Permian-Triassic Marine Carbonate Platforms and Karst Features of the Nanpanjiang Basin, Guizhou, Guangxi and Yunnan, South China

By Dan Lehrmann

Unique exposures in the karst terrain of a large carbonate shelf borders the basin and several isolated carbonate platforms within the basin contain a history of more than 20 million years, with over 3 km of thickness. The basin experienced active tectonics, the greatest mass extinction of the Phanerozoic and major changes in climate and ocean chemistry. The area is therefore a natural laboratory for investigating the mechanisms controlling carbonate platform evolution and architecture.  Spectacular karst features are evident from the macro to micro scale and include: stone forests, conical towers, tower karst plateaus, karst valleys and sinkholes, deep gorges, underground rivers, and spectacular caves.  Bedrock lithology effects the style and relief of karst forms developed. Changes in karst forms are especially dramatic at carbonate platform margins where there are rapid changes in facies from densely cemented platform limestone to deep-marine non-carbonate lithologies.

Biography

Dan Lehrmann is the Pyron Professor of Geoscience at Trinity University. He is originally from Wisconsin where he taught at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh. He specializes in carbonate sedimentology and paleontology. He has conducted geological research in south China for 25 years.