The Neoarchean Hutti greenstone belt hosts mesothermal gold deposits and is surrounded by granitoid rocks on all sides. Combined U–Pb dating of zircon and titanite from the granitoid rocks constrains their emplacement history and subsequent geologic evolution. The Golapalli and Yelagatti granodiorites occurring to the north of the Hutti greenstone belt were emplaced at 2569 ± 17 Ma. The Yelagatti granodiorite yielded a younger titanite age of 2530 ± 6 Ma which indicates that it was affected by a post-crystallization thermal event that exceeded the titanite closure temperature. The western granodiorites from Kardikal have identical titanite and zircon ages of 2557 ± 6 Ma and 2559 ± 19 Ma, respectively. The eastern Kavital granodiorites yielded titanite ages of 2547 ± 6 Ma and 2544 ± 24 Ma which are identical to the published U–Pb zircon SHRIMP ages. These ages imply that the granitoid rocks surrounding the Hutti greenstone belt were formed as discrete batholiths within a short span of ca. 40 Ma between 2570 Ma and 2530 Ma ago. They were juxtaposed by horizontal tectonic forces against the supracrustal rocks that had formed in oceanic settings at the end of the Archean. The first phase of gold mineralization coincided with the last phase of granodiorite intrusion in the Hutti area. A metamorphic overprint occurred at ca. 2300 Ma ago that reset the Rb–Sr isotope system in biotites and possibly caused hydrothermal activity and enrichment of Au in the ore lodes. The eastern Dharwar Craton consists of quartz monzodiorite–granodiorite–granite suites of rocks that are younger than the greenstone belts that are older than ~2650 Ma reported from earlier studies. The granitoid magmatism took place between 2650 and 2510 Ma ago indicating accretionary growth of the eastern Dharwar Craton.

The South-East Asian Tin Belt is one of the most tin-productive regions in the world. It comprises three north-south oriented granite provinces, of which the arc-related Eastern granite province and the collision-related Main Range granite province run across Thailand, Singapore, and Indonesia. These tin-producing granite provinces with different mineral assemblages are separated by Paleo-Tethyan sutures exposed in Thailand and Malaysia. The Eastern Province is usually characterised by granites with biotite ± hornblende. Main Range granites are sometimes characterised by the presence of biotite ± muscovite. However, the physical boundary between the two types of granite is not well-defined on the Indonesian Tin Islands, because the Paleo-Tethyan suture is not exposed on land there. Both hornblende-bearing (previously interpreted as I-type) and hornblende-barren (previously interpreted as S-type) granites are apparently randomly distributed on the Indonesian Tin Islands. Granites exposed on Bangka, the largest and southernmost Tin Island, no matter whether they are hornblende-bearing or hornblende-barren, are geochemically similar to Malaysian Main Range granites. The average ɛNd(t) value obtained from the granites from Bangka (average ɛNd(t) = −8.2) falls within the range of the Main Range Province (−9.6 to −5.4). These granites have SIMS zircon U-Pb ages of ca. 225 Ma and ca. 220 Ma, respectively that are both within the period of Main Range magmatism (∼226–201 Ma) in the Peninsular Malaysia. We suggest that the granites exposed on Bangka represent the continuation of the Main Range Province, and that the Paleo-Tethyan suture lies to the east of the island.

We present vegetation reconstructions based on an almost complete succession through the Triassic of Tulong, Nyalam County, southern Xizang (Tibet), China. The Permian and earliest Triassic samples were barren of palynomorphs, however, in overlying strata we identified well-preserved and diverse miospore assemblages. Seven pollen and spore zones spanning the Olenekian to the Rhaetian were recognized. These palynological zones were amalgamated into three floral stages that comprise distinct vegetation types: (1) an early Olenekian lycophyte dominated flora with common pteridosperms, indicative of a warm and dry climate; (2) a late Olenekian transitional flora composed of abundant conifers with low abundances of lycophytes, signifying a decrease in temperature and increase in humidity; (3) a Middle to Late Triassic mature conifer-dominated flora with diverse sphenophytes, ferns and cycadophytes, indicative of a stable, temperate and humid climate. The changes in vegetation and climate tentatively correlate with the rifting of northern Gondwana, suggesting that regional tectonics was a contributive driving factor to local floral community change.

