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Jialingjiang Formation
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 a quarter of a billion years ago, and before. 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 good ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Geological Formation
A geological formation, or simply formation, is a body of rock having a consistent set of physical characteristics ( lithology) that distinguishes it from adjacent bodies of rock, and which occupies a particular position in the layers of rock exposed in a geographical region (the stratigraphic column). It is the fundamental unit of lithostratigraphy, the study of strata or rock layers. A formation must be large enough that it can be mapped at the surface or traced in the subsurface. Formations are otherwise not defined by the thickness of their rock strata, which can vary widely. They are usually, but not universally, tabular in form. They may consist of a single lithology (rock type), or of alternating beds of two or more lithologies, or even a heterogeneous mixture of lithologies, so long as this distinguishes them from adjacent bodies of rock. The concept of a geologic formation goes back to the beginnings of modern scientific geology. The term was used by Abraham Gottlob Wer ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lead
Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cut, lead is a shiny gray with a hint of blue. It tarnishes to a dull gray color when exposed to air. Lead has the highest atomic number of any stable element and three of its isotopes are endpoints of major nuclear decay chains of heavier elements. Lead is toxic, even in small amounts, especially to children. Lead is a relatively unreactive post-transition metal. Its weak metallic character is illustrated by its amphoteric nature; lead and lead oxides react with acids and bases, and it tends to form covalent bonds. Compounds of lead are usually found in the +2 oxidation state rather than the +4 state common with lighter members of the carbon group. Exceptions are mostly limited to organolead compounds. Like the lighter members of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Geologic Formations Of China
Geology () is a branch of natural science concerned with Earth and other astronomical objects, the features or rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Earth sciences, including hydrology, and so is treated as one major aspect of integrated Earth system science and planetary science. Geology describes the structure of the Earth on and beneath its surface, and the processes that have shaped that structure. It also provides tools to determine the relative and absolute ages of rocks found in a given location, and also to describe the histories of those rocks. By combining these tools, geologists are able to chronicle the geological history of the Earth as a whole, and also to demonstrate the age of the Earth. Geology provides the primary evidence for plate tectonics, the evolutionary history of life, and the Earth's past climates. Geologists broadly study the properties and processes of E ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zigong Salt History Museum
The Zigong Salt History Museum () is a museum in Zigong, Sichuan Province, Southwest China. It is housed in the Xiqin Guildhall (), originally built in 1736-1752 by salt merchants from Shaanxi. This was during the reign of the Qianlong Emperor of the Qing dynasty. The building is a Major Historical and Cultural Site of China. The current museum was due to the urging of Deng Xiaoping and completed in 1959. Guildhall Xiqin Guildhall (also known as the Guandi Hall) was funded by the Shaanxi salt tradesmen, and used as a meeting place for salt merchants from Shaanxi, the main conduit for the Zigong salt. Another building nearby was the Guild Hall for the salt merchants of Sichuan upon the bank of the Fuxi (pronounced "fu'shee") River (a tributary of the Tuo River), and a major transportation resource where the waiting ships would pack in so that once laden they would feed into China's major river and canal system). The guild hall took sixteen years to build at a great cost. It has a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hupehsuchia
Hupehsuchia is an order of diapsid reptiles closely related to ichthyosaurs. The group was short-lasting, with a temporal range restricted to the late Olenekian age, spanning only a few million years of the Early Triassic. The order gets its name from Hubei Province, China, from which many specimens have been found. They are probable members of the clade Ichthyosauromorpha. Description Hupehsuchians display an unusual combination of characteristics. The overall shape of the body is fusiform, with a long tail and large, paddle-like limbs. The skull is elongated and the jaws are edentulous. The rostrum is flattened with the premaxilla thought to form most of the dorsal and lateral surface, while the maxilla is mostly restricted to the ventral surface beyond the base of the rostrum. An opening between the nasal and the prefrontal bones in one hupehsuchian specimen (known as IVPP V3232) was initially interpreted as an antorbital fenestra, but is now thought to be an artifact cause ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Guanling Formation
The Guanling Formation is a Middle Triassic (Anisian or Pelsonian in the regional chronostratigraphy) geologic formation in southwestern China. Description The formation encompasses two members. The first member is primarily calcareous mudstone and dolomite, indicative of a coastal environment. The second member is a thicker marine sequence of dark micritic limestone with some dolomite. Two distinct fossil assemblages are found in the second member. The older Luoping biota preserves abundant arthropods along with fossils from other invertebrates and vertebrates, which are rare but well-preserved. The slightly younger Panxian fauna has a more diverse and common assortment of marine reptiles such as sauropterygians. Fossil content Among others, the following fossils were reported from the formation: * ''Atopodentatus'' * ''Barracudasauroides'' * ''Diandongosaurus'' * ''Dianopachysaurus'' * ''Honghesaurus'' * ''Kyphosichthys'' * ''Largocephalosaurus'' * ''Luopingosaurus'' * '' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2020 In Reptile Paleontology
