4:00 PM - 4:15 PM
[BCG06-15] Middle Triassic radiolarian and conodont biostratigraphy and chemostratigraphy in the bedded chert sequence from the Jurassic accretionary complex of Japan.
Keywords:Triassic, Radiolarian, Conodont , Ladinian, Anisian, Biostratigraphy
To investigate the response of radiolarians to the Middle Triassic humid climate events, this thesis reports radiolarian biostratigraphy and geochemical profiles from a Middle Triassic bedded chert sequence (Section O) in the Inuyama area, central Japan.
Section O consists mainly of rhythmic brick-red bedded cherts with a thickness of 21 m that accumulated in a pelagic, open ocean setting within a low-latitude zone of the Panthalassa Ocean. A total of 65 chert samples were collected from Section O for biostratigraphic study.
Radiolarian biostratigraphy shows that the six Sugiyama's radiolarian subzones were recognized in the study section: the TR2B (Triassocampe coronata) to TR 5A (Capnuchosphaera) zones, which can be compared to the late Anisian to early Carnian. Based on our radiolarian biostratigraphic data, the radiolarian faunal change from Fassanian (early Ladinian) to Longobardian (late Ladinian) taxa occurred across the thick siliceous claystone bed (4 cm thick) in Section O at 10.5 m above the section base.
A geochemical analysis indicates that no significant marine redox changes were observed in the study section. In contrast, changes in biogenic apatite productivity that originated from marine vertebrates (e.g., conodonts and fish) increased across the Fassanian/Longobardian boundary. Furthermore, the continental weathering proxies such as the W index and CIA (Chemical Index of Alteration) suggest that chemical weathering of hinterland rocks intensified in the Longobardian.
Our results suggest that the humid events in the Longobardian may have triggered an increase in pelagic vertebrate productivity and the radiolarian faunal turnover in the pelagic realm of the Panthalassa Ocean.
