are still in use in ammonoid research. By the 1990s, most geologists had moved away from ammonite zones, preferring conodonts. Consequently, in 1996, the STS moved the Induan's GSSP to Meishan, China, with the appearance of H. parvus. It was the first GSSP approved by the STS. Coal gap Coal is formed when plant matter decays into peat, which is then buried and subjected to heat and pressure over a long time. Following the Permian extinction, there is a conspicuous lack of coal seams dating to the Early Triassic, and only a few thin ones have been identified dating to the Middle Triassic. The apparent marginalization of peat-producing plants has variously been explained to be a consequence of: high global elevation, excess acidity due to volcanic sulfur dioxide emissions or nitrous oxides from bolide (meteor) impact, the transition from an icehouse to a greenhouse Earth (the melting of the poles and surging global temperatures), excess plant predation by herbivores (insects or tetrapods) which evolved more efficient eating strategies (though they were quite diverse before even the Permian), or mass die-off of peat-producing plants. Paleogeography During the Induan, all major landmasses had already amalgamated into the supercontinent Pangea, the northern portion referred to as Laurentia, and the southern portion Gondwana. At this point in time, the South Pole was near but not on Antarctica. Eastern Gondwana lay south of the 60°S, and the western part north. A major rifting zone existed on Madagascar, which was wedged in between the African and the Indian Plate, gradually pushing them apart. This action would eventually expand the newly forming Neo-Tethys Ocean at the expense of the Paleo-Tethys Ocean. Behind the burgeoning Neo-Tethys lay a major rift pushing India away from western Australia, which promulgated volcanoes across the area. During the Permian extinction, this volcanic activity created the Panjal Traps. In eastern Australia, the Hunter-Bowen orogeny and related magmatic activity was shutting down. The fold belts from this event, as well as the first phase of those at Cape Fold Belt in what is now the South African coast, were being degraded by the Gondwanide orogeny. Induan life The Induan followed the Permian–Triassic extinction event, and historically, it was thought recovery was delayed by as much as five million years to the Middle Triassic. The 21st century discoveries of diverse arrays of conodonts, ammonoids, bivalves, benthic foraminifera, and other ichnotaxa serve to suggest that recovery