Abstract: Permian rugose corals underwent evolutionary episodes of assemblage changeover, biogeographical separation and extinction, which are closely related to geological events during this time. Two coral realms were recognized, the Tethyan Realm and the Cordilleran–Arctic–Uralian Realm. These are characterized by the families Kepingophyllidae and Waagenophyllidae during the Cisuralian, Waagenophyllidae in the Guadalupian and the subfamily Waagenophyllinae in the Lopingian, and the families Durhaminidae and Kleopatrinidae during the Cisuralian and major disappearance of colonial and dissepimented solitary rugose corals from the Guadalupian to the Lopingian, respectively. The development of these coral realms is controlled by the geographical barrier resulting from the Pangaea formation. According to the changes in the composition and diversity of the Permian rugose corals, a changeover event might have occurred at the end-Sakmarian and is characterized by the mixed Pennsylvanian and Permian faunas to typical Permian faunas, probably related to a global regression. In addition, three extinction events are present at the end-Kungurian, the end-Guadalupian and the end-Permian, which are respectively triggered by the northward movement of Pangaea, the Emeishan volcanic eruptions and subsequent global regression, and the global climate warming induced by the Siberian Traps eruption.

Abstract The sedimentary successions and four fossil groups, including rugose corals, brachiopods, fusulinaceans and conodonts, from the Carboniferous and Lower Permian of South China have been studied in order to reveal the sedimentary characteristics and evolutionary pattern of main biological groups in the East Tethyan region during the Late Palaeozoic Ice Age. The Lower Carboniferous lithology of South China is diverse, ranging from basinal and shelf carbonate rocks to coal measures and continental clastics, while the Upper Carboniferous and Lower Permian are composed mostly of shallow-marine carbonates. From uppermost Devonian to Lower Carboniferous, five major regression events are recognized at the topmost Devonian, middle and upper Tournaisian boundary, Tournasian–Viséan boundary, uppermost Viséan and the Mid-Carboniferous boundary in South China, separately. The Upper Carboniferous and Lower Permian shallow-water carbonate rocks consist of remarkable, high-frequency cyclothems. Moreover, another major sea-level fall is recognized and characterized by an extensive sedimentary hiatus at the Sakmarian–Artinskian boundary throughout South China. All of the sedimentary basins of South China were formed in extensional tectonic settings during this time; thus, multiple regressive events that occurred throughout South China should be primarily induced by glacio-eustatic drawdown. In addition, two biotic events characterized by a remarkable decline in the diversity of benthic biota and a turnover in the composition of fossil assemblages occurred, respectively, at the Mid-Carboniferous and Sakmarian–Artinskian boundaries, consistent with two major regressions, and were probably caused by the glaciations in Gondwana.

Abstract Pennsylvanian (Late Carboniferous)–Early Permian cyclothems are documented for the first time from the shallow-marine carbonate succession on the Yangtze Carbonate Platform, South China. The Zongdi section in southern Guizhou Province comprises bioclast-rich grey limestones with dark-coloured intervals yielding macro- and microfabrics related to emergent events. We recognized 26 depositional sequences (consisting essentially of basal peritidal sediments, middle shallow subtidal sediments and upper peritidal sediments affected by meteoric diagenesis and subaerial exposure) separated by 25 lowstand events. These are interpreted as having been formed by alternating marine transgression and regression resulting from variations in the Gondwanan ice sheets. They are compared with the Midcontinent (Kansas-type) cyclothems in North America. However, the Zongdi cyclothems are relatively thin and consist entirely of very shallow-marine sediments formed above wave base, whereas the Midcontinent cyclothems reflect deposition far below wave base. The Zongdi depositional environment was an upper shelf area, on a platform within the epeiric sea on the South China Craton, where sedimentation occurred in a relatively small (shallow) accommodation space during the highest stands of sea level. They were formed by major (large-scale) transgressions that submerged high-shelf areas, and most of them correspond to the major cyclothems of the North American Midcontinent Basin. The fusuline biostratigraphical framework reveals an uneven stratigraphical pattern of the Zongdi cyclothems, reflecting subtle fluctuations of tectonic subsidence on the epeiric Yangtze Carbonate Platform. Less erosion and karstification on the tops of cyclothems in the Zongdi section, together with the presence of partly calcareous palaeosols, indicates that a dry climate prevailed on the South China Block during the Pennsylvanian–Early Permian when the Zongdi cyclothems were formed.