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Late Triassic palaeoclimate and palaeoecosystem variations inferred by palynological record in the northeastern Sichuan Basin, China

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Abstract

The end-Triassic is characterized by enhanced rates of biotic turnover, but the terrestrial records of the Triassic-Jurassic transition are relatively rare in Asia. In this study, a detailed investigation of well-preserved palynomorphs of Late Triassic terrestrial deposit in northeastern Sichuan Basin, China, has been conducted to reconstruct the palaeoclimate and palaeoecosystem variations. The palynoflora of the Xujiahe Formation in Xuanhan of Sichuan shows a high diversity of spores and pollen grains, including 151 species of 64 genera. The palynological assemblage is characterized by a dominance of spores and abundance of gymnosperm pollen grains, dated as Norian-Rhaetian (Late Triassic) in age. Palaeovegetation reconstruction shows a predominance of fern floras, followed by gymnosperms represented by conifers. This palynoflora indicates that a tropical-subtropical humid and warm climate generally prevailed during the Late Triassic. However, further Sporomorph EcoGroup model (SEG) analysis suggests that the overall humid and warm climate condition was not static and unchanging throughout the Late Triassic episode, but was punctuated by several climatic and ecosystem variations: two warm and humid climate events, accompanied by a cool and dry trend in the end-Triassic episode. The study reveals the terrestrial ecosystem variations before the Triassic/Jurassic boundary in the Sichuan Basin, and thus provides important evidence for understanding the response of terrestrial vegetation to regional and global environmental changes across the Triassic/Jurassic transition.

Kurzfassung

Die späte Triaszeit ist bekanntermaßen durch erhöhte “turnover rates” gekennzeichnet, wobei Profile mit terrestrischen Sedimenten des Trias–Jura-Übergangbereichs in Asien jedoch relativ selten vorkommen. In vorliegender Arbeit konnten detaillierte Untersuchungen an guterhaltenen Palynomorphen aus spät-triassischen terrestrischen Ablagerungen des nordöstlichen Sichuan-Beckens, mit dem Ziel einer Rekonstruktion paläoklimatischer Veränderungen, durchgeführt werden. Die Palynoflora von Xuanhan in der südwestchinesischen Provinz Sichuan zeigt eine hohe Vielfalt von Sporen und Pollenkörnern, mit insgesamt 151 Arten aus 64 Gattungen, an. Diese Palynoflora wird von Sporen dominiert und zeigt außerdem eine Fülle an Gymnospermen-Pollenkörnern, die als spät-triassisch (Norium–Rhaetium) datiert worden sind. Die Rekonstruktion der Paläovegetation zeigt eine Vorherrschaft von Farnen, gefolgt von Gymnospermen (in Form von Koniferen), an. Die palynologische Analyse ergab, daß zu jener Zeit (wie generell in der späten Trias) ein tropisch-subtropisches feucht-warmes Klima herrschte. Jedoch legt die Sporomorph EcoGroup Model (SEG) Analyse nahe, dass die allgemein feucht-warmen Klimabedingungen in der späten Triaszeit nicht statisch und unveränderlich waren, sondern hier durch Veränderungen unterbrochen wurden. Im Einzelnen handelt es sich um zwei warm-feuchte Klimaereignisse innerhalb der Xujiahe-Formation, begleitet von einer kühl-trockenen Tendenz zum Ende der Trias. Unsere Studie im Sichuan-Becken zeigt terrestrische Ökosystem-Veränderungen vor der Trias/Jura-Grenze auf und liefert damit wichtige Hinweise für das Verständnis von Reaktionen der terrestrischen Vegetation auf regionale und globale Umweltveränderungen jener Zeit.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Prof. Xie Xiaoping (Qufu Normal University), Prof. Huang Chengmin (Sichuan University), Dr. Wen Xingyue (Mianyang Normal University), Dr. Tian Ning (Shenyang Normal University), Dr. Jiang Zikun (Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences) and Mr. Mei Shengwu (Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences) (NIGPAS) for their assistance during the fieldwork, and Ms. Feng Limei (NIGPAS) for the laboratory assistance. Helpful reviews by Dr. Wolfram Michael Kürschner (University of Oslo, Norway) and an anonymous reviewer are gratefully acknowledged. Funding was provided by State Key Program (973 project) of Basic Research of Ministry of Science and Technology, China (2012CB822003); the National Natural Sciences Foundation of China (NSFC 41572014, 41272010, 41302004 and 40972008), the Team Program of Scientific Innovation and Interdisciplinary Cooperation of CAS, and the “One-Three-Five” Discipline Construction Project of Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences. This is a contribution to IGCP project 632.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, 210008, China

    Liqin Li, Yongdong Wang, Zhaosheng Liu & Ning Zhou

  2. State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, CAS, Nanjing, 210008, China

    Yongdong Wang

  3. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Liqin Li & Ning Zhou

  4. School of Geoscience and Technology, Southwest Petroleum University, Chengdu, 610500, China

    Yan Wang

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  1. Liqin Li
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Correspondence to Yongdong Wang.

Appendix

Appendix

List of Palynomorph taxa of the Xujiahe Formation from Qilixia of Xuanhan, Sichuan, China shown in Table 3.

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Li, L., Wang, Y., Liu, Z. et al. Late Triassic palaeoclimate and palaeoecosystem variations inferred by palynological record in the northeastern Sichuan Basin, China. PalZ 90, 327–348 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12542-016-0309-5

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