Permian palynoevents in the circum-Arctic region

Abstract

Permian palynofloras are recorded around the present-day Arctic and are typically dominated by taeniate and non-taeniate pollen, with intervals of spore domination. The assemblages show close similarities around the Arctic. Based on the published record, we present a compilation of 23 last occurrences (LOs), first occurrences (FOs), and some abundance events. These are anticipated to have regional correlation potential. In general, the Permian palynofloras of the Arctic have not been extensively studied, and the resolution is low due to a general lack of independent age control. doi:10.4138/atlgeol.2021.004 ATLANTIC GEOLOGY 57, 57–69 (2021) 0843-5561|21|0057–0069$2.95|0 (see for example Utting and Piasecki 1995). Utting (1989, p. 234) did not use the Kungurian stage. Utting (1994, p. 9) correlated the Roadian to the “Ufimian (?)” and the Wordian to the “Kazanian (?)” (Fig. 1). See Lucas and Shen (2016) for further discussion on Permian chronostratigraphy. Palynomorphs are the most common, and often the only, fossil group recorded from the Permian, particularly the upper Permian. Palynology is therefore a critical tool for dating and refining stratigraphic correlations of Permian rocks (Stephenson 2016). However, different taxonomic approaches and stratigraphic methods have made comparisons difficult between regions. Especially problematic in the Arctic is the limited communication between Russian and western palynologists; the development especially of a shared taxonomy would likely lead to greatly improved correlations. Permian palynomorphs are primarily pollen and spores (miospores), although acritarchs, algae and foraminiferal linings also occur. For the Cisuralian, fusulinids and conodonts provide independent age determinations for some of the published palynostratigraphic zones. None of the Permian INTRODUCTION This article is a contribution to the Circum-Arctic Palynological Events (CAPE) project, providing a scheme of selected events for the Permian Period. The Permian Period extended from 298.89 to 251.90 Ma according to Gradstein et al. (in press). The Permian is divided into three epochs, Cisuralian, Guadalupian (with a base at 272.3 Ma) and Lopingian (with a base at 259.8 Ma). A major part of the palynological work from the Permian successions in the Arctic was carried out using the chronostratigraphic scale of Harland et al. (1982). Since stratigraphic standards using Global Stratigraphic Sections and Points was not applied until the late 1990s, correlation and comparison with the earlier palynological charts is difficult; this problem has been com-pounded for the Arctic because a variety of Permian region-al stages have been applied there. This is particularly true around the lower/upper Permian boundary (now Cisuralian/Guadalupian boundary) where, for example, the Roadian stage has been correlated to either the upper Kungurian or to the Ufimian (for example Utting et al. 1997), and the Wordian has been correlated to the Kazanian