Table of Contents Notes from the SPS Secretary 1 Lucia Angiolini Notes from the SPS Chair 2 Shu-Zhong Shen ANNUAL REPORT 2017 2 Henderson’s Harangue #3 5 Charles M. Henderson Preliminary results of palynological study of the Usolka section, location of the proposed basal Sakmarian GSSP 7 Michael H. Stephenson Identification and age of the beginning of the Permian-Triassic Illawara Superchron 11 Spencer G. Lucas Assessing ocean acidification and carbon cycle perturbations during the end-Permian extinction using boron isotopes 15 Hana Jurikova, Marcus, Gutjahr, Volker Liebetrau, Sascha Flögel, Klaus Wallmann, Anton Eisenhauer, Renato Posenato, Lucia Angiolini, Claudio Garbelli, Uwe Brand Report on the activities of the Late Carboniferous – Permian – Early Triassic Nonmarine-Marine Correlation Working Group for 2016 and 2017 16 Joerg W. Schneider, Frank Scholze, Sebastian Voigt, Annette E. Götz, Stanislav Opluštil, Ausonio Ronchi, Emese M. Bordy, Vladimir V. Silantiev, Veronika Zharinova, Lorenzo Marchetti, Spencer G. Lucas, Shu- zhong Shen, James Barrick, Ralf Werneburg, Ronny Rößler, Hans Kerp, Valeryi Golubev, Hafid Saber, José López-Gómez Report of the Chinese, Italian, Iranian working group: The Permian-Triassic boundary sections of Abadeh revisited 24 Lucia Angiolini, Gaia Crippa, Shuzhong Shen, Hua Zhang, Yichun Zhang, Mansour Ghorbani, Mohsen Ghorbani, Masoud Ovissi, Gerhard H. Bachmann Report on the 14th International Permian-Triassic Field Workshop, Dead Sea area, Jordan, March 4‒10, 2017 28 Gerhard H. Bachmann Report on the IGCP 630 Conference and Field Workshop, October 8-14, 2017, in Armenia 30 Lilit Sahakyan, Aymon Baud, Zhong-Qiang Chen and Yuheng Fang ANNOUNCEMENTS 42 Fig. 1. Overview of the Abadeh section in entral Iran. Angiolini e al., this issue. Fig. 2. Participants to the 14th International Permian-Triassic Field Workshop on Permian strata above the Dead Sea. Bachmann, this issue. Fig. 3. Participants to the 5th IGCP 630 International Conference and Field Workshop. Sahakyan et al., this issue. Fig. 4. Left, detailed field view of the basal Triassic SMB with its fan structures. Right, thin section of the stromatolite microstructures. Sahakyan et al., this issue. Permophiles Issue #65 December 2017 EXECUTIVE NOTES Notes from the SPS Secretary The second contribution of this issue, by Mike Stephenson, is strictly related to the comprehensive proposal for the Global Lucia Angiolini Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) for the base-Sakmarian Stage. It deals with the description of the palynological succession Introduction and thanks at Usolka and investigates the potential for correlation. The We are all very busy with our research, but also with description is accompanied by plates that beautifully illustrate administration, which makes our life hectic. This is probably why the associations. However, the recorded distribution of terrestrial we did not get enough contributions in the first half of this year palynomorphs is of limited use for correlation of the GSSP. Algal and we delayed the publication of Permophiles 65 to December palynomorphs in the succession are distinctive, but are known to 2017. We were also busy in preparing the proposal for the Global be sensitive to environment. Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) for the base-Sakmarian Stage The next contribution is by Spencer Lucas who underscores the (Cisuralian, Lower Permian) at the Usolka section (southern Urals, need to define the beginning of the Illawara Superchron and its Russia) by Chernykh et al., a proposal that was sent to ICS at the age, as it represents a very important datum by which to correlate end of October 2017. mid Permian successions. This topic reminded me of my first This Permophiles issue contains discussions on a wide range attempt to approach the Permian community: to obtain answers to of Permian topics, and I thank Gerhard Bachmann, Sahakyan and my doubts on mid Permian correlation. In the nineties, I wrote to co-authors, Charles Henderson, Jurikova and co-authors, Spencer Permophiles with the title “A question from an ordinary Permain Lucas, Schneider and co-authors and Mike Stephenson for their worker” and I got a good answer from B. Wardlaw. Of course, very interesting contributions to this issue. Shuzhong Shen and I nowadays, the contribution by Spencer is much more exhaustive have very recently visited the Abadeh section in Central Iran, so and outlines that, notwithstanding a lot of research that went on in this issue also contains a brief report of our successful field work. the last 10-20 years, the age of the beginning of the Ilawarra is still I would like to thank Claudio Garbelli for his assistance in problematic. He concludes his report, writing that it is now time editing this issue of Permophiles. “to fix the beginning of the Illawara Superchron in a well-dated I would also like to keep drawing your attention to the new section with fully documented magnetostratigraphy” and I think SPS webpage that Shuzhong Shen has provided at http:// that we