| Age | Olenekian ~ |
|---|---|
| Period | Early Triassic |
| Prilithology | Limestone |
| Otherlithology | Mudstone |
| Region | Sichuan, Jiangxi, Chongqing, Hubei |
| Country | China |
| Coordinates | 31.1°N 111.6°E |
| Underlies | Feixianguan Formation |
| Overlies | Leikoupo Formation Guanling Formation |
| Extent | Sichuan Basin |
The Jialingjiang Formation (嘉陵江组) is a geologic feature associated with the Sichuan Basin of China, generally underlying the area of the basin, with its origins dating to the Early Triassic period of geologic time, around 249 million years ago. The Jialingjiang Formation is a geologic group feature upon the Yangtze Plate, which is a tectonic feature of the Earth's crust.
The Jialingjiang Formation is important to paleontologists or other people interested in ancient life forms due to the fossil evidence incorporated therein (such as for Eretmorhipis and other Ichthyosaur relatives). Also, scientific study of this formation group provides insight into Late Triassic tectonic inversion based on analysis of detrital zircon U–Pb chronology (involving the element uranium converting to lead over time due to radioactive decay). The Jialingjiang Formation is also of interest in history as it has been a source for humans to extract valuable economic goods such as salt and natural gas for many centuries.[1][2][3]
Hydrocarbon resources
The history of the Jialingjiang Formation explains the origins of the hydrocarbon resources which have historically or in the future may be extracted. The primary hydrocarbon resource of the Sichuan Basin is natural gas.[4]
Fossil contents
Invertebrates
| Invertebrates of the Jialingjiang Formation | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Genus | Species | Locality | Material | Notes | Images |
| Claraia | C. sp. | Longmendong, Sichuan | A specimen | A bivalve scallop | |
| Entolium | E. discites microtis | ||||
| Promysidiella | P. eduliformis praecursor | ||||
| Liuzhinia[5] | L. parva | Longmendong, Sichuan | Several specimen | A bairdiidae ostracod | |
| L. subovata | |||||
| L. reniformis | |||||
| Myophoria | M. ovata | A bivalve mollusk | |||
| Pteria [6] | P. cf. murchisoni | Longmendong, Sichuan | A bivalve mollusk | ||
Vertebrates
Reptiles
| Reptiles of the Jialingjiang Formation | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Genus | Species | Locality | Material | Notes | Images |
| Chaohusaurus[7] | C. zhangjiawanensis | Yuanan, Hubei | A relatively complete skeleton with skull and another skeleton lacking the skull. | An Ichthyosauriform | |
| Chusaurus[8] | C. xiangensis | Songshugou Village, Hubei | A nearly complete skeleton lacking some cranial and cervical vertebral elements | A pachypleurosaurian nothosaur | |
| Eohupehsuchus[9] | E. brevicollis | Yangping, Hubei | A skeleton | An aquatic short-necked hupehsuchia reptile | |
| Eretmorhipis[10] | E. carrolldongi | Yuan'an County, Hubei | Multiple holotype specimens consist of partially preserved skeletons. | A marine hupehsuchian reptile | |
| Hanosaurus | H. hupehensis | Sonshugo locality and Yingzishan locality, Hubei | A partial skeleton | A marine reptile | |
| Hupehsuchus[11] | H. nanchangensis | Quarry near Minfeng, Hubei | A preserved skeleton | A hupehsuchian marine reptile that resembles a baleen whale. | |
| Keichousaurus[12] | K. yuananensis | Yingzishan Hill Quarry, Yichang | A partial skeleton | A pachypleurosaurian nothosaur | |
| Lariosaurus | L. sanxiaensis | Yingzishan Hill Quarry, Yichang | A holotype specimen consists of a skeleton | A nothosaur | |
| Lentamanusuchus[13] | L. hubeiensis | Yingzishan Quarry, Yuan'an, Hubei | A partial articulated skeleton | A hupehsuchian ichthyosauromorph | |
| Nanchangosaurus[14] | N. suni | Yangping, Yuan'an County, Hubei | A preserved skeleton | A hupehsuchian marine reptile | |
| Parahupehsuchus[15] | P. longus | Yuan'an County, Hubei | A holotype specimen consists of a mostly complete left half of a skeleton, which lacks the skull and most of the tail. | A hupehsuchian marine reptile | |
