Home Multi-Country Search About Admin Login
Cenozoic
Cretaceous
Jurassic
Triassic
Permian
Carboniferous
Devonian
Silurian
Ordovician
Cambrian
Neoproterozoic
Mesoproterozoic

Search by
Select Region(s) to search
Hold Ctrl (Windows/Linux) or Command (Mac) to select multiple
Sishilichangshan Formation
Click to display on map of the Ancient World at:
Sishilichangshan Fm base reconstruction

Sishilichangshan Fm

Period: 
Neoproterozoic

Age Interval: 
early Sinian (early Ediacaran), Z (27, 28)


Province: 
Anhui, Jiangsu

Type Locality and Naming

West-central Anhui. The Sishilichangshan Fm was named by Yang Zhijian. The typical section is situated in Ma'an Mountain of Sishilichangshan in Huoqiu County, Anhui Province. Synonym: There are currently two names for this formation (the Sishilichangshan Formation and the Shouxian Fm). As the Sishilichangshan Formation was named earlier than the Shouxian Formation, this Lexicon proposes to discard the latter.

Synonym: （四十里长山组）


Lithology and Thickness

The Sishilichangshan Fm is dominantly composed of light gray thick-bedded calcareous quartzose sandstone and feldspathic quartzose sandstone, being generally calcareous and bearing glauconite, with micro laminations and cross-beddings, locally with turbulent sandy lumps. With a persistent lithology, the thickness generally varies from 35 to 90 m, 56 m in Huainan, 34 m in Fengyang, 23 m in Xiaojianji of Mengcheng and more than 223 m in Pingshan of Sixian County.


Lithology Pattern: 
Sandstone


Relationships and Distribution

Lower contact

The Sishilichangshan Fm rests conformably on the underlying Liulaobei Fm

Upper contact

Conformably overlain by the Jiayuan Fm.

Regional extent

West-central Anhui. Huoqiu County, Anhui Province.


GeoJSON

{"type":"Feature","geometry":{"type":"MultiPolygon","coordinates":[[[[116.94,34.46],[117.37,34.45],[118.05,34.39],[118.13,34.24],[117.97,33.91],[117.63,33.61],[117.16,33.5],[116.8,33.62],[116.64,34.13],[116.94,34.46],[117.44,33.06],[117.8,33.06],[117.92,32.97],[117.9,32.63],[117.75,32.47],[117.53,32.36],[117.25,32.28],[116.88,32.36],[116.6,32.5],[116.63,32.68],[116.81,32.78],[117.05,32.96],[117.44,33.06]]]]}}

Fossils

It yields microplants Retinarites irregularis, Lignum sp.


Age 

A K-Ar date of 749.8 Ma is acquired from glauconite in this formation. See discussion on the age of Liulaobei Fm, which is conformable below the underlying Sishilichangshan Fm, of which its upper member is apparently assigned to Sinian. Therefore, even the schematic stratigraphic column has indicated a "Cryogenian" placement, it is placed in the lower Ediacaran for this graphic column. Therefore, lowest (1 of 10) in a succession of eight formations spanning early through middle Sinian (early through middle Ediacaran) formations according to assigned "Z" code and schematic stratigraphic column.

Age Span: 

    Beginning stage: 
Ediacaran

    Fraction up in beginning stage: 
0.05

    Beginning date (Ma): 
630.19

    Ending stage: 
Ediacaran

    Fraction up in the ending stage: 
0.1

    Ending date (Ma):  
625.38

Depositional setting

Based on the sedimentary features, the Sishilichangshan Formation is considered to belong to a littoral to neritic facies.


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.