LATE CRETACEOUS STTRATA IN THE JIAYIN AREA, HEILONGJIANG PROVINCE

Late Cretaceous sediments in the Jiayin area of Heilongjiang province are developed better than their synchronous counterparts in China. Fossils of China’s first dinosaur skeleton were just excavated there. 4 localities of dino- saur fossils, totalling 14 horizons, have been found in the zone from Yuliangzi to Yong’antun in fiayin county along the Heilongjiang River since the First Regional Geological Survey Party of Heilongjiang Province began to carry out 1:200, 000-scale regional surveys in the area in 1977. Meanwhile, fossils of terrestrial animals such as fish, insects, Estheria, ostrocods and gastropods have also been newly discovered or dound, and anigosperm fossils that are rare in China are quite rich, intact and easy to trim. The strata are well exposed along the river and their sections are simple in structure and relatively con- tinuous. The strata were mistakenly assigned to the Tertiary for some time in the past and in the "Regional Stratigraphic Table of Heilongjiang Province" compiled in 1976. Through studies, the Jiayin Group was established for the Upper Cretaceous of the area. It may be divided into 4 formations; from base upwards they are the Yong’antun Formation （K₂y）, Taiping Forestry Centre Formation （K₂t）, Yuliangzi Formation （K₂yl） and Furao Formation （K₂f）. This division has provided a sound basis for the establishment of the sequence of the Late Cretaceous strata in northeastern Heilongjiang province and de- termination of their ages and furnished new information for the study of evo- lustion of life and lithofacies-pateogeography and their correlation with the synchronous strata in neighbouring areas and countries.