二叠纪末期的全球淹没事件

本文根据华南层序地层学分析，着重研究了晚二叠世的淹没事件。研究表明，晚二叠世海平面变化曲线不同于Ｃ．Ａ．Ｒｏｓｓ和Ｊ．Ｒ．Ｒｏｓｓ（１９８７）的海平面变化曲线。根据华南地区和世界其它地区的古生物分析和层序地层分析，晚二叠世海平面变化结论如下：（１）二叠纪末期，全球发生海泛淹没事件，海平面急剧上升，而不是下降；（２）晚二叠世晚期的海进开始于吴家坪末期，至长兴期末期（二叠纪末期）达到高峰时期。     

广西来宾二叠系瓜德鲁普统-乐平统界线蓬莱滩剖面沉积微相演变及其对生物灭绝事件的响应

在中二叠世(瓜德鲁普世)末期发生了一次全球范围的生物灭绝事件,大约有34%的海洋无脊椎动物消失,同时发生了全球规模的海退事件。该事件在中国反应为东吴运动,致使华南大部分地区瓜德鲁普统—乐平统之交产生不整合。广西来宾地区位于扬子地台南缘,在中—晚二叠世时期处于滇黔桂盆地的东部。由于其独特的古地理位置,来宾地区发育了连续的中—晚二叠世海相沉积,是研究此次生物大灭绝和环境演变的绝佳位置。本文对广西来宾蓬莱滩瓜德鲁普统—乐平统(G—L)界线剖面沉积微相和生物化石进行了综合研究。研究表明,该剖面1～7层共发育5种主要的沉积微相组合,既礁基相组合、礁核相组合、覆礁相组合、礁滩相组合和深水斜坡相组合,生物礁发育于一个海退序列中。生物碎屑的丰度和类型在7a层突然急剧降低,与该剖面碳同位素的负偏和汞异常的出现一致,但实际上在这一层位只有个别牙形石和菊石消失,生物屑丰度的剧变并不能代表灭绝线,而是对海平面剧变的沉积响应。     

中国南方二叠纪海平面变化及升降事件

在对中国南方二叠纪层序地层、充填特征及沉积演化认识基础上,通过研究海平面升降变化及事件后认为:华南二叠纪相对海平面升降旋回与其层序数量一致,升降型式可有两种且互成影像;二级海平面升降包括“二分式”和“单分式”,前者以扬子区为代表,后者典型见于华夏区;海平面升降事件发生在栖霞早期、茅口早期、茅口末期、吴家坪早期及长兴中后期;二级、三级海平面变化在升降样式、数量、相位上与欧美各地有所不同,其成因与所处构造域有关。     

Paleo‐fires and Atmospheric Oxygen Levels in the Latest Permian: Evidence from Maceral Compositions of Coals in Eastern Yunnan,Southern China

Inertinite maceral compositions of the Late Permian coals from three sections in the terrestrial and paralic settings of eastern Yunnan are analyzed in order to reveal the paleo-fire events and the atmospheric oxygen levels in the latest Permian. Although the macerals in the studied sections are generally dominated by vitrinite, the inertinite group makes up a considerable proportion. Its content increases upward from the beginning of the Late Permian to the coal seam near the Permian-Triassic boundary. Based on the microscopic features and the prevailing theory that inertinite is largely a by-product of paleo-fires, we suggest that the increasing upward trend of the inertinite abundance in the latest Permian could imply that the Late Permian peatland had suffered from frequent wildfires. Since ignition and burning depend on sufficient oxygen, a model-based calculation suggests that the O2 levels near the Wuchiapingian/Changhsingian boundary and the Permian-Triassic boundary are 27% and 28% respectively. This output adds supports to other discoveries made in the temporal marine and terrestrial sediments, and challenges the theories advocating hypoxia as a mechanism for the Permian-Triassic boundary crisis.     

