Leping Fm

The type section is located at Leping, Jiangxi Province, and the reference section is situated at the Xiangu Ridge, Fengcheng County, Jiangxi Province. It was named by T.K. Huang (Huang Jiqing) in 1932.

Synonym: Loping Fm. Doulling Fm is equivalent

Coal and Clastics. Representing a suite of coal-bearing strata. It is divisible into four members in ascending order: The Guanshan Member, whose naming locality is situated in the Guanshan Village of the Mingshan Coal Mine in the Leping County, is composed mainly of grey-white thick-bedded medium- and coarse-grained feldspar-quartz sandstone and quartz-fine-grained sandstone, intercalated with a small amount of siltstone and sandy shale, siltstone and coal seams (Coal Measures A). It is distributed in the Lianhua-Anfu, Pingxiang-Leping areas, with a thickness of 34 m at Cehua of the Yichun County, and of 320 m at Qiaotouqiu of the Leping County. The Laoshan Member, whose naming locality is situated in the Laoshan Mining Area of the Fanle Coal Mine, is composed of dark-grey siltstone, siltstone and calcareous fine-grained sandstone, intercalated with carbonaceous siltstone with coal seams (Coal Measures B). It has a thickness of 80-160 m. It is distributed in the Lianhua, Pingxiang and Leping areas, with a thickness of 86 m at Cihua of the Yichun County, of 479 m at Huangmao of the Fenyi County, and of 246 m at Qiaotouqiu of the Leping County. The Shizishan Member, whose naming locality is situated at the Wangpanli Village in the Mingshan Mining Area of the Leping County, is composed of light-grey thick-bedded quartz-sandstone, intercalated with fine-grained sandstone and siltstone, with a thickness of 11-64 m. The Wangpanli Member, whose naming locality is situated at the Wangpanli Village in the Mingshan Mining Area of the Leping County, has a lower part of Shizishan Sandstone. This particular member is composed mainly of grey and dark-grey fine-grained sandstone, siltstone, silty shale and carbonaceous shale with coal seams (Coal Measures C), with its basal part consisting of light-grey thick-bedded feldspar-quartz sandstone and quartz-sandstone, with a thickness of about 40 m, and the total Member thickness is commonly of 78-139 m. It is distributed in the central and western parts of Jiangxi Province. In the Huangmao area of the Fenyi County its thickness reaches as great as 48 m, while in the Qiaotouqiu area of the Loping County, its thickness reaches as great as 96 m. The lithology of the whole formation is stable, with a total thickness of 100-445 m. The contacts between the various members are all conformable ones.

Guanshan Member lower part yields Fusulinida represented by Metadoliolina, Neoschwagerina, Schwagerina, Verbeekina, etc.

Laoshan Member yields abundant Ammonoids as represented in ascending order by the Anderssonoceras-Prototoceras zone, the Araxoceras-Konglingites zone, and the Sanyangites zone; Brachiopods comprising Tyloplecta, Spinomarginifera, Haydenella, Cathaysia, Martinia, etc.; and Plant fossils (phytolites) such as Gigantopteris nicotinaefolia, Pecopteris taiyuanensis, Taeniopteris densissima, etc.,

Shizishan Member yields a small amount of brachiopod fossils.

Wangpanli Member yielding Brachiopods such as Waagenites and Cathaysia; Plant fossils (phytolites) such as Taeniopteris, Pecopteris, etc.

It is interpreted as littoral delta-facies deposits.