An integrated study of the petrographic and geochemical characteristics of organic-rich deposits of the Wufeng and Longmaxi formations, western Hubei Province, South China: Insights into the co-evolution of paleoenvironment and organic matter accumulation

Enhanced productivity and/or widespread anoxia have been postulated as the dominant controls on organic matter (OM) accumulation in South China during the Ordovician-Silurian (O-S) transition. However, their roles appear to have varied in space and time, and causal mechanisms linking OM accumulation with changing paleoenvironmental conditions remain poorly constrained. Here we report on results of a multi-faceted investigation of the Wufeng and...