Abstract
This paper critically reviews the Lopingian (Late Permian) to Early Triassic palaeofloral successions on both the South and North China blocks. From the Late Cisuralian (Early Permian) to the middle of the Lopingian, North and South China, both located in the equatorial domain, sheltered a homogeneous ‘Cathaysian Palaeoflora’ resulting from a Cisuralian southern extension and diversification from the Northern “cradle” of Cathaysian plants to the South. We analyse the progressive changes in the two regional floral successions due to environmental changes resulting from the northward drifting of the North China block while the South China block remained in the sub-equatorial domain. In the framework of our recent fieldwork in North China for Lopingian to Early Triassic fossil plant-bearing deposits, the very recent discovery of a new, rich fossiliferous locality allowed us to improve our knowledge of the Lopingian palaeofloral content and its palaeoenvironmental implications. The first steps of the post-Permian–Triassic boundary floral recovery can now be more accurately compared after the northward Lopingian migration of the North China block.
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Acknowledgements
We are thankful to Dr. Daoliang Chu, Dr. Hui Li, and Mr. Fayao Chen for their help in field work. We also thank Dr. Feng Liu, Dr. Evelyn Kustatscher, Dr. Benjamin Bomfleur and editor-in-chief Dr. Mike Reich for reviewing the manuscript and to Dr. Jason Hilton for English language editing. This work was supported by the National Natural Sciences Foundation of China (NSFC 41572005, 41661134047 and 3170010349). This paper is dedicated to Professor Hans Kerp.
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Handling Editor: Benjamin Bomfleur.
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Broutin, J., Yu, J., Shi, X. et al. Terrestrial palaeofloral succession across the Permian–Triassic Boundary in the North and South China blocks: a brief review. PalZ 94, 633–644 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12542-020-00511-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12542-020-00511-0