Gondwanan floristic and sedimentological trends during the Permian–Triassic transition: new evidence from the Amery Group, northern Prince Charles Mountains, East Antarctica

Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology

2007

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High-resolution palynofloral signatures through the Cretaceous-Palaeogene boundary succession show several features in common with the Permian-Triassic transition but there are also important differences. Southern Hemisphere CretaceousPalaeogene successions, to date studied at high resolution only in New Zealand, reveal a diverse palynoflora abruptly replaced by fungi-dominated assemblages that are in turn succeeded by low diversity suites dominated by fern spores, then gymnosperm-and angiosperm-dominated palynofloras of equivalent diversity to those of the Late Cretaceous. This palynofloral signature is interpreted to represent instantaneous (days to months) destruction of diverse forest communities associated with the Chicxulub impact event. The pattern of palynofloral change suggests wholesale collapse of vascular plant communities and short-term proliferation of saprotrophs followed by relatively rapid successional recovery of pteridophyte and seed-plant communities. The Permian-Triassic transition records global devastation of gymnosperm-dominated forests in a short zone synchronous with one or more peaks of the fungal/algal palynomorph Reduviasporonites. This zone is typically succeeded by assemblages rich in lycophyte spores and/or acritarchs. Higher in the succession, these assemblages give way to diverse palynofloras dominated by new groups of gymnosperms. Although different plant families were involved in the mass-extinctions, the general pattern of extinction and recovery is consistent between both events. The major difference is the longer duration for each phase of the Triassic recovery vegetation compared to that of the Paleocene. The protracted extinction-recovery succession at the Permian-Triassic boundary is incompatible with an instantaneous causal mechanism such as an impact of a celestial body but is consistent with hypotheses invoking extended environmental perturbations through flood-basalt volcanism and release of methane from continental shelf sediments.

Section: Permian-triassic Eventmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Permian-triassic Eventmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Permian-triassic Eventmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Permian-triassic Eventmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Permian-triassic Eventmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Extinction and recovery patterns of the vegetation across the Cretaceous–Palaeogene boundary — a tool for unravelling the causes of the end-Permian mass-extinction

Vajda

Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology

2007

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The Lopingian of Australasia: a review of biostratigraphy, correlations, palaeogeography and palaeobiogeography

Shi

Waterhouse²,

2010

Geological Journal

This paper presents an overview of the space and time distributions of Lopingian strata and biotas in Australia, New Zealand, Timor and New Caledonia. Based on this review, we propose a new schematic Late Permian (Lopingian) regional palaeogeographical reconstruction and marine palaeobiogeographical synthesis. The latter also incorporates some key features of the ocean circulation patterns around southeastern Gondwana, inferred primarily from the distribution of regional marine Lopingian faunas.Across Australasia, Lopingian successions accumulated in a wide range of tectonic, palaeoenvironmental and palaeolatitudinal settings. In New Zealand, Lopingian strata are found in several tectonostratigraphical terranes, notably the Brook Street, Dun Mountain–Maitai, Caples, Waipapa and Torlesse terranes/superterranes, each originating as a distinctive basin, island arc or ocean ridge. For the most part, these successions represent displaced segments of volcanic arcs, arc‐flanking clastic aprons, intra‐ and fore‐arc basins and accretionary complexes, some of which have been traced via stratigraphical, biostratigraphical and petrological correlations into New Caledonia and eastern Australia. This spectrum of Lopingian tectono‐sedimentary environments in New Zealand is interpreted to have been originally located near northeastern Australia on a convergent continental margin (i.e. the Panthalassan margin of southeastern Gondwana). Brachiopod and bivalve faunas occur widely throughout the Lopingian successions of New Zealand and have been closely studied. A total of five successive faunal zones are recognized, ranging in age from mid‐late Wuchiapingian to the end of the Changhsingian.In Australia, Lopingian deposits are dominated by non‐marine successions in a large number of widely distributed sedimentary basins; onshore exposures of marine deposits are known only from the Gympie Terrane in eastern Australia and the Canning and Bonaparte basins in Western Australia. Lopingian terrestrial sediments are most extensively represented in eastern Australia within a major meridional foreland basin complex (the Tasmania, Sydney, Gunnedah and Bowen basins), for which the evolution through the Lopingian and Early Triassic was governed by the dynamics of the New England Orogen along the Panthalassan margin of southeastern Gondwana. Most of the non‐marine successions in eastern Australia are rich in coal measures and plant fossils and locally contain well‐preserved non‐marine invertebrate and vertebrate fossils. A succession of six palynostratigraphical zones has been recognized in eastern Australia spanning the Lopingian through the Early Triassic. Several of these palynozones have also been recognized in Western Australia, allowing the discrimination and correlation of Lopingian deposits in both onshore and offshore successions. In contrast to eastern Australia and New Zealand, the marine Lopingian successions of Western Australia and Timor are dominated by carbonates that are only locally interbedded with siliciclastic sediments and sparse volcaniclastics; these successions accumulated in a giant sedimentary basin located on a passive and actively rifting continental margin. Marine connections and free and frequent biotic interchanges between this Western Australian superbasin (including Timor) and the Himalayan region of Nepal, southern Tibet and northern India throughout the Lopingian are evident from the shared occurrences of many shallow‐marine invertebrate species. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

New fossil woods from lower Cenozoic volcano‐sedimentary rocks of the Fildes Peninsula, King George Island, and the implications for the trans‐Antarctic Peninsula Eocene climatic gradient

Philippe

Papers in Palaeontology

et al. 2019

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Ten embedded fossil logs sampled in situ from the middle Eocene volcano‐sedimentary rocks close to Suffield Point in the Fildes Peninsula, King George Island, Antarctica, are assigned to Protopodocarpoxylon araucarioides Schultze‐Motel ex Vogellehner, Phyllocladoxylon antarcticum Gothan, Agathoxylon antarcticum (Poole & Cantrill) Pujana et al., A. pseudoparenchymatosum (Gothan) Pujana et al. and an unidentified angiosperm wood. Differences in the taxonomic representation and growth‐ring characters of the Eocene woods on King George Island and coeval assemblages from Seymour Island, on the western and eastern sides of the Antarctic Peninsula respectively, are interpreted to result from environmental and climatic gradients across the Peninsula Orogen during the early Palaeogene. In particular, a precipitation gradient inferred across the Peninsula at that time might have been induced by a rain‐shadow effect.