Kimmeridge Clay | |
---|---|
Stratigraphic range: | |
Type | Geological formation |
Unit of | Ancholme Group (onshore), Humber Group (offshore) |
Sub-units | Birch Sandstone Member Burns Sandstone Member Claymore Sandstone Member Dirk Sandstone Member Magnus Sandstone Member Ptarmigan Sandstone Member Ribble Sandstone Member |
Underlies | Portland Sand Formation, Speeton Clay Formation, Spilsby Sandstone |
Overlies | Ampthill Clay, Corallian Group |
Lithology | |
Primary | Mudstone |
Other | Siltstone, Sandstone, Conglomerate |
Location | |
Region | England (surface) North Sea (subsurface) |
Country | United Kingdom |
Type section | |
Named for | Kimmeridge Bay |
Location | Type section - North Sea well 47/15- 1 at 885-919 m depth Type area - coastal outcrops from Black Head, Weymouth to Chapman's Pool |
The Kimmeridge Clay is a sedimentary deposit of fossiliferous marine clay which is of Late Jurassic to lowermost Cretaceous age and occurs in southern and eastern England and in the North Sea. [1] This rock formation is the major source rock for North Sea oil. The fossil fauna of the Kimmeridge Clay includes turtles, crocodiles, sauropods, plesiosaurs, pliosaurs and ichthyosaurs, as well as a number of invertebrate species.
This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (May 2016) |
Kimmeridge Clay is named after the village of Kimmeridge on the Dorset coast of England, where it is well exposed and forms part of the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site. [2] Onshore, it is of Late Jurassic (Kimmeridgian) age and outcrops across England, in a band stretching from Dorset in the south-west, north-east to North Yorkshire. Offshore, it extends into the Lower Cretaceous (Berriasian Stage) and it is found throughout the Southern, Central and Northern North Sea. [1]
The foundations of the Humber Bridge on the southern (Barton) side of the bridge are on Kimmeridge Clay beneath superficial deposits, under the Humber estuary. [3]
Kimmeridge Clay is of great economic importance, [2] being the major source rock for oil fields in the North Sea hydrocarbon province. [4] It has distinctive physical properties and log responses. [5]
Color key
| Notes Uncertain or tentative taxa are in small text; |
Fauna uncovered from the Kimmeridge Clay include: [6]
Ray-finned fishes of the Kimmeridge clay Formation | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Genus | Species | Location | Stratigraphic Position | Abundance | Notes | Images |
Indeterminate | Dorset | Most common Kimmeridge clay fish, known from several complete specimens | Housed at the etches collection, discovered by Steve Etches | |||
Indeterminate | Dorset | Housed at the etches collection, discovered by Steve Etches | ||||
Indeterminate | Dorset | Housed at the etches collection, discovered by Steve Etches | ||||
Indeterminate | Dorset | One specimen, a fin | Housed at the etches collection, discovered by Steve Etches | |||
Indeterminate | Dorset | Housed at the etches collection, discovered by Steve Etches | ||||
Indeterminate | Dorset | Housed at the etches collection, discovered by Steve Etches | ||||
Indeterminate | Dorset | Housed at the etches collection, discovered by Steve Etches | ||||
Indeterminate | Dorset | Housed at the etches collection, discovered by Steve Etches | ||||
H.tenuirostris | Dorset | Rare | Housed at the etches collection, discovered by Steve Etches | |||
Indeterminate | Dorset | Rare | Housed at the etches collection, discovered by Steve Etches | |||
Indeterminate | Dorset | Rare, one complete specimen | Housed at the etches collection, discovered by Steve Etches | |||
Indeterminate | Dorset | Fairly common, multiple near complete specimens. | Housed at the etches collection, discovered by Steve Etches | |||
Lobe-finned fishes of the Kimmeridge clay Formation | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Genus | Species | Location | Stratigraphic Position | Abundance | Notes | Images |
Indeterminate | Dorset | One specimen, cranial material | Coelacanth. Housed at the etches collection, discovered by Steve Etches. More than 2 metres long | |||
Cartilaginous fishes of the Kimmeridge clay Formation | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Genus | Species | Location | Stratigraphic Position | Abundance | Notes | Images |