天文事件与二叠纪末联合古陆解体

二叠纪末发生了全球规模的剧烈变化，这种变化表现为古地磁逆转、古气候改变、显生宙规模最大的海退、缺氧事件、火山活动、地球化学异常及地史上规模最大的生物集群灭绝。全球二叠纪／三叠纪界线附近陆续发现了陨星撞击抛射物(微球粒)和不同程度的Ir等地球化学异常，表明二叠纪末发生了陨星撞击地球的天文事件。联合古陆从三叠纪开始解体，联合古陆解体的过程实际上就是特提斯洋缩小直至消亡的过程，也就是特提斯洋周缘板块聚合的过程。陨星撞击点可能位于二叠纪末特提斯洋北部，最终导致了特提斯洋消亡及联合古陆解体。     

陕西渭北二叠纪-三叠纪之交叶肢介化石及其地层对比

陆相二叠纪-三叠纪地层划分与对比对全面认识该时期全球性重大生物与环境突变事件具有重要意义,也是当前国际古生物学与地层学研究的重点和难点.选择陕西渭北为重点研究区域,通过对该地区石川河剖面和后周公庙剖面的叶肢介化石进行系统的分类学研究,恢复了叶肢介化石的面貌和组合特征,从而利用叶肢介化石组合来进行该地区二叠纪-三叠纪之交的生物地层划分和对比.其中,石川河剖面共产出叶肢介化石4属8种,后周公庙剖面共产出叶肢介化石2属3种.据此,该地区二叠纪-三叠纪之交的叶肢介化石由老到新可划分为3个组合,分别是晚二叠世晚期的Pseudestheria minuta-Pseudestheria xinjiangensis组合,二叠纪-三叠纪过渡期的Euestheria gutta-Palaeolimnadiopsis vilujensis组合和早三叠世早期的Magniestheria subcircularis-Cornia germari组合,并且通过这些叶肢介化石组合可以大致建立不同沉积区之间的生物地层对比关系.另外,两条剖面上都存在叶肢介化石与海相化石同层产出的现象,认为通过研究陕西渭北地区由于多期次海泛事件所导致的海、陆混合生物群,有望建立二叠纪-三叠纪之交该地区与海相地层的生物地层对比关系.      

Evolution of sedimentary facies and fossil communities in the Middle Permian Maokou Formation in Zigui County,Hubei Province,South China

A geological event that happened at the end of the Middle Permian resulted in different levels of erosion in a shallow-water platform of South China, which led to diverse geological records in different sections. The Lianziya section in western Hubei Province of South China has a well-exposed stratigraphic sequence of the late Middle Permian rocks with abundant fossils and sedimentary facies types, providing new evidences for understanding the evolution of marine biota and environment in the late Middle Permian. Our study shows that four fossil communities can be recognized with the change of sedimentary facies in the late Middle Permian: Foraminiferal-algal community, phylloid algal community, bryozoan community and Ungdarella community. The foraminiferal-algal community is dominated by fusulinids and calcareous algae, but was soon replaced by the phylloid algal community. With an increase of terrestrial input, the phylloid algal community was again replaced by the bryozoan community. Near the end of the Middle Permian, with a decrease of terrestrial input, the bryozoan fossil community disappeared while the Ungdarella community became dominant. A 10 cm-thick weathered crust occurred at the top of the Middle Permian limestone, marking a large amplitude fall in sea-level and the beginning of a terrestrial erosion stage. The sedimentary facies and fossil community changes in the Lianziya section indicates that the Middle Permian crisis was a gradual process while the sea-level fall mainly occurred in the latest Middle Permian.     

A tephra-based correlation of marine and terrestrial records of MIS 11c from Britain and the North Atlantic

Resolving marine and terrestrial records of glacial and interglacial stages has long been a challenge for Quaternary studies. We present a tephra-based correlation for MIS 11c of a North Atlantic marine core and a British terrestrial record (Marks Tey). A varved chronology is presented for the annually laminated lake sequence at Marks Tey and the proxy data from this site are plotted on an annual timescale for the first time. This record shows clear evidence for an abrupt cold event and corresponding ecological and landscape response. Varve counting shows that the abrupt event lasted for ca 185 a but the impact on the landscape persisted for ca 560 a. The co-occurrence of a single tephra layer in Marks Tey and ODP 980 allows these two records to be correlated. Furthermore, this synchronisation shows that the abrupt cold event in Marks Tey was coincident with a centennial-scale cold event in ODP 980, as evidenced by an increase in Neogloboquadrina pachyderma (s) percentage. In both ODP 980 and Marks Tey the age of this abrupt event was ca 414 500 a indicating that, at this point in MIS 11c, a widespread cold event occurred in the northeastern Atlantic and the British Isles.     

