QIXIAN SEDIMENTARY ENVIRONMENTS IN HUANGSHI,SOUTHEASTERN HUBEI BASED ON FOSSIL COMMUNITY RECONSTRUCTION

Five fossil communities have been recognized in the Qixia Formation,Huangshi,Hubei based on componental functional morphologic analysis and taphonomic analysis. In ascending order they are. 1) Crurityris-Orthotetina (CO) Community; 2) Sckuchertella-Sponge (SS) Community;3)Hayasakaia (H) Community; 4)Sponge (S) Community,and 5)Tyloplecta-Paracaninia (TP) Community. They belong to Boucot's Benthic Assemblages 2,3 and 4 respectively. The lateral variations in these communities indicate that the formation was accumulated on a carbonate ramp gently dipping northwards on which the Qixian transgressive successions were developed.