Indeterminate | Dorset | Known from many dorsal spines | Housed at the etches collection, discovered by Steve Etches | |||
Indeterminate | Known from many dorsal spines | Housed at the etches collection, discovered by Steve Etches | ||||
Indeterminate | Known from many dorsal spines, perhaps a complete head | Housed at the etches collection, discovered by Steve Etches | ||||
Indeterminate | One specimen | Housed at the etches collection, discovered by Steve Etches | ||||
Indeterminate | Known from a complete specimen, and other isolated remains | Housed at the etches collection, discovered by Steve Etches | ||||
K. etchesi | Known from multiple partial skeletons | A spathobatid ray | ||||
Durnonovariaodus [10] | D. maiseyi | Pectinatites pectinatus ammonite zone | One partial skeleton | A hybodontid |
Turtles of the Kimmeridge clay Formation | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Genus | Species | Location | Stratigraphic Position | Abundance | Notes | Images |
Craspedochelys | C. passmorei | Swindon | "NHMUK R5871 (holotype), subcomplete shell with associated postcranial remains, including parts of the girdles, the left humerus, and partial cervical vertebrae" [11] | Thalassochelydian sea turtle | ||
Achelonia | A. formosa | Ely, Cambridgeshire | "CAMSM J29898 to CAMSM J29955 (holotype), a partial, disarticulated skeleton" [11] | Thalassochelydian sea turtle, formerly considered the distinct species "Enaliochelyschelonia" [12] | ||
Pelobatochelys | P. blakii | Weymouth | Carapace fragments | Thalassochelydian sea turtle | ||
Plesiochelys [13] | P. etalloni | "basicranium with partial otic chambers and fragment of the right maxilla" | Thalassochelydian sea turtle | |||
Thalassemys | T. bruntrutana, T. hugii | Isle of Purbeck (bruntrutana), Abingdon, Oxfordshire (hugii) | "A partial carapace and associated limb and girdle elements (NHMUK R8699)" (Purbeck) "A large shell (OUMNH J.66966)" (Oxfordshire) [13] | Thalassochelydian sea turtle | ||
Tropidemys [13] | P. langii | Weymouth | "NHMUK OR44178b, an isolated neural; NHMUK OR45920, right costals 1–3; NHMUK OR45921, a left first costal; NHMUK R2733, a left fourth costal" | Thalassochelydian sea turtle |
Genus | Species | Location | Member | Abundance | Notes | Images |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
B. megarhinus | A pelagic teleosaurid. [14] | |||||
C. gracilis | ||||||
D. maximus | A geosaurine metriorhynchid | |||||
M. brevirostris | A metriorhynchine metriorhynchid | |||||
P. manseli | A geosaurine metriorhynchid | |||||
T. carpenteri [15] | A geosaurine metriorhynchid | |||||
T. coryphaeus [17] | A geosaurine metriorhynchid | |||||
Indeterminate ankylosaur osteoderms have been found in Wiltshire, England. [18] Indeterminate stegosaurid remains have been found in Dorset and Wiltshire, England. [6]
Genus | Species | Location | Member | Abundance | Notes | Images |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
C. prestwichii [6] |
| "Fragmentary skull and skeleton." [19] | Iguanodontian | |||
D. armatus [6] | vertebrae, a massive right femur (thigh bone), ribs and a near complete pelvis. | Stegosaur. Wiltshire remains include specimens previously referred to Omosaurus armatus and O. hastiger. [6] | ||||
Indeterminate [6] |
| Kimmeridge clay remains considered to represent a possible close relative of Bugenasaura [20] are now regarded as the remains of an indeterminate euornithopod. [6] (The specimen may have had its locality and horizon mislabelled.) | ||||
O.armatus [6] |
| Reclassified as Dacentrurus armatus because the generic name Omosaurus was preoccupied. [6] | ||||
O. hastiger [6] |
| |||||
Indeterminate ornithomimmid remains have been found in Dorset, England. [6] An undescribed theropod genus was found in Dorset. [6]
Genus | Species | Location | Stratigraphic position | Material | Notes | Images |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
B. suffosus [6] |
| "[Seven] dorsal and sacral centra." [21] | Considered a nomen dubium. | |||
C. humerocristatus [6] |
| Now Duriatitan . [22] | ||||
Indeterminate [6] |
| Remains previously referred to an indeterminate species of Cetiosaurus are now regarded as indeterminate sauropod material. [6] | ||||
D. humerocristatus |
| |||||
G. megalonyx [6] |