Timing and magnitude of tetrapod extinctions across the Permo-Triassic boundary

A review of the tetrapod (amphibian and amniote) record across the Permo-Triassic boundary (PTB) indicates a global evolutionary turnover of tetrapods close to the PTB. There is also a within-Guadalupian tetrapod extinction here called the dinocephalian extinction event, probably of global extent. The dinocephalian extinction event is a late Wordian or early Capitanian extinction based on biostratigraphic data and magnetostratigraphy (the extinction precedes the Illawara reversal), so it is not synchronous with the end-Guadalupian marine extinction. The Russian PTB section documents two tetrapod extinction events, one just before the dinocephalian extinction event and the other at the base of the Lystrosaurus assemblage. However, generic diversity across the latter extinction remains essentially the same despite a total evolutionary turnover of tetrapod genera. The Chinese and South African sections document the stratigraphic overlap of Dicynodon and Lystrosaurus. In the Karoo basin, the lowest occurrence of Lystrosaurus is in a stratigraphic interval of reversed magnetic polarity, which indicates it predates the marine-defined PTB, so, as previously suggested by some workers, the lowest occurrence of Lystrosaurus cannot be used to identify the PTB in nonmarine strata. Correlation of the marine PTB section at Meishan, southern China, to the Karoo basin based primarily on magnetostratigraphy indicates that the main marine extinction preceded the PTB tetrapod extinction event. The ecological severity of the PTB tetrapod extinction event has generally been overstated, and the major change in tetrapod assemblages that took place across the PTB was the prolonged and complex “replacement” of therapsids by archosaurs that began before the end of the Permian and was not complete until well into the Triassic. The tetrapod extinctions are not synchronous with the major marine extinctions at the end of the Guadalupian and just before the end of the Permian, so the idea of catastrophic causes of synchronous PTB extinctions on land and sea should be reconsidered.     

Rapid vertebrate recuperation in the Karoo Basin of South Africa following the End-Permian extinction

The mass extinction that occurred at the end of the Permian Period approximately 251 Mya is widely accepted as the most devastating extinction event in Earth’s history. An estimated 75–90% of global diversity from both marine and terrestrial realms disappeared synchronously within at most one million and perhaps as little as 100,000 years. To date, most research has focused on the marine record and it is only recently that a few fully preserved terrestrial Permo-Triassic boundary sequences have been discovered. The main Karoo Basin of South Africa hosts several well-preserved non-marine Permo-Triassic boundary sequences that have been the focus of intensive research into the nature of the extinction and its possible causes. This study uses sedimentological and biostratigraphic data from boundary sequences near Bethulie in the southern Karoo Basin to make assumptions about the rates and timing of recovery of the terrestrial fauna in this portion of southern Gondwana after the extinction event. The biostratigraphic data gathered from 277 in situ vertebrate fossils allows us to define more accurately the temporal ranges of several taxa. These data also confirm a more precise extinction rate in this part of the basin of 54% of latest Permian vertebrate taxa, followed by the onset of a relatively rapid recovery, within an estimated 40–50 thousand years (based on the calculation of floodplain aggradation rates and compaction ratios) that included the origination of at least 12 new vertebrate taxa from amongst the survivors.     

The plant fossil record reflects just two great extinction events

Five great taxonomic extinctions (the so‐called ‘Big Five Mass Extinctions’) are widely recognized in life history, at the end of the Ordovician, Frasnian (Late Devonian), Permian, Triassic and Cretaceous. All of them were originally identified in the marine fossil record and have been interpreted as the result of abrupt global environmental changes. Previous evidence has suggested that terrestrial biota were also subjected to ecological disruption during these events, but it is unknown whether they suffered the same level of large‐scale taxonomic disruption as marine organisms. Here we show that the plant fossil record in fact only provides evidence of two mass taxonomic extinction events, one through the Carboniferous‐Permian transition, the other during middle‐late Permian times. This differs significantly from the mass extinctions recognized in the marine realm and suggests that vascular plants have a special capacity for surviving abrupt environmental changes.     

