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Mashan Formation
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Mashan Fm base reconstruction

Mashan Fm

Period: 
Neoproterozoic

Age Interval: 
Middle Qingbaikouan (middle Tonian), Qb （26-a）


Province: 
Shandong

Type Locality and Naming

Northeast peninsula of Shandong. The Mashan Formation was named by Xing Yusheng in 1996 (Stratigraphical Lexicon of China, the Neoprotreozoic Era). The typical section is situated in Mashan around Zhailiyujia-Douya in Qixia County, Shandong Province.

Synonym: （马山组）


Lithology and Thickness

The Mashan Formation is dominated by slate and marble and it is subdivided into three lithological members. Lower member is composed of bluish gray to yellowish green pelitic slate intercalated with siliceous slate, marl and lenses of limestone. Middle member is bluish gray marble intercalated with greenish yellow calcareous slate. Upper member consists of greenish gray and bluish gray slate, upward intercalated with minor thin-bedded pelitic dolomitic limestone. Its thickness varies from 1130 to 1600 m.


Lithology Pattern: 
Shallow-marine marl


Relationships and Distribution

Lower contact

The basal part composed of dark gray siliceous slate rests conformably on the underlying Fuzikuang Formation with a bed of yellowish brown thin-bedded quartzite.

Upper contact

The top part composed of greenish gray slate is conformably overlain by the Xiangkuang Formation by a bed of grayish brown thin-bedded marl.

Regional extent

Northeast peninsula of Shandong. The Mashan Formation is distributed around Nanzhuang to Douya north of Baoshankou in Qixia County and around Gaotuan in Fushan County, Shandong Province.


GeoJSON

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Fossils

It yields microplants Trachysphaeridium simplex, T. incrassatum, Leiopsophosphaera sp., Asperatopsophospheara umishanensis, Tasmanites sp., Trematosphaeridium holtedahlii, Taeniatum cf. crissum, etc.


Age 

Middle Qingbaikouan (early-middle Tonian) on schematic stratigraphic column (but had a "Z" code previously).

Age Span: 

    Beginning stage: 
Tonian

    Fraction up in beginning stage: 
0.3

    Beginning date (Ma): 
916.00

    Ending stage: 
Tonian

    Fraction up in the ending stage: 
0.5

    Ending date (Ma):  
860.00

Depositional setting


Depositional pattern:  


Additional Information


Compiler:  

Extracts from The Neoproterozoic Erathem (chapter in Stratigraphic Lexicon of China, draft of 2022) by Gao Linzhi, Ding Xiaozhong, Zhang Chuanheng, Zhang Heng.