A STEP TOWARDS INTEGRATING THE HIGH AND LOW LATITUDE BASE-LEVEL AND CLIMATE RECORDS ACROSS THE EARLY PERMIAN

The late Paleozoic glaciation was the most acute icehouse of the Phanerozoic, characterized by widespread glaciers across much of the high latitude and high elevation regions of Gondwana and, massive coal deposition and intense silicate weathering across the equatorial tropics. The latest Carboniferous and Early Permian was an interval of pronounced climatic change, associated with the protracted disappearance of Gondwanan glaciers, the collision of Gondwana and Laurentia near the paleoequator, and large igneous province volcanism. Across southern high-latitudes, episodes of glacial deposition in Africa are coincident with low-stand deposition in unglaciated marine basins of western Gondwana, whereas episodes of ice loss are associated with transgressions and black shale deposition. These observations suggest late Paleozoic base-level dynamics are tightly coupled with high-latitude ice. Here we test this hypothesis, presenting new high-resolution U-Pb zircon chemical abrasion thermal ionization mass spectrometry ages from the equatorially situated greater Permian basin region of Texas and New Mexico with the goal of establishing a chronostratigraphic framework for the latest Carboniferous and Early Permian strata of North America. The Permian basin region is one of the world’s largest reservoirs of late Paleozoic carbon and records the highest-resolution base-level record of this time period. Preliminary analysis highlights agreement between ice loss and changes in the style of sedimentation across the basin, although additional factors such as tectonics are a background driver behind accommodation. Our observations indicate periods of high frequency cyclic sedimentation are coincident with periods of high-latitude ice. The loss of ice is represented by an increase in aeolian influenced sedimentary rocks across the equatorial region. Ongoing work is focused on testing the synchroneity of black shale deposition in high-latitude Gondwanan basins with carbon burial in the greater Permian Basin.