Dinosaur footprint fossils in dark mudstones of the Xiguayuan Formation（Upper Jurassic-Lower Cretaceous）in LuanpingBasin and their geological significance
Ji YouliangSun YuhuaJia Ailin
1 China University of Petroleum（Beijing） Beijing102249
2 School of Ocean and Earth Science,Tongji University, Shanghai200092
3 Research Institute of Petroleum Exploration and Development PetroChina Beijing100083
By the study of different kinds of dinosaur footprint fossils found in the dark mudstones and oil shales of the Xiguayuan Formation(Upper Jurassic-Lower Cretaceous) in Luanping Basin and the lithofacies characteristics of the dark mudstones and oil shales，the sedimentary environment of the dinosaur footprint fossils was analyzed. The dark mudstones with dinosaur footprint fossils were deposited in semideep lake or front fan delta environments which indicated that the lake level changed frequently. During the dry season，the lake level fell，and the dark mudstones in deep lakesemideep lake facies exposed to the air. Some dinosaurs went to the lower part of the basin to drink water，and their footprints were left in the dark mudstones. Consequently, it is concluded that all the sandstone conglomerates interlayered in the dark mudstones and the salt rocks in the Paleogene continental faulted basins in eastern China are not formed by deep water gravity flow. The sedimentary models of the sandstone conglomerates and salt rocks interlayered in dark mudstones were established to show their origins.
About author: Ji Youliang，born in 1962，is a professor of China University of Petroleum(Beijing)，and a vice director of Key Laboratory of Reservoir of CNPC. Now he is mainly engaged in petroleum geology，sedimentology and sequence stratigraphy.
Cite this article:
. Dinosaur footprint fossils in dark mudstones of the Xiguayuan Formation（Upper Jurassic-Lower Cretaceous）in LuanpingBasin and their geological significance[J]. JOURNAL OF PALAEOGEOGRAPHY, 2008, 10(4): 379-384.
. Dinosaur footprint fossils in dark mudstones of the Xiguayuan Formation（Upper Jurassic-Lower Cretaceous）in LuanpingBasin and their geological significance[J]. JOPC, 2008, 10(4): 379-384.
