Abstract Deposits of 10 volcanic events of 6 stages have been discovered by the authors after detailed field and lab studies of the Benxi and Taiyuan Formations in Shandong Province and its adjacent regions. They show certain temporal–spatial distribution characteristics. Volcanic fragments were probably derived from two different volcanic sources north and south of the North China Platform, while the magma of the two volcanic sources was probably derived from the lower crust. A new stratigraphie correlation scheme is put forward for the Benxi and Taiyuan Formations in this region on the basis of previous biostratigraphic work with the regionally widespread volcanic event layers as the marker bed for the isochronous stratigraphie correlation on a super–regional scale and in conjunction with the maximum transgressive event layers.