Molecular records of microbialites following the end-Permian mass extinction in Chongyang, Hubei Province, South China

Current perspectives on the Permian–Triassic boundary and end-Permian mass extinction: Preface

The end-Permian mass extinction is now robustly dated at 252.6 ± 0.2 Ma (U–Pb) and the Permian–Triassic (P–T) GSSP level is dated by interpolation at 252.5 Ma. An isotopic geochronological timescale for the Late Permian–Early Triassic, based on recent accurate high-precision U–Pb single zircon dating of volcanic ashes, together with calibrated conodont zonation schemes, is presented. The durati...

Paleoceanographic conditions following the end-Permian mass extinction recorded by giant ooids (Moyang, South China)

Volcanic perturbations of the marine environment in South China preceding the latest Permian mass extinction and their biotic effects.

The Dongpan section in southern Guangxi Province records the influence of local volcanic activity on marine sedimentation at intermediate water depths (~200-500 m) in the Nanpanjiang Basin (South China) during the late Permian crisis. We analyzed ~100 samples over a 12-m-thick interval, generating palynological, paleobiological, and geochemical datasets to investigate the nature and causes of e...

The Luoping biota: exceptional preservation, and new evidence on the Triassic recovery from end-Permian mass extinction.

The timing and nature of biotic recovery from the devastating end-Permian mass extinction (252 Ma) are much debated. New studies in South China suggest that complex marine ecosystems did not become re-established until the middle-late Anisian (Middle Triassic), much later than had been proposed by some. The recently discovered exceptionally preserved Luoping biota from the Anisian Stage of the ...

When and how did the terrestrial mid-Permian mass extinction occur? Evidence from the tetrapod record of the Karoo Basin, South Africa.

A mid-Permian (Guadalupian epoch) extinction event at approximately 260 Ma has been mooted for two decades. This is based primarily on invertebrate biostratigraphy of Guadalupian-Lopingian marine carbonate platforms in southern China, which are temporally constrained by correlation to the associated Emeishan Large Igneous Province (LIP). Despite attempts to identify a similar biodiversity crisi...