Redefinition of the Global Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) and new Standard Auxiliary Boundary Stratotype (SABS) for the base of Wuchiapingian Stage (Lopingian Series, Permian) in South China

Shu-zhong Shen; Dong-xun Yuan; Yi-chun Zhang; Charles, M. Henderson; Quan-feng Zheng; Hua Zhang; Min Zhang; Yu Dai; Hai-peng Xu; Wen-qian Wang; Qian Li; Yue Wang; Xiang-dong Wang; Lin Mu; Jahandar Ramezani; Douglas H. Erwin; Lucia Angiolini; Fei-fei Zhang; Zhang-shuai Hou; Jun Chen; Xi-yang Zhang; Shu-han Zhang; Qiong Wu; Yong-xin Pan; Michael Stephenson; Shi-long Mei

doi:10.18814/epiiugs/2023/023023

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Communication of IUGS Geological Standards

Episodes 2024; 47(1): 147-177

Published online March 1, 2024

https://doi.org/10.18814/epiiugs/2023/023023

Redefinition of the Global Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) and new Standard Auxiliary Boundary Stratotype (SABS) for the base of Wuchiapingian Stage (Lopingian Series, Permian) in South China

Shu-zhong Shen^1*, Dong-xun Yuan², Yi-chun Zhang³, Charles, M. Henderson⁴, Quan-feng Zheng³, Hua Zhang³, Min Zhang⁵, Yu Dai⁶, Hai-peng Xu¹, Wen-qian Wang¹, Qian Li⁶, Yue Wang³, Xiang-dong Wang¹, Lin Mu³, Jahandar Ramezani⁷, Douglas H. Erwin⁸, Lucia Angiolini⁹, Fei-fei Zhang¹, Zhang-shuai Hou¹, Jun Chen¹⁰, Xi-yang Zhang¹¹, Shu-han Zhang¹, Qiong Wu¹², Yong-xin Pan⁵, Michael Stephenson¹³, Shi-long Mei¹⁴

¹State Key Laboratory for Mineral Deposits Research, School of Earth Sciences and Engineering and Frontiers Science Center for Critical Earth Material Cycling, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China
²School of Resources and Geosciences, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou 221116, China
³State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China
⁴Department of Geoscience, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB T2N 1N4, Canada
⁵Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) Key Laboratory of Earth and Planetary Physics, Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029, China
⁶Guangxi Institute of Regional Geological Survey, 6 Huanchengnaner Road, Guilin, Guangxi 541003, China
⁷Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
⁸Department of Paleobiology, MRC-121, National Museum of Natural History, Washington, D.C. 20013-7012, USA
⁹Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra “Ardito Desio”, Università degli Studi di Milano, Via Mangiagalli 34, I-20133 Milano
¹⁰State Key Laboratory of Isotope Geochemistry and CAS Center for Excellence in Deep Earth Science, Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510640, China
¹¹Key Laboratory of Ocean and Marginal Sea Geology, South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Innovation Academy of South China Sea Ecology and Environmental Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510301, China
¹²Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Guangzhou), Guangzhou 511458, China
¹³British Geological Survey, Keyworth, Nottingham NG12 5GG, UK
¹⁴Alberta Geological Survey, 98 Avenue Edmonton, Alberta T6B 2X3, Canada

Correspondence to:^*E-mail: szshen@nju.edu.cn

Received: August 16, 2023; Revised: September 20, 2023; Accepted: September 20, 2023

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

The Global Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) of the base-Wuchiapingian Stage was formally ratified at the Penglaitan section in South China in 2005. However, the riverside GSSP section at Penglaitan and its auxiliary section at Tieqiao have been permanently flooded since 2020. We herein designate an excavated section at Penglaitan as the new GSSP and the Fengshan section as a new Standard Auxiliary Boundary Stratotype (SABS). In addition, we revised the original definition based on a detailed restudy of the conodont succession from the two sections. We define the GSSP of the base-Wuchiapingian by the First Appearance Datum (FAD) of Clarkina postbitteri within the lineage Jinogondolella granti → Clarkina postbitteri → C. dukouensis. It represents a major evolutionary turnover in conodonts from Jinogondolella to Clarkina and marks the end-Guadalupian extinction event. The U-Pb date of 259.51 ± 0.21 Ma from the uppermost part of the Emeishan basalt is adopted for the GLB age. δ¹³C_carb chemostratigraphy at the SABS exhibits several excursions between 3‰ and 5‰ across the GLB interval. Carbonate ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratio is 0.707244 at the GLB. Remarkably, the SABS contains six normal and six reverse geomagnetic polarity zones in the uppermost Capitanian and three in the lowest Wuchiapingian.