Sequence-palaeogeography and coal accumulation of the Late Permian in South China

The Late Permian is a significant period for coal accumulation,and during this period minable coal seams were formed in the most parts in South China. Impacted by sea level changes,a full range of facies were developed in the coal-bearing successions, including terrestrial, terrestrial-marine transitional,and marine facies. By means of data from outcrop section and borehole cores,some key sequence stratigraphic surfaces were recognized which including regional unconformities,basal surface of incised valley fills,inter-fluvial paleosol horizons,and facies-reversal surfaces. The maximum flooding surfaces were also recognized by the reginal distribution of marine limestone beds towards palaeo-continent.Combined with the achievements made by previous research on stratigraphic sub-correlation and regional coal correlation in South China,the Upper Permian are subdivided into three third-order sequences and nine systems tracts. The single factor analysis and multifactor comprehensive mapping method was used to recon