Early Olenekian Research Articles

Palaeoecological methods for assessing marine ecosystem recovery following the Late Permian mass extinction event

Different authors use different methods to assess Permian–Triassic palaeoecological changes, yet no comparative study of different methodologies has been published. We compared two methods of assessing palaeoecological parameters such as diversity, richness and skeletal abundance from limestone thin sections: point-counting and an equal area approach. Results demonstrated that there are significant differences between methodologies. Point-counting is relatively quick but has drawbacks. It is biased with respect to organism size, over-estimates larger taxa/bioclasts, and underestimates smaller taxa/bioclasts. Some point-counting palaeoecological data are not considered useful for measuring biotic recovery because they are affected by taphonomic processes: for example, the presence of diagenetic veins may reduce presumed skeletal abundance; winnowing may increase it. Trends in abundance between locations and regions through time, however, tend to broadly agree between methods, although we recorded Early Triassic samples with much higher skeletal abundances (up to 75%) than in previous published studies. Data from locations in Italy, Oman, and USA were compared. The most diverse samples are Early Induan (Griesbachian) in age from Oman, whilst the Late Induan–Early Olenekian (Dienerian–Smithian) samples from western USA are less diverse. These data agree with previously published inferences of regional variability in recovery rates from field-based macrofossil analyses of tiering and trace fossils.

The changing climate framework and depositional dynamics of Triassic carbonate platforms from the Dolomites

The Triassic of the Dolomites offers a valuable opportunity to investigate the relationships between climate fluctuations and the changing depositional dynamics of carbonate platforms. The reconstruction of the large palaeoclimatic modification is based on the synthesis of multiple sedimentological, palaeobotanical, pedological, and geochemical proxies. The Triassic climate fluctuations were generally fast in nature and were probably associated with a latitudinal shift of the monsoon belts. During the Triassic, the Dolomites were placed at an intertropical northern latitude of about 16–18° and were generally dominated by dry climate and elevated temperature. At least five pulses toward moister climate are however documented, dated to Early Olenekian, Middle Anisian, Late Ladinian, “Middle” Carnian, and Late Norian times. Within this variable climatic scenario, the carbonate systems record a global evolutionary trend from Late Permian–Early Triassic regional shelves, rich in loose micrites and bio-calcarenites, to Anisian–Ladinian, synsedimentary cemented, steep sided (35–40°), high-relief platforms, and back to Carnian low angle ramps. Moist transgressive episodes were surprisingly prone to the spreading of corals and other colonial reef organisms, probably because of the reduced space competition by syndepositional cementation structures. The Permo-Triassic boundary extinction dramatically impacted on the calcified organism communities, but the carbonate depositional architecture nevertheless stayed almost unaffected through the boundary. The Early Triassic and earliest Anisian were commonly associated with hyperhaline, sometimes evaporitic conditions. Intervals of moister climate and efficient river discharge are however documented by earliest Induan and early Olenekian sediments. The latter terrigenous deposits matched a crisis in the carbonate production. After a return to arid conditions, during the Anisian, a fluctuation toward moister climate developed, associated to a massive continental vegetation cover. The Anisian tectonic activation of the region fragmented the previous carbonate shelf, triggering the development of three generations of fast prograding, but globally backstepping, isolated platforms, recording an increasing role of the synsedimentary cementation. A dry climate dominated the Late Anisian and Early Ladinian interval. At the time, a fast subsidence pulse was associated with platform drowning and basinal anoxia. Only a few aggrading pinnacles were able to survive, providing the nuclei for larger prograding platforms. During a dry climate interval, massive syndepositional cementation generated a major source of carbonate. Carbonate production stayed active through the Ladinian magmatic phase, but the onset of volcanism was associated with a large modification in the platform carbonate facies, which became dominated by automicrites. Moist climate phases are well documented again during the Late Ladinian, followed by a return to dry conditions. The Late Ladinian–Early Carnian platforms prograded toward the eastern Dolomites depocentre, eventually infilling almost the whole of the accommodation space. The middle portion of the Carnian recorded renewed, sharply moist phases, associated with the demise of the rimmed platforms and with the return to loose sediment ramps. At least four separated humid fluctuations can be identified in this Carnian interval alone. Climate then returned to persistent aridity, until the Late Norian moist phase.

