Abstract:

 ThroughthesystematicstudyoftheforaminiferalfaunaoftheTaiyuanFormationinZibo,ShandongProvince,wehave identified11genera,22species,andsomeundeterminedspeciesofsmallforaminiferalfossils.Basedonthespatialdistributionand stratigraphicvariationintheforaminiferalfauna,twosmallforaminiferalassemblagesareestablishedfromthebottomtothetop,i.e., Bradyina-Plectogyra assemblage and Tetrataxis-Nodosaria-Palaeotextularia assemblage. By comparing our fossil data with the foraminiferalfaunainthenearbyregionsandotherareasinCentralChinaandNorthChina,andcombiningthepreviousresultsof fusulinid fossils, we have estimated the geological ages of the two fossil zones. The geological age of the Bradyina-Plectogyra assemblageshouldbeLateCarboniferous,andthegeologicalageoftheTetrataxis-Nodosaria-Palaeotextulariaassemblageshouldbe EarlyPermian.SotheCarboniferous-PermianboundaryinShandongProvinceliesatthebottomofPseudoschwagerinazone.

Key words: Taiyuan Formation, foraminiferal fauna, Carboniferous-Permian boundary, Zibo, Shandong Provin