Development of an equatorial carbonate platform across the Triassic-Jurassic boundary and links to global palaeoenvironmental changes (Musandam Peninsula, UAE/Oman)

The Triassic-Jurassic boundary is marked by one of the ‘big five’ mass extinctions of the Phanerozoic. This boundary event was accompanied by several carbon cycle perturbations, potentially induced by the opening of the Central Atlantic and associated volcanism, and accompanied by an ocean acidification event. Continuous carbonate successions covering this interval of environmental change are however rare. Here data from a shallow-marine equatorial mixed carbonate-siliciclastic succession is presented, that was studied on a regional scale. Four sections that are 48 km apart were examined on the Musandam Peninsula (United Arab Emirates and Sultanate of Oman). The system was analysed for its sedimentology, vertical and lateral facies changes, and stable carbon and oxygen isotopes. Strontium isotope analysis was used to determine the position of the Triassic-Jurassic boundary horizon. The studied …