Sedimentary organic matter from a cored Early Triassic succession, Georgetown (Idaho, USA)

The plant fossil record from Lower Triassic sedimentary successions of the Western USA is extremely meager. In this study, samples from a drill core taken near Georgetown, Idaho, were analyzed for their palynological content as well as their stable carbon isotope composition. The concentration of palynomorphs is generally low. The lowermost part of the drilled succession represents Dinwoody/Woodside Formation and contains spore and pollen assemblages with Permian and Early Triassic affinity. Representatives of lycophytes (Densoisporites spp., Lundbladisporites spp.) were found in the overlying Meekoceras Limestone, in agreement with middle Smithian assemblages elsewhere. Ammonoids and conodonts are extremely rare, but confirm a middle Smithian age. Bulk organic and carbonate carbon isotope composition provide a stratigraphic framework. Carbonate carbon isotope compositions are compatible with the Smithian–Spathian global trend, with a middle Smithian shift towards lower δ13C values followed by a late Smithian shift towards higher values. Bulk organic carbon isotope compositions have been influenced by changes in the constitution of organic matter. A comparison with other paired carbon isotope datasets from the same basin is difficult due to lithostratigraphic inconsistencies (Hot Springs, ID) or biochemical mediated disturbance of isotope signals (Mineral Mountains, UT)

Early Late Permian coupled carbon and strontium isotope chemostratigraphy from South China: Extended Emeishan volcanism?

Carbon isotope compositions of carbonates (δ13Ccarb) document a new 3.5‰ CIE toward lower values concomitant with an Emeishan Large Igneous Province (ELIP)-related drowning event (Mapojiao Event, southern Guizhou) during the early Wuchiapingian. Organic carbon isotope data (δ13Corg) have a 2‰ shift toward higher values across the drowning event, showing decoupling with the δ13Ccarb evolution. Rock-Eval and palynofacies analyses suggest an elevated flux of terrestrial organic matter (OM) during the drowning episode. Therefore, the decoupling between δ13Ccarb and δ13Corg is best explained by the mixing of different organic carbon pools in the δ13Corg curve. Strontium isotope data (87Sr/86Sr) also show a transient shift from 0.70715 to 0.70694 associated with this early Wuchiapingian carbon isotope excursion (CIE), which is superimposed on the late Permian prolonged global rising trend. This short-lived 87Sr/86Sr excursion is best interpreted as an enhanced hydrothermal flux related to a short pulse of ELIP-related volcanism

A Unitary Association-based conodont biozonation of the Smithian–Spathian boundary (Early Triassic) and associated biotic crisis from South China

The Smithian–Spathian boundary (SSB) crisis played a prominent role in resetting the evolution and diversity of the nekton (ammonoids and conodonts) during the Early Triassic recovery. The late Smithian nektonic crisis culminated at the SSB, ca. 2.7 Myr after the Permian–Triassic boundary mass extinction. An accurate and high-resolution biochronological frame is needed for establishing patterns of extinction and re-diversification of this crisis. Here, we propose a new biochronological frame for conodonts that is based on the Unitary Associations Method (UAM). In this new time frame, the SSB can thus be placed between the climax of the extinction and the onset of the re-diversification. Based on the study of new and rich conodont collections obtained from five sections (of which four are newly described here) in the Nanpanjiang Basin, South China, we have performed a thorough taxonomical revision and described one new genus and 21 new species. Additionally, we have critically reassessed the published conodont data from 16 other sections from South China, and we have used this new, standardized dataset to construct the most accurate, highly resolved, and laterally reproducible biozonation of the Smithian to early Spathian interval for South China. The resulting 11 Unitary Association Zones (UAZ) are intercalibrated with lithological and chemostratigraphical (δ$^{13}$C$_{carb}$) markers, as well as with ammonoid zones, thus providing a firm basis for an evolutionary meaningful and laterally consistent definition of the SSB. Our UAZ$_{8,}$ which is characterized by the occurrence of Icriospathodus ex gr. crassatus, Triassospathodus symmetricus and Novispathodus brevissimus, is marked by a new evolutionary radiation of both conodonts and ammonoids and is within a positive peak in the carbon isotope record. Consequently, we propose to place the SSB within the separation interval intercalated between UAZ$_{7}$ and UAZ$_{8}$ thus leaving some flexibility for future refinement and updating

Dirty cash (money talks) : 4AMLD and the money laundering regulations 2017.

Presents a socio-legal analysis of reforms made by the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017, implementing Directive 2015/849. Discusses the Regulations' approach to risk, including due diligence and de-risking. Considers their potential effectiveness, human rights implications and unintended effects. Questions the effectiveness of registration provisions to promote transparency

Timing of global regression and microbial bloom linked with the Permian-Triassic boundary mass extinction: implications for driving mechanisms

