中国科学院南京地质古生物研究所机构知识库

The end-Triassic mass extinction is one of the five big extinction events in the Phanerozoic, and its impact on marine organisms has been extensively studied. However, whether the terrestrial ecosystem had begun to deteriorate or even collapsed prior to the end-Triassic mass extinction remains controversial and the related studies in Asia are very limited. In this study, we provide a comprehensive investigation of the sedimentary environments, their implications for floral changes, and the paleoecology during the Norian-Rhaetian transition in Xuanhan area, northeastern Sichuan Basin, Southwest China. The sedimentary environments and climatic conditions changed coupling the transgression and regression caused by the tectonic movements. Climatic oscillations were identified during the Norian-Rhaetian transition in the Xuanhan area, including a short-term cooling event. The diversity and composition of the plant communities changed through the Norian-Rhaetian transition in Xuanhan area, but the terrestrial ecosystem as a whole didn't collapse or deteriorate prior to the end-Triassic mass extinction. (C) 2019 Elsevier Ireland Ltd Elsevier B.V. and Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, CAS. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.