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Issue: Vol. 2 No. 1: March 2025
Type: Article
Published: 2025-03-28
DOI: 10.11646/mesozoic.2.1.6
Page range: 42-49
Abstract views: 28
PDF downloaded: 17

Geochronological study on the Sanjiaochengzi fossil locality: Age constraints on a Late Jurassic flora of western Liaoning, Northeast China

School of Earth Sciences; East China University of Technology; Nanchang; Jiangxi 330013; China
State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy; Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology; Chinese Academy of Sciences; Nanjing 210008; China
State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy; Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology; Chinese Academy of Sciences; Nanjing 210008; China
School of Earth Sciences; East China University of Technology; Nanchang; Jiangxi 330013; China
School of Earth Sciences; East China University of Technology; Nanchang; Jiangxi 330013; China
State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy; Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology; Chinese Academy of Sciences; Nanjing 210008; China
State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy; Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology; Chinese Academy of Sciences; Nanjing 210008; China
Jurassic Yanliao biota Tiaojishan Formation fossil plants

Abstract

Some fossil plants, previously identified as angiosperm species, have been reported from the “Jiulongshan”/Haifanggou Formation at the Sanjiaochengzi fossil locality in Huludao City, western Liaoning, Northeast China. However, the precise ages of these fossil plants remain uncertain. To address this issue, we conducted LA-ICP-MS zircon U-Pb dating on two tuffaceous interlayer samples from the fossil-bearing horizon of this section. The resulting ages of 159.9 ± 0.5 Ma and 160.1 ± 0.5 Ma constrain the depositional age of the fossil-bearing horizon to the Late Jurassic (Oxfordian stage). By integrating these chronological results with regional stratigraphic correlations, we determine that the fossil-bearing horizon of the Sanjiaochengzi section belongs to the lower part of the Tiaojishan Formation.

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