Sedimentary evidence for a rapid, kilometer-scale crustal doming prior to the eruption of the Emeishan flood basalts

Biostratigraphic and sedimentologic investigations in 67 sections have been carried out for the Middle Permian Maokou Formation that immediately underlies the Emeishan flood basalts in southwest China. The results suggest a domal crustal thinning before the emplacement of the Emeishan large igneous province. Variably thinned carbonates in the Maokou Formation are capped by a subaerial unconformity, which is generally manifested by karst...