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 duration of the Early Triassic (Induan + Olenekian stages) is estimated at only 5.5 million years. The duration of the Induan Stage (Griesbachian + Dienerian sub-stages) is estimated at ca. one million years and the early Olenekian (Smithian sub-stage) at 0.7 million years duration. Considering this timescale, the “delayed” recovery following the end-Permian mass extinction may not in fact have been particularly protracted, in the light of the severity of the extinction. Conodonts evolved rapidly in the first 1 million years following the mass extinction leading to recognition of high-resolution conodont zones. Continued episodic global environmental and climatic stress following the extinction is recognized by multiple carbon isotope excursions, further faunal turnover and peculiar sedimentary and biotic facies (e.g. microbialites). The end-Permian mass extinction is interpreted to be synchronous globally and between marine and non-marine environments. The nature of the double-phased Late Permian extinction (at the Guadalupian–Lopingian boundary and the P–T boundary), linked to large igneous provinces, suggests a primary role for superplume activity that involved geomagnetic polarity change and massive volcanism.

The geology of Khuff outcrop analogues in the Musandam Peninsula, United Arab Emirates and Oman

ABSTRACT A revision of the stratigraphy of late Palaeozoic and early Mesozoic carbonates (Bih Formation) in the Musandam Mountains near Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates (UAE), clarifies the presence of deposits that are age-equivalent to the Late Permian and Early Triassic Khuff Formation. Biostratigraphic markers including benthic foraminifera and calcareous algae indicate a Permian age for the stratigraphically oldest outcrops ranging from late Wuchiapingian to late Changhsingian (K4 and K3 reservoir units in the subsurface). A Late Induan – Early Olenekian (Early Triassic) age is documented for the stratigraphically youngest outcrops. Sedimentological features, stacking patterns and microfacies of the Permian outcrops show strong affinity to the KS3 and KS2 Khuff sequences, dominated by high-energy bioclastic pack- and grainstone. The depositional environment of the Bih Formation is further characterised by a palynological evaluation of claystones and by XRD analysis of clay minerals. Spectral gamma-ray data from the outcrop, which indicate Uranium depletion following the extinction of Permian foraminifera, help to pinpoint the position of the Permian – Triassic boundary and to correlate the measured section with the subsurface. Some stratigraphic intervals in outcrop are affected by strong secondary dolomitisation and do not reflect the same diagenetic patterns as their subsurface counterparts. Patterns of secondary dolomitisation, however, indicate the flow of formation water and thus mimic pore-fluid flow in the subsurface reservoirs. The depositional facies show clear resemblances to the reservoir facies, and the studied outcrops most likely represent the best analogue to the Khuff reservoirs in the UAE and in the North Dome/South Pars field area, offshore Qatar and Iran.

Triassic ammonoids of Northeast Asia: Diversity and evolutionary stages

The history of Triassic ammonoids in the Siberian Province of the Boreal Paleobiogeographic Realm is recorded in detail in sections of Northeast Asia. In this region there are known at present 123 Triassic ammonoid genera of 41 family and 3 orders. Six stages and 14 substages are defined based on main levels of taxonomic restructuring of Triassic ammonoids, changes in their genera and families diversity, and changes in percentage of endemic and cosmopolitan taxa in assemblages. Each stage and substage is characterized by individual taxonomic composition of ammonoids, dominant groups, trends of changes in taxonomic diversity, and percentages of endemic and cosmopolitan taxa. Boundaries of ammonoid evolution stages coincide as a rule with boundaries of series and stages, whereas boundaries of evolutionary substages match those of substages. In the history of Triassic ammonoids of Northeast Asia, the periods of a rather monotonous fauna represented mainly by cosmopolitan or panboreal taxa (early Induan, early Olenekian, early Anisian, late Anisian, early Carnian, early and middle Norian) alternated with periods, typical of which were higher rates of taxa origination and endemism of ammonoids (late Induan, late Olenekian, middle Anisian, Ladinian, late Carnian). Changing degree of cosmopolitism and endemism of Triassic ammonoid faunas from Northeast Asia is shown to be connected with global eustatic sea-level fluctuations and climatic changes.

