Great Oolite Group

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Great Oolite Group
Stratigraphic range: Bajocian-Callovian
Firs quarry.jpg
The Combe Down and Bathampton Down Mines, where the Great Oolite Group can be found
Type Group
Sub-units Cornbrash Formation, Chipping Norton Limestone, Sharp's Hill Formation, Taynton Limestone Formation, Forest Marble Formation, Hampen Formation, White Limestone Formation, Rutland Formation, Blisworth Limestone, Blisworth Clay Formation, Chalfield Oolite Formation, Corsham Limestone Formation, Athelstan Oolite Formation, Horsehay Sand Formation, Tresham Rock Formation
Underlies Ancholme Group
Overlies Inferior Oolite Group
Thickness22–200 m (72–656 ft)
(224 m (735 ft) offshore)
Lithology
Primary Limestone, Mudstone
Other Sandstone
Location
Region Europe
CountryFlag of England.svg  England
Extent Dorset to Norfolk
Type section
Named for Oolite

The Great Oolite Group is a Middle Jurassic stratigraphic unit that outcrops in southern England. It consists of a complex set of marine deposits primarily mudstone and bioclastic ooidal and fine grained limestone, deposited in nearshore to shelf settings. [1] It is exposed at the surface as a variably thick belt extending roughly NE-SW from the coast of Dorset up to the Humber. It is also present at depth in the Weald and Wessex Basins, as well as offshore. Several of the constituent formations, notably the Taynton Limestone Formation and the Forest Marble Formation are notable for their fossil content, including those of dinosaurs and pterosaurs and some of the earliest mammals.

Contents

Paleofauna

See also

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References

  1. "Great Oolite Group". The BGS Lexicon of Named Rock Units. British Geological Survey. Retrieved 31 May 2014.

Bibliography