ238U) and calcium isotope (δ44/40Ca) records and Earth system modeling results to summarize the environmental response to the forcing of increased atmospheric CO2 concentrations. The extent of increase in oceanic anoxic area can be estimated by δ238U, and the δ44/40Ca records may be used to evaluate ocean acidification. This evidence suggests that excessive nutrient load in the ocean (decreased strength of meridional overturning circulation) and ocean acidification in poorly buffered seawater (potentially triggered by the Siberian Traps LIP) worked together to create the most severe biological crisis and delayed recovery of life in the Earth’s history.

The brachiopods from the upper part of the Mobarak Formation at the Kiyasar section in the eastern Alborz Mountains, northern Iran, have been studied in detail. Fifteen species assigned to 13 genera of Strophomenida, Orthotetida, Orthida, Productida, Athyridida and Spiriferida are described. The fauna is determined as early Visean in age based on the presence of Eomarginifera paucispinosa, Grandispirifer mylkensis and Unispirifer sp., and their associated foraminifers Uralodiscus, Paraarchaediscus, Glomodiscus and Endothyra, though taxa ranging through the Tournaisian–Visean are also present. A comparison of its palaeogeographical affinities with other faunas show that the Alborz brachiopod fauna maintains strong Palaeotethyan affinities based on its general similarities with those of Eurasia, North America and Australia. This is suggestive of a prevailing oceanic current that circulated between the northern and southern shelf sea of the Palaeotethys Ocean, with which the warm-water brachiopod taxa were widespread in the Palaeotethyan Realm through the early Visean. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

A Kubergandian (Kungurian) fusuline fauna from the lower part of the Lugu Formation in the Cuozheqiangma area, central Qiangtang Block is described. This fusuline fauna belongs to the Southern Transitional Zone in palaeobiogeography, and is characterised by the presence of the distinctive bi-temperate genus Monodiexodina and many genera common in lower latitude Tethyan areas such as Parafusulina and Pseudodoliolina. The occurrence of Monodiexodina in the fauna confirms that the seamount-type carbonates of the Lugu Formation did not originate from the Palaeotethys Ocean, but rather from a branch of the Neotethys Ocean after the rifting of the Qiangtang Block from the Tethys Himalaya area in the Artinskian. © 2014 Geological Society of China.

The Kungurian Stage is one of the three remaining stages of the Permian that is not yet defined at the base by a Global Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP). The candidate section at the Yuryuzan' River in the Urals yields few conodonts, and contains non-marine sediments near the boundary. The search for a suitable, continuous marine succession is a principal task for the Subcommission on Permian Stratigraphy. The Leonardian, with its type area in the southwest United States, and in objective stratigraphic succession directly beneath the basal Guadalupian Roadian Stage, has priority to serve as a subseries of the Lower Permian. However, distinct provincialism limits the correlation of Leonardian fossil zones with the fusuline-based Tethyan timescale. Conodonts can be correlated in many important regions on opposite sides of Pangea, yet contradictions arise when relating conodont zones with fusuline and ammonoid zones. The different taxonomic philosophies are highly suspected for the cause of the conflicts, but also there are different conodonts from the type Roadian in West Texas. Given that the Pamir and Darvaz in central Asia are difficult to access, further investigations should focus on South China, where abundant fusulines and ammonoids facilitate correlation throughout the Tethyan region, and where conodonts permit correlation with North America.

