Yongqing Liu

Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences | CAGS · Institute of Geology

Multistorey vegetation was reestablished in the Middle to Late Triassic following the end-Permian mass extinction, ultimately forming extensive forests worldwide. There are some cosmopolitan elements in these communities, such as the Neocalamites (Sphenophyta), that bear significant climatic implications. Here, we report an in situ fossil forest of...

The investigation area is located in the western mountainous area of Henan Province. It is midsummer in late August, with an average temperature of about 21–33 ℃. During this period, it is mostly sunny with thunderstorms. We recommend wearing thinner clothes and long shirts, and to come equipped with sunscreen and rainwear. The routes are generally...

The rapid rise of glacioeustatic change is the most extreme paleoenvironment alteration in the aftermath of Snowball Earth. Although geologists conducted a lot of multi-subdiscipline research on this issue previously, there still exists the potential room for further discussions of the process in detail. For decades, the practice proved that the Fi...

The existence of a 0.3 Ga“great unconformity” between the Mesoproterozoic “Undefined System” Xiamaling Formation and the “Neoproterozoic” Longshan Formation has long been controversial. In this study, stratigraphy, sedimentology, detrital zircon dating, lithium isotope, and major and trace elements were applied to systematically analyze their relat...

Under a specific tectonic background, the change in paleoclimate can show different facies associations and depositional architecture. The Jurassic China continent was an important region for transforming the Paleotethys tectonic domain to the circum-Pacific tectonic domain, and its paleoclimate information was entirely preserved in the continental...

The Ordos Basin’s southern part is a composite zone made up of numerous continental blocks and has long been influenced by surrounding tectonism. However, only a few studies have investigated the existence of southern provenance supply and the basin’s southern boundary in the Middle Jurassic Zhiluo Formation. Based on sandstone detrital zircon U-Pb...

The Ediacaran–Cambrian transition (approx. 580–520 million years ago), one of the most critical intervals in Earth's history, witnessed physical environment change and climate fluctuations coupled with extraordinary radiations of metazoan life. Up to now, there are insufficient data to evaluate the true nature of the Ediacaran–Cambrian transition c...

While Ediacaran cap dolostones research is a hot topic, detailed sedimentological analysis of barite-bearing cap dolostones remains scarce. Here, new data are presented from Xiangerwan in northern Three Gorges, South China, to illustrate the sedimentary characteristics, depositional environment and formation mechanism of the barite-bearing cap dolo...

The Permian-Triassic boundary (PTB, ~252 Ma) underwent the most profound hyperthermal event with the most severe biotic extinction and drastic environmental changes worldwide, both on land and in the oceans. The climate heated rapidly in low-latitude areas, caused by a huge and sharp input of greenhouse gases related to large igneous province volca...

The driver of the Early–Middle Triassic biotic recovery on land following the end-Permian crisis is puzzling. Here, we show the biotic recovery was gradual and spanned up to 8 Myr after the end-Permian mass extinction, based on continuous, well-dated sections over large areas in the northeastern Ordos Basin, North China. Initial recovery began in t...

Key information on sedimentary or tectonic events is recorded in deformation structures formed in unlithified and lithified sediments. Disputes about the classification and identification of the two types of deformation have become increasingly relevant. The present study systematically summarizes, based on consolidation states, the genetic mechani...

The delayed recovery of life in the Early-Middle Triassic on land following the end-Permian crisis is actively debated, with its validity, timing, and causality all questioned. Here, we show, based on detailed sedimentary, palaeontological, geochemical and geochronological analyses on continuous and well-dated sections over large areas in the north...

Red beds are irrefutable evidence of important geological events; understanding their formation mechanism and sedimentary environment provide insights about Earth's history and the evolution of life. In this paper, Precambrian red beds from over 70 outcrops in nearly 30 regions in different countries are statistically assessed using their lithology...

The Cretaceous, with relatively high atmospheric CO2 concentrations, temperatures, and sea levels, is a typical greenhouse period in the geologic history of the Earth. Recently, gradual changes in the understanding of the Early Cretaceous climate have led to the proposal of small-scale polar glaciers or cooling events in polar regions. However, the...

Jurassic strata in the southern margin of the Junggar Basin are located in the piedmont zone of the North Tianshan Mountains in Xinjiang, China. Due to multiple tectonic movements, the basin has a complicated history of structural deformation. Accurate reconstructions of the tectonic setting, provenance attributes and paleoclimatic characteristics...

Ediacaran cap dolomites are strong evidence for the glaciation during the Neoproterozoic. Stratigraphic-sedimentological studies combined with δ¹³C and δ¹⁸O isotope analyses are used for defining the processes of post-glacier environmental changes and sea-level rise caused by glacier melting and the reconstruction of the depositional environments f...

Eolian deposits, which record the geological history, have long been a hot topic in geoscience research for they are not only a sensitive indicator of paleoclimate, paleoecology, and paleoenvironment but also a basis for the reconstruction of the global paleocontinent and paleogeography. Upper Mesozoic eolian deposits, especially Lower Cretaceous e...

