Geologic evidence for chaotic behavior of the planets and its constraints on the third-order eustatic sequences at the end of the Late Paleozoic Ice Age

High-resolution (948 samples) measurements of anhysteretic remanent magnetization (ARM) were performed on the ~ 200 m thick Early-Middle Permian Maokou Formation of the Shangsi section, South China. The ARM variations are quasi-periodic and the wavelengths of significant cycles collectively present a ratio of 20:5:2:1 throughout the formation, corresponding to long orbital eccentricity, short orbital eccentricity, obliquity, and precession cycles. A strong obliquity (44 and 33 kyr) signal suggests that waning and waxing of the ice sheet in eastern Australia at the end of the Late Paleozoic Ice Age (LPIA) exerted a significant influence on global climate and sea level. A “floating” astronomical time scale (ATS) is developed using the 405 kyr orbital eccentricity cycle as an astronomical calibration target. This results in estimation of the Roadian and Wordian stages duration as 3.7 ± 0.4 myr and 2.9 ± 0.4 myr, respectively. Prominent ~ 2 myr cycles likely originated from Earth and Mars secular frequencies g4-g3, and ~ 1 myr cycles from s4-s3. These periodicities are shorter than those observed in the Cenozoic Era, which may be due to the chaotic behavior of the planets, but still reflecting 2:1 secular resonance between Earth and Mars. Third-order eustatic sequences are linked to the s4-s3 obliquity term, which suggests a glacioeustatic controlling mechanism during this transitional stage from Paleozoic icehouse to Mesozoic greenhouse.