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Zongshan Formation
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Zongshan Fm base reconstruction

Zongshan Fm

Period: 
Cretaceous

Age Interval: 
Late Cretaceous, (12b) K2zsh


Province: 
Xizang (Tibet)

Type Locality and Naming

Himalayan South Belt. The Zongshan Formation was erected by Mu Enzhi et al in 1973. The type locality for the designation is at Zongshan 250 m southeast of the Gamba County of Xizang.

Synonym: Zangsain Fm (?)

[Figure: The type section of Zongshan Formation in Gamba County of Xizang (Tibet)]]

[Figure: Upper member of Zongshan Formation behind Gamba County of Xizang (Tibet)]


Lithology and Thickness

The Zongshan Formation is subdivided into two members. The Campanian Lower Member consists of a lower unit of gray thick-bedded micritic limestones, and an upper unit of calcareous shales and marls. The Lower Member is 150~176 m thick. The Maastrichtian Upper Member is composed of two layers of thick-bedded packstone intercalated with marls and calcareous shale. The Upper Member is 100~122 m in thickness.

[Figure: Bivalves in Upper member of Zongshan Formation in Gamba]

[Figure: Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary in Gamba Zongshan section, Gamba]


Lithology Pattern: 
Clayey limestone


Relationships and Distribution

Lower contact

It overlies conformably on the Gambacunkou Fm

Upper contact

Regional extent

The present formation is mainly distributed in Gamba, Yadong and Tingri counties of Xizang (Tibet).


GeoJSON

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Fossils

Foraminifera are the representative fauna in this formation. The Lower Member contains abundant planktonic foraminifera like Globotruncanita elevata, G. stuarti, Contusutruncana fornicata, Globotruncana aegyptiaca, G. arca, G. bulloides, G. ventricosa, G. linneiana, benthic foraminifera Goupillaudinal ecointrei; and Campanian ammonites Menabites pauciturculatus, M. (Delawarella) subdelawarensis, Pachydiscus bassae and Pseudoschloenbachia sp. The Upper Member dominated by packstone yields abundant larger foraminifera fossils, such as Orbitoides media d'Archiae, O. apiculata Schlumberger, Omphalocyclus macroporus (Lamarck), bivalves Biradiolites sp., Bournonia tibetica Douville; and Maastrichtian algae Trinocladus radoicicae Elliott, Cymopolia tibetica and C. eochoristosporica.

The fossils are well preserved in the strata and are dominated by planktonic taxa. Thirteen planktonic foraminifer zones and one larger foraminifer assemblages have been recognized from the south Tibetan Himalaya sedimentary sub-belt. They are Albian Ticinella roberti Zone; Cenomanian Rotalipora brotzeni, R. reicheli and R. cushmani Zones; Cenomanian/Turonian Whiteinella archaeocretacea Zone; Turonian Helvetoglobotruncana helvetica and Marginotruncana sigali Zones; Coniacian Dicarinella primitiva Zone; Coniacian/Santonian Dicarinella concavata Zone; Santonian Dicarinella asymetrica Zone; Campanian Globotruncanita elevata, Globotruncana ventricosa, Globotruncanita stuartiformis Zones and Maastrichtian Orbitoides-Ompaloceclus Assemblage.


Age 

Campanian-Maastrichtian. Marine Cretaceous- Paleocene boundary is between the Zongshan Fm and the Jidula Fm. The Paleocene Jidula Fm of thick-bedded quartz sandstone is overlying on the Zongshan Formation. Some foraminifera Rotania dukhani, R. hensoni, Smoutia cruysi, and Lockhartia sp. occur in thin marl bed at the bottom of formation (Wan, 1987). The stratigraphy of the Cretaceous/Paleogene boundary sequences has been recently improved by recognition of three foraminifer assemblages. They are: Maastrichtian Orbitoides-Omphalocyclus, Danian Rotalia-Smoutina-Lockhartia and Thanetian Miscellanea-Daviesina microfaunal assemblages. The K/Pg boundary at this sub-belt is, therefore, placed between the Orbitoides-Omphalocyclus and Rotalia-Smoutina-Lockhartia assemblages (Wan et al., 2002).

Age Span: 

    Beginning stage: 
Campanian

    Fraction up in beginning stage: 
0.25

    Beginning date (Ma): 
80.78

    Ending stage: 
Maastrichtian

    Fraction up in the ending stage: 
1.0

    Ending date (Ma):  
66.04

Depositional setting


Depositional pattern:  


Additional Information


Compiler:  

Wan Xiaoqiao