New high-resolution U-Pb dates indicate a duration of 89 ± 38 kyr for the Permian hiatus and of 14 ± 57 kyr for the overlying Triassic microbial limestone in shallow water settings of the Nanpanjiang Basin, South China. The age and duration of the hiatus coincides with the Permian-Triassic boundary (PTB) and the extinction interval in the Meishan Global Stratotype Section and Point, and strongly supports a glacio-eustatic regression, which best explains the genesis of the worldwide hiatus straddling the PTB in shallow water records. In adjacent deep marine troughs, rates of sediment accumulation display a six-fold decrease across the PTB compatible with a dryer and cooler climate as indicated by terrestrial plants. Our model of the Permian-Triassic boundary mass extinction (PTBME) hinges on the synchronicity of the hiatus with the onset of the Siberian Traps volcanism. This early eruptive phase released sulfur-rich volatiles into the stratosphere, thus simultaneously eliciting a short-lived ice age responsible for the global regression and a brief but intense acidification. Abrupt cooling, shrunk habitats on shelves and acidification may all have synergistically triggered the PTBME. Subsequently, the build-up of volcanic CO2 induced a transient cool climate whose early phase saw the deposition of the microbial limestone

Onset, development, and cessation of basal Early Triassic microbialites (BETM) in the Nanpanjiang pull-apart Basin, South China Block

New investigations in the Nanpanjiang Basin indicate that the onset of the iconic microbialites associated with the Paleozoic-Mesozoic boundary was Early Triassic in age. Bathymetry (water agitation, oxygenation, light penetration) and clastic load are shown to have exerted a direct control on the growth of microbialites. Carbonate supersaturation is also required for the deposition of the microbialites. Bathymetric control is further corroborated by the inheritance of the topography of a latest Permian pull-apart basin into Early Triassic times, with a distribution of basal Early Triassic microbialites (BETM) restricted to uplifted blocks and the accumulation of carbonaceous black shales in adjacent troughs. The geographically most extensive Nanpanjiang BETM bloomed on a large NW–SE trending uplifted block exceeding 12,000 km2 (Luolou Platform) centered on northwestern Guangxi. Post-Triassic displacements along the Youjiang Fault obscure the paleogeographic relation of BETMexposed west of this fault. Triassic foraminifers occur in the basalmost BETMepisode,which is locally bracketed by high-energy grainstones made of reworked Permian foraminifers. Therefore, the Permian-Triassic boundary (PTB) is within the unconformity that separates the Late Permian Heshan Fm. from the basal most BETM.Where accommodation space was sufficient, up to five event surfaces are associatedwith the unconformity. Microfacies analysis supports chemical dissolution but did not reveal evidence for subaerial erosion, although intercalated grainstone made of Permian foraminifers indicate reworking. Chemical dissolution and mechanical erosion both conceivably contributed to the genesis of the unconformity. The upward shift fromtabulated to domical microbial build-ups is accompanied by accumulation of coquinoid lenses between domes, which indicate deepening of the Luolou Platform BETM. The main drowning resulting from both regional tectonic subsidence and a global sea-level rise led to the cessation of the BETM that were buried under predominant fine siliciclastics. Any concomitant change in sea water chemistry appears unlikely

Early Wuchiapingian (Lopingian, late Permian) drowning event in the South China block suggests a late eruptive phase of Emeishan large Igneous Province

Although the precise age and magnitude of the end-Guadalupian biodiversity crisis is still debated, this “mass” extinction has been customarily linked with the onset of massive volcanism in the Emeishan Large Igneous Province (ELIP) in south China. The onset of ELIP eruptive activity at least partly coincides in time with episodes of regional subsidence interrupting the predominant regime of carbonate platforms during Capitanian times. Here, we present a strikingly similar but younger (early Wuchiapingian) subsidence episode from the Pingtang syncline in southern Guizhou, termed the Mapojiao Event. Shallow-marine, light-grey, thick-bedded bioclastic limestone of the Wuchiaping Formation (Unit A) are overlain by deep-marine radiolarian-sponge spicule, thin-bedded black limestone (Unit B). The latter is followed by volcaniclastic distal turbidites (Unit C). The base of the next overlying unit consists of cherty, nodular limestone (Unit D) rich in radiolarians and sponge spicules, whose respective abundances decline up-ward within a few meters. Concomitant replacement by a shallow marine benthic fauna documents the uplift that terminates the event. A total of five index species of Clarkina conodonts indicating an early Wuchiapingian age were obtained from Units A and B. Brachiopods of Wuchiapingian age were also documented in units A, B and D. Compilation of drowning events in the Guadalupian-Lopingian (G-L) interval suggests clustering into three episodes; 1: middle Capitanian, 2: possibly latest Capitanian, 3: early Wuchiapingian. The first drowning event is overlain by ELIP volcanics in sections near the center of the volcanic province. In peripheral areas, the first drowning is intercalated within carbonate platforms (e.g. Maoershan). A second drowning event cannot be excluded close to G-L boundary but it is obscured by the unconformity associated with an eustatic regression and by ambiguous conodont age control. Overlying this unconformity, the Wangpo Shale, which contains ELIP-derived volcanic materials, rests on the first (e.g. in Chaotian) drowning event. The striking similarities of the facies architecture shared by the first and third drowning events suggest a similar driving mechanism. Hence, we propose that the Mapojiao Event represents the youngest, early Wuchiapingian, burst of ELIP eruptive activity. There is no one-to-one correlation between these episodes related to ELIP eruptive activity and extinction phases of marine clades. Only the end-Guadalupian extinction has been correlated with the first eruptive episode. In marked contrast, the newly discovered Mapojiao drowning episode occurred within a diversification phase, which undermines any causal relations between the younger phases of ELIP volcanism and additional extinctions