Paleoecological and Depositional Environment of Permian Copper-Bearing Sandstone Fossil Plants and Tetrapod Localities: Records from Bashkortostan and Kargalka River Basin, Orenburg Region, Russia

The biota from the Middle Permian copper-bearing sandstones of the South Urals is comprehensively assessed. Paleofloristic data are recorded from the most important localities. The terrestrial tetrapod assemblage from the copper-bearing sandstones of the South Urals (based on the Kargaly Copper Mines, Orenburg Region, Russia) is described. A paleogeographic and paleoenvironmental reconstruction is proposed for the depositional settings of the terrestrial biota localities in the copper-bearing sandstones of the Cis-Urals. It is suggested that these localities were formed in high-energy settings, and result from increased runoff of siliciclastics from the western slope of the Paleourals.