Early Triassic temperatures were some of the hottest of the Phanerozoic, seasurface temperatures approached 40°C, with profound consequences for both the sedimentology and faunal distributions in the oceans. However, the impact of these temperatures in terrestrial settings is unclear. This study examines shallow lacustrine sediments from the Lower Triassic succession of North China. These consist of diverse fluvial to shallow lacustrine sandstones and also spectacular, coarse conglomerates composed of diverse, intraformational clasts reworked from the interbedded sediments. The conglomerate beds can show inverse grading and high angle, flat-pebble imbrication in their lower part and vertically orientated flat pebbles in their upper part. The cobbles include cemented and reworked conglomerate intraclasts and sandstone concentrically-laminated concretions that record multi-step histories of growth and reworking, pointing to rapid cementation of the sandy lake bed (likely facilitated by high temperatures). The conglomerates record frequent, high-energy events that were capable of brecciating a lithified lake bed and transporting cobbles in wave-influenced sediment-gravity flows. Initially, powerful oscillatory flows brecciated and deflated the lake bed and subsequently helped to sustain turbulence during short-distance lateral flow. It is possible that hurricanes, originating from the adjacent hyperwarm, Palaeo-Tethyan Ocean travelled into the major lakes of the North China continent during the Early Triassic.
In terrestrial settings, the Permo-Triassic mass extinction is commonly linked to major changes in sedimentological and climatic conditions that include a switch from meandering to braided fluvial systems and increased aridity. We examined the predominantly terrestrial strata of North China to reveal that, on the contrary, there was little substantial sedimentological change during the Permo-Triassic mass extinction. The crisis level occurs in the upper Sunjiagou Formation, where a range of environments, including low-sinuosity rivers, distally terminating alluvial fans, and mud-dominated coastal plains are recorded. A major sedimentological change occurred slightly higher, within the lowest Triassic, and involved a switch to braided fluvial and shallow lacustrine/fluviodeltaic conditions of the Liujiagou Formation. Later in the Early Triassic, fine-grained, playa lake, and alluvial plain facies became widespread (Heshanggou Formation). Paleosols are present throughout the basin fill and record a transition from Aridisols and Vertisols in the Late Permian to Inceptisols in the Early Triassic followed by gleyed Aridisols, Vertisols, and Inceptisols later in the Early Triassic. Previously reported aeolian facies from Lower Triassic strata were not encountered in this study and were unlikely to have occurred given the prevalence of lacustrine and fluvial conditions at this time. Overall, the North China Basin experienced an increase in seasonal rainfall in the latest Permian and a base-level rise that introduced marine conditions into the southwest of the basin. During the Early Triassic, seasonal or interannual rainfall was frequent, with strong evaporation in a hot climate. Overall, substantial sedimentological changes occurred in the terrestrial Permo-Triassic environments of North China, but despite earlier claims from studies in North China and elsewhere, there was no abrupt transition in fluvial styles around the Permo-Triassic mass extinction.
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