Xinjiang is vast and far-reaching, is one of the most fossil produced areas in China, in the long geological age, the earth has lived countless organisms, the remains of these organisms after death or traces left over from life, the organic matter in the biological remains decomposed, hard parts such as shells, bones, branches and leaves, etc. together with the surrounding sediments through petrification into stone, these petrified biological remains, relics are called fossils. In Xinjiang, picking up gold silk jade, ornamental stones are the most leisurely way of life for people to travel by car, and on the Gobi, a variety of fossils are often found.
Fossils in the formation, from the perspective of their preservation characteristics, can be roughly divided into four categories: physical fossils, molded fossils, relic fossils and chemical fossils.
(Trace fossils of plants)
Trace fossils can provide a considerable amount of information about the characteristics of this organism. Many shells, bones, leaves, and other parts of the organism can be preserved in the form of male and female molds. Some animals have left evidence of their existence in the form of marks, imprints, footprints, holes, and burrows.
Fossils of ferns
If geologists find fossil reefs where they were first buried, it's reasonable to think that these coral-containing rocks formed in warm, rather shallow seas. This makes it possible to sketch the location and extent of the sea in prehistoric times. The presence of coral reef fossils can also indicate the depth, temperature, bottom conditions and salinity of ancient water bodies.
A more important use of fossils is to make comparisons—to determine how closely several rock formations relate to each other. By comparing or comparing the characteristic fossils contained in each rock formation, geologists can determine the distribution of certain geological constructions in a particular area. Some fossils have survived for a relatively short time in geological history, but they are quite widely distributed geographically. This fossil is called an indicator fossil. Since such fossils are usually only symbiotic with rocks of a particular era, they are particularly useful in comparison.
Special fossil: amber - a large amount of resin secreted by ancient plants, which is sticky and concentrated, and insects or other creatures fly on it and are sticky. After sticking, the resin continues to flow out, and the insect body may be completely wrapped in resin. In this case, the outside air cannot penetrate, and the whole organism has not been preserved without any obvious changes, which is amber.
Xinjiang found 370 million years ago plant fossils, revealing the secrets of ancient tree growth, the earliest forests on the earth appeared in the Middle Devonian period about 390 million to 360 million years ago, their appearance greatly reduced the concentration of carbon dioxide in the earth's atmosphere, and then, tetrapods in the ocean, such as amphibians, began to come ashore and gradually evolved terrestrial organisms. About 100 million years later, dinosaurs appeared on Earth.
Xinjiang is rich in wood fossil resources and a wide variety, mainly produced in Jurassic, Triassic and Permian strata. Among them, the middle and late Jurassic continental sedimentary strata are the mainstay. Changjiqitai, Hamiywu and Shaerhu Gobi have large reserves and high quality, and there are sporadic discoveries in Altay, Karamay and other places.
(Water flushing silicified wood has high ornamental value and research value)
There are also some special symbiotic varieties in wood fossils, such as crystal and silicified wood symbiotes; calcite and silicified wood symbiotes; pyrite, silicified wood symbiotes, etc., which are more rare and expensive.
Common pine cedar, cycad, ginkgo biloba, true fern, seed fern and other types, the composition of the variety, including chalcedony, silicification, ironification, calcification, mud, jasper, etc., rich in color, especially chalcedony wood fossils colorful, crystal clear, clear annual rings, like agate.
Fossil ditch in The Junggar Basin of Xinjiang (Wucai City)
The probability of biosilicification is one in ten thousand, water rush wood fossils are even rarer to one in ten thousand, jade water flushes silicified wood, the texture is meticulous, silicification is like jade, knocking on the golden sound, seeing jade clean, caressing ice clear. Firm and moist, moist and condensed, condensed and tough character.
Coral fossils can generally be found in the marine strata of Xinjiang before the Mesozoic Era in Xinjiang, and the yield is large. It is mainly distributed in the Silurian and Carboniferous, and is commonly found in tetragonal corals, bed corals, sun corals, chain corals, and honeycomb corals. The color is mainly black and white, but it can also be seen orange-red and orange-yellow, with a complete block, a pure tone, and a clear wall structure.
Coral fossils are distributed in Shanshan Dikaner, Toxon South Gobi, Bari Kunsu Haitu and other places, in the territory of Hot Spring County, Bortala Mongolian Autonomous Prefecture. Coral fossils are calcium exoskeletons secreted by the ectoderm of coelenterate phylum polyps, and there are also fossils formed by bones in the mesocolloid layer, mostly blocky aggregates, and the surface of the surface is honeycomb-like pattern after surface weathering, also known as "honeycomb stone", with a wide variety of types.
Sea lily fossils are distributed in Changji, Altay and other places, sea lily fossils, belongs to echinoderms. It resembles a lily in its shape, hence the name. The hard body is divided into three parts: root, stem and crown, and the crown is divided into calyx and wrist, all of which are composed of calcareous bone plates, and the calyx is often spherical or cup-shaped, which is the main identification part of the sea lily. The stem is made up of many stem plates stacked on top of each other, varying in length and shape, with round, oval, pentagonal shapes, etc.
