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Ocean anoxia is considered a key driver of the end‐Permian mass extinction (EPME). However, it is much debated whether there was an ocean reoxygenation phase during, and in the aftermath, of the EPME. Evidence for ocean reoxygenation is often inferred from the absence of framboidal pyrite in some boundary marine sediments (termed the "framboid gap"). To reconstruct ocean redox evolution across the EPME, we investigated the carbon isotopic, sedimentological, and redox records of the Ruichang and Ehtan sections in South China. These documents two negative δ13Ccarb excursions and the development of anoxia associated with deepening leading up to the Permian‐Triassic boundary. Above the level at which most siliceous organisms became extinct, pyrite framboid and iron proxies indicate that water column redox conditions were predominantly oxygenated but sporadically anoxic/ferruginous [non‐sulfidic, free Fe(II) in the water] at Ruichang, while ferruginous conditions were more widely developed at Ehtan. These contrasting redox states are characteristic of a dynamic ocean redox landscape in the extinction interval. The "framboid gap" is seen in strata deposited under both oxic and ferruginous conditions, suggesting that the availability of decomposable organic matter for sulfate reduction additionally controlled framboid genesis. Our data confirm that oxygenated conditions were developed in some deep water basins during the EPME. Plain Language Summary: Ocean oxygen levels across the Permian‐Triassic boundary, which saw Earth's greatest mass extinction (the End Permian Mass Extinction; EPME) have long been debated. Oxygen‐poor (anoxic) conditions are widely implicated in the EPME. A gap in the record of pyrite framboids (small aggregates of pyrite that are commonly found in sedimentary rocks that were deposited in oxygen‐poor marine environments) in some settings during the EPME is generally considered to be a function of reoxygenation at that time. We analyzed iron phase partitioning proxies (which can reveal ocean oxygen levels at the time of deposition) from two chert‐bearing sections in South China. Our iron data indicate that the "framboid gap" is manifest in marine sedimentary archives that were not only well oxygenated at the time of deposition but also anoxic and ferruginous (non‐sulfidic, free Fe(II) in the water). This highlights the ambiguity of the "framboid gap" in implying oxygenated conditions as well as the heterogeneous spatial nature of ocean oxygen states during the EPME. Key Points: Water column reoxygenation during the end‐Permian mass extinction (EPME) is controversialRedox proxies reveal large redox heterogeneity, with deep waters experiencing oxygenated conditions during the extinction intervalBoth ocean reoxygenation and the development of ferruginous conditions contributed to the Lower Triassic pyrite framboid gap [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Both the duration and severity of deep-water anoxic conditions across the Permian-Triassic mass extinction (PTME) are controversial. Panthalassa Ocean circulation models yield varying results, ranging from a well-ventilated deep ocean to rapidly developing northern-latitude, but not southern-latitude, anoxia in response to Siberian Traps-driven global warming. To address this uncertainty, we examined a southern-paleolatitude pelagic record. Trace metal and pyrite framboid data suggest bottom-water euxinic conditions developed in the southern Panthalassa Ocean at the PTME, coincident with enhanced volcanic activity indicated by Hg geochemistry. While a global ocean euxinic event at the PTME placed extraordinary stress on marine life, southern surface waters appear to have recovered more quickly as radiolarian populations returned several million years before they did in northern Panthalassa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For the first time very low values (up to 0.706707) of the ratio 87Sr/86Sr were recorded in the biogenic carbonates of the Omolon massif (Northeast Asia) of the Capitanian age. These results are in good agreement with previously obtained data on limestones in Japan (Kani et al., 2013; 2018). In general, the strontium ratio curve constructed by us repeats the well-known world trend, differing by its somewhat underestimated (by an average of 0.0005–0.0008) values. The Capitanian strontium minimum can be associated with the entry into the ocean of significant amounts of lightweight femic strontium due to a sharp increase in paleospreading. The maximum values of the strontium ratio, obtained from the middle part of the Intomodesma evenicum bivalve Subzone are 0.706986, which corresponds to the lower part of the Changhsingian stage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Permian strata from the Tieqiao section (Jiangnan Basin, South China) contain several distinctive conodont assemblages. Early Permian (Cisuralian) assemblages are dominated by the genera Sweetognathus, Pseudosweetognathus and Hindeodus with rare Neostreptognathodus and Gullodus. Gondolellids are absent until the end of the Kungurian stage--in contrast to many parts of the world where gondolellids and Neostreptognathodus are the dominant Kungurian conodonts. A conodont changeover is seen at Tieqiao and coincided with a rise of sea level in the late Kungurian to the early Roadian: the previously dominant sweetognathids were replaced by mesogondolellids. The Middle and Late Permian (Guadalupian and Lopingian Series) witnessed dominance of gondolellids (Jinogondolella and Clarkina), the common presence of Hindeodus and decimation of Sweetognathus. Twenty main and seven subordinate conodont zones are recognised at Tieqiao, spanning the lower Artinskian to the middleWuchiapingian Stage. The main (first appearance datum) zones are, in ascending order by stage: the Sweetognathus (Sw.) whitei, Sw. toriyamai, and Sw. asymmetrica n. sp. Zones for the Artinskian; the Neostreptognathodus prayi, Sw. guizhouensis, Sw. iranicus, Sw. adjunctus, Sw. subsymmeticus and Sw. hanzhongensis Zones for the Kungurian; the Jinogondolella (J.) nankingensis Zone for the Roadian; the J. aserrata Zone for the Wordian; the J. postserrata, J. shannoni, J. altudaensis, J. prexuanhanensis, J. xuanhanensis, J. granti and Clarkina (C.) hongshuiensis Zones for the Capitanian and the C. postbitteri Zone and C. transcaucasica Zone for the base and middle of the Wuchiapingian. The subordinate (interval) zones are the Pseudosweetognathus (Ps.) costatus, Ps. monocornus, Hindeodus (H.) gulloides, Pseudohindeodus ramovsi, Gullodus (G.) sicilianus, G. duani and H. excavates Zones. In addition, three new species, Gullodus tieqiaoensis n. sp., Pseudohindeodus elliptica n. sp. and Sweetognathus asymmetrica n. sp. are described. Age assignments for less common species (e.g., G. duani, H. catalanoi and Pseudosweetognathus monocornus etc.) are reassessed based on a rich conodont collection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]