Late Jurassic tectono-volcanic evolution and sauropod radiation of eastern Jiangnan orogen: Evidence from Tunxi Formation, China

Abstract

A prevailing theory suggests that volcanic eruptions triggered environmental changes, which compelled dinosaurs to migrate in search of new habitats. Compelling evidence for this hypothesis has now been discovered in the Tunxi Basin of eastern China. During the Late Mesozoic, the subduction of the Pacific Plate beneath southeastern China led to multi-stage volcanic activity. The Tunxi Formation in the basin, the first reported Upper Jurassic volcanic unit in the eastern Jiangnan orogen. It overlies the stratum bearing the easternmost mamenchisaurids, which is the dominant Asian sauropod lineage. Geochemical analyses suggest its affinity with coeval magmatism in southeastern China, while new rhyolite zircon U-Pb dating yields an age of 151.6 ± 2.2 Ma, further indicating a transition from arc magmatism to back-arc extension driven by Paleo-Pacific subduction during the Late Jurassic. These studies also confirm that, as early as 156 Ma, the Tunxi Basin was already a key habitat for mamenchisaurids. The Late Jurassic subduction of the Paleo-Pacific Plate caused extensive magmatism across eastern China. This intense tectonic shift likely induced abrupt environmental changes in relative basins. Severe volcanic activity drastically reduced the habitat of mamenchisaurids, prompting a northwestward and southward radiation trend —presents a coherent scene of volcanic eruptions, environmental catastrophe, and dinosaurs migrating.

Keywords

Sauropod dinosaur / Mamenchisaurid / Volcanic activity / Dinosaur evolution radiation / Subduction plate / Tunxi Formation / Eastern China

CRediT authorship contribution statement

Xin-Xin Ren wrote the manuscript. Others helped Xin-xin Ren conceive the original idea of this study. El-Wardany RM polished this manuscript.

Declaration of competing interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Acknowledgment

This work was supported by the China Geological Survey (DD20230221), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (42102018), and the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (XDB26000000). The authors would like to express their sincere gratitude to Hai-lu You from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP), Chinese Academy of Sciences for his early discussion and suggestions. The authors would like to extend their appreciation to Prof. Zhi-guo Bi from the No. 327 Geological Team (AH327), Bureau of Geology and Mineral Exploration of Anhui Province, Prof. Guo-qiang Pan from the Nanjing University (NJU), and Prof. Li-fu Jiang from Anhui Geological Survey (AHGS) for their valuable instructions in early fieldwork. Our thanks also go to Prof. Tian-qiu Hong and Dr. Zi-liang Fan from the Hefei University of Technology (HFUT) for their helpful suggestions on material preparation and to Prof. Wei Li from the Institute of Geology and Geophysics (IGG), Chinese Academy of Science for his important assistance in the Hf isotope dating. Additionally, our sincere appreciation goes to Li-qiong Jia and Zi-guo Hao for their suggestions regarding the improvement of this manuscript and to three anonymous reviewers and editors for their thoughtful reviews.

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