A comprehensive synthesis published in the South African Journal of Geology evaluates 25 years of research on the Karoo Supergroup, an exceptional ~120-million-year rock record spanning the Late Carboniferous to Early Jurassic. Integrating multi-proxy sedimentology, U-Pb geochronology, magnetostratigraphy, and palaeontology, the review evaluates long-standing basin models and refines the stratigraphic architecture across southern Gondwana.
The synthesised data challenge simplistic models of linear aridification, revealing non-linear palaeoclimate oscillations – including short-lived pluvial episodes in the Carnian (Late Triassic) and extensive lacustrine-erg interactions in the Pliensbachian (Early Jurassic). Furthermore, it spotlights the improved resolution of the Karoo biozonation, a core of studies on palaeo-ecosystem dynamics, and documents patterns of ecological collapse, persistence, and recovery across four major deep-time biocrises: the end-Capitanian, end-Permian, end-Triassic, and end-Pliensbachian. This synthesis establishes an updated framework to resolve intra-basin heterogeneity and optimise the correlation of Pan-Gondwanan tectonic-climatic events.
