| Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5755750 | Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology | 2016 | 30 Pages |
Abstract
The Hujiersite Formation of West Junggar, Xinjiang contain fossil plants that represent significant examples of Middle Devonian flora in North China. However, previous radio-isotopic age constraint for this fossil-rich formation is absent. The best-studied section of the Hujiersite flora occurs at a locality referred to as 251 Hill, which exposes numerous examples of fossil plants and information on depositional environment. In this study, we investigate the geological background of the 251 Hill section and collect two tuffaceous sandstone beds from a normal fault near the classic fossil outcrop. U-Pb ICP-MS analysis of detrital zircons from these samples gave a maximum depositional age of 385Â Ma (Givetian stage) for the hanging wall and 380Â Ma (early Frasnian stage) for the footwall of the upper Hujiersite Formation. This study thus reports a novel Givetian-early Frasnian age constraint for Hujiersite flora. This geochronologic constraint is consistent with previous age interpretations derived from biostratigraphic correlations.
Related Topics
Physical Sciences and Engineering
Earth and Planetary Sciences
Earth-Surface Processes
Authors
Daran Zheng, Honghe Xu, Jun Wang, Chongqing Feng, Haichun Zhang, Su-Chin Chang,