The Lopingian represents the last epoch of the Palaeozoic Era and is bracketed by two severe biotic mass extinctions associated with dramatic environmental changes. The Lopingian Epoch lasted about 7 millions years and was also bracketed by large volcanic eruptions with the Emeishan volcanics at the base and the Siberian traps at the top. Considerable data have accumulated recently and in this paper we attempt to summarize these findings in a high-resolution Lopingian (Late Permian) timescale that integrates currently available multiple biostratigraphic, isotope chemostratigraphic, geochronologic and magnetostratigraphic data. In South China at least 13 conodont zones, multiple polarity zones and large carbon isotope fluctuations in the Lopingian are recognized and provide the high-resolution calibration that is essential to study this Late Permian interval characterized by Earth's largest biotic extinction. We also present a global correlation chart for the marine Lopingian Series. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Lopingian (Late Permian) conodonts and stratigraphy in northwest and central Iran have become hotly debated issues recently. We here use a sample-population approach, to develop a high-resolution conodont biostratigraphic framework for the Lopingian of Iran based on a re-examination of collections studied by Sweet from the Kuh-e-Ali Bashi area, northwest Iran; samples from the Abadeh C section and a nearby Permian-Triassic boundary section in the Abadeh area; and on published data. Six Wuchiapingian conodont zones, the Clarkina dukouensis, C. asymmetrica, C. leveni, C. guangyuanensis, C. transcaucasica and C. orientalis zones, and eight Changhsingian conodont zones, the Clarkina wangi, C. subcarinata, C. changxingensis, C. bachmanni, C. nodosa, C. yini, C. abadehensis and C. hauschkei zones, are described and figured. Diagnoses of ontogenetic characteristics to population variations of all the zone-naming species are re-described based on a sample-population taxonomic concept. The high-resolution Lopingian conodont zonation in Iran is closely correlative with its counterpart in South China. However, slightly different evolutionary trends in Clarkina populations existed at the very end of the Changhsingian in Iran and South China. This reflects a geographical cline and/or facies dependence and endemism in Clarkina populations rather than stratigraphic incompleteness of sections in either Iran or South China. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

A detailed examination has been made of the Lopingian (Late Permian) ammonoid succession across the Wuchiapingian/Changhsingian boundary of the northern Penglaitan Section in the Laibin area, South China. Five ammonoid interval zones were identified via bed-by-bed collection: the Prototoceras–Konglingites, Etoushanoceras–Jinjiangoceras, Shevyrevites, Penglaites and Pleuronodoceras–Rotodiscoceras zones, in ascending order. The lower three zones, located in the upper part of the Heshan Formation, are all of Wuchiapingian age in terms of the associated conodonts, whereas the Penglaites Zone, which crosses the lithologic boundary between the Heshan and Talung formations, and the uppermost zone in the lower part of the Talung Formation are of Changhsingian age. Ammonoid faunal turnover, from otoceratoid-dominated to Xenodiscoid-dominated faunas, occurred between the Etoushanoceras–Jinjiangoceras and Shevyrevites zones. This horizon is slightly lower than the Wuchiapingian/Changhsingian boundary, which is located between the Shevyrevites Zone and the Penglaites Zone of the northern Penglaitan Section in the Laibin area, South China. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Twenty-three species of silicified brachiopods are described from four samples in the middle and upper parts of the Episkopi Formation from Hydra Island, Greece. These brachiopods are newly recorded from the region and together with previously described brachiopods from the same localities constitute the most diverse Lopingian (Late Permian) brachiopod fauna reported in southern Europe. The brachiopod fauna is Wuchiapingian as indicated by the associated conodonts. The fauna from Hydra exhibits strong palaeobiogeographical links with the faunas from South China. In addition, palaeobiogeographical affinities with the faunas of Thailand and the northern peri-Gondwanan region are also present, which implies a peri-Gondwanan origin for Hydra. Palaeoecologically, the brachiopod assemblage from sample EP in the middle part of the Episkopi Formation is dominated by pedically-attached and cementing genera and reflects moderate energy conditions above storm wave base and an abundance of hard substrates provided by sponges in the biohermal habitat. By contrast, the brachiopod assem- blage in the other three samples from the upper part of the Episkopi Formation is dominated by spinose genera with a free-resting life habit, suggesting soft substrates in a quiet water environment below storm wave base on the outer part of the shelf. New taxa are Petinospiriferina gen. nov., Huste- dia episkopiensis sp. nov., Waterhouseiella hydraensis sp. nov. and Xenosaria tenuis sp. nov.

