Occurrence of Middle Miocene Fossil Cyprinid Fish in the Northern Qaidam Basin and its Paleoenvironmental Implications

• Published in: 地质学报（英文版） Vol. 91; no. 5; pp. 1530 - 1541
• Main Authors: SONG Bowen, ZHANG Kexin, JI Junliang, HAN Fang, WANG Chaowen, WANG Jiaxuan, AI Keke
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Faculty of Earth Sciences, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430074, Hubei, China%State Key Laboratory of Biogeology and Environmental Geology, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430074, Hubei, China 2017; State Key Laboratory of Biogeology and Environmental Geology, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430074, Hubei, China%Institute of Geological Survey, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430074, Hubei, China; State Key Laboratory of Biogeology and Environmental Geology, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430074, Hubei, China; Institute of Geological Survey, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430074, Hubei, China; Faculty of Earth Sciences, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430074, Hubei, China%School of Earth Sciences, East China University of Technology, Nanchang 330013,Jiangxi, China%Gemmological Institute, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430074, Hubei, China%Faculty of Earth Sciences, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430074, Hubei, China
• Subjects: paleoenvironment; Cyprinidae; late Middle Miocene; Qaidam Basin
• ISSN: 1000-9515
• DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.1000-9515.2017.05.002

With a thick sequence of early Eocene to Pleistocene terrestrial records,the Qaidam Basin on the northern Tibetan Plateau provides an important sedimentary archive for understanding the paleoenvironmental evolution of the northeast Tibetan Plateau.In this study,specimens of fossil fish remains are collected from the late Middle Miocene (Serravallian,～12Ma) of the middle member of the Shang Youshashan Formation,Dahonggou (DHG) section,in the northern Qaidam Basin.Based on a systematic study of these materials,the remains have assigned to Cyprinidae,with typical pharyngeal teeth and dorsal fin spines with serrations on the posterior edge.Our discovery improves understanding of the cyprinid fish distribution characteristics in the Qaidam Basin during the Cenozoic.Cooccurrences of terrestrial brackish ostracod species Cyprideis and long chain alkenonesin the layer indicate that the studied cyprinid fish lived in a generally large brackish to saline water body during the late middle Miocene (Serravallian),when the climate of Qaidam Basin was still not sufficiently dry to form an extreme saline water lake.