Discovery of a Silurian graptolite fauna at Daftar,Taxkorgan County,Xinjiang

Tectonically located in he West Kunlun orogenic belt at the junction between the Indian plate and the Eurasian plate, the Daftar area, Taxkorgan County, Xinjiang, is one of the most important areas for the study of the geological evolution of the Karakorum-Kunlun mountains. Because the regional geology of the area is less studied, reliable fossil evidence has not been got from sedimentary strata there. After field geological survey and research, the Silurian Llandoverian graptolites Cf. Climacograptus anjiensis (Yang), Climacograptus cf. minutus Carruthers and Cf. Diplograptus deformis Huang et Lu and crinoidal stem fossils were found in the area. It provides an important basis for the geological survey and the stratigraphic division and correlation of the Silurian.