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Lai Chau Formation

Lai Chau Fm


Period: 
Triassic

Age Interval: 
Ladinian, T2-T3, (14, 15)


Province: 
Viet-Laos NW

Type Locality and Naming

Eastern side of Muong Te Basin. The type section is located Muong Lay Townlet area, along the Song Da River (N= 22°00’; E= 103°10’). It was named by Bui PhưMy 1990 after type region of Lai Chau.

Synonym: Hệ tầng Lai Châu: Dovjikov A.E. et al 1965; Bùi Phú M ỹ (ìn Vũ Khúc, Bùi Phú Mỹ et al 1990); Vũ Khúc 2000, {in Vũ Khúc et al.) 2000. Bộc Carni: Trịnh Thọ (ỉ'n Trân Văn Tri et al. 1977); Bùi Phú Mỹ et al. 1978.


Lithology and Thickness

Claystone; Black-grey, thin-bedded clayey shale containing many pyrite concretions interbedded with dark grey claystone, grey, medium-bedded siltstone and some light-grey fine-grained sandstone containing much feldspar and muscovite, locally, black-carbonaceous material; 400 m thick.


Lithology Pattern: 
Claystone


Relationships and Distribution

Lower contact

Destroyed by faults in type area. Regionally, the next older units are the Song Da Fm (Dien Bien Province) or Bac Son Fm (Lai Chau Province)

Upper contact

Unconformably underlies the Norian-Rhaetian Suoi Bang Fm (= the Muong Va Fm if Suoi Bang is classified as a Suoi Bang Gr). Locally (Lai Chau – Son La province boundary), the partly-coeval Pac Ma Fm reef limestone of upper Carnian is present.

Regional extent

This band extends along the submeridional Lai Chau-Dien Bien Fault separating the two basins of Song Da – Tu Le and Muong Te. It extends from the valley of the Nam Na River through Muong Lay Townlet to the northern end of the large Dien Bien Valley. It is considered equivalent to the Song Boi Fm distributed in the NW margin of the Song Da – Tu Le Basin.


GeoJSON

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Fossils

Halobia austriaca, H. cordillerana vietnamica, H. comata, Discotropites sp., and Sagenites sp., etc.


Age 

Based on these stratigraphic relations and on above-mentioned fossils, the Lai Chau Fm has been dated as the Ladinian-Carnian.

Age Span: 

    Beginning stage: 
Ladinian

    Fraction up in beginning stage: 
0.5

    Beginning date (Ma): 
239.23

    Ending stage: 
Carnian

    Fraction up in the ending stage: 
1.0

    Ending date (Ma):  
227.30

Depositional setting

The Lai Chau Fm is characterized by fine-grained terrigenous sediments mainly of deep-water facies


Depositional pattern:  

Additional Information


Compiler:  

Tran Van Tri and Vu Khuc (Editors; Geology and Earth Resources of Viet Nam, General Dept. of Geology and Minerals of Viet Nam; completed in Dec., 2011), with additional details from Tong-Dzuy Thanh and Vu Khuc (Editors; Stratigraphic Units of Viet Nam, 2nd edition; 2011; English edited by A. Boucot).