Lower Cretaceous Hailar amber: The oldest-known amber from China

Abstract

<p>Amber deposits provide a rare opportunity to look into the details of terrestrial ecosystems. This study reviews six well-documented Chinese amber deposits from the Mesozoic to Cenozoic, and reviews Cretaceous amber deposits globally. The discovery of <em>in situ</em> ambers from the Yimin and Zhalainuoer coal fields in the Hailar Basin extends the geographic distribution of Chinese amber outcrops into northeast China. Stratigraphic correlation and U–Pb <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/earth-and-planetary-sciences/geochronology" title="Learn more about geochronology from ScienceDirect's AI-generated Topic Pages">g</a>eochronology indicate that the Hailar ambers formed in the Early Certaceous and thus represent the oldest-known amber in China, a unique window into the apleoenvironments of the Cretaceous world. Further investigations into the amber-bearing Yimin Formation will advance understanding of Cretaceous biotas, local ecosystems, global environmental change, and the link between biology and climate.</p>