Abstract The Shanwang Basin (36 30'N, 118 43/E) is located22 km east of Linqu Shandong Province, eastern China(Figure 1). The Shandong peninsula is on the Sino Koreanplat form, which stabilized during the Proterozoic(Yang et al., 1986; Ren et al., 1987). The Tancheng Lujiangfault zone, a shearing deep fracture system extending more than 1000 km in a north-northeast south-southwest direction in eastern China, is east of the Shanwang area (Zhao et al., 1983; [in, 1985; Ren etal., 1987) (see Figure 1). The Miocene Shanwang lacustrine basin was one of the major Tertiary diatomitemining districts in China until 1987; however, the excellent fossil material associated with the diatomite is now the major interest of this lacustrine basin. The lake deposits contain a highly diversified and well-preserved Miocene fossil biota that has provided important paleontologic and paleo environmental information since the site was discovered in the early 1930s. The Chinese government has declared a 1.5 krn- area in the Shanwang Basin as a National Major Natural Protection Area, and the Shanwang fossil site is also on the UNESCO World Heritage List.