Nugget Sandstone

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Nugget Sandstone
Stratigraphic range: Norian-Toarcian
~220–180  Ma
Nuggest SS Wyo.jpg
Salmon-pink and white sandstones of the upper part of the Nugget Formation, Wind River Mountains, Wyoming
Type Geological formation
Unit of Glen Canyon Group
Underlies Carmel Formation
Overlies Chinle Formation
Thickness200 m (660 ft)
Lithology
Primary Sandstone
Other Mudstone, siltstone
Location
Coordinates 40°24′N109°18′W / 40.4°N 109.3°W / 40.4; -109.3
Approximate paleocoordinates 27°24′N46°36′W / 27.4°N 46.6°W / 27.4; -46.6
Region Colorado, Idaho, Utah
Country United States
Extent Colorado Plateau
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Nugget Sandstone (the United States)
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Nugget Sandstone (Utah)
Nugget Sandstone near Red Fleet Reservoir, Uintah County, Utah. Uniform grain size and these large cross-stratification are indicative of an ancient sand dune. Nugget- Red Fleet Res 3.jpg
Nugget Sandstone near Red Fleet Reservoir, Uintah County, Utah. Uniform grain size and these large cross-stratification are indicative of an ancient sand dune.
Nugget Sandstone showing a bounding surface between two sets of ancient sand dunes, where wind scour eroded the top of the lower dune before the second dune advanced over it. Red Fleet Reservoir, Uintah County, Utah. Nugget bounding surface-Red Fleet.jpg
Nugget Sandstone showing a bounding surface between two sets of ancient sand dunes, where wind scour eroded the top of the lower dune before the second dune advanced over it. Red Fleet Reservoir, Uintah County, Utah.
Eubrontes track in the Nugget Sandstone, Red Fleet State Park, Uintah County, Utah. Track site Red Fleet (2).jpg
Eubrontes track in the Nugget Sandstone, Red Fleet State Park, Uintah County, Utah.

The Nugget Sandstone is a Late Triassic to Early Jurassic geologic formation that outcrops in Colorado, Idaho, Wyoming, and Utah, western United States.

Contents

In Wyoming, it is composed of a lower hematite-stained siltstone and thin-bedded sandstone. The upper part is a salmon-pink and light-gray, fine- to medium-grained cliff-forming sandstone that exhibits massive bedding to large scale cross-beds of dunes. Thickness ranges up to 86.9 m (285 feet). [1]

Fossil theropod tracks have been reported from the formation. [2]

Fossil content

Intermediate theropod, sphenosuchian, drepanosaurid and sphenodontian remains are known. [3]

Paleofauna reported from the Nugget Sandstone
GenusSpeciesMaterialNotesImages
Caelestiventus [4] C. hanseniMost of the skull, a complete lower jaw, a finger boneA dimorphodontid pterosaur; one of the earliest known diagnostic pterosaurs in North America.
Other fossils

Ichnofossils

See also

References

  1. Johnson, J.F. and Sutherland, W.M., 2009, Geologic map of the Lander 30' x 60' quadrangle, Fremont County, Wyoming, Wyoming State Geological Survey, Map Series MS-87, 1:100,000.
  2. Weishampel, et al. (2004). "Dinosaur distribution." Pp. 517-607.
  3. B. B. Britt, D. J. Chure, G. F. Engelmann and J. D. Shumway. 2016. Rise of the erg—paleontology and paleoenvironments of the Triassic-Jurassic transition in northeastern Utah. Geology of the Intermountain West 3:1-32
  4. Brooks B. Britt; Fabio M. Dalla Vecchia; Daniel J. Chure; George F. Engelmann; Michael F. Whiting; Rodney D. Scheetz (2018). "Caelestiventus hanseni gen. et sp. nov. extends the desert-dwelling pterosaur record back 65 million years". Nature Ecology & Evolution. 2 (9): 1386–1392. Bibcode:2018NatEE...2.1386B. doi:10.1038/s41559-018-0627-y. PMID   30104753. S2CID   51984440.

Bibliography

Further reading