Recently, much attention has been paid to the climatic significance of carbonates originating in shallow water. Permian carbonates of shallow shelf origin are present in the upper part of the Dingjiazhai Formation, the upper part of the Yongde Formation, and the Shazipo Formation on the Baoshan block of Western Yunnan. Their skeleton and non-skeleton grain as-sociations have been investigated in this study. The carbonates of the Dingjiazhai Formation indicate a Bryonoderm (bryozoans-echinoderm) association without non-skeleton grains. The carbonates of Yongde and Shazipo formations show Chloroforam (green algae-foraminifers) association with peloids. Oolites develop in the Shazipo Formation. Based on the comparisons of grain association with coeval carbonates formed in different paleolatitudes (i.e. various paleo-climatic zones), the carbonates of the Dingjiazhai Formation were thought to have been accu-mulated in shelf environments of warm-temperate zone, and those of the Yongde and Shazipo formations in shelf environments of warm-water.
YAN Jiaxin1, LIANG Dingyi1 & WU Ming2 1. Faculty of Earth Sciences, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430074, China
Based on reconstructions of paleogeography, paleoclimate and paleoceanography of the Chihsian, Wujiapingian, Anisian and Norian intervals in the eastern Tethys, the multiple intrinsic relationship and interaction among the lithosphere, the hydrosphere and the atmosphere as well as their evolutions are discussed. It was demonstrated that paleogeographic change of the eastern Tethys and the northward shift of the Pangea during the Permo-Triassic periods governed the coeval paleocurrent pattern and its evolution, which in turn seems to be a key contributor forcing the Permo-Triassic megamonsoon to the climax.
