The Global Stratotype Section and Point(GSSP) for the Permian-Triassic boundary was placed in Bed 27 of Meishan section D where the conodont species Hindeodus parvus first occurs.Bed 27 was usually considered comprising continuouslydeposited,homogeneous silty limestone,with no depositional hiatus near the boundary.Detailed study on the boundary sequence revealed that a typical firmground characterized by Glossifungites ichnofacies developed about 2 cm below the Permian-Triassic boundary in Bed 27.Fossil content and lithology show apparent differences across the firmground crust.The abundance of the Permian bioclasts decreases significantly across the firmground,and is accompanied by a shift of dominating carbonate precipitation from calcite to dolomite.The firmground marked a rapid transgression at the very end of the Late Permian and significant shifts of sedimentary environment and paleoclimate.This transgressive submerging surface is also observed at the Huangzhishan section of the shallow-water carbonate platform facies in Zhejiang Province,the Jiangya section of the lower-slope to basinal-margin facies in Hunan Province,the Pingdingshan section of the basinal facies in Anhui Province of South China,as well as the Selong section in Tibet of the northern peri-Gondwana.The transgressive submerging surface marks the onset of a rapid global transgression at the latest Permian.
The Neoproterozoic-Cambrian(N-C) and Permian-Triassic(P-T) transitions have been regarded the two most critical transitions in earth history because of the explosive biological radiation in the early Cambrian(the Cambrian Explosion) and the largest mass extinction at the end-Permian.Previous studies suggest that these two critical transitions showed certain comparability in major evolutionary events.In other words,a series of biological,geological,and geochemical events that had happened in the N-C transition occurred repeatedly during the P-T transition.Those events included continental re-configuration related to the deep mantle dynamics,global-scale glaciations,large C-,Sr-,and S-isotope perturbations indicating atmospheric and oceanic changes,abnormal precipitation of carbonates,and associated multiple biological radiations and mass extinctions.The coupling of those events in both N-C and P-T transitions suggests that deep mantle dynamics could be a primary mechanism driving dramatic changes of environment on the earth's surface,which in turn caused major biological re-organizations.A detailed comparison of those events during the two critical transitions indicates that despite their general comparability,significant differences do exist in magnitude,duration,and frequency.The supercontinent Rodinia began to rift before the Snowball Earth time.By contrast,the supercontinent Pangea entered the dispersal stage after the greatest glaciation from the Late Carboniferous to Cisuralian.Quantitative data and qualitative analyses of different fossil groups show a more profound mass extinction during the N-C transition than at the end-Permian in terms of ecosystem disruption.This is indicated by the disappearance of the whole Ediacaran biota at the N-C boundary.The subsequent appearances of many new complex animals at phylum level in the early Cambrian mark the establishment of a brand new ecosystem.However,the end-Permian mass extinction is manifested mainly by the extinction of many different taxa at class and order
