The Jurassic system of China—Main characteristics and recent advances in research

In China, the marine Jurassic is mainly distributed in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, southwestern China and environs including southwestern Xinjiang and western Yunnan. Along the western palaeo-Pacific coast, marine Jurassic deposits, which usually intercalate with nonmarine strata, exist sporadically in eastern Heilongjiang, western Fujian, Hongkong, central Guangdong, western Jiangxi, eastern and southwestern Hunan Province, and probably also in western Taiwan. Nonmarine Jurassic strata are widely distributed in the whole of China except for southern Tibet area. They are commonly intercalated with volcanic rocks and contain volcanic materials in eastern China, and in southern Tibet. Marine strata yield various abundant fossils including ammonites, which were widespread in the Tethyan Realm even all over the world. Consequently, China is a critical region to attempt marine and non-marine Jurassic correlation. Through various investigations, both marine and non-marine Jurassic biozonations or assemblages have been established and by this the marine and non-marine Jurassic stratigraphic system and their correlation in China have been clarified.