The varicoloured Fenghuoshan Group occurs widely in the Qiangtang-Hoh Xil region of the northern Qinghai-Xizang Plateau. Few fossils have been found to date in this sedimentary succession because lithological conditio...The varicoloured Fenghuoshan Group occurs widely in the Qiangtang-Hoh Xil region of the northern Qinghai-Xizang Plateau. Few fossils have been found to date in this sedimentary succession because lithological conditions are not conducive to their preservation. As a result, there has been a long-term disagreement among geologists about its age. Despite a few lists of fossil names in individual publi- cations, no detailed research on the palaeontology, including palynology, has been reported previously. In this study, we recovered many pollen grains and spores from two samples that were collected on the northern slope of Fenghuo Moun- tain. They indicate an age no younger than Maastrichtian for the upper part of the Fenghuoshan Group. It is considered likely that the entire Fenghuoshan Group represents deposi- tion between the late Early Cretaceous （possibly Albian） and the Maastrichtian. The palynoflora consists mainly of angio- sperm pollen, gymnosperm pollen and fern and bryophyte spores being subordinate. Pollen grains referable to the Ephedrales and the Taxaceae-Cupressaceae groups dominate the assemblage, implying a warm, arid climate and subtropical forest-shrub vegetation at the time of deposition.展开更多
基金supported by the Strategic Priority Research Program (B) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences(XDB03010103)the National Basic Research Program of China(2012CB822004)the National Natural Science Foundation of China(41172011)
文摘The varicoloured Fenghuoshan Group occurs widely in the Qiangtang-Hoh Xil region of the northern Qinghai-Xizang Plateau. Few fossils have been found to date in this sedimentary succession because lithological conditions are not conducive to their preservation. As a result, there has been a long-term disagreement among geologists about its age. Despite a few lists of fossil names in individual publi- cations, no detailed research on the palaeontology, including palynology, has been reported previously. In this study, we recovered many pollen grains and spores from two samples that were collected on the northern slope of Fenghuo Moun- tain. They indicate an age no younger than Maastrichtian for the upper part of the Fenghuoshan Group. It is considered likely that the entire Fenghuoshan Group represents deposi- tion between the late Early Cretaceous （possibly Albian） and the Maastrichtian. The palynoflora consists mainly of angio- sperm pollen, gymnosperm pollen and fern and bryophyte spores being subordinate. Pollen grains referable to the Ephedrales and the Taxaceae-Cupressaceae groups dominate the assemblage, implying a warm, arid climate and subtropical forest-shrub vegetation at the time of deposition.