| Remains previously referred to Gigantosaurus megalonyx are now regarded as indeterminate sauropod material. [6] | ||||
" Ischyrosaurus " [6] |
| "Humerus." [24] | Remains previously referred to Ischyrosaurus manseli are now regarded as indeterminate sauropod material. [6] | |||
J. langhami |
| Partial skeleton | A primitive tyrannosaur | |||
Torvosaurus [27] | Indeterminate | Swindon, Dorset | Tibia (OUMNH J.29886) and maxilla fragment, collected separately | A megalosaurid | ||
Indeterminate | A tooth from Foxhangers, Wiltshire (NHMUK 46388), phalanges from an unspecified locality in Wiltshire (DZSWS 3009), and a proximal caudal verte- bra from Shotover, Oxfordshire (OUMNH J.47134). [27] | Remains previously referred to Megalosaurus are now regarded as indeterminate theropod material. [6] | ||||
Indeterminate [6] | Remains previously attributed to one or more indeterminate species of Ornithopsis (incl. O. leedsii) are now regarded as possible indeterminate sauropod material. [6] | |||||
Genus | Species | location | Material | Notes | Images |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cuspicephalus [28] | C. scarfi | Dorset | Partial Skull | Missing Crest, lower jaw and dentition | |
R.etchesi | Dorset | ||||
indeterminate | Dorset | ||||
Genus | Species | Location | Member | Abundance | Notes | Images |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
B. swindoniensis | Plesiosaur of unknown affinities | |||||
C. megadeirus | ||||||
C. trochantericus | Nomen dubium | |||||
K. langhami | A cryptoclidid | |||||
"P." manseli | Distinct from Colymbosaurus. [29] | |||||
P. brachydeirus | ||||||
P. brachyspondylus [30] | Nomen dubium | |||||
P. carpenteri | A thalassophonean pliosaurid | |||||
P. kevani | A thalassophonean pliosaurid | |||||
P. portentificus [32] | A nomen dubium | |||||
P. ?rossicus | A thalassophonean pliosaurid; taxonomic identification of specimens tentative [30] | |||||
P. westburyensis | A thalassophonean pliosaurid | |||||
P. sp. 1 | Partial skeleton, CAMSM J.35991 | A thalassophonean pliosaurid; previously assigned to the nomen dubiumP. brachyspondylus [30] [31] | ||||
P. sp. 2 | Mandible, NHMUK PV OR 39362 | A thalassophonean pliosaurid; previously assigned to the nomen dubiumP. macromerus [30] [31] | ||||
Indeterminate | ||||||
Genus | Species | Location | Stratigraphic Position | Abundance | Notes | Images |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
B.extremus | Dorset | |||||
G.mordax | Dorset | |||||
Indeterminate | Dorset | Giant, near complete specimen. Proposed to have been 6 metres long when complete. Housed at the Etches collection in dorset. | ||||
M.trigonus | Dorset | Nomen dubium - classified by a single vertebra | ||||
N.enthekiodon | Dorset | |||||
T. etchesi | Dorset | The Pectinatites pectinatus ammonite zone | ||||
Indeterminate | Dorset | |||||
The invertebrate fauna of the Kimmeridge Clay includes: [33] [34]
Carnosauria is a large, extinct group of predatory dinosaurs that lived during the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. Starting from the 1990s, scientists have discovered some very large carnosaurs in the carcharodontosaurid family, such as Giganotosaurus, Mapusaurus, Carcharodontosaurus and Tyrannotitan which are among the largest known predatory dinosaurs.
The Oxford Clay is a Jurassic marine sedimentary rock formation underlying much of southeast England, from as far west as Dorset and as far north as Yorkshire. The Oxford Clay Formation dates to the Jurassic, specifically, the Callovian and Oxfordian ages, and comprises two main facies. The lower facies comprises the Peterborough Member, a fossiliferous organic-rich mudstone. This facies and its rocks are commonly known as lower Oxford Clay. The upper facies comprises the middle Oxford Clay, the Stewartby Member, and the upper Oxford Clay, the Weymouth Member. The upper facies is a fossil poor assemblage of calcareous mudstones.
Chilantaisaurus is a genus of large theropod dinosaur, possibly a neovenatorid or a primitive coelurosaur, from the Late Cretaceous Ulansuhai Formation of China. The type species, C. tashuikouensis, was described by Hu in 1964.
Stokesosaurus is a genus of small, carnivorous early tyrannosauroid theropod dinosaurs from the late Jurassic period of Utah, United States.
