Pangean (Late Carboniferous–Middle Jurassic) paleoenvironment and lithofacies

Six time interval maps were constructed that depict the plate tectonic configuration, paleogeography and lithofacies for Pangea from the Late Carboniferous through the Middle Jurassic. Generally, the individual maps illustrate the conditions present during the maximum marine transgressions of higher frequency cyclicity within the Absaroka sequence of Sloss. The relative sea-level cyclicity, chronostratigraphy and regional unconformities provide the basis to partition the higher frequency depositional cycles into subdivisions ranging from 11 to 37 my. The Pangean maps illustrate geodynamic evolution of the Earth from the assembly of Gondwana and Laurussia, during the Late Carboniferous time, through the suturing of Siberia and Kazakhstan during the Permian time, assembly of Asian plates during the Triassic, to the final formation of the supercontinent, just before the Middle Jurassic break-up. The maps are named by the most representative stages within the mapped depositional cycle. The following time-slice maps were constructed: (1) Moscovian–Kasimovian — tentative age range 311–293 Ma, mapped on the 302 Ma plate tectonic reconstruction; (2) Asselian–Kungurian — tentative age range 293–256 Ma, mapped on the 285 Ma plate tectonic reconstruction; (3) Guadalupian — tentative age range 256–245 Ma, mapped on the 255 Ma plate tectonic reconstruction; (4) Scythian–Carnian — tentative age range 245–226 Ma, mapped on the 237 Ma plate tectonic reconstruction; (5) Norian — tentative age range 226–205 Ma, mapped on the 225 Ma plate tectonic reconstruction; (6) Sinemurian–Toarcian — tentative age range 205–176 Ma mapped on the 195 Ma plate tectonic reconstruction.