| Prosaurosphargis[16] | P. yingzishanensis | Yingzishan quarry, Hubei | A partial skeleton | A marine saurosphargid reptile | |
Fish
| Fish of the Jialingjiang Formation | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Genus | Species | Locality | Material | Notes | Images |
| Saurichthys[17] | S. sp. | Yuan'an County, Hubei | A saurichthyid saurichthyiform | ||
See also
References
- ^ [Late Triassic tectonic inversion in the upper Yangtze Block: insights from1 detrital zircon U–Pb geochronology https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10037981/1/br_manuscript.pdf]
- ^ Sun, Chunyan; Hu, Mingyi; Hu, Zhonggui; Ngia, Ngong Roger (June 1, 2019). "Sedimentary facies and sequence stratigraphy in the Lower Triassic Jialingjiang Formation, Sichuan Basin, China". Journal of Petroleum Exploration and Production Technology. 9 (2): 837–847. doi:10.1007/s13202-018-0551-3
- ^ Kuhn, Oliver (2004-06-30). "Ancient Chinese Drilling". Canadian Society of Exploration Geophysicists. 29 (6)
- ^ Zhijun, Jin; Quanyou, Liu; Nansheng, Qiu; Feng, Ding; Guoping, Bai (2012). "Phase states of hydrocarbons in Chinese marine carbonate strata and controlling factors for their formation". Energy Exploration & Exploitation. 30 (5): 753–773. ISSN 0144-5987
- ^ M. Wei. 1981. Early and Middle Triassic ostracods from Sichuan. Acta Palaeontologica Sinica 20(6):501-507 [M. Clapham/M. Clapham]
- ^ C. Xu. 1978. Lamellibranchiata. Palaeontological Atlas of Southwest China - Sichuan Volume 2:315-364
- ^ CHEN Xiaohong, P. Martin SANDER, CHENG Long, WANG Xiaofeng.2013. A New Triassic Primitive Ichthyosaur from Yuanan, South China[J]. Acta Geologica Sinica(),87(3):672-677
- ^ Liu, Q. L., Cheng, L., Stubbs, T. L., Moon, B. C., Benton, M. J., Yan, C. B., & Tian, L. (2023). Rapid neck elongation in Sauropterygia (Reptilia: Diapsida) revealed by a new basal pachypleurosaur from the Lower Triassic of China. BMC ecology and evolution, 23(1), 44. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12862-023-02150-w
- ^ CHEN Xiaohong, P. Martin SANDER, CHENG Long, WANG Xiaofeng.2013. A New Triassic Primitive Ichthyosaur from Yuanan, South China[J]. Acta Geologica Sinica(),87(3):672-677
- ^ Cheng, Long; Motani, Ryosuke; Jiang, Da-Yong; Yan, Chun-bo; Tintori, Andrea; Rieppel, Olivier (2019). "Early Triassic marine reptile representing the oldest record of unusually small eyes in reptiles, indicating non-visual prey detection". Scientific Reports. 9 (1): 152. Bibcode:2019NatSR...9..152C. doi:10.1038/s41598-018-37754-6. PMC 6345829. PMID 30679783.
- ^ X.-C. Wu, L.-J. Zhao, and T. Sato, S.-X. Gu, X.-S. Jin. 2016. A new specimen of Hupehsuchus nanchangensis Young, 1972 (Diapsida, Hupehsuchia) from the Triassic of Hubei, China. Historical Biology 28(1-2):43-52
- ^ C.-C. Young. 1965. On the new nothosaurs from Hupeh and Kweichou, China. Vertebrata PalAsiatica 9(4):337-356
- ^ Qiao, Y.; Iijima, M.; Liu, J. (2025). "A new hupehsuchian (Reptilia: Ichthyosauromorpha) with widely spaced autopodium from the marine Lower Triassic of South China". Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. 23. doi:10.1080/14772019.2025.2560884
- ^ Chen, X. H., Motani, R., Cheng, L., Jiang, D. Y., & Rieppel, O. (2014). A small short-necked hupehsuchian from the lower Triassic of Hubei Province, China. PloS one, 9(12), e115244. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0115244
- ^ Chen, X. H., Motani, R., Cheng, L., Jiang, D. Y., & Rieppel, O. (2014). A carapace-like bony 'body tube' in an early triassic marine reptile and the onset of marine tetrapod predation. PloS one, 9(4), e94396. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0094396
- ^ A. S. Wolniewicz, Y. Shen, Q. Li, Y. Sun, Y. Qiao, Y. Chen, Y.-W. Hu and J. Liu. 2023. An armoured marine reptile from the Early Triassic of South China and its phylogenetic and evolutionary implications. eLife 12(e83163)
- ^ Zhang, Y.-T.; Wu, F.-X.; Li, Q.; Qiao, Y.; Hu, Y.-W.; Shen, X.-Y.; Liu, J. (2026). "First record of predatory fish Saurichthys from the late Early Triassic Nanzhang-Yuan'an fauna, South China". Historical Biology: An International Journal of Paleobiology. doi:10.1080/08912963.2025.2588256