A new high-resolution δ13C record for the Early Triassic: Insights from the Arabian Platform

Abstract

A new carbon isotope record with conodont biostratigraphy is presented for the entire Early Triassic from the Musandam Peninsula, United Arab Emirates (UAE). This is a near-continuous and exclusively shallow marine carbonate succession that allows analysis of a high-resolution primary carbon cycling signature in the absence of significant depth-dependent or lithologic controls. The Musandam carbon isotope record can be broadly correlated with global isotopic events but also resolves additional features, including the presence of significant negative events during the previously identified positive excursions at both the Dienerian/Smithian and Smithian/Spathian boundaries. A further positive event is revealed during the development of the mid-Spathian negative excursion, a feature not previously reported in any other section. These new short-lived events are probably related to the occurrence of the more widely recognized Early Triassic excursions, and may represent fluctuations in the driving mechanisms superimposed on the continued instability of the global carbon cycle in the aftermath of the end-Permian extinction. Together, these features highlight additional complexities to the Early Triassic carbon cycle perturbations than previously documented. © 2012 International Association for Gondwana Research.