Multistratigraphic framework for continental Permian-Triassic boundary sections of northern Pangaea: key to a better understanding of the ecological consequences of the end-Permian crisis in the terrestrial realm
Final Report Abstract
A better understanding of the causal relationships between the marine end-Permian mass extinction and tentatively contemporaneous environmental processes in the continental realm require a fine-scale stratigraphic framework of the Late Permian–Early Triassic transition. Therefore, the major aim of this project was an accurate placement of the Permian-Triassic boundary in continental deposits by using a combination of multiple stratigraphic methods including geological profile documentation, sedimentary facies interpretation, biostratigraphy of conchostracans (Crustacea: Branchiopoda), palynofacies, major and trace element geochemistry, δ13Corg, δ13Ccarb, δ18Ocarb analyses, and magnetostratigraphy. New data on the Early Triassic continental deposits of the Moscow syncline in the European part of Russia indicate a conchostracan fauna consisting of Euestheria, Palaeolimnadiopsis, Magniestheria, Cornia, and Rossolimnadiopsis. Occurrences of the genus Rossolimnadiopsis could also be recorded in the Early Triassic Ma’in Formation of the eastern Dead Sea region in Jordan, where it is represented by a new species, Rossolimnadiopsis hanskerpi. The wide palaeogeographic distribution of Rossolimnadiopsis demonstrates the high value of this genus for interregional biostratigraphic correlations within a narrow stratigraphic interval. Further elements of the characteristic Early Triassic conchostracan fauna observed in the Moscow syncline were also recorded in the Upper Fulda Formation (Zechstein Group) and the overlying Calvörde and Bernburg Formations (both Lower Buntsandstein Subgroup) in the Central European Basin. Consequently, the Early Triassic conchostracan fauna indicates a position of the Permian-Triassic boundary within the uppermost Zechstein Group. The transition from Late Permian restricted marine deposits of the Zechstein Group to Early Triassic continental deposits of the Lower Buntsandstein Subgroup is well-exposed in the Caaschwitz quarries and Caaschwitz drill core sections of eastern Thuringia, Central Germany. The first occurrence of the characteristic Early Triassic conchostracans in the Upper Fulda Formation lie within an interval of normal magnetic polarity, which supports a correlation to the basal Early Triassic normal polarized magnetozone known from marine Permian-Triassic boundary sections in other regions. Initial results on isotope analyses of the Zechstein-Buntsandstein transition in Germany indicate that lower δ13Corg values are characteristic of playa lake deposits, while pedogenically influenced intervals have heavier δ13Corg values. This might imply that variations of δ13Corg values depend on local lithological properties, therefore their use for regional to interregional chemostratigraphic correlations of continental deposits should be handled with caution. This does also account for new results of δ13Ccarb and δ18Ocarb. The available carbonates of the Zechstein-Buntsandstein transition in Central Germany represent a wide lithological spectrum ranging from dolomite nodules and carbonate cemented sandstones to oolites partially affected by recrystallization. Since the δ13Ccarb and δ18Ocarb values show multiple variations, their use for chemostratigraphic correlations to marine Permian-Triassic boundary sections from other regions is ambiguous. The taxonomic exploration of the Late Permian–Early Triassic conchostracan faunas made them to a valuable and indispensable tool for biostratigraphic correlation via mixed marinecontinental and pure continental sections in China, Jordan, European Russia, and Central Europe. Further regions of the whole Pangaea can be integrated into this correlation chain as part of future research. In summary, the application of multistratigraphic methods in combination with the conchostracan biostratigraphy successfully demonstrated the great potential for pinpointing the Permian-Triassic boundary in continental deposits.
Publications
- (2015): Early Triassic Conchostracans (Crustacea: Branchiopoda) from the terrestrial Permian–Triassic boundary sections in the Moscow syncline. – Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 429: 22–40
Scholze, F., Golubev, V.K., Niedźwiedzki, G., Sennikov, A.G., Schneider, J.W. & Silantiev, V.V.
(See online at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2015.04.002) - (2015): First occurrence of the Permian-Triassic enigmatic conchostracan Rossolimnadiopsis Novozhilov, 1958 from the Dead Sea, Jordan – preliminary report. – Permophiles 62: 22–25
Abu Hamad, A., Scholze, F., Schneider, J.W., Golubev, V.K., Voigt, S., Uhl, D. & Kerp, H.
- (2015): Improved methodology of ‘conchostracan’ (Crustacea: Branchiopoda) classification for biostratigraphy. – Newsletters on Stratigraphy 48: 287–298
Scholze, F. & Schneider, J.W.
(See online at https://doi.org/10.1127/nos/2015/0065) - (2016): A new Late Pennsylvanian to Early Triassic conchostracan biostratigraphy. – Permophiles 63: 37–43
Schneider, J.W. & Scholze, F.
- (2016): Conchostracans in continental deposits of the Zechstein-Buntsandstein transition in central Germany: Taxonomy and biostratigraphic implications for the position of the Permian-Triassic boundary within the Zechstein Group. – Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 449: 174–193
Scholze, F., Schneider, J.W. & Werneburg, R.
(See online at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2016.02.021) - (2016): Die Fischmikrofauna der Rogensteine im Unteren Buntsandstein von Sachsen-Anhalt. – Beiträge zur Geologie von Thüringen, Neue Folge 23, 61–74
Scholze, F. & Schneider, J.W.
- (2016): Late Pennsylvanian–Early Triassic conchostracan biostratigraphy: a preliminary approach. – Geological Society, London, Special Publications (2018),450(1):365
Schneider, J.W. & Scholze, F.
(See online at https://dx.doi.org/10.1144/SP450.6) - (2017): A multistratigraphic approach to pinpoint the Permian-Triassic boundary in continental deposits: The Zechstein–Lower Buntsandstein transition in Germany. – Global and Planetary Change 152: 129–151
Scholze, F., Wang, X., Kirscher, U., Kraft, J., Schneider, J.W., Götz, A.E., Joachimski, M.M. & Bachtadse, V.
(See online at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloplacha.2017.03.004) - (2017): An enigmatic ‘conchostracan’ fauna in the eastern Dead Sea Region of Jordan: First records of Rossolimnadiopsis Novozhilov from the Early Triassic Ma’in Formation. – Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 466: 314–325
Scholze, F., Abu Hamad, A., Schneider, J.W., Golubev, V.K., Sennikov, A.G. & Voigt, S.
(See online at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2016.11.047)