Dryptosaurus is a genus of basal eotyrannosaurian theropod dinosaur that lived on the island continent of Appalachia approximately 67 million years ago during the end of the Maastrichtian age of the Late Cretaceous period. Dryptosaurus was a large, bipedal, ground-dwelling carnivore that could grow up to 7.5 metres (25 ft) long and weigh up to 756–1,500 kilograms (1,667–3,307 lb). Although it is now largely unknown outside of academic circles, the famous 1897 painting of the genus by Charles R. Knight made Dryptosaurus one of the more widely known dinosaurs of its time, in spite of its poor fossil record. First described by Edward Drinker Cope in 1866 and later renamed by Othniel Charles Marsh in 1877, Dryptosaurus is among the very first theropod dinosaurs ever known to science.
Chuandongocoelurus is a genus of carnivorous tetanuran theropod dinosaur from the Jurassic of China.
Kelmayisaurus is an extinct genus of carcharodontosaurid theropod dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous. It was roughly 10–12 meters long and its name refers to the petroleum-producing city of Karamay in the Xinjiang province of western China near where it was found.
The Kirtland Formation is a sedimentary geological formation.
The Wealden Group, occasionally also referred to as the Wealden Supergroup, is a group in the lithostratigraphy of southern England. The Wealden group consists of paralic to continental (freshwater) facies sedimentary rocks of Berriasian to Aptian age and thus forms part of the English Lower Cretaceous. It is composed of alternating sands and clays. The sandy units were deposited in a flood plain of braided rivers, the clays mostly in a lagoonal coastal plain.
The Lourinhã Formation is a fossil rich geological formation in western Portugal, named for the municipality of Lourinhã. The formation is mostly Late Jurassic in age (Kimmeridgian/Tithonian), with the top of the formation extending into the earliest Cretaceous (Berriasian). It is notable for containing a fauna especially similar to that of the Morrison Formation in the United States and a lesser extent to the Tendaguru Formation in Tanzania. There are also similarities to the nearby Villar del Arzobispo Formation and Alcobaça Formation. The stratigraphy of the formation and the basin in general is complex and controversial, with the constituent member beds belonging to the formation varying between different authors.
The Eumeralla Formation is a geological formation in Victoria, Australia whose strata date back to the Early Cretaceous. It is Aptian to Albian in age. Dinosaur remains are among the fossils that have been recovered from the formation, particularly from the Dinosaur Cove locality.
The Moreno Hill Formation is a geological formation in western New Mexico whose strata were deposited in the Late Cretaceous. Dinosaur remains are among the fossils that have been recovered from the formation. The age of the formation is dated between approximately 90.9 to 88.6 million years ago based on detrital zircons.
Juratyrant is a tyrannosauroid dinosaur genus from the late Jurassic period of England. The genus contains a single species, Juratyrant langhami, which was once classed as a species of Stokesosaurus.
The year 2013 in Archosaur paleontology was eventful. Archosaurs include the only living dinosaur group — birds — and the reptile crocodilians, plus all extinct dinosaurs, extinct crocodilian relatives, and pterosaurs. Archosaur palaeontology is the scientific study of those animals, especially as they existed before the Holocene Epoch began about 10,000 years ago. The year 2013 in paleontology included various significant developments regarding archosaurs.
The Charmouth Mudstone Formation is a geological formation in England, dating to the Early Jurassic (Sinemurian–Pliensbachian). It forms part of the lower Lias Group. It is most prominently exposed at its type locality in cliff section between Lyme Regis and Charmouth but onshore it extends northwards to Market Weighton, Yorkshire, and in the subsurface of the East Midlands Shelf and Wessex Basin. The formation is notable for its fossils, including those of ammonites and marine reptiles and rare dinosaur remains. The formation played a prominent role in the history of early paleontology, with its Lyme Regis-Charmouth exposure being frequented by fossil collectors including Mary Anning.
The year 2010 in Archosaur paleontology was eventful. Archosaurs include the only living dinosaur group — birds — and the reptile crocodilians, plus all extinct dinosaurs, extinct crocodilian relatives, and pterosaurs. Archosaur palaeontology is the scientific study of those animals, especially as they existed before the Holocene Epoch began about 11,700 years ago. The year 2010 in paleontology included various significant developments regarding archosaurs.
The Coralline Oolite Formation is a limestone formation of Oxfordian age, found in the Cleveland Basin of North Yorkshire, England.