## 6 Conclusions  
1. Fourteen lithofacies, five lithofacies associations, and four major seismic facies have been identified within the Lower-Middle Jurassic Ahe, Yangxia, and Kezilenuer Formations, which represent the following four sedimentary systems: braided river delta, meandering river delta, lacustrine, and swamp deposits.
2. The Lower-Middle Jurassic can be divided into two second-order and nine third-order sequences (SQ1-SQ9) based on regional and local unconformity and correlative conformity sequence boundaries, and this cyclic architecture was validated through wavelet transform analysis.
3. Three stages of the sedimentary evolution during the Lower-Middle Jurassic are recognized: Stage I (SQ1-SQ2) is characterized by braided river delta and shore-shallow lacustrine deposits; Stage II (SQ3-SQ5) begins with a transition from meandering river delta deposits (SQ3) to braided river delta deposits (SQ4), followed by the development of deep and semi-deep lacustrine deposits in SQ5; Stage III (SQ6-SQ9) is marked by regional lacustrine siltation and swamp formation (SQ6-SQ7), eventually shifting to meandering river delta and shore-shallow lacustrine deposits in SQ8-SQ9.
4. The Early Jurassic uplift of the Tianshan Orogenic Belt was a primary driver of widespread thick braided river delta deposits during Stage I. Therewith, the tectonic activity weakened with the source area planation and sediment supply decreased, facilitating the deposition of fine-grained meandering river delta and swamp deposits. Geochemical proxies record climatic shifts during Stages II and III. Meandering river delta systems predominantly develop under warm and humid climatic conditions, whereas braided river delta systems prevail during arid phases. Hot and humid conditions associated with the Early Jurassic Toarcian Oceanic Anoxic Event may trigger regional lacustrine transgression during the SQ5 of Stage II. Warm and humid climate with limited detrital input provided favorable conditions for widespread swamp development in Stage III. Minimum orbital eccentricity minima during this period facilitated coal accumulation, whereas maximal eccentricity corresponded to coal formation termination.  
Conceptualization, C.L. and H.L.; Data curation, M.M. and H.L.; Investigation, M.M., J.L., and F.X.; Methodology, M.M. and C.L.; Resources, Y.L., W.Y., and C.S.; Software, Y.L. and W.Y.; Supervision, C.L. and M.Z.; Validation, C.L., J.L., and C.S.; Writing--original draft, M.M.; Writing--review and editing, C.L. and M.Z. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.  
This research was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 42230816) and the National Key Basic Research Project (No. 2011 CB201100-03).  
Not applicable.  
The original contributions presented in this study are included in the article. Further inquiries can be directed to the corresponding author.  
We sincerely thank the Exploration and Development Research Institution of the Tarm Oilfield Company for their data donation and cooperative research.  
Conflicts of Interest: Authors [PERSON], [PERSON], and [PERSON] were employed by the company PetroChina Tarm Oilfield Company. The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.