science

Tiaojishan Formation

Tiaojishan Formation is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Tiaojishan Formation rather than just read about it. In short: The Tiaojishan Formation is a geological formation in Hebei and Liaoning, People's Republic of China, dating to the middle-late Jurassic period (Callovian-Kimmeridgian stages). It is known for its exceptionally preserved fossils, including those of plants, insects and vertebrates.

Key takeaways

Tiaojishan Formation belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Tiaojishan Formation to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Tiaojishan Formation from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Tiaojishan Formation is a geological formation in Hebei and Liaoning, People's Republic of China, dating to the middle-late Jurassic period (Callovian-Kimmeridgian stages). It is known for its exceptionally preserved fossils, including those of plants, insects and vertebrates. It is made up mainly of pyroclastic rock interspersed with basic volcanic and sedimentary rocks. Previously, the Tiaojishan Formation was grouped together with the underlying Haifanggou Formation (also known as the Jiulongshan Formation) as a single "Lanqi Formation." The Tiaojishan Formation forms a key part of the Yanliao Biota assemblage, alongside the Haifanggou Formation.

Age Using Argon–argon dating, Wang and colleagues in 2005 dated part of the Tiaojishan Formation to about 160 million years ago, the beginning of the Oxfordian stage, the first stage of the Upper Jurassic epoch. In 2006, a study by Liu and colleagues used U-Pb zircon dating to conclude that the Tiaojishan Formation correlates with the Daohugou Beds, and the complete chronological range of this shared biota dates to between 168 and 164/152 Ma ago. A subsequent study, published in 2008, refined the age range of the formation further, finding that the lower boundary of the Tiaojishan was formed 165 Ma ago, and the upper boundary somewhere between 156 and 153 Ma ago.

Climate Based on the plant life present in the Tiaojishan Formation, Wang Yongdong and colleagues determined that the climate in Liaoning during the mid Jurassic would have been subtropical to temperate, warm and humid.

Fauna Beautifully preserved fossils of dinosaurs, pterosaurs, salamanders, insects, arachnids and other invertebrates, conifers, ginkgoes, cycads, horsetails, and ferns, and even the earliest known gliding mammal (Volaticotherium) have been discovered in these rocks.The tuffaceous composition of some rock layers show that this was a volcanic area, occasionally experiencing heavy ashfalls from eruptions. The landscape then was dominated by mountain streams and deep lakes surrounded by forests of gymnosperm trees. The forests of the Yanliao biota grew in a humid, warm - temperate climate and were dominated by gymnosperm trees. There were ginkgopsids like Ginkoites, Ginkgo, Baiera, Czekanowskia, and Phoenicopsis. There were also conifers like Pityophyllum, Rhipidiocladus, Elatocladus, Schizolepis, and Podozamites. Also, Lycopsids like Lycopodites and Sellaginellities, horsetails (Sphenopsida) like Equisetum, cycads like Anomozamites, and ferns (Filicopsida) like Todites and Coniopteris.

Fish

Salamanders

Pterosaurs

Dinosaurs Ornithischians

Theropods

Lizards

Cynodonts

Arthropods The following orders are represented in the formation; Ephemeroptera, Odonata, Plecoptera, Blattodea, Orthoptera, Hemiptera, Neuroptera, Coleoptera, Hymenoptera, and Diptera. An indeterminate aeshnoid (insect) species is known from Liaoning.

Other invertebrates

Flora Survey based on Wang et al. 2006 unless otherwise noted.

Bennettitales Cycad-like plants, the most abundant plant group in the formation. 27 species in 11 genera.

Ginkgoales Prehistoric ginkgo trees, common, with 11 species present in 6 genera.

Pinophyta Conifers, 5 species present in 4 genera.

Pteridophyta Leptosporangiate ferns, represented by 17 species in 8 genera, are the second most abundant plant type in the formation.

Other plants Cycads, fairly diverse, with 10 species present in 2 genera.

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Tiaojishan Formation

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Tiaojishan Formation claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Tiaojishan Formation before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Tiaojishan Formation ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Tiaojishan Formation

In research: Tiaojishan Formation appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Tiaojishan Formation in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Tiaojishan Formation is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Andesite formations, Bathonian Stage, Coal formations, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Tiaojishan Formation outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Tiaojishan Formation in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Tiaojishan Formation means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Tiaojishan Formation out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Tiaojishan Formation in simple terms?

Why does Tiaojishan Formation matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Tiaojishan Formation?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Tiaojishan Formation.