earth science

Xinminbao Group

Xinminbao Group is a earth 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 Xinminbao Group rather than just read about it. In short: The Xīnmínbǎo Group (Chinese: 新民堡群; pinyin: Xīnmínbǎo qún) is a group of geological formations in north central China. They occur across a large depression between the Altai Mountains of Mongolia to the north and the Qilian mountains of the Qinghai Plateau to the south, in the Gōngpóquán (公婆泉) and Suànjǐngzi (算井子) basins, and also in the neighbouring Jiuquan Basin.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

The Xīnmínbǎo Group (Chinese: 新民堡群; pinyin: Xīnmínbǎo qún) is a group of geological formations in north central China. They occur across a large depression between the Altai Mountains of Mongolia to the north and the Qilian mountains of the Qinghai Plateau to the south, in the Gōngpóquán (公婆泉) and Suànjǐngzi (算井子) basins, and also in the neighbouring Jiuquan Basin. Both of these areas are inland basins consisting of fluvial (river), lacustrine (lake), and intermontane (between mountains) alluvial fan (floodplain) sediments that were deposited during the Early Cretaceous, probably during the Aptian or possibly late Barremian stage, when the climate was semi-arid and subtropical. The group has been visited by many expeditions including the Silk Road dinosaur expedition of 1992 which concentrated on the area around Mazong Shan.

Geology The group is made up of three main formations.

Chijinbao Formation This consists of a lower red unit of coarse conglomerates grading to fine sandstones representing river channel to alluvial fan deposits, and an upper unit of red clastic sediments from either overbank deposits in a meandering fluvial environment, or accumulation in a shallow lacustrine or paludal (marsh) environment.

Digou Formation This consists of grey siltstones and calcareous mudstones comprising two sequences of fluvio-lacustrine sedimentation with some alluvial fan and littoral (lake-shore) deposits.

Zhonggou Formation This consists of red siltstones and mudstones in a series of upwardly coarsening cycles of lacustrine sediments.

Vertebrate fauna The dinosaurs of the Xinminbao Group are collectively referred to as the Mazongshan Dinosaur Fauna, representing a unique dinosaur assemblage from all other known dinosaur faunas.

Ceratopsians

Ornithopods

Saurischians

Thyreophorans Indeterminate ankylosaur remains are known from the group.

Crocodilians Indeterminate crocodilian remains are known from the group.

Fish

Pterosaurs

Turtles

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Xinminbao Group

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Xinminbao Group claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In earth 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 Xinminbao Group 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 Xinminbao Group 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 Xinminbao Group

In research: Xinminbao Group appears in earth 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 Xinminbao Group 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: Xinminbao Group is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Aptian Stage, Barremian Stage, Conglomerate groups, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Xinminbao Group 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 Xinminbao Group in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Xinminbao Group 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 Xinminbao Group out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Xinminbao Group in simple terms?

Why does Xinminbao Group matter?

Because it connects several earth 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 Xinminbao Group?

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 Xinminbao Group.