The hierarchically organized laminae, bundles, bundlesets and superbundlesets which correspond to a sub-Milankovitch, obliquity or precession, eccentricity and long eccentricity cyclothems, respectively, have been distinguished from the Upper Devonian Fras-nian-Famennian (F-F) transitional carbonate successions deposited in the carbonate-basin and slope facies of Guangxi, South China. The durations of cyclothems are 8000-10000a, 16667a or 33333a, 100000a and 400000a, respectively. The ratio of eccentricity to precession, eccentricity to obliquity, and long eccentricity to eccentricity is 1 : 6, 1 : 3 and 1 : 4 in the Devonian, respectively. Orbital cyclostratigraphical studies show that the durations of the conodont falsio-valis Zone, transitans Zone, punctate Zone, Lower hassi Zone, Upper hassi Zone, jamieae Zone, Lower rhenana Zone, Upper rhenana Zone, linguiformis Zone, Lower triangularis Zone, Middle triangularis Zone and Upper triangularis Zone are 0.4, 0.4, 0.4, 0.3, 0.4, 0.2, 0.8, 0.6, 0.8, 0.3, 0.3 and 0.3 Ma from bottom to top, respectively, and the duration of the Frasnian is 4.3 Ma. The conodont is the normal marine organism of the latest mass extinction (the latest linguiformis Zone) and the first recovery (including the whole Lower triangularis and Middle triangularis Zone) in the F-F transition. The conodont mass extinction and recovery lasted 200000-100000a and 0.6 Ma, respectively. We consider that average durations of the fossil zones calculated by reported numerical ages divided by fossil zone numbers within a stage or series or system cannot discovery complications and non-uniformity of evolutionary organisms and environments.
GONG Yiming, XU Ran, TANG Zhongdao & LI Baohua Faculty of Earth Science, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430074, China
The trace fossil Zoophycos was enriched in the lower part of the Guadalupian Maokou Formation of Permian in Laibin, Guangxi of South China, and characterized by observable lamellae within its spreiten. Associated with these lamellae are the prolific coccus- and spirillum-shaped microbe fossils. These microbes morphologically identified are 0.4―3.0 μm in diameter or length. Molecular fossils, including normal alkanes (dominated by C18, without an odd-over-even predominance), acyclic isoprenoids (such as pristane (Pr) and phytane (Ph)), extended tricyclic terpanes, pentacyclic triterpanes, steranes, al-kylcyclohexanes, dibenzothiophenes, benzonaphthothiophenes, benzobisbenzothiophenes, were in-strumentally identified in the wackestone characterized by the occurrence of abundant Zoophycos (composite ichnofabric indices are 4) and crowded microbial fossils. The value of the Pr/Ph ratio is less than 1, indicative of a dysoxic condition. The identification of abundant sulfur compounds (the thio-phene series) related to the contribution of reductive sulfur favors the occurrence of sulphate-reducing bacteria. The association of abundant microbial colonies with microbial molecular fossils within the spreiten suggests that trace fossils Zoophycos would be a multifunctional garden carefully constructed by the Zoophycos-producer, where different microbial colonies were orderly and carefully planted and cultured in different minor lamellae within spreiten. Hence, it is proposed that the Zoophycos-producer symbiosed with microbial colonies on the mutual basis of food supply and the redox conditions.
GONG YiMingXU RanXIE ShuChengHUANG XianYuHU BinQI YongAnZHANG GuoCheng
The abundance curves derived from area proportions of brachiopods and Girvanella in the thin sections from the Yangdi section, South China, exhibits complex relationships during the Late Devonian Frasnian-Famennian transition. The living activity of brachiopods such as grazing and borrowing did great damage to the growth of Girvanella. However, there was more to just a mere a survival competing relationship between them, Girvanella actually improved marine environments by oxygenating the dysoxic ambient sea-water through photosynthesis in the lower Kellwasser Horizon. Profited from this improvement brachiopods' abundance increased subsequently and suppressed Girvanella again. Nonetheless, without Girvanella's photosynthesis, brachiopods were wiped out by the farther anoxic environments in the upper Kellwasser Horizon. The complex relationships between Girvanella and brachiopods may be a key to unlocking the relationships between geomicrobes and metazoans in the geological overturn periods.
