Global correlation of the radiolarian faunal change across the Triassic–Jurassic boundary

Abstract

Precise comparison of the change in radiolarian faunas 3.5 m above a U–Pb zircon dated 199.6 ± 0.3 Ma tuff and approximately coincident with a negative δ13C anomaly in the Queen Charlotte Islands, B.C. (Canada) with Inuyama (Japan) sequences indicates that major global changes occurred across the Triassic–Jurassic (T–J) boundary. Nearly 20 genera and over 130 Rhaetian species disappeared at the end of the Triassic. The index genera Betraccium and Risella disappear and the final appearance of Globolaxtorum tozeri, Livarella valida, and Pseudohagiastrum giganteum sp. nov. are also diagnostic for the end of the Triassic. The low-diversity Hettangian survival fauna immediately above the boundary is composed mainly of small, primitive spumellarians with spongy or irregularly latticed meshwork and rod-like spines, and new genera Charlottea, Udalia, and Parahsuum s.l. first appear in the lowest Hettangian in both localities. Irrespective of different sedimentation rates and sedimentary environments, such as shelf to upper slope (Queen Charlotte Islands) and deep sea below carbonate compensation depth (CCD; Inuyama), radiolarians show a similar turnover pattern at the T–J boundary.