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The 40Ar/39Ar dating of the early Jehol Biota from Fengning, Hebei Province, northern China
Laboratory of Paleomagnetism and Geochronology (SKL-LE), Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100029, China
Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100044, China
Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100044, China
Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100044, China
Laboratory of Paleomagnetism and Geochronology (SKL-LE), Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100029, China
Laboratory of Paleomagnetism and Geochronology (SKL-LE), Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100029, China
Marine School, Chinese University of Geosciences, Beijing, 100083, China
Graystreet 133, Brussels, B-1050, Belgium
Laboratory of Paleomagnetism and Geochronology (SKL-LE), Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100029, China
The bird fossil-bearing deposits at the Jiecaigou section, correlative to the Dabeigou Formation, in Fengning, Hebei Province, northern China, is well known for yielding a fossil assemblage representing the earliest evolutionary stage of the Jehol Biota. The precise age of the fossil-bearing deposits, however, is unknown. The 40Ar/39Ar age spectrum obtained on bulk K-feldspars from the tuff layer about 2 m below the bird fossil-bearing layer gave a plateau age of 129.0 ± 1.3 Ma (2σ, full external error) and an isochron age of 132.3 ± 4.5 Ma (2σ, full external error). Seventeen total-fusion 40Ar/39Ar ages on K-feldspars from the interbedded tuff about 6 m below the fossil-bearing layer resulted in a weighted mean of 130.7 ± 1.4 Ma (2σ, full external error). These dates suggest an age of ∼131 Ma for the early Jehol Biota and combined with previous dating indicate that this biota lasted at least from 131 Ma to 120 Ma (Late Hauterivian to Aptian). These dates also represent the earliest absolute age for known enantiornithine birds in the world.
Received 20 July 2005; accepted 8 February 2006; published 12 April 2006.
Citation: (2006), The 40Ar/39Ar dating of the early Jehol Biota from Fengning, Hebei Province, northern China, Geochem. Geophys. Geosyst., 7, Q04001, doi:10.1029/2005GC001083.
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