Timing and magnitude of tetrapod extinctions across the Permo-Triassic boundary

A review of the tetrapod (amphibian and amniote) record across the Permo-Triassic boundary (PTB) indicates a global evolutionary turnover of tetrapods close to the PTB. There is also a within-Guadalupian tetrapod extinction here called the dinocephalian extinction event, probably of global extent. The dinocephalian extinction event is a late Wordian or early Capitanian extinction based on biostratigraphic data and magnetostratigraphy (the extinction precedes the Illawara reversal), so it is not synchronous with the end-Guadalupian marine extinction. The Russian PTB section documents two tetrapod extinction events, one just before the dinocephalian extinction event and the other at the base of the Lystrosaurus assemblage. However, generic diversity across the latter extinction remains essentially the same despite a total evolutionary turnover of tetrapod genera. The Chinese and South African sections document the stratigraphic overlap of Dicynodon and Lystrosaurus. In the Karoo basin, the lowest occurrence of Lystrosaurus is in a stratigraphic interval of reversed magnetic polarity, which indicates it predates the marine-defined PTB, so, as previously suggested by some workers, the lowest occurrence of Lystrosaurus cannot be used to identify the PTB in nonmarine strata. Correlation of the marine PTB section at Meishan, southern China, to the Karoo basin based primarily on magnetostratigraphy indicates that the main marine extinction preceded the PTB tetrapod extinction event. The ecological severity of the PTB tetrapod extinction event has generally been overstated, and the major change in tetrapod assemblages that took place across the PTB was the prolonged and complex “replacement” of therapsids by archosaurs that began before the end of the Permian and was not complete until well into the Triassic. The tetrapod extinctions are not synchronous with the major marine extinctions at the end of the Guadalupian and just before the end of the Permian, so the idea of catastrophic causes of synchronous PTB extinctions on land and sea should be reconsidered.     

长江三峡东部地区震旦纪事件沉积?

长江三峡东部地区震旦纪先后发生了热事件、冷事件、重力事件等突发性灾变沉积。早震旦世发育由河流作用与陆地冰川作用形成的陆源碎屑沉积；晚震旦世则发育由两次台地-盆地-台地的海进-海退旋回形成的巨厚海相碳酸盐沉积。热事件沉积产物见于下震旦统莲沱组，夹于河流相沉积的砂岩及粉砂岩中。根据凝灰碎屑的岩石学特征，可将其分为降落型凝灰碎屑和水携型凝灰碎屑两类。冷事件沉积产物为下震旦统南沱冰碛层，属低纬度低高程的大陆冰川沉积。重力事件可分为滑塌事件和浊流事件，其沉积产物均分布于上震旦统，夹在大套的深水碳酸盐岩中。其中滑塌事件的沉积产物主要为滑塌角砾白云岩（石灰岩），浊流事件的沉积产物主要为浊积颗粒石灰岩（白云岩）。     

The Paleoceanography during the Time with High δ13C of Phanerozoic marine carbonates

Carbon isotopic composition of marine carbonates is a record for various important geological events in the process of earth development and evolution. The carbonates of Carboniferous, Permian and Triassic, as the transition from Paleozoic to Mesozoic-Cenozoic have very high ¹³C value. Taking this as the main point, and combined with the oxygen, strontium isotopic composition in carbonates, distribution of carbonate basin area through geologic time, the correlation of carbon isotopic composition of marine carbonates to sea level change, organic carbon burial flux, exchange of CO₂ content in atmosphere and ocean, and long cycle evolution of the earth ecosystems were approached. The results are shown as follows: ①The interval of ¹³C >3‰ during Phanerozoic was concentrated in Carboniferous, Permian and the beginning of Triassic, but the beginning of Triassic was characterized by higher frequency and larger fluctuations in ¹³C value during a short time, whereas the Carboniferous-Permian presented a continuously stable high ¹³C value, indicating a larger amount of organic carbon accumulation in this time interval. Relatively high ¹⁸O values during this time was also observed, showing a long time of glaciations and cold climate, which suggest a connection among rapid organic carbon burial, cold climate, as well as pCO₂ and pO₂ states of atmosphere. ②The over consumption of atmosphere CO₂ by green plants during the time with high ¹³C of seawater forced CO₂ being transferred from ocean to atmosphere for the balance, but the decrease in the seawater amount and water column pressure caused by the global cooling could weaken dissolution capacity of CO₂ in seawater and carbon storage of marine carbonates, and also reduce the carbonate sedimentary rate and decrease the carbonate basin area globally from Devonian to Carboniferous and Permian. During the middle-late Permian carbonate was widely replaced by siliceous sediments even though in shallow carbonate platform, which resulted in the decrease of marine invertebrates, suggesting the Permian chert event should be global. ③The Phanerozoic ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr trend of seawater showed a sharp fall in Permian and drop to a minimum at the end of the Permian, indicting input of strontium from the submarine hydrothermal systems (mantle flux). Such process should accompany with a supplement of CO₂ from deep earth to atmosphere and ocean system, but the process associated with widespread volcanism and rises of earth’s surface temperature pricked up the mass extinction during the time of end Permian. ④Cold climate and increase of continental icecap volume, the amalgamation of northern Africa and Laurentia continentals were the main reasons responsible for the sea level drop, but the water consumption result from the significantly increased accumulation of organic carbon should also be one of the reasons for the sea level drop on the order of tens of meters. ⑤The mass extinction at the end Permian was an inevitable event in the process of earth system adjustment. It was difficult for marine invertebrates to survive because of the continuously rapid burial of organic carbon, and of the decrease of sea water amount and its dissolution ability to CO₂. At last, at the end of Paleozoic, the supplement of CO₂ to atmosphere and ocean by widely magma activities resulted in a high temperature of earth surface and intensified mass extinction.     