all agree that this should be one of the main focus of SPS permian.stratigraphy.org/, where you can find information about in the next years. Permophiles, what’s going on in the Permian Subcommission, an In the next contribution, Hana Jurikova and co-authors present updated version of the list with addresses of the SPS corresponding new research funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 members, and the newly updated Permian timescale (also included research and innovation programme. The applied methodology is in this issue). quite new: δ11B analyses were performed on pristine brachiopod While finalizing this issue, I was given very sad news: Maurizio calcite from the PTB interval of the Dolomites, northern Italy, to Gaetani, palaeontologist and stratigrapher, suddenly passed away reconstruct a high-resolution seawater pH record for the Paleo- on 19, December 2017. He was my mentor, and during his fruitful Tethys Ocean, based on δ11B to pH relationships. In particular, the life of research, he also contributed to Permian studies. newly obtained results suggest a drop in seawater pH at the onset of the end-Permian extinction event. Previous and forthcoming SPS Meetings The contribution by Schneider and his numerous co-authors is A forthcoming SPS meeting is scheduled during the 5th an outstanding report on the state of the art of the activities of the International Palaeontological Congress, which will be held in Late Carboniferous – Permian – Early Triassic Nonmarine-Marine Paris, France from 9 to 13 July 2018. A second meeting can be Correlation Working Group, for 2016 and 2017. The prolific organized during the 8th International Brachiopod Congress, held activity of this working group resulted in many publications in Milano, Italy from 11 to 14 September 2018. showing the data recently acquired in China, Russia, Germany, Czech Republic, Italy, France, Spain, Jordan, North America, Permophiles 65 Morocco and South Africa by the different regional working This issue starts with the annual report of SPS written by groups. The report contains a very exhaustive reference list and Shuzhong Shen, followed by the third harangue of Charles a figure showing the updated late Carboniferous (Bashkirian) to Henderson. I used to define his harangues a “laudable attempt to early Triassic (Induan) conchostracan biozonation. stimulate debate inside the Permian community” but now I think The following three reports are perfectly tuned with the message they are much more than an attempt, because they really succeed contained in Charles Henderson’s harangue: lets go out into the in stimulating discussion and curiosity. This third harangue reveals field again and again. a profound truth, underscoring the fact that recent and advanced Shuzhong Shen and I, with our co-authors, report about research often does not consider early literature - an early literature our brief, but intense, field excursion to sample for conodonts, that is often right, because it is based on detailed observation and foraminifers, brachiopods and geochemistry in the Upper mapping in the field. Charles is correct when he writes that we Permian-Lower Triassic Abadeh, Hambast and Elikah formations have to keep going into the field to understand better its record and at Abadeh, Central Iran. collect new and higher resolution data. Gerhard Bachmann presents an interesting and accurate report 1 Permophiles Issue #65 December 2017 of the 14th International Permian-Triassic Field Workshop in Mountain National Park in Texas and measured a new sec- Jordan, organised and guided by Abdalla M.B. Abu Hamad of tion which contains more strata across the Wordian/Capitanian Amman University. Internationa participants from Europe, Israel boundary. We also visited all the GSSP sections again and col- and China visited several well exposed Permian-Triassic sections lected more samples to test the FADs of the index species and and had a good look also at the Permian-Triassic boundary interval. quality of those GSSP. We thank Jonena Hearst for her kind sup- This contribution is followed by another interesting and very port during the field work. well illustrated field work report by Sahakyan et al., who describe I am pleased to announce that we have submitted the the IGCP 630 Conference and Field Workshop, October 8-14, Sakmarian-base GSSP proposal to the International Commission 2017, held in Armenia. During the conference and field workshop on Stratigraphy (ICS) for discussion and voting. We hope this pro- organized by Lilit Sahakyan, Aymon Baud, and Zhong-Qiang posal can be approved in 2018 and we can continue to work on the Chen, an international team had the opportunity to visit the very Artinskian-base and Kungurian-base GSSP proposals. I would famous Upper-Permian-Triassic successions of Armenia at the thank our Russian colleagues who excavated the Dalny Tulkas Ogbin, Chanakchi and Vedi sections. Remarkable are the PTB and Mechetlino Quarry sections. I would herein call again that all shales and the basal Triassic giant sponge-microbial buildups.