Qitai "Shi QianTan" marine paleontological fossil dew point, scattered with a large number of Carboniferous corals, brachiopods, petal gills, gastropods and other dozens of marine animal fossils, the most of which is the sea lily, because its stem ring resembles ancient coins, so the place is called "Stone Money Beach". The Altay Carboniferous strata are also widely distributed with a variety of marine animal fossils, and after weathering and erosion, the surface can be seen with white cauliflower-like sea lily crown calyx, simple and full, more precious.
Xinjiang Shiqiantan, hidden in the most secluded place of the General Gobi, is located 5 kilometers southeast of the General Gobi Shuangjingzi, and is a treasure trove of paleontological fossils with a geological evolution history of 300 million years.
Dinosaur fossils found in Xinjiang are mainly found in the eastern and western parts of the Junggar Basin, in the Jurassic and chalk formations, including Su-style dinosaurs, Dzungar pterosaurs, Gasmakouosaurus, Single-spined Dragons, Kramerosaurus, Qiaolong, Tianshan Dragon, Gongbu Dragon, Shanshan Dragon, Tyrannosaurus, Nemegaurus, Jiayu Dragon and Agile Dragon.
Chitai Jimsar Dinosaur Ditch, a number of dinosaur fossils excavated in the area, produced in the middle Jurassic lakeside clastic rock, one of the Su-style dinosaurs is 10 meters tall and 34 meters long, which is the largest dinosaur fossil found in Asia. The Dzungar pterosaur ranged from the Khmermay Urho region, the Dzungar pterosaur , one of the winged reptiles of the Jurassic to Cretaceous period.
Dinosaur eggs are distributed in Urhe and other areas, dinosaur egg fossils have oval, oblong and other shapes, often preserved in the whole nest, rough surface, size disparity, small like duck eggs, large diameter of more than 30 cm.
Dinosaur footprint fossils are distributed in Turpan Shanshan County, about 2008 found that on the surface of the surface of nearly 3 meters high argonal cliffs closely arranged many dinosaur footprints, three fingers, each about 50 cm, has a certain directionality, is a strong evidence of the study of the local paleogeographic environment.
Mammals collect mammal fossils such as Tianshan sub-giant rhinoceros, dinosaurs, Tianshan beasts, and paleogeonts in Turpan. In other parts of Xinjiang, there are many fossils such as water dragons, pinnates, oriental pillar beasts, crowned tooth beasts, ancient diamond tooth elephants, saber-toothed elephants, large-lipped rhinoceros, large-horned thunder beasts, and dinosaurs.
Fossils of ancient amphibians Amphibians and reptiles - ebony fin fossils. In the red mudstone near The Colorful Bay in the Junggar Basin, a new fossil species of amphibians of the family Orychocephalidae dating back 250 million years has also been found.
Fossils of ancient reptiles are distributed in Karamay Urho, and in Places such as Karamay Urho, many reptile fossils have been collected, most of which are dinosaur, turtle turtle and crocodile fossils.
Brachiopod fauna - upper Carboniferous in the Tianshan Mountains and Bogda Mountains, shallow marine terrestrial clastic rocks rich in brachiopod fossils, lower Permian calcareous sandstones and bio-limestones in the Beishan region contain Arctic cold-water brachiopod fauna fossils.
Ush, Toxon, Barikun and other places belong to the fossil brachiopods, with large shells, long contours, and the hinged line is the widest part of the shell.
Stromatolite is distributed in Turpan, Hami, Ruoqiang and other places, stromatolite is a kind of algae fossil flourishing in the Proterozoic, often in the limestone, dolomite formation of concentric laminated structure.
Xinjiang stromatolite distribution area is wider, common similar to the gray-black stone surface densely arranged white, layer upon layer of oval, long strip laminated pattern, some have a simple continuous false fork, the width of the laminated body is about 1-3 cm, the length of several centimeters to tens of centimeters. The laminated limestone produced in the eastern Xinjiang region often forms wind lingshi, with a smooth surface, elegant ornamentation, and different sizes, which has certain ornamental value.
Trilobites are distributed in Guqin Mountain, Keping and other places in the Ili family, trilobites are arthropod phylum has a gill subphylum with a hard shell, the whole body is divided into three parts: head, thorax and tail, and the dorsal carapace is divided into an axis leaf and two rib lobes longitudinally by two dorsal grooves, so it is called trilobites. Individuals are a few millimeters to 70 centimeters long, and there are many species, each with its own characteristics, and it is a common ornamental fossil.
The Cambrian strata of the Guqin Mountains of the Ili family in Xinjiang, the Ordovician strata of the Keguqin Mountains and the Keping area are rich in trilobite fossils, and often coexist with fossils of marine animals such as corals, sea lilies, brachiopods, cephalopods and so on.
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