An integrated stratigraphic framework for the Lower Cretaceous in the Luanping Basin of northern China: Implications for major evolutionary and climatic events

Abstract

The Lower Cretaceous fluvial-lacustrine deposits in the Luanping Basin (northern Hebei Province, China) contain records of the famous Jehol Biota and are important for understanding the terrestrial response to hyperthermal events and their correlation with oceanic anoxic events (OAEs). In this study, we critically review the lithostratigraphic, chronostratigraphic, and biostratigraphic studies of these strata to establish an integrated stratigraphic framework and their correlative relationship with contemporaneous strata in western Liaoning. The phased evolution of Jehol Biota and the corresponding changes in the paleoclimate and paleoenvironment are discussed, and putative terrestrial correlatives with Early Cretaceous OAEs are identified. This study provides a stratigraphic basis for future investigation of Cretaceous events in East Asia and worldwide.