The first report of the Late Triassic-Early Jurassic passage beds in the Eastern Tethyan Himalaya

Abstract

A good exposure of Triassic-Jurassic strata, named the Germig section in the Lanongla area, south Tibet has been investigated recently. Non-marine conditions of the Upper Triassic represented by the Zhamure formation existed in most of south Tibet, but they terminated in the area by the Germig formation which represents a marine transgression from the Late Norian-Rhaetian to the Early and Middle Hettangian. It is reported for the first time that Triassic-Jurassic passage beds with ammonite evidence have been found in Tethyan Himalaya. The earliest Jurassic faunas exhibit affinity with those of Nevada, implying a trans-Pacific dispersal in the early stage of biotic recovery after the end-Triassic mass extinction.