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U-Pb zircon age for the Daohugou Biota at Ningcheng of Inner Mongolia and comments on related issues

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Chinese Science Bulletin

Abstract

SHRIMP U-Pb zircon dating was carried out for the Daohugou Biota near Ningcheng of Inner Mongolia and for lavas overlying or underlying salamander-bearing strata at Reshuitang in Lingyuan of West Liaoning. The results suggest that the Daohugou Biota occurred at an interval from 168 Ma to 164–152 Ma. Both the Daohugou Biota and the salamander-bearing fossil assemblage are the same biota and thus developed from 168 to 152 Ma, i.e. from late Middle Jurassic to the early Late Jurassic. The Daohugou Biota-bearing rocks, resting on the Jiulongshan Formation in disconformity and being overlain in unconformity by Late Jurassic Tuchengzi Formation and Early Cretaceous rocks containing the Jehol Biota, are mainly composed of volcanic-sedimentary rocks in a normal sequence. It is recommended that the Daohugou Biota and the related stratigraphy should be correlated with the Tiaojishan Formation (Lanqi Formation in West Liaoning) or its synchronous rocks. It is suggested that the Daohugou Biota and the Jehol Biota would be neither taken into one biota nor considered as the earliest elements of the Jehol Biota. The Daohugou Biota and the related rocks and the Yixian Formation were respectively formed in different periods of volcanic-sedimentary tectonics.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Geology, Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, Beijing, 100037, China

    Liu Yongqing, Liu Yanxue, Ji Shu’an & Yang Zhiqing

  2. Key Laboratory of Insect Evolution and Environmental Changes, Capital Normal University, Beijing, 100037, China

    Liu Yongqing

  3. Beijing SHRIMP Center, Beijing, 100037, China

    Yang Zhiqing

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  1. Liu Yongqing
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  2. Liu Yanxue
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  3. Ji Shu’an
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  4. Yang Zhiqing
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Correspondence to Liu Yongqing.

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Liu, Y., Liu, Y., Ji, S. et al. U-Pb zircon age for the Daohugou Biota at Ningcheng of Inner Mongolia and comments on related issues. CHINESE SCI BULL 51, 2634–2644 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11434-006-2165-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11434-006-2165-2

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