Marine flooding surfaces recorded in Permian black shales and coal deposits of the Main Karoo Basin (South Africa): Implications for basin dynamics and cross-basin correlation

© 2017 Elsevier B.V. The marine origin of black shales in the context of the Permian postglacial development of the Karoo Basin, South Africa, is subject of an ongoing controversial discussion. Here, we present and discuss palynological and sedimentological data providing evidence of a transgressive event during the early Guadalupian. Palynofacies assemblages of the black shales of the southern basin include marine phytoplankton that exhibit peak abundance within the Whitehill shales and which also occur within siltstones and glauconitic sandstones on top of the No. 5 coal seam of the north-eastern basin. Palynostratigraphic control makes this marine signal a powerful tool for cross-basin correlation. Moreover, palynofacies analysis demonstrates a facies transition from terrestrial lacustrine and fluvio-deltaic in the northeast to deep marine in the south-western parts of the basin

Palynological records of the Permian Ecca Group (South Africa): Utilizing climatic icehouse-greenhouse signals for cross basin correlations

© 2014 Elsevier B.V. The Permian formations of the South African Karoo Basin play a crucial role in understanding Gondwana's climate history during this time of major global changes. In this paper we present two data sets, one from the coal-bearing Vryheid Formation (Witbank Basin) and one from the Whitehill and Upper Prince Albert formations of the DP 1/78 core (NE Karoo).Our main goal was to study the vegetation changes during this period of global warming and test if the climatic signals could be used to correlate the basinal Ecca group facies with the fluvio-deltaic coal-bearing strata of the Witbank Basin. The palynological record of the No. 2 Coal Seam of the Vryheid Formation indicates a cold climate, fern wetland community, characteristic of lowland alluvial plains, and an upland conifer community in the lower part of the coal seam. Up section, these communities are replaced by a cool-temperate cycad-like lowland vegetation and gymnospermous upland flora. The data set of the DP 1/78 core is interpreted to represent a cool to warm temperate climate represented by a high amount of Gangamopteris and Glossopteris elements.Both data sets are very different in their composition, which can be explained by the differences in depositional environment; however, our findings reveal a different age of the studied assemblages and thus also suggest that both data sets represent different stages in the transition from icehouse to greenhouse during Permian times. As the stratigraphic correlation between the Main Karroo Basin and the peripheral basins is still under discussion, this paper provides new data to underpin the stratigraphic placement of the Whitehill Formation relative to the coal-bearing Vryheid Formation

Climate change at the Triassic/Jurassic boundary: palynological evidence from the Furkaska section (Tatra Mountains, Slovakia)

The palynology of the Triassic/Jurassic boundary interval of the Furkaska section (Tatra Mts, Slovakia) was studied with respect to a major climatic change during that period. The palynofacies is dominated by terrestrial particles, indicating a shallow marine depositional environment. The palynomorphs are fairly well-preserved and the assemblage shows characteristic changes within the Triassic/Jurassic boundary interval: the lower part of the section is characterized by high abundance of Ricciisporites tuberculatus. The sudden increase in abundance of trilete spores, the decrease in the abundance of Ovalipollis spp., the last appearance of Alisporites minimus and Corollina spp., and the first appearance of Concavisporites rhaetoliassicus, Cyatidites australis, Callialasporites dampieri, Pinuspollenites minimus, Platysaccus spp. and Zebrasporites fimbriatus are striking features for a subdivision of two palynomorph assemblages. The detected spore shift is interpreted to display a sudden increase in humidity most probably caused by the volcanic activity of the Central Atlantic Magmatic Province (CAMP) associated with the onset of rifting of Pangaea during early Mesozoic times

Climate change at the Triassic/Jurassic boundary in the northwestern Tethyan realm, inferred from sections in the Tatra Mountains (Slovakia)

Sedimentological, palynological, clay mineralogical and carbon isotope studies were carried out on the Triassic/Jurassic (T/J) boundary interval in the Nw Tethyan realm. The analyses are based on two sections in the Slovakian Tatra Mountains (western Carpathians): the Široký Žľab section in the Meďodoly Valley and the furkaska section above the Juráňova Valley. Clay mineralogical analysis suggests an increasing intensity of chemical weathering in the hinterland due to increasing humidity. The palynological data do not allow the inference of a major T/J boundary mass extinction event. The observed striking increase in spores points instead to sudden climatic change, interpreted as a result of distant volcanic activity associated with the onset of rifting of Pangea. The δ13Corg excursion across the T/J boundary follows the globally documented perturbation of the carbon cycle during this period. it may be used for a more precise regional and global correlation

Palynological records of the Permian Ecca Group (South Africa): Utilizing climatic icehouse-greenhouse signals for cross basin correlations

