Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Peritidal Carbonate Cycles Induced By Carbonate Productivity Variations: A Conceptual Model For An Isolated Early Triassic Greenhouse Platform In South China, Wan Yang, Daniel J. Lehrmann

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Eustasy has commonly been invoked to explain peritidal carbonate cyclicity, but is difficult to explain cycles formed in a greenhouse climate when eustasy is minimal. We propose that peritidal cycles on an Early Triassic isolated carbonate platform in Guizhou, South China, were formed by hierarchical carbonate productivity variations. Most of the 149 shallowing-upward cycles are typically terminated by flooding over intertidal facies and contain rare supratidal facies and no prolonged subaerial exposure. Low-diversity benthos in the platform interior during the post-end-Permian biotic recovery were sensitive to environmental perturbations, which caused variations in benthic sediment productivity in the subtidal carbonate factory. …