Paleogeographic regionalization of Triassic seas based on conodontophorids

Geographic differentiation of conodontophorids between northern and southern latitudes commenced in the Triassic since the early Induan. Cosmopolitan long-lived genera of predominantly smooth morphotypes without sculpturing were characteristic of high-latitude basins of the Panboreal Superrealm. Since the early Olenekian until the Carnian inclusive, this superrealm consisted of the Siberian Realm that extended over Northeast Asia and the Canada-Svalbard Realm that included the Svalbard Archipelago and northern regions of Canada. Throughout the Triassic period, conodontophorids characteristic of the Tethys-Panthalassa Superrealm spanning the Tethys and low-latitude zones of the Pacific were highly endemic, very diverse in taxonomic aspect, having well-developed sculpturing and tempos of morphological transformations. Distinctions between the Early-Middle Triassic conodontophorids from northern and southern zones were not as great as afterward, and their impoverished assemblages from southern Tethyan basins were close in some respects to the Boreal ones. Their habitat basins of that time can be grouped into the Mediterranean-Pacific and India-Pakistan realms. Hence, the extent of geographic differentiation of conodontophorids was not constant and gradually grew, as their taxonomic diversity was reducing in northern basins but relatively increasing in southern ones. The Panboreal e Tethys-Panthalassa superrealms of conodontophorids, which are most clearly recognizable, are close to first-rank paleobiochores (superrealms) established earlier for ammonoids and bivalve mollusks. Main factor that controlled geographic differentiation of Triassic conodontophorids was climatic zoning. Initially lower diversity of southern Tethyan assemblages points probably to relatively cooler water regime in the peri-Gondwanan part of the Tethys. The established patterns in geographic distribution of conodontophorids characterize most likely the real trend of their differentiation and evolution, i.e., the distribution area contraction prior to complete extinction at the end of the Triassic

High organic carbon content and a decrease in radiolarians at the end of the Permian in a newly discovered continuous pelagic section: A coincidence?

The greatest mass extinction occurred at the end of the Permian. Most records of the mass extinction are not from pelagic sediments, but from shallow-marine and terrestrial sediments. Although several pelagic sections that span the end-Permian mass extinction have been found, these sections contain few index fossils and are often discontinuous because of small faults. We found the index fossils Albaillella cf. triangularis (Radiolaria) in siliceous claystone beds, Hindeodus parvus (Conodont) in the overlying black claystone beds, and Neospathodus cf. cristagalli and Ns. waageni (Conodont) in the subsequent siliceous claystone beds in Akkamori section-2 in northern Japan. These fossils suggest that this section ranges from the late Permian to the Early Triassic, including the early Induan and Olenekian stages. Furthermore, the lithological changes in the section, i.e., starting from bedded chert through siliceous claystone and black claystone to siliceous claystone, are concordant with those of well-known Permian–Triassic pelagic sequences in Japan. There is no gap between each lithofacie of the Akkamori section-2. Critical lithological continuity between Upper Permian siliceous claystone beds and uppermost Permian to lowermost Triassic black claystone beds of the Akkamori section-2 was recognized by observing hand-polished specimens and thin sections. Such paleontological and sedimentological evidence implies that the Akkamori section-2 is a continuous pelagic section that records the end-Permian mass extinction event. The carbonaceous black claystone beds have high total organic carbon (TOC) concentrations (1.06–3.31 wt.%), suggesting oceanic anoxia at least deep and probably stable primary productivity. A decrease in radiolarian abundance from 26–563 to 0.27–20 specimens/cm 2 coincided with an increase in TOC content from 0.01–0.16 to 1.06–3.31 wt.% at the boundary of the siliceous claystone and the overlying black claystone beds near the top of the Permian, implying that radiolarian extinction occurred at the end of the Permian coinciding with oceanic anoxia. Although TOC contents decreased in the early Olenekian (Smithian), radiolarian abundance did not increase at that time, indicating that radiolarian recovery was delayed by > 1.5 m.y.

Conodonts from the Permian–Triassic transition in Australia and position of the Permian–Triassic boundary

Late Permian (late Changhsingian), possible Early Triassic Induan (Dienerian), and early Olenekian (Smithian) conodonts have been recovered from the Hovea Member of the Kockatea Shale in the exploration well Corybas 1, northern Perth Basin, Western Australia. Placement of the biostratigraphic Permian – Triassic boundary is in the lower part of the Sapropelic Interval of the Hovea Member. The Australian endemic Protohaploxypinus microcorpus palynofloral Zone is confirmed to be of late (but not latest) Changhsingian age. The Permian – Triassic boundary, based on international calibration using conodonts, carbon-isotope stratigraphy and new radio-isotopic dating, is placed in the lower part of the Kraeuselisporites saeptatus and Lunatisporites pellucidus Zones of western and eastern Australia, respectively, which corresponds approximately to the basal part of the Rewan Group and equivalents in eastern Australia.