© 2014 Elsevier B.V. The Permian formations of the South African Karoo Basin play a crucial role in understanding Gondwana's climate history during this time of major global changes. In this paper we present two data sets, one from the coal-bearing Vryheid Formation (Witbank Basin) and one from the Whitehill and Upper Prince Albert formations of the DP 1/78 core (NE Karoo).Our main goal was to study the vegetation changes during this period of global warming and test if the climatic signals could be used to correlate the basinal Ecca group facies with the fluvio-deltaic coal-bearing strata of the Witbank Basin. The palynological record of the No. 2 Coal Seam of the Vryheid Formation indicates a cold climate, fern wetland community, characteristic of lowland alluvial plains, and an upland conifer community in the lower part of the coal seam. Up section, these communities are replaced by a cool-temperate cycad-like lowland vegetation and gymnospermous upland flora. The data set of the DP 1/78 core is interpreted to represent a cool to warm temperate climate represented by a high amount of Gangamopteris and Glossopteris elements.Both data sets are very different in their composition, which can be explained by the differences in depositional environment; however, our findings reveal a different age of the studied assemblages and thus also suggest that both data sets represent different stages in the transition from icehouse to greenhouse during Permian times. As the stratigraphic correlation between the Main Karroo Basin and the peripheral basins is still under discussion, this paper provides new data to underpin the stratigraphic placement of the Whitehill Formation relative to the coal-bearing Vryheid Formation

Marine flooding surfaces recorded in Permian black shales and coal deposits of the Main Karoo Basin (South Africa): Implications for basin dynamics and cross-basin correlation

© 2017 Elsevier B.V. The marine origin of black shales in the context of the Permian postglacial development of the Karoo Basin, South Africa, is subject of an ongoing controversial discussion. Here, we present and discuss palynological and sedimentological data providing evidence of a transgressive event during the early Guadalupian. Palynofacies assemblages of the black shales of the southern basin include marine phytoplankton that exhibit peak abundance within the Whitehill shales and which also occur within siltstones and glauconitic sandstones on top of the No. 5 coal seam of the north-eastern basin. Palynostratigraphic control makes this marine signal a powerful tool for cross-basin correlation. Moreover, palynofacies analysis demonstrates a facies transition from terrestrial lacustrine and fluvio-deltaic in the northeast to deep marine in the south-western parts of the basin

Palynological records of the Permian Ecca Group (South Africa): Utilizing climatic icehouse-greenhouse signals for cross basin correlations

© 2014 Elsevier B.V. The Permian formations of the South African Karoo Basin play a crucial role in understanding Gondwana's climate history during this time of major global changes. In this paper we present two data sets, one from the coal-bearing Vryheid Formation (Witbank Basin) and one from the Whitehill and Upper Prince Albert formations of the DP 1/78 core (NE Karoo).Our main goal was to study the vegetation changes during this period of global warming and test if the climatic signals could be used to correlate the basinal Ecca group facies with the fluvio-deltaic coal-bearing strata of the Witbank Basin. The palynological record of the No. 2 Coal Seam of the Vryheid Formation indicates a cold climate, fern wetland community, characteristic of lowland alluvial plains, and an upland conifer community in the lower part of the coal seam. Up section, these communities are replaced by a cool-temperate cycad-like lowland vegetation and gymnospermous upland flora. The data set of the DP 1/78 core is interpreted to represent a cool to warm temperate climate represented by a high amount of Gangamopteris and Glossopteris elements.Both data sets are very different in their composition, which can be explained by the differences in depositional environment; however, our findings reveal a different age of the studied assemblages and thus also suggest that both data sets represent different stages in the transition from icehouse to greenhouse during Permian times. As the stratigraphic correlation between the Main Karroo Basin and the peripheral basins is still under discussion, this paper provides new data to underpin the stratigraphic placement of the Whitehill Formation relative to the coal-bearing Vryheid Formation

Marine flooding surfaces recorded in Permian black shales and coal deposits of the Main Karoo Basin (South Africa): Implications for basin dynamics and cross-basin correlation

© 2017 Elsevier B.V. The marine origin of black shales in the context of the Permian postglacial development of the Karoo Basin, South Africa, is subject of an ongoing controversial discussion. Here, we present and discuss palynological and sedimentological data providing evidence of a transgressive event during the early Guadalupian. Palynofacies assemblages of the black shales of the southern basin include marine phytoplankton that exhibit peak abundance within the Whitehill shales and which also occur within siltstones and glauconitic sandstones on top of the No. 5 coal seam of the north-eastern basin. Palynostratigraphic control makes this marine signal a powerful tool for cross-basin correlation. Moreover, palynofacies analysis demonstrates a facies transition from terrestrial lacustrine and fluvio-deltaic in the northeast to deep marine in the south-western parts of the basin