GEOLOGICAL EVENT ACROSS THE BOUNDARY OF THE LATEST PALEOCENE TO EARLIEST EOCENE IN TINGRI, SOUTHERN TIBET

GEOLOGICAL EVENT ACROSS THE BOUNDARY OF THE LATEST PALEOCENE TO EARLIEST EOCENE IN TINGRI, SOUTHERN TIBET1　DickensGR ,CastilloMM ,WalkerJCG .AblastofgasinthelatestPaleocene :Simulatingfirst ordereffectsofmassivedissociationofoceanicmethanehydrate[J].Geology ,1997,2 5 (3) :2 5 9～ 2 6 2 . 2　GibsonTG ,BybellLM .Paleocene/EoceneboundarystrataandeventsintheU .S .AtlanticCoastalPlains[J].JournalofVertebratePaleontology ,1993,13(3suppl.) :37. …     

华南地区石炭纪-早二叠世早期成冰期的地球生物学过程与烃源岩的形成

石炭纪-二叠纪冈瓦纳大陆成冰事件控制着全球(尤其是华南地区) 的海平面变化, 从而决定着生境型及生产力的变化.冈瓦纳大陆成冰事件造成石炭纪-早二叠世早期有4次全球性海退, 其中Tournasian末期到Visean早期的海退在华南地区最为明显, 导致生境型发生了明显的变化.在盆地相区, 由斜坡相(Ⅴ₁) 转变为下部浅海上部(Ⅳ₁).在远岸碳酸盐台地区, 由上部浅海(Ⅲ₁)、(Ⅲ₂) 转变为潮间带(Ⅱ₁)、潮下带(Ⅱ₂).在连岸碳酸盐台地区, 由浅水碳酸盐沉积区(Ⅱ₁)、(Ⅱ₂) 转变为陆相或海陆交互相沉积区.通过对生境型、生物类群的分布及氧化还原环境的分析, 探讨了冰期与间冰期生物群的演替、海洋生物生产力及埋葬条件的变化, 进而确定成冰事件对烃源岩形成和分布的控制作用.      

湖北神农架年纹层石笋记录的YD与8.2 ka事件转型模式研究

基于青天洞两支年纹层石笋QT16和QT40高分辨率δ18O序列,重建了Younger Dryas(YD)和8.2 ka期间季风突变细节过程。结果显示,亚洲季风强度在YD和8.2 ka事件内部并不稳定。在年层时标控制下,季风强度在YD早期最弱,随后缓慢上升,其间叠加三次百年尺度次级振荡;在8.2 ka期间,季风强度整体较弱,内部出现一次持续40 a左右的强季风事件,曲线形态类似"W"结构。运用"方差法"和"RAMPFIT"法分析显示,在两事件开始,季风衰减均表现出缓慢特征(转型时间占据事件整体历时的40%~50%),但在结束期间季风迅速增强,相似变化模式得到了同区其他石笋记录的支持。与格陵兰冰芯记录对比发现,尽管高、低纬气候在两事件结束时段变化特征基本类似,但在两事件开始,亚洲季风衰减过程却显著长于北高纬气温变化。与低纬记录对比显示,热带水文变化在两事件开始阶段均表现出与亚洲季风基本一致的演化趋势,表明亚洲季风的突变过程可能具有鲜明的低纬特色。这些细节差异若得到更多高分辨率地质记录验证,将有利于进一步认识亚洲季风对突变事件的响应方式及其动力学机制。     

