The Jiangshanian is the middle stage of the Furongian series. It follows the Paibian Stage and is succeeded by the still unnamed Stage 10 of the Cambrian. The base is defined as the first appearance of the trilobiteAgnostotes orientalis[3] which is estimated to be 494 million years ago. The Jiangshanian lasted until approximately 489.5 million years ago.[4]
The Jiangshanian stage was named after Jiangshan, a city in China's Zhejiang province, where its GSSP was defined.[2]
In 2012, international research group proposed the Kyrshabakty section in the Malyi Karatau Range, southern Kazakhstan, as a candidate for the Auxiliary boundary Stratotype Section and Point (ASSP) of the Jiangshanian. The proposal was approved by an overwhelming majority of votes by the International Subcommission on Cambrian
Stratigraphy (ISCS). The section is situated near Kyrshabakty River, about 28 km north-east of the Zhanatas town. The first appearance datum (FAD) of Agnostotes orientalis is located at an altitude of 259 m above the base of the section, in the Zhumabay Formation, also known as Bestogai Formation.[6] In 2021, the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS) proposed to deny the use of specific points and replace them by Standard Auxiliary Boundary Stratotypes (SABS) for more "flexible" correlations with GSSPs.[7]
Major events
At the beginning of the Jiangshanian, there was a peak in species diversity, comparable to that observed in the middle Guzhangian, before the Guzhangian–Paibian extinction. Jiangshanian extinction, which lasted approximately from 493.9 to 491.3 Ma, reduced species diversity by 55.2%. It was followed by an interval of relatively small fluctuations in species richness, which ended shortly after the beginning of the Ordovician.[8]