It has long been recognized that the trend of marine diversity from the Carboniferous to the Triassic includes an approximately 100-myr-long stable biodiversity stage ranging from the Late Carboniferous to the late Middle Permian, the most severe endPermian mass extinction in the Phanerozoic (pre-Lopingian crisis and end-Changhsingian mass extinction together), a bleak stage in the Early Triassic and a rapid recovery stage in the Middle Triassic. However, little attention has been paid to smaller diversity fluctuations among relatively stable stages in the Carboniferous and Permian. Here, we establish a database of the brachiopod fossil records from the Carboniferous to Triassic in South China, including 104 families, 373 genera, 2081 species recorded by 7948 occurrences with relatively detailed biostratigraphic controls. Analyses based on the raw taxonomic richness at familial, generic and specific levels, proportional and total extinction/origination/turnover rates, and rarefaction analyses for 21 different intervals from the Carboniferous to Triassic reveal that the brachiopod diversity trends can be generally divided into two distinctly different stages. Brachiopods were highly diversified during the Carboniferous and Permian Periods, whereas they were dramatically reduced in diversity after the end-Changhsingian mass extinction. Brachiopods were abundant during the

A brachiopod fauna including 19 species of 17 genera from an exotic block in the Indus–Tsangpo suture zone in southern Tibet is described and illustrated. The brachiopod fauna is dominated by Martinia elegans and two new taxa: Jinomarginifera lhazeensis gen. et sp. nov. and Zhejiangospirifer giganteus sp. nov. The fauna is closely comparable with those from the middle and upper parts of the Wargal Formation and the Chhidru Formation in the Salt Range of Pakistan, the Chitichun Limestone in southern Tibet, and the Basleo area of West Timor, and these correlations suggest a Wuchiapingian age. The fauna exhibits substantial links with both peri–Gondwanan and Cathaysian faunas, which may imply that it is a seamount biota originally located in the southern margin of the Neotethys during the Late Permian, and was later (in the early Cenozoic) displaced and became sandwiched into younger marine deposits in the collision process between India and Eurasia.

A small brachiopod fauna is described from the carbonate rocks of the basal Shazipo Formation of the Baoshan Block, western Yunnan, south-west China, including significant new ventral and dorsal internal morphological features of Cryptospirifer omeishanensis Huang. This fauna is regarded as Wordian (Middle Guadalupian, Middle Permian) because of the presence of Cryptospirifer omeishanensis Huang and associated fusulinids (Neoschwagerina craticulifera Zone). Palaeobiogeographically, the brachiopod fauna is of considerable interest because of its admixed nature characterized by typical warm-water Cathaysian elements intermingled with temperate Peri-Gondwanan taxa. This in turn is interpreted to indicate that the Baoshan Block may have been situated in an intermediate palaeogeographical position between Gondwanaland to the south and Cathaysia to the north during the Mid Permian and, as such, it probably furnished an important ‘stepping stone’ for the dispersal of Mid Permian eastern Tethyan marine invertebrate taxa (e.g. Cryptospirifer) to the western Tethys.

This Special Issue of Geological Journal represents the third volume of the proceedings of the 16th International Congress on Carboniferous and Permian Stratigraphy (ICCP2007) which was held between 21 and 24 June 2007 in Nanjing, China. The first volume of the proceedings was a special issue of Palaeoworld (Shen et al., 2007) that was dedicated to the late Professor Yu-gan Jin who made great contributions to the study of Permian stratigraphy, brachiopod palaeontology and end-Permian mass extinctions. The second volume of ICCP2007 (Wang et al., 2009) had the theme ‘Carboniferous and Permian biota, integrative stratigraphy, sedimentology, palaeogeography, and palaeoclimatology’. All papers published in the second volume dealt with Carboniferous and Permian aspects before the Lopingian (Late Permian). This volume mainly focuses on the high-resolution timescale of the Lopingian Series, Lopingian biostratigraphy and global correlation, marine and terrestrial lithofacies and biota in different regions, major biological events immediately before the Lopingian and at the end of the Changhsingian, isotopic geochemistry and Lopingian palaeobiogeography and palaeogeography. The Lopingian Epoch, comprising theWuchiapingian and Changhsingian stages, is bracketed by two of the most severe biotic mass extinctions—the end-Guadalupian or pre-Lopingian crisis and the end-Changhsingian mass extinction (Jin, 1993; Jin et al., 1994; Stanley and Yang, 1994). To understand the extinction pattern, tempo and causes, establishing a high-resolution timescale of the Lopingian Series and realizing precise intercontinental correlation are fundamental. However, Lopingian deposits, in particular, marine deposits, are very limited in their