Integrated conodont biostratigraphy and?13Ccarb records from end Permian to Early Triassic at Yiwagou Section, Gansu Province, northwestern China and their implications

The South Qinling Belt is a key area for understanding the collisional history of the South China and North China blocks during the Lopingian (late Permian) and Triassic. This paper establishes the first integrated timescale based on conodont biostratigraphy and 813Ccarb records from a continuous end Permian to the end-Early Triassic succession at Yiwagou, South Qinling Platform (SQP). Ten Early Triassic conodont zones are established. They are, in ascending order, Hindeodus parvus, H. postparvus, Neospathodus dieneri, Eurygnathodus costatus and E. hamadai, Novispathodus waageni-Scythogondolella mosheri, Pachycladina-Parachirognathus assemblage, Triassospathodus hungaricus, Ns. robustispinus and T. clinatus zones. Our record of 813Ccarb fluctuations shows close correspondence to known Early Triassic carbon isotope fluctuations and, in combination with the conodont data, helps achieve a high-resolution age model for the region. The use of E. costatus as a good auxiliary marker for the Induan-Olenekian boundary (IOB), within palaeolatitudes of 40 degrees N-40 degrees S, is supported but it can not replace the use of Nv. waageni, because the former is absent in higher-latitude and cooler regions. The conodont faunas from the Palaeo-Tethyan Yiwagou section closely resemble those from the Northern Yangtze Platform (NYP), but they differ somewhat from the contemporaneous Nanpanjiang Basin at species level. Thus, the Qinling Sea was likely well connected with the NYP in the Early Triassic, but was more isolated from the Nanpanjiang Basin. The remarkable reappearance of Hindeodus fauna around the IOB at Yiwagou implies that the shallow-water Qinling Sea was a refuge area for this genus long after its disappearance elsewhere.

Automated summary

This study establishes an integrated timescale for the South Qinling Belt based on conodont biostratigraphy and carbon isotope records. It provides a high-resolution age model for the region and reveals the connection between the South Qinling Belt and the Northern Yangtze Platform.