Late Permian–earliest Triassic high-resolution organic carbon isotope and palynofacies records from Kap Stosch (East Greenland)

Abstract

During and after the end Permian mass extinction terrestrial and marine biota underwent major changes and reorganizations. The latest Permian and earliest Triassic is also characterized by major negative carbon isotope shifts reflecting fundamental changes in the carbon cycle. The present study documents a high-resolution bulk organic carbon isotope record and palynofacies analysis spanning the latest Permian–earliest Triassic of East Greenland. An almost 700meter thick composite section from Kap Stosch allowed discriminating 6 chemostratigraphic intervals that provide the basis for the correlation with other coeval records across the world, and for the recognition of basin wide transgressive–regressive events documenting tectonic activity during the opening of the Greenland–Norway Basin. The identification of the main factors that influenced the organic carbon isotope signal during the earliest Triassic (Griesbachian to Dienerian) was possible due to the combination of bulk organic carbon isotope, palynofacies and Rock-Eval data. Two negative carbon isotopic shifts in the Kap Stosch record can be correlated with negative shifts recorded in coeval sections across the globe. A first negative shift precedes the base of the Triassic as defined by the first occurrence of the conodont Hindeodus parvus in the Meishan reference section, and the second one coincides with the suggested Griesbachian–Dienerian boundary. This new organic carbon isotope record from the extended Kap Stosch section from the Boreal Realm documents regional and global carbon cycle signals of the interval between the latest Palaeozoic and the onset of the Mesozoic.