This list of fossil reptiles described in 2020 is a list of new taxa of fossil reptiles that were described during the year 2020, as well as other significant discoveries and events related to reptile paleontology that occurred in 2020. Lizards and snakes New taxa Research * New fossil material of squamates is described from the Upper Cretaceous Fruitland and Kirtland formations (New Mexico, United States) by Woolley, Smith & Sertich (2020), expanding known taxonomic and morphological diversity of lizards within the "Hunter Wash Local Fauna". * A study on the affinities of putative gekkotan eggshells from the Late Cretaceous of Europe is published by Choi ''et al.'' (2020), who interpret the fossil material of '' Pseudogeckoolithus'' as theropod eggshells. * Fossils of tupinambine teiids are described from the late Eocene of the Quercy Phosphorites Formation (France) by Louis & Santiago (2020), representing the first record of this family from the Paleogene of Europe. * A d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Natural Gas
Natural gas (also called fossil gas or simply gas) is a naturally occurring mixture of gaseous hydrocarbons consisting primarily of methane in addition to various smaller amounts of other higher alkanes. Low levels of trace gases like carbon dioxide, nitrogen, hydrogen sulfide, and helium are also usually present. Natural gas is colorless and odorless, so odorizers such as mercaptan (which smells like sulfur or rotten eggs) are commonly added to natural gas supplies for safety so that leaks can be readily detected. Natural gas is a fossil fuel and non-renewable resource that is formed when layers of organic matter (primarily marine microorganisms) decompose under anaerobic conditions and are subjected to intense heat and pressure underground over millions of years. The energy that the decayed organisms originally obtained from the sun via photosynthesis is stored as chemical energy within the molecules of methane and other hydrocarbons. Natural gas can be burned fo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Radioactive Decay
Radioactive decay (also known as nuclear decay, radioactivity, radioactive disintegration, or nuclear disintegration) is the process by which an unstable atomic nucleus loses energy by radiation. A material containing unstable nuclei is considered radioactive. Three of the most common types of decay are alpha decay ( ), beta decay ( ), and gamma decay ( ), all of which involve emitting one or more particles. The weak force is the mechanism that is responsible for beta decay, while the other two are governed by the electromagnetism and nuclear force. A fourth type of common decay is electron capture, in which an unstable nucleus captures an inner electron from one of the electron shells. The loss of that electron from the shell results in a cascade of electrons dropping down to that lower shell resulting in emission of discrete X-rays from the transitions. A common example is iodine-125 commonly used in medical settings. Radioactive decay is a stochastic (i.e. random) proce ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Uranium
Uranium is a chemical element with the symbol U and atomic number 92. It is a silvery-grey metal in the actinide series of the periodic table. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons. Uranium is weakly radioactive because all isotopes of uranium are unstable; the half-lives of its naturally occurring isotopes range between 159,200 years and 4.5 billion years. The most common isotopes in natural uranium are uranium-238 (which has 146 neutrons and accounts for over 99% of uranium on Earth) and uranium-235 (which has 143 neutrons). Uranium has the highest atomic weight of the primordially occurring elements. Its density is about 70% higher than that of lead, and slightly lower than that of gold or tungsten. It occurs naturally in low concentrations of a few parts per million in soil, rock and water, and is commercially extracted from uranium-bearing minerals such as uraninite. In nature, uranium is found as uranium-238 (99. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sichuan Basin
The Sichuan Basin (), formerly transliterated as the Szechwan Basin, sometimes called the Red Basin, is a lowland region in southwestern China. It is surrounded by mountains on all sides and is drained by the upper Yangtze River and its tributaries. The basin is anchored by Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province, in the west, and the direct-administered municipality of Chongqing in the east. Due to its relative flatness and fertile soils, it is able to support a population of more than 100 million. In addition to being a dominant geographical feature of the region, the Sichuan Basin also constitutes a cultural sphere that is distinguished by its own unique customs, cuisine and dialects. It is famous for its rice cultivation and is often considered the breadbasket of China. In the 21st century its industrial base is expanding with growth in the high-tech, aerospace, and petroleum industries. Geography The Sichuan Basin is an expansive lowland region in China that is surr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Inversion (geology)
In structural geology inversion or basin inversion relates to the relative uplift of a sedimentary basin or similar structure as a result of crustal shortening. This normally excludes uplift developed in the footwalls of later extensional faults, or uplift caused by mantle plumes. "Inversion" can also refer to individual faults, where an extensional fault is reactivated in the opposite direction to its original movement. The term ''negative inversion'' is also occasionally used to describe the reactivation of reverse faults and thrusts during extension. The term "inversion" simply refers to the fact that a relatively low-lying area is uplifted – the rock sequence itself is not normally inverted. Formation Many inversion structures are caused by the direct reactivation of pre-existing extensional faults. In some cases only the deeper parts of the fault are reactivated and the shortening is accommodated over a much broader area in the shallow part of the section. The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
