A record of enhanced water cycle in the late Paleozoic icehouse

• Published in: Global and planetary change 2022-11, Vol.218, p.103957, Article 103957
• Main Authors: Gao, Biao, Xin, Hao, Huang, Xing, Hu, Keyi, Zheng, Quanfeng, Chen, Jitao
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Late Moscovian; Late Paleozoic ice age; Middle Pennsylvanian; Paleoclimate; Precipitation; South China
• ISSN: 0921-8181; 1872-6364
• DOI: 10.1016/j.gloplacha.2022.103957

The late Paleozoic ice age was the longest icehouse of the Phanerozoic with complex terrestrial ecosystems and metazoan life. Simulations of late Paleozoic climate have confirmed the coupled relationship between Gondwanan ice dynamics and paleotropical climate on a multitude of timescales. However, it is still unclear how precipitation in the tropical zone would respond to changes in paleoclimate during the late Paleozoic ice age. Here, we present detailed sedimentological and biostratigraphic works on a late Carboniferous mixed carbonate-siliciclastic succession from the southeastern South China Block to explore sedimentary responses to paleoclimate variations. Conodont and fusulinid biostratigraphy indicate that the Outangdi succession formed during the middle to late Moscovian. Detailed facies analysis suggests that the succession was deposited on a carbonate ramp, episodically punctuated by braid delta sedimentation. Given the relatively stable tectonic setting and well-correlated, coeval siliciclastic deposition in the paleotropical peri-Paleotethys regions, the abrupt increase in siliciclastic influx in the late Moscovian resulted from an enhanced precipitation event associated with the glacial-to-interglacial shift. •An abrupt siliciclastic influx were recorded in tropical peri-Paleotethys regions in the late Moscovian•Water cycle would be enhanced in the paleotropical zone responding to the demise of glacial interval•Anomalous siliciclastic deposits could have been driven by climate factors.