Increasing sedimentary records and non-glacial facies reported from various regional glaciations suggest diverse interpretation against the ‘hard’ snowball Earth. At Shennongjia, in northern Yangtze Craton, glaciogenic strata of the Nantuo Formation (~649-635 Ma) are widely outcropped, which represents the Marinoan glacial record. In this study, se...

Ancient desert, characterized by low biotic diversity as well as low preservation potential, has long been assumed as devoid of biotic activity. However, recent works from Mesozoic trace fossils preserved in the eolianites in North America, South America and East Asia indicate that the ancient desert can also have diverse inhabitants. This paper pr...

This paper presents some data of the Jiaopingdu gabbro and Caiyuanzi granite at the southwestern margin of the Yangtze Block, on the geochemical compositions, zircon LA‐ICPMS U‐Pb ages and Hf isotopic data. The Jiaopingdu gabbro gives the age of 1721±5 Ma, the Caiyuanzi granite 1732±6 Ma and 1735±4 Ma, and the Wenjiashi porphyry granite 1713±4 Ma,...

The continuous existence of the Marinoan Ice Age, a late Cryogenian panglaciation (Snowball Earth), is challenged by the occurrences of widespread glacial marine and nonglacial deposits consisting of stratified diamictite, laminated siltstone and claystone, and even carbonates, which indicate an episode of partial deglaciation. Red beds that common...

Sedimentary successions provide direct evidence of climate and tectonics, and these give clues about the causes of the mass extinction around the Permian–Triassic boundary. Terrestrial Permian–Triassic boundary strata in the eastern Ordos Basin, North China, include the Late Permian Sunjiagou, Early Triassic Liujiagou and late Early Triassic Heshan...

The causes of the severest crisis in the history of life around the Permian-Triassic boundary (PTB) remain controversial. Here we report that the latest Permian alluvial plains in Shanxi, North China, went through a rapid transition from meandering rivers to braided rivers and aeolian systems. Soil carbonate carbon isotope (δ13C), oxygen isotope (δ...

This study covers cosmic spherules derived from the Mesoproterozoic Dahongyu Formation in the Ming Tombs area, Beijing. The cosmic spherules include iron oxide cosmic spherules, carbonaceous chondrites, and atomic iron “steely bead”‐shaped cosmic spherules. The mineral assemblage of silicon carbide, forsterite, zircon, and glass spherules and fragm...

Depositional evidence for glaciation (dropstones, diamictites) is common in Neoproterozoic strata, and often debated, but erosional evidence (e.g., unconformities cut directly by ice) is rare. Only two such unconformities are known to have been well preserved globally from the Ediacaran Period (in western Australia and central China). This paper pr...

Eolian systems were widespread in China in the Cretaceous. However, the reports of pre-Cretaceous eolian and its related systems are scarce, which prohibits studying the construction, accumulation and preservation of eolian systems as well as its allogenic and autogenic controlling factors. In this paper, we report on fluvial–eolian successions fro...

The basal conglomerates (‘Linsishan Conglomerate’, LC, herein) are exposed discontinuously along the northern part of the Sulu Orogenic Belt (SOB) and the southern part of the Jiaobei Terrane. Studying these conglomerates can offer key constrains for the formation age of the Jiaolai Basin and improve our understanding of the uplift and erosional hi...

Zhucheng, located in eastern Shandong Province, China, is well-known for its abundant Early Cretaceous dinosaur footprints and Late Cretaceous dinosaur bone fossils. Recently, Lockley et al. (2015) presented a sketch study on the Huanglonggou tracksite in the Zhucheng area, and critically commented on our paper (H. Xu et al., 2013), which conducted...

Previous studies indicate that the North China Craton (NCC) had undergone the loss of thickened lithosphere and fundamental change of physical and chemical property of lithospheric mantle (the destruction of NCC) during the Mesozoic. The peak period of the destruction of NCC is estimated to be 130 Ma, accompanied by widespread metamorphic core comp...

Post-natal parental care seems to have evolved numerous times in vertebrates. Among extant amniotes, it is present in crocodilians, birds, and mammals. However, evidence of this behavior is extremely rare in the fossil record and is only reported for two types of dinosaurs, and a varanopid ‘pelycosaur’. Here we report new evidence for post-natal pa...

We here briefly introduce the distribution, sedimentary characteristics and filling sequence of the Tuchengzi Formation in northern North China. On the basis of the uncertainty of the age of the Tuchengzi Formation, we analyzed all the isotopic dating data and constrained the age of Tuchengzi Formation to be 154-137 Ma. Previous biostratigraphy res...

Northeastern China contains widely distributed Jurassic terrestrial strata that have yielded many spectacular mammal and pterosaur fossils, in addition to feathered dinosaur fossils and more recent discoveries from Jianchang, particularly from western Liaoning. However, the fossil‐bearing stratigraphic succession, regional correlation, and age esti...

A new ctenochasmatoid pterosaur, Gladocephaloideus jingangshanensis gen. et sp. nov. from the Yixian Formation of western Laioning Province is erected based on a complete skull and partial postcranial skeleton. It is characterized by following features: about 50 total teeth with sharp tips; small nasoantorbital opening, occupying approximately 13%...

