Home Multi-Country Search About Admin Login
Cenozoic
Mesozoic
Late Paleozoic
Early Paleozoic
Neoproterozoic

Search by
Select Region(s) to search
Hold Ctrl (Windows/Linux) or Command (Mac) to select multiple
Phu Cu Formation
Click to display on map of the Ancient World at:
Phu Cu Fm base reconstruction

Phu Cu Fm


Period: 
Neogene

Age Interval: 
Middle Miocene N12, (12, 13)


Province: 
Vietnam Offshore North

Type Locality and Naming

Hanoi Depression and North Song Hong Basin (north Red River Basin). The type section is located borehole GK.2 drilled in Phu Cu Townlet (Hung Yen) at 960 to 1180 m (N = 20°44’; E = 106°12’). It was named by the Phu Cu Fm on the basis of drilling materials from borehole GK.2 (960-1180 m) situated in the Phu Cu Structure of the Ha Noi Depression.

Synonym: Hệ tầng Phù Cừ: Golovenok V.K., Lê Văn Chân 1966; Golovenok V.K., Kisliakov V.N. 1970; Phan Trung ĐiỀn 2000; Trịnh Dánh (ìn Vũ Khúc et al. 2000). Điệp Phù Cừ: Sevostianov K.M. 1977; Trịnh Dánh 1975, 1979, 1995; Phạm Hồng Quế 1981; Lê Văn Cự 1985, 1987; Đỗ Bạt, Phan Huy Quynh 1984, 1986, 1992,2000; TOTAL 1991; IDEMITSU 1994.


Lithology and Thickness

Dominated by clay-silt offshore. It is composed of sandstone, silty sandstone, coal seams and, locally, thin interbeds of carbonate. Sandstone is light to greenish-grey colored, fine- to medium-grained, locally, coarse-grained (borehole GK.104-QN), medium to well-sorted, generally thin-bedded, lentiform, wavy, sometimes of massive structure; it contains siderite concretions, locally, glauconite (boreholes GK.100, 102, 110, 104, 204, 107-PA ). Its cement is rich in carbonate, but poor in clay. Silty sandstone is light to dark grey colored, containing some carbonate, a little plant debris and lignite (borehole GK. 103-TH) and some thin interbeds of carbonate (boreholes GK.103-TH, 107-PA). The thickness of the formation is from 1500 to 2000 m.


Lithology Pattern: 
Sandy claystone


Relationships and Distribution

Lower contact

Major unconformity (15.5 Ma unconformity) upon the Phong Chau Fm

Upper contact

Unconformable below the Tien Hung Fm.

Regional extent

Distributed over the whole Ha Noi Depression, having a small thickness in the Dong Quan area, but strongly developed in the Bac Bo Gulf.


GeoJSON

{"type":"Feature","geometry":{"type":"MultiPolygon","coordinates":[[[[106.18,19.88],[106.71,18.87],[107.56,17.71],[108.68,16.81],[108.81,16.95],[108.72,17.99],[107.53,19.54],[107.44,20.25],[107.17,20.47],[106.62,20.34],[106.18,19.88]]]]}}

Fossils

Florschuetzia trilobata, FI. levipoli, Fl. semilobata, Tsugapollenites, Acrostichum, Pteris, Pinuspollenites, Dacrydium, Quercidites, Carya, Ilex, Liquidambarx Alnipollenites, Lygodium, Juglans, Magnastriatites howardi belonging to the Tsuga - Fl. semilobata - Alnipollenites - Fl. trilobata Assemblage of Middle Miocene age, accompanied by many dinoflagellates.

Foraminifera from the Phu Cu Fm in Balanus-bearing sandstone include Elphidium, Ammonia, Cibicides, Globorotalia mayerii, Orbulina universa. In silty claystone interbeđđed with sandstone, they consist of benthonic forms, such as Ammonia, Trochammina,. Cýcỉammina, Elphidium and Cloborotalia.


Age 

Middle Miocene.

Age Span: 

    Beginning stage: 
Langhian

    Fraction up in beginning stage: 
0.0

    Beginning date (Ma): 
15.99

    Ending stage: 
Serravallian

    Fraction up in the ending stage: 
1.0

    Ending date (Ma):  
11.63

Depositional setting

Deltaic plain to shallow-sea environment.


Depositional pattern:  

Additional Information


Compiler:  

Discussion notes from Prof. Tran Nghi (2019); 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).