264 Geochemical Approaches to Earth Processes

Wednesday, 21 October 2009
1:30 PM - 5:30 PM
Portland Ballroom 252

HIGH-RESOLUTION CARBON ISOTOPE COMPOSITE CURVE FOR THE PERMIAN SYSTEM: IMPLICATIONS FOR ORGANIC CARBON BURIAL AND GLOBAL CLIMATE

Paper number: 264-10
Program: Technical Sessions
Time: 3:45 PM – 4:00 PM

Authors

Abstract

More than 1,000 marine carbonate carbon isotope (δ13Ccarb) samples from two measured sections in the Pequop Mountains, Nevada, USA and one section at Tieqiao, near Laibin, Guangxi Province, China were analyzed to create a biostratigraphically well-constrained, high-resolution composite δ13Ccarb curve for the Permian System. Samples were collected in conjunction with conodont biostratigraphic sampling and from sections with well-established foraminiferal biostratigraphic control. The high-resolution data presented here demonstrate that there is significant structure to the Permian δ13Ccarb curve, including both discrete positive and negative δ13Ccarb excursions.

Because previously published Permian δ13Ccarb curves are of relatively low resolution compared to our work, particularly for the Cisuralian and Guadalupian series, many of the events from these intervals identified by this study remain to be demonstrated elsewhere, and require verification before they can be demonstrated to be global events. However, some of the events from the uppermost Guadalupian and Lopingian identified here have been documented from other localities, which supports the global significance of these events.

This δ13Ccarb record has the potential to act as a powerful stratigraphic tool for correlation in the Permian. Additionally, our new curve may be used to evaluate the relative timing of changes in carbon cycling with respect to oceanographic and climatologic events.