Magnetostratigraphy of the Jurassic in Lufeng, central Yunnan

A Jurassic magnetic polarity column was established in Lufeng, central Yunnan, southwest China, on the basis of a magnetostratigraphic study of the Jurassic. It provides basic data for the stratigraphic classification and correlation of the Jurassic in the area as well as China. According to the results of the magnetostratigraphic study, the authors revise the upper boundary of the Jurassic and the boundary between the Upper and Middle Jurassic in central Yunnan and establish the database of the boundaries between the Middle and Lower Jurassic and between the Jurassic and Triassic in the area. Correlation reveals that there are appreciable differences between the Jurassic paleomagnetic poles in central Yunnan and the Jurassic reference paleopoles of the Yangtze block, suggesting that the central Yunnan block is very likely to have experienced a southward motion and a clockwise rotation relative to the Earth rotation axis since the Jurassic.