Late Paleozoic macrofloral assemblages from Weibei Coalfield, with reference to vegetational change through the Late Paleozoic Ice-age in the North China Block

Based on investigations of seven stratigraphic sections in the Weibei Coalfield, a typical coal basin in the North China Block, the succession of Late Paleozoic plant macrofossil assemblages from the Benxi (or Penchi in old spelling), Taiyuan, Shanxi, Lower Shihhotse and Upper Shihhotse Formations were redefined. These zones are the: Paripteris spp.–Linopteris spp.–Conchophyllum richthofenii Assemblage (Benxi Fm.), Neuropteris pseudovata–Lepidodendron posthumii Assemblage (Taiyuan and lower Shanxi Fms.), Emplectopteridium alatum–Emplectopteris triangularis–Cathaysiopteris whitei Assemblage (upper Shanxi and Lower Shihhotse Fms.), Gigantonoclea lagrelii–Fascipteris hallei–Lobatannularia heianensis Assemblage (Upper Shihhotse Fm.). As a result of this biostratigraphic reanalysis, it has become clear that biostratigraphic boundaries do not exactly correlate to lithostratigraphic boundaries as has been thought. The biostratigraphy of the terrestrial deposits in the North China Block were correlated to the IUGS Global Chronostratigraphy. The more precise chronostratigraphic constraints that were obtained as a result of this study make it possible to more precisely correlate the vegetational successions to the concurrent waxing and waning of the Late Paleozoic ice sheets.