Well-preserved marine fossils in carbonate rocks permit detailed studies of the end-Permian extinction event in the marine realm. However, the rarity of fossils in terrestrial depositional environments makes it more challenging to attain a satisfactory degree of resolution to describe the biotic turnover on land. Here we present new sedimentological, paleontological and geochemical (X-ray fluorescence) analysis from the study of four terrestrial sections (Chahe, Zhejue, Mide and Jiucaichong) in Western Guizhou and Eastern Yunnan (Yangtze Platform, South China) to evaluate paleoenvironmental changes through the Permian–Triassic transition.

Our results show major differences in the depositional environments between the Permian Xuanwei and the Triassic Kayitou formations with a change from fluvial–lacustrine to coastal marine settings. This change is associated with a drastic modification of the preservation mode of the fossil plants, from large compressions to small comminuted debris. Plant fossils spanning the Permian–Triassic boundary show the existence of two distinct assemblages: In the Xuanwei Formation, a Late Permian (Changhsingian) assemblage with characteristic Cathaysian wetland plants (mainly Gigantopteris dictyophylloides, Gigantonoclea guizhouensis, G. nicotianaefolia, G. plumosa, G. hallei, Lobatannularia heinanensis, L. cathaysiana, L. multifolia, Annularia pingloensis, A. shirakii, Paracalamites stenocostatus, Cordaites sp.) is identified. In the lowermost Kayitou Formation, an Early Triassic (Induan) Annalepis–Peltaspermum assemblage is shown, associated with very rare, relictual gigantopterids. Palynological samples are poor, and low yield samples show assemblages almost exclusively represented by spores. A ∼1 m thick zone enriched in putative fungal spores was identified near the top of the Xuanwei Formation, including diverse multicellular forms, such as Reduviasporonites sp. This interval likely corresponds to the PTB “fungal spike” conventionally associated with land denudation and ecosystem collapse. While the floral turnover is evident, further studies based on plant diversity would be required in order to assess contribution linked to the end-Permian mass extinction versus local paleoenvironmental changes associated with the transition between the Xuanwei and Kayitou formations.

Ancient lake deposits preserve detailed records of Cenozoic environmental changes, providing information on past climate, vegetation, precipitation and lake chemistry. This study focuses on palaeoenvironmental changes recorded in Eocene limnic environments across what is today the modern Tibetan Plateau. We describe a section dated as late Eocene (~38–37 Ma) and integrate these findings within a regional context of similarly-aged Tibetan lake deposits across the plateau. These sedimentary archives of environmental change indicate a period of late Eocene aridification and cooling in the lead-up to the greenhouse-icehouse transition, which remains poorly understood in Central Asia. We show, based on geochemical, sedimentological, and palynofacies analyses, that a large saline lake existed within a semi-arid to arid steppe environment in the Nangqian Basin, east-central Tibet. The saline lake experienced cyclic drying intervals with shifts to a playa lake / mudflat system. Evidence of increased aridity is recorded in the upper part of the section, including a thinning of gypsum beds, decrease in palynomorph abundance, and concurrent increase in wood debris and amorphous organic matter. This is consistent with late Eocene aridity in Asia, drying of the playa lake, and an impoverished desert-steppe vegetation. Grain size data and geochemistry indicate a stable provenance of sedimentary material, suggesting that tectonic activity did not dominate sedimentation in east-central Tibet during deposition of these successions. Rather, palaeoenvironmental changes across the Tibetan region were most probably controlled by global climate oscillations and retreat of the proto-Paratethys Sea during the late Eocene: knowledge that is relevant for ecological interpretations through the Cenozoic, Quaternary and to the present.