Organic Matter Accumulation in the Upper Permian Dalong Formation from the Lower Yangtze Region, South China

The Late Permian was marked by a series of important geological events and widespread organic-rich black shale depositions, acting as important unconventional hydrocarbon source rocks. However, the mechanism of organic matter (OM) enrichment throughout this period is still controversial. Based on geochemical data, the marine redox conditions, paleogeographic and hydrographic environment, primary productivity, volcanism, and terrigenous input during the Late Permian in the Lower Yangtze region have been studied from the Putaoling section, Chaohu, to provide new insights into OM accumulation. Five Phases are distinguished based on the TOC and environmental variations. In Phase I, anoxic conditions driven by water restriction enhanced OM preservation. In Phase II, euxinic and cycling hydrological environments were the two most substantial controlling factors for the massive OM deposition. During Phase III, intensified terrestrial input potentially diluted the OM in sediment and the presence of oxygen in bottom water weakened the preservation condition. Phase IV was characterized by a relatively higher abundance of mercury (Hg) and TOC (peak at 16.98 wt%), indicating that enhanced volcanism potentially stimulated higher productivity and a euxinic environment. In Phase V, extremely lean OM was preserved as a result of terrestrial dilutions and decreasing primary productivity. Phases I, II and IV are characterized as the most prominent OM-rich zones due to the effective interactions of the controlling factors, namely paleogeographic, hydrographic environment, volcanism, and redox conditions.     

燕山构造带北部喀喇沁地区晚古生代-中生代岩浆活动的构造背景分析

燕山构造带北缘喀喇沁地区发育了晚古生代一中生代多期岩浆活动,记录了多期构造变形事件,是认识该构造带大地构造演化的理想地区。本文通过对该地区岩浆岩的系统定年及各期构造变形事件的研究,结合区域地质资料,综合分析了晚古生代一中生代的大地构造演化历史。分析结果表明,燕山构造带在早石炭世晚期一早二叠世处于古亚洲洋俯冲背景下的活动陆缘环境,出现了弧岩浆活动。中二叠世古亚洲洋沿索伦克缝合线关闭,使得燕山构造带成为周缘前陆挤压变形带,并对应着岩浆活动的平静期。之后燕山构造带分别出现了晚二叠世一三叠纪、中侏罗世、晚侏罗世与早白垩世4期伸展背景下的岩浆活动。在这些岩浆活动之间的平静期,先后发生了早侏罗世、晚侏罗世初、早白垩世初3期挤压事件。这些现象还表明,岩浆活动与构造演化具有明显的耦合关系,板内环境下岩浆活动发生在伸展背景中,而岩浆活动平静期多对应区域挤压活动。     

Paleomagnetism of Late Paleozoic,Mesozoic, and Cenozoic rocks in Mongolia

Rock complexes in Mongolia experienced two remagnetization events. Almost all secondary remanence components of normal polarity were acquired apparently in the Cenozoic, after major deformation events, and those of reverse polarity were associated with intrusion of bimodal magmas during the Late Carboniferous–Permian reverse superchron. Active continental-margin sequences in some areas of Mongolia were folded prior to the Late Carboniferous–Permian magnetic event. The primary origin of magnetization in Late Paleozoic and Mesozoic rocks has been inferred to different degrees of reliability. According to paleolatitudes derived from most reliable paleomagnetic data, the analyzed rocks were located far north of the North China block throughout the Late Paleozoic and Early Mesozoic. Mongolia, as well as Siberia, moved from the south to the north in the Paleozoic, back from the north to the south between the latest Triassic and the latest Jurassic, and remained almost within the same latitudes in Cretaceous and Cenozoic time. These paleolatitudes show no statistical difference from those for the Siberian craton at least since the latest Permian (275–250 Ma). Older Mongolian complexes (with ages of 290, 316, and 330 Ma) likewise may have formed within the Siberian continent, which makes their paleomagnetic determinations applicable to calculate the polar wander path for Siberia. The paleolatitudes of Early Carboniferous sediments in Mongolia differ significantly from those of Siberia, either because of overprints from the reverse superchron or because they were deposited away from the Siberian margin.