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Continental island from the Upper Silurian (Ludlow) Sino-Korean plate

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Chinese Science Bulletin

Abstract

Recent field studies on Upper Silurian stratigraphy and paleontology in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region (for short Inner Mongalia) near Bater Obo (=Bateaobao) resulted in the discovery of a small continental island with fossil invertebrates preserved as encrusters (stromatoporoids and corals) attached directly to a rocky shore surface and buried by silty clay mud. The Bater island (oamed herein) is 610 m × 200 m in size and composed of Ordovician igneous rock (diorite). Limestone strata dating from the Ludlow Epoch (about 420 Ma) surround the island and dip away from the igneous core in a radial pattern. The encrusting fossils occur on the sheltered (south and southeast) side of the island, whereas the north side was exposed to stronger wave activity based on a basal conglomerate unit composed of diorite boulders. This is the first record of an ancient island in China and the first report worldwide of stromatoporoids as members of a rocky-shore community. The island clearly shows distinct windward and leeward deposits comparable to geologically younger islands from the Mesozoic and Cenozoic outside China.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 210008, Nanjing, China

    Jiayu Rong

  2. Geosciences Department, Williams College, 01267, Williamstown, Massachusetts, USA

    M. E. Johnson & B. G. Baarli

  3. Inner Mongolian Geological Survey, 010010, Hohhot, China

    Wenguo Li & Jian Wang

  4. Department of Geology, Chinese University of Geology, 100083, Beijing, China

    Wenbo Su

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  1. Jiayu Rong
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  2. M. E. Johnson
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  4. Wenguo Li
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  6. Jian Wang
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Rong, J., Johnson, M.E., Baarli, B.G. et al. Continental island from the Upper Silurian (Ludlow) Sino-Korean plate. Chin.Sci.Bull. 46, 238–241 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03187177

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03187177

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