Origin and paleoenvironmental significance of ooids in South China during the Early Triassic hyperthermal climates

Abstract

The Early Triassic was a crucial period for biotic recovery immediately after the end-Permian mass extinction, with widespread development of ooid deposits around the world. However, two competing hypotheses regarding the inorganic or organic origins of ooids remain under debate. Here, we focus on the Lower Triassic Yelang Formation in the Yunfeng section of Guizhou Province and conduct sedimentological and geochemical analyses, combined with statistical analysis of ooid size and morphology, to reveal the origin of ooids and explore their formation in relation to extreme environmental changes. Our results show that hydrodynamic conditions and microbial activities are key factors influencing ooid formation. The evolution of sedimentary facies, changes in ooid size and types, and variations in ooid morphology and sorting all suggest that stronger hydrodynamic conditions favor ooid formation, leading to more abundant and larger ooid deposits. Low δ¹⁵N values (average +1.51 ‰) suggest flourishing microbes dominated by photoautotrophic nitrogen-fixing cyanobacteria, while the C/N vs. Δ¹³C_carb-org crossplot indicates a significant contribution from eukaryotic algae. Furthermore, microstructural evidence of microbial remains and borings in ooids indicates both constructive and destructive roles of these microbes in their formation. Abundant filamentous microbial fossils and nanograin aggregates observed in ooids also provide direct evidence of biogenic signatures intrinsically related to organomineralization. A comprehensive biochemical model of ooid formation is proposed here, involving microbial-induced mineralization and biomediated carbonate precipitation. In addition, we suggest that the combined effects of exacerbated marine anoxia and extreme hyperthermal climates contributed to the widespread development of ooids during the Early Triassic.