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The Dalongkou section in Xinjiang, Northwest China has preserved a continuous terrestrial Late Permian–Early Triassic sequence with well‐studied information of biota evolution and isotopic excursion. In order to know the corresponding palaeoclimatic and palaeoenvironmental evolution in this critical transition, chemical weathering indexes (chemical index of alteration [CIA], plagioclase index of alteration [PIA], and chemical index of weathering (CIW)) are analysed in high resolution across the Permian–Triassic Boundary. Results show that the declining trend of the CIA, PIA, and CIW was related to the continuous decrease of the chemical weathering in the latest Permian. The climate in the mid‐latitude NE Pangea was becoming increasingly arid in a generally greenhouse warm climate, causing widespread wildfire and turnover of the fauna and biota, coupled with the environmental deterioration expressed by the anomalies of carbon and mercury. Climatic conditions oscillated in the Early Triassic with possible intermittent rainfall and was likely affected by the strengthening of the megamonsoon. In the latest Permian–earliest Triassic, whether chemical weathering strengthened or weakened, as well as whether the climate was increasingly arid or humid, varied in the different places. The possible reasons inducing this need to be further explored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As one of the pioneer palaeontologists, Professor Zhuoting Liao has contributed his lifetime to promoting palaeontological and stratigraphical research in China for 60 years, and he passed away in the field excursion in South China on June 20, 2020. In his palaeontological career, Liao has worked on Late Palaeozoic to Mesozoic palaeontology and stratigraphy of almost all regions across China, and his interests have also extended to the Permian–Triassic (P‐Tr) boundary and mass extinction. He has worked on palaeontology, palaeobiogeography, biostratigraphy, tectonostratigraphy, and their implications in mineral and oil‐gas industries. Liao has established 22 new genera and 172 new species of brachiopods, and, together with his colleagues, proposed 11 new genera and 25 new species of echinoderms. He dedicated his lifetime to work on Late Palaeozoic palaeontology and stratigraphy of the previously remote and tectonically complex Xinjiang and adjacent regions, north‐west China, and established integrated stratigraphical frameworks for the Carboniferous to Permian strata, providing fundamental basis for mineral and hydrocarbon exploration in the poorly understood Central Asian terranes. In addition, he has mentored many young palaeontologists and stratigraphers in various ways. This volume assembles 30 papers addressing the Late Palaeozoic to Mesozoic palaeontology and stratigraphy of China and adjacent regions, which pays tribute to the achievement of Professor Zhuoting Liao. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A series of global major geological and biological events occurred during the Permian Period. Establishing a highresolution stratigraphic and temporal framework is essential to understand their cause-effect relationship. The official International timescale of the Permian System consists of three series (i.e., Cisuralian, Guadalupian and Lopingian in ascending order) and nine stages. In China, the Permian System is composed of three series (Chuanshanian, Yansingian and Lopingian) and eight stages, of which the subdivisions and definitions of the Chuanshanian and Yangsingian series are very different from the Cisuralian and Guadalupian series. The Permian Period spanned ∼47 Myr. Its base is defined by the First Appearance Datum (FAD) of the conodont Streptognathodus isolatus at Aidaralash, Kazakhstan with an interpolated absolute age 298.9±0.15 Ma at Usolka, southern Urals, Russia. Its top equals the base of the Triassic System and is defined by the FAD of the conodont Hindeodus parvus at Meishan D section, southeast China with an interpolated absolute age 251.902±0.024 Ma. Thirty-five conodont, 23 fusulinid, 17 radiolarian and 20 ammonoid zones are established for the Permian in China, of which the Guadalupian and Lopingian conodont zones have been served as the standard for international correlation. The Permian δ13Ccarb trend indicates that it is characterized by a rapid negative shift of 3-5‰ at the end of the Changhsingian, which can be used for global correlation of the end-Permian mass extinction interval, but δ13Ccarb records from all other intervals may have more or less suffered subsequent diagenetic alteration or represented regional or local signatures only. Permian δ18O{ainpatite} studies suggest that an icehouse stage dominated the time interval from the late Carboniferous to Kungurian (late Cisuralian). However, paleoclimate began to ameriolate during the late Kungurian and gradually shifted into a greenhouse-dominated stage during the Guadalupian. The Changhsingian was a relatively cool stage, followed by a globally-recognizable rapid temperature rise of 8-10°C at the very end of the Changhsingian. The 87Sr/86Sr ratio trend shows that their values at the beginning of the Permian were between 0.70800, then gradually decreased to the late Capitanian minimum 0.70680-0.70690, followed by a persistent increase until the end of the Permian with the value 0.70708. Magenetostratigraphy suggests two distinct stages separated by the Illawarra Reversal in the middle Wordian, of which the lower is the reverse polarity Kiaman Superchron and the upper is the mixed-polarity Illawarra Superchron. The end-Guadalupian (or pre-Lopingian) biological crisis occurred during the late Capitanian, when faunal changeovers of different fossil groups had different paces, but generally experienced a relatively long time from the Jinogondolella altudensis Zone until the earliest Wuchiapingian. The end-Permian mass extinction was a catastrophic event that is best constrained at the Meishan section, which occurred at 251.941±0.037 Ma and persisted no more than 61±48 kyr. After the major pulse at Bed 25, the extinction patterns are displayed differently in different sections. The global end-Guadalupian regression is manifested between the conodont Jinogondolella xuanhanensis and Clarkina dukouensis zones and the end-Changhsingian transgression began in the Hindeodus changxingensis-Clarkina zhejiangensis Zone. The Permian Period is also characterized by strong faunal provincialism in general, which resulted in difficulties in inter-continental and inter-regional correlation of both marine and terrestrial systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the pattern of carbon isotope depletion in marine sections across a platform-to-lower slope transect of South China. It notes that this gradual decrease in carbon isotope can be attributed to the long-term continental uplift and weathering of silicates and organic matter during the Permian-Triassic transition. It also notes a rapid negative pulse in carbon isotope at the Permian-Triassic event boundary.