Conodont biostratigraphy across the Permian–Triassic boundary at the Dawen section, Great Bank of Guizhou, Guizhou Province, South China: Implications for the Late Permian extinction and correlation with Meishan

Several continuous Permian–Triassic boundary (PTB) sections are well exposed in the interior of the Great Bank of Guizhou (GBG) on the east limb of the Bianyang syncline, Luodian County, Guizhou Province, South China. Fourteen conodont taxa are identified, including Clarkina kazi, Clarkina lehrmanni n. sp., Clarkina taylorae, Clarkina zhejiangensis, Hindeodus eurypyge, Hindeodus inflatus, Hindeodus sxlatidentatus, Hindeodus parvus erectus, Hindeodus parvus parvus, Hindeodus postparvus, Hindeodus praeparvus, Hindeodus typicalis, Isarcicella staeschei, and Merrillina ultima based on a detailed study of the Permian-Triassic interval at the Dawen section. The first occurrence (FO) of H. parvus parvus in the lower Daye Formation, at about 7.45 m above the contact surface between the Upper Permian skeletal packstone and a calcimicrobial framestone unit, is correlated with the Permian–Triassic boundary; the occurrence of H. eurypyge, H. praeparvus and M. ultima immediately below and H. postparvus above the interval supports this interpretation. A morphometric analysis of 31 Hindeodus specimens helped distinguish H. parvus erectus from H. parvus parvus and H. postparvus. Correlation with the Meishan section (PTB GSSP) using both conodont biostratigraphy and carbon isotopes, indicates that the major extinction at the two localities is simultaneous and coincides with the top of the skeletal packstone at Dawen. The contact between the skeletal packstone and the calcimicrobialite is very irregular and has previously been interpreted as a dissolution surface and correlated with a surface in the lower part of bed 27 at Meishan. Our results confirm this interpretation and reveal that the dissolution event postdated the extinction.