The Early Triassic was a period of ecological restoration for the earth's system after the end-Permian mass extinction.Geochemical records linked to the variations in marine ecosystems during this period have attracted the interest of geologists for many years.Based on petrographic analysis of samples and evaluations of their reliability as proxies for original seawater,this study investigated the carbon and oxygen isotopic compositions of 350 carbonate rock samples from the Lower Triassic(and adjacent strata)in the southern Longmenxia section of Guang'an,eastern Sichuan Basin.The results indicate that the Triassic carbonate rocks from the southern Longmenxia section favorably preserved the original seawater'sδ^(13)C signal.Furthermore,carbon and oxygen isotopic compositions are found to be poorly correlated,with a determination coefficient as low as 0.0205 and only 44 rock samples show results of Mn/Sr>2 and/orδ^(18)0<-6.5‰.The complete carbon isotopic curve for the Lower Triassic is established using the data from the remaining 306 samples with Mn/Sr<2 and/orδ^(18)O>-6.5‰.This curve presents favorable comparability on a global scale,specifically in theδ^(13)C minima near the Permian-Triassic boundary,at the top of the Jia1 and within the the Jia3,as well as in theδ^(13)C maxima at the tops of the Ye1 and Ye4,at the base of the Jia2 and at the top of the Ye3.The peaks and troughs corresponding to these maxima and minima all reflect global signals.By comparing these results to previous research on coeval carbon isotopic curves established within the chronostratigraphic framework,the ages of these critical evolution points are determined.The results show that the Ye1 roughly corresponds to the Griesbachian substage;the Ye2 through Ye4 correspond to the Dienerian substage;Jial corresponds to the Smithian substage;from the Jia2 to the lower part of the Jia4 correspond to the Spathian substage;and the middle and upper parts of the Jia4 belongs to the Aegean Substage of the Middle Triassic.Around the boundary
Study of dolomite texture can contribute to understanding the process of dolomitization. This research reports textures and homogenization temperatures of dolomites from the Permian–Triassic strata in the Sichuan Basin and the Lower Paleozoic strata in the Tarim Basin, which provided insights into relationships between dolomite textures and their formation temperatures. Our results are summarized as follows: 1) dolomites with well-preserved texture indicate low dolomitization temperature. However, in certain diagenetic environments, the hydrothermal dolomitization may completely or partially preserve the original texture of dolomites. 2) The formation temperatures of non-planar dolomites are always higher than those of planar dolomites. 3) The formation temperatures of dolomite cements are generally higher than those of replacive dolomites. 4) Although the formation temperatures of saddle dolomite cements have a wide range, they show higher values than those of the planar subhedral to euhedral dolomite cements. Thus, saddle dolomites could generally be an indicator of high precipitation temperature. 5) The fluid Mg/Ca ratio is another element controlling dolomite morphology. Micritic dolomites, which precipitate from hypersaline fluids with a high Mg/Ca ratio in a subaerial environment could also have features of non-planar anhedral crystal shape because of rapid nucleation and crystallization during dolomitization.