Patterns of bivalve biodiversity from Early to Middle Triassic in the Southern Alps (Italy): Regional vs. global events

The Triassic records the severe effects of the end-Permian mass extinction and the beginning of the Mesozoic/modern adaptive radiation of marine invertebrates. As far as bivalves are concerned, a group which was relatively unaffected by the extinction, diversification started in the Middle Triassic, more particularly during the Anisian. Thus, the interval between the basal Triassic (Induan) and Anisian is crucial in analysing the biodiversity changes and diversification patterns of these molluscs. This analysis is discussed at genus level and based on the regional records of the Southern Alps. Biodiversity changes are examined in connection with palaeogeographic evolution, the conquest of vacated ecologic niches, and climatic changes. The lowest point of generic richness, as an immediate aftermath of the P/ T mass extinction, is recorded in the Induan units (Mazzin and Siusi Mbs) of the Werfen Formation, which include only five genera, numerically dominated by Claraia and Unionites. Twelve genera are represented in the Olenekian Campil, Val Badia and Cencenighe Members. Such an increasing richness is mostly connected with the recovery of pectinids and endobyssate bakevellids; typical marine biota such as ammonoids ( Tirolites and Dinarites fauna) and crinoids also appear in this time. The richness and structure of the Early Anisian (Bithynian) bivalve assemblages contained in the Gracilis Formation (and equivalent units of Southern Alps) do not significantly change (15 genera) in comparison with those from Olenekian. The most relevant increase in bivalve genera (31 genera) occurs in the late Anisian, mostly in the Pelsonian Calcare di Recoaro and equivalent units, when a strong tectonic phase considerably differentiated the marine habitats and ecological niches in the Southern Alps. However, bivalve Pelsonian radiation is recorded in other Tethyan and peri-Tethyan areas, and coincides with the reappearance of marine stenotopic hard bottom dwellers and reef communities, including scleractinian corals. Therefore, it represents a global bioevent which indicates the fully recovery of the physical and chemical limiting factors of the sea water. In the Southern Alps, the diversification of bivalves after the end-Permian extinction occurred in two steps: at the end of Smithian (early Olenekian), when their recovery began, and in the Pelsonian (late Anisian) when their radiation parallels with the recovery of hard bottom communities and metazoan reefs. Both the events occurred at the end of humid phases.

The lower Triassic anachronistic carbonate facies in space and time

The end-Permian mass extinction greatly affected the sedimentary record, but the sedimentary response was not limited to the Permian–Triassic boundary interval. This transformation extended to sedimentation that spanned the entire Early Triassic. Calcimicrobialites play an important role throughout this time interval, and at least four main events of anomalous carbonate deposition can be shown. A post-extinction calcimicrobial unit occurs above the extensive Permian skeletal carbonate platform exposed in the Taurus Mountains (southern Turkey), in south Armenia, north-west north and Central Iran along the Zagros Mountains. The calcimicrobial unit formed during the flooding of the platform that took place during the earliest Triassic. A similar calcimicrobialite formed during late Griesbachian to Dienerian time atop the shallow Permian skeletal carbonate platform largely exposed in south China. A third event occurred during the Early Olenekian on the first Mesozoic isolated pelagic plateau (Baid seamount, Oman Mountains). Here the change in carbonate sedimentation is reflected in the occurrence of thrombolites and carbonate seafloor fans. Near the end of Early Triassic time, unusual carbonate deposition is recorded both on an isolated pelagic plateau of the Western Tethys (Halstatt limestone of Dobrogea, Romania) and on the eastern Panthalassa margin of the western United States. In the western United States, the event is represented by stromatolites and thrombolites in the Virgin Limestone of the Moenkopi Formation and by seafloor fans in the middle and upper members of the Union Wash Formation. These unusual episodes of anomalous carbonate deposition illustrate a fundamental change in sedimentation that occurred in the aftermath of the end-Permian mass extinction.