A Review on Nomenclature and Evolutionary Patterns, with Particular Reference to the Asian-Western Pacific Region

Shi Guangrong

pp. 97-112, in English

Abstract:

A preliminary, hierarchical global Permian marine biogeographic framework is proposed, which divides the Permian marine biosphere into a total of 16 provinces belonging to three realms (Tethyan, Gondwanan and Boreal), with Tethyan Realm being subdivided into two regions: Asian Tethyan and American Tethyan. The proposed scheme also demonstrates the fact that both the geographical constituents of the realms, regions and provinces and their boundaries changed during the Permian, presumably in response to changes of geography and climate. This is, in particular, exemplified by the spatio-temporal evolutionary patterns of the Asian-western Pacific Permian marine provincialism, a dynamic pattern typified by the development and diminution of two late Early Permian transitional provinces with mixed faunas from adjacent realms: Sino-Mongolian in the north and Cimmerian in the south. The rise of the Sino-Mongolian Province with both Verkolyman and Cathaysian elements is attributed to a possible transgression of the Arctic sea into the Sino-Mongolian epicontinental seaway and accompanied faunal invasion. The development of the Cimmerian Province incorporating an admixture of both Gondwanan and Cathaysian affinities, on the other hand, is probably more likely to have been related to the interplay of tectonic events with concurrent global warming.

Keywords: Permian, marine biogeography, Asian-western Pacific