New discovery of dinosaur footprint fossils and palaeoenvironment in the late Early Cretaceous at Tancheng County，Shandong Province and Donghai County，Jiangsu Province
Wang Mingwei1,2 Kuang Hongwei2 Liu Yongqing2 Peng Nan2,3 Liu Hai2,4 Wu Qingzi5 Xu Jialin1,2 Chen Jun2,3 Xu Huan2 Wang Baohong1,2 Zhang Peng2,3
1 School of Geosciences of Yangtze University，Jingzhou 434023，Hubei 2 Institute of Geology，Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences，Beijing 100037 3 School of the Earth Sciences and Natural Resources，China University of Geosciences(Beijing），Beijing 100083 4 School of Geophysics and Resources of Yangtze University，Jingzhou 434023，Hubei 5 The No.8 Exploration of Geology and Mineral Resources，Rizhao 276800，Shandong
Abstract Lots of dinosaur footprints belonging to sauropod and theropod were first discovered in the upper Lower Cretaceous in Tancheng County，Shandong Province.The footprints vary in size. By comparing the study between the two new dinosaur track sites in Tancheng of Shandong Province and Nanguzhai of Jiangsu Province，we discussed the relationship among the footprint types，size， depth and walking speed，and found that under the same conditions，sauropod footprints are always deeper than those of theropod，while with the increase of the footprint size of sauropod，the depth shows a shallowing trend;sedimentary structures like ripples，rain marks and mud cracks，and footprint backfilling and overlaying have relatively greater impacts on saved forms and details，while structural deformation has no obvious effect on footprint forms and tracks，but high angle deformation would increase the differential weathering，making the fossils easier to be exposed and be destroyed.The study on palaeoenvironment and palaeoecology shows that the study area experienced a process of water gradually shallowing and climate changing from humid to dry with short intermittent drought，sedimentary facies evolved from fluviolacustrine to delta front，and gradually to delta plain，and the palaeoecological environment gradually deteriorated，the fauna and flora declined and the amount gradually decreased.
Corresponding Authors:
Kuang Hongwei，born in 1969，is a professor of Institute of Geology，Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences，and is mainly engaged in sedimentary geology and petroleum geology. E-mail: kuanghw@126.com. Liu Yongqing，born in 1960，is a research professor of Institute of Geology，Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences，and now is engaged in sedimentology，palaeogeology and palaeoecology. E-mail: liuyongqing@cags.ac.cn.
About author: Wang Mingwei，born in 1986，is a master degree candidate of Yangtze University，and is mainly engaged in sedimentary geology and petroleum geology. E-mail: meanway@163.com
Cite this article:
Wang Mingwei,Kuang Hongwei,Liu Yongqing et al. New discovery of dinosaur footprint fossils and palaeoenvironment in the late Early Cretaceous at Tancheng County，Shandong Province and Donghai County，Jiangsu Province[J]. JOPC, 2013, 15(4): 489-504.
Wang Mingwei,Kuang Hongwei,Liu Yongqing et al. New discovery of dinosaur footprint fossils and palaeoenvironment in the late Early Cretaceous at Tancheng County，Shandong Province and Donghai County，Jiangsu Province[J]. JOPC, 2013, 15(4): 489-504.
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