Onset of biotic and environmental recovery from the end-Permian mass extinction within 1–2 million years: A case study of the Lower Triassic of the Meishan section, South China

Abstract

Paleontological, sedimentary and geochemical data obtained from the Lower Triassic strata of the Meishan section, South China, suggest that onset of biotic recovery coincided with amelioration of paleoceanographic conditions and an increase in ocean productivity. The Griesbachian Meishanorhynchia association from Meishan indicates biotic recovery between the recovery stages 1 and 2. Both the initial biotic recovery and palaeoceanic environmental amelioration occurred within 1–2 myr after the end-Permian mass extinction in the late Griesbachian.