Although its origin has not yet reached a consensus so far, MTS (Molar‐Tooth Structure) has been documented for more than 100 years. Current study reports a discovery of MTS from the Mesoproterozoic Wumishan Formation, Lingyuan, Yanshan Region, North China, and the features and geological implications of MTS are further discussed. Here, straitigrap...

The sequence stratigraphy and geochronology of the terrestrial dinosaur-bearing strata, i.e., the Qiupa Formation, were poorly studied in the Luanchuan-Tantou Basin in western Henan, China. This study shows that these strata represent a complete succession from the Late Cretaceous to the early Paleogene, including the K/T boundary, in this area. He...

A partial skeleton of the ornithomimid dinosaur, discovered from the Late Cretaceous Qiupa Formation of Luanchuan County, Tantou Basin, Henan Province, China, is described here and assigned to a new genus and species, Qiupalong henanensis, with unique features (a notch on the lateral surface of the lateral posterior process of the proximal end of t...

Traditionally, the lacustrine deposits in Yixian County of Western Liaoning have been assigned to either “the Dakangpu Bed” of the Yixian Formation or the Jiufotang Formation. However, a 206Pb/238U age of 126.47 ± 0.87 Ma is newly obtained from the tuff sample (06051) of the lacustrine deposits in the Baitaigou fossil site of Potaizi village, Yixia...

A sexually mature individual of Darwinopterus preserved together with an egg from the Jurassic of China provides direct evidence of gender in pterosaurs and insights into the reproductive biology of these extinct fliers. This new find and several other examples of Darwinopterus demonstrate that males of this pterosaur had a relatively small pelvis...

In Yanshan, located in the northern part of North China, Mesoproterozoic carbonate sequences (1.6–1.4 Ga) form a 10, 000 m thick succession in an aulacogen basin. Carbon and oxygen isotope (δ13O and δ18O, resp.) data were obtained from 110 carbonate samples across three sections of these Mesoproterozoic deposits. From the early to late Mesoproteroz...

In Yanshan, located in the northern part of North China, Mesoproterozoic carbonate sequences (1.6-1.4 Ga) form a 10, 000m thick succession in an aulacogen basin. Carbon and oxygen isotope (d13O and d18O, resp.) data were obtained from 110 carbonate samples across three sections of these Mesoproterozoic deposits. From the early to late Mesoproterozo...

Abstract Molar tooth structure (MTS) represented by complex ptygmatical shapes is widely distributed in the Proterozoic of the world. MTS filled by fine, equant sparry calcite (or dolomite) displays an abrupt contact with hosting rocks, which are mainly composed of carbonaceous micrites and fine-grained carbonates with local silts and stormdominate...

LA-ICPMS Zircon U-Pb dating is applied to volcanic rocks overlying and underlying the Salamander-bearing bed in the Daohugou beds of Ningcheng in Inner Mongola and Reshuichang of Lingyuan and Mazhangzi of Jianping in western Liaoning. The results indicate that the youngest age of the rocks in Daohugou of Ningcheng is 158 Ma, and the oldest one is 1...

Q. 2010. A new troodontid theropod from the Late Cretaceous of central China, and the radiation of Asian troodontids. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 55 (3): 381–388. A new troodontid dinosaur, Xixiasaurus henanensis gen. et sp. nov., from the Upper Cretaceous Majiacun Formation of the Xixia Basin, Henan Province, is erected, based on a partial skull...

The fossil record is a unique source of evidence for important evolutionary phenomena such as transitions between major clades. Frustratingly, relevant fossils are still comparatively rare, most transitions have yet to be documented in detail and the mechanisms that underpin such events, typified by rapid large scale changes and for which microevol...

The Tianshan Mountains have undergone its initial orogeny, extension adjusting and re-orogeny since the Late Paleozoic. The re-orogeny and uplifting process of the orogeny in the Mesozoic and Cenozoic are two of most important events in the geological evolution of Euro-Asian continent, which resulted in the formation of the present range-and-basin...

SHRIMP U-Pb zircon dating was carried out for the Daohugou Biota near Ningcheng of Inner Mongolia and for lavas overlying or underlying salamander-bearing strata at Reshuitang in Lingyuan of West Liaoning. The results suggest that the Daohugou Biota occurred at an interval from 168 Ma to 164–152 Ma. Both the Daohugou Biota and the salamander-bearin...

Huge diabase occurs within the Proterozoic strata in the southern margin of the North China Block, geographically in the northern parts of Anhui and Jiangsu provinces, where no strata younger than Neoproterozoic have been found. Zircons from the diabase show three different structures from cathodoluminesecence imaging, but they are all of magmatic...

Two new horizons with macroscopic fossils are reported in the Doushantuo Formation, Ediacaran System, from the Yangtze Gorges area. The fossils were discovered in the lower and middle black shales of the Doushantuo Formation in the new section at Sandouping Town, Zigui County, Hubei Province. The new macroscopic assemblages include Chuaria and Tawu...