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Wangquankou Formation

Wangquankou Fm

Period: 
Mesoproterozoic

Age Interval: 
Jixianian (Calymmian) Jx (19)


Province: 
Ningxia, Inner Mongolia

Type Locality and Naming

North Ningxia. The Wangquankou Fm was named by the Party of Regional Geological Survey, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region Bureau of Geology in 1978. The type section is upstream of Wangquankou Gully, Huinong County, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region.

Synonym: （王全口组）


Lithology and Thickness

The Wangquankou Fm is dominated by limy dolomite with chert bands and concretions. In lower part there is some quartz sandstone, siltstone and calcareous slate, with a conglomerate sporadically exposed in the base. It is recorded to 83 m thick.


Lithology Pattern: 
Siliceous limestone


Relationships and Distribution

Lower contact

It is in disconformable contact with the underlying Huangqikou Fm.

Upper contact

Schematic stratigraphic column shows the next higher regional unit is the Maozhuang Fm (lower Cambrian)

Regional extent

North Ningxia. It is stable in lithological character, lithofacies and stratigraphic sequence in all distribution region, but there is a thinning trend in thickness from south to north, for example, it is 726 m thick in Huangqikou and Binggou; 486 m in Baisikou, and only 118 m in Wangquankou. Furthermore, its outcrop extends north even to Gandel Mountain-Zhuozi Mountain region of Inner Mongolia.


GeoJSON

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Fossils

The dolomite contains stromatolites Conophyton garganicum, C. ocularoideum, Inzeria f., Colonnela f., Jacutophyton f. Microplants Margominuscula sp., Leiominuscupa sp., Leiopsophosphaera solida


Age 

K-Ar conventional dating on glauconite in the formation yielded 1289 Ma. Schematic stratigraphic column places as late Jixian (late Calymmian).

Age Span: 

    Beginning stage: 
Calymmian

    Fraction up in beginning stage: 
0.5

    Beginning date (Ma): 
1,500.00

    Ending stage: 
Calymmian

    Fraction up in the ending stage: 
1.0

    Ending date (Ma):  
1,400.00

Depositional setting


Depositional pattern:  


Additional Information


Compiler:  

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