Giant Induan oolite:A case study from the Lower Triassic Daye Formation in the western Hubei Province,South China

Most Phanerozoic oolites are marked by ooids with a diameter less than 2 mm. Observations on a Neoproterozoic oolite have resulted in a change of concept. The term ＂pisolite＂ that traditionally referred to oolites with a grain size of more than 2 ram, is now restricted to those coated carbonate grains formed by meteoritic freshwater diagenesis; oolites with a grain size of more than 2 mm are now defined as ＂giant＂. Particular unusual giant oolites within a set of oolitic-bank limestones with thicknesses of more than 40 m in the top part of the Lower Triassic （Induan） Daye （Ruiping） Formation at the Lichuan section in the western part of Hubei Province in South China, represent an important sedimentological phenomenon in both the specific geological period and the geological setting that is related to the end-Permian biological mass extinction. Like the giant oolites of the Neoproterozoic that represent deposits where oolites formed in a vast low-angle carbonate ramp at that special geological period, the Triassic Daye Formation at the study section are significant because they provide a comparative example to help understand the evolving carbonate world reflected by oolites, the origin of which is still uncertain, and they give insight into the sedimentation pattern of the desolate sea floor, which resulted from the mass extinction at the turn of the Permian into the Triassic.

Reefs in the Early Paleozoic Taebaek Group,Korea:A Review

Various early Paleozoic （Cambrian Series 3-Middle Ordovician） reefs are found in the Taebaek Group, eastern Korea, located in the eastern margin of the Sino-Korean Block. They occur in every carbonate-dominant lithostratigraphic unit of the group, but their morphology and composition differ markedly. The Daegi Formation （middle Cambrian： Cambrian Series 3） contains siliceous sponge-Epiphyton reefs formed in a shallow subtidal environment, which is one of the earliest metazoan-bearing microbial reefs after the archaeocyath extinction. The Hwajeol Formation （upper Cambrian： Furongian） encloses sporadic dendrolites consisting of Angulocellularia, which developed in a relatively deep subtidal environment, representing a rare deeper water example. The onset of the Ordovician radiation resulted in the formation of microbialite-Archaeoscyphia-calathiid patch reefs in shallow subtidal deposits of the Lower Ordovician Dumugol Formation. Subsequent late Early Ordovician relative sea-level fall established extensive peritidal environments, forming microbial mats and stromatolites of the Lower-Middle Ordovician Makgol Formation. Ensuing Ordovician radiation resulted in one of the earliest metazoan skeletal reefs of the Middle Ordovician Duwibong Formation, constructed by stromatoporoid Cystostroma and bryozoan Nicholsonella, and developed around shallow shoals. These reefs reflect ongoing evolution and sea-level change during the early Paleozoic, and exemplify a rare glimpse of peri-Gondwanan records of reef evolution, which warrant detailed investigations and comparison with their counterparts in other regions.