Schrattenkalk Formation | |
---|---|
Stratigraphic range: Barremian-Aptian | |
Type | Geological formation |
Sub-units | Lower Schrattenkalk, Rawil Member, Upper Schrattenkalk |
Underlies | Garschella Formation |
Overlies | Tierwis Formation |
Thickness | up to 300 m (980 ft) |
Lithology | |
Primary | Limestone |
Other | Sandstone, mudstone |
Location | |
Coordinates | 46°58′30″N8°19′49″E / 46.9751°N 8.3303°E |
Approximate paleocoordinates | 31°36′N18°30′E / 31.6°N 18.5°E |
Region | Alps |
Country | Austria Germany Switzerland |
Type section | |
Named for | Schrattenfluh |
Named by | Bernhard Studer |
Year defined | 1834 |
The Schrattenkalk Formation is a Barremian to Aptian geologic formation in the Alps. The limestone is highly karstified. Fossil ornithopod tracks have been reported from the formation. [1] Iguanodont tracks have been registered in the Swiss portion of the formation. [2] The famous north face of the Eiger is partly composed of Schrattenkalk, [3] as well as the Sturmannshöhle in southernmost Bavaria, Germany, [4] and the Hölloch (second-longest cave in Europe) and Silberen system karst caves in Switzerland. [5]
The formation is named after the Schrattenfluh in Luzern, Switzerland. The name is derived from the Swiss-German "Schratten" (a synonym of Karren) meaning clints or lapies, a phenomenon that frequently affects the limestone. [6] Kalk is limestone in German. Synonyms for the extensive formation are Hieroglyphenkalk, Calcaire à Hippurites, Urgonien, Rudistenkalk, Urgo-Aptien, Schrattenschichten, Requienenkalk, Rhodanien, Caprotinenkalk, and Urgonian Limestone. [7] The formation consists of three units, the Lower Schrattenkalk, Rawil Member and Upper Schrattenkalk.
The upper and lower units consist mostly of reefal limestones with bryozoa, gastropods, corals, sponges, brachiopods, bivalves and rudists. The Rawil Member contains beds of sandstones and mudstones containing foraminifera and echinoderms. The upper and lower members represent a photozoan-dominated carbonate platform, [8] and was deposited at the northern edge of the Tethys Ocean. [9]
In 2015, two new corals were described from Austria; Cairnsipsammia , [10] and Paraclausastrea vorarlbergensis . [11]
In an abandoned quarry on the shore of Lake Lucerne, close to the village of Beckenried, fossil trackways were discovered in the formation. The steeply inclined surface has more than 50 tracks (in three trackways) of ornithopod dinosaurs that are attributed to iguanodontids. Three trackways can be followed for distances of 25 to 35 metres (82 to 115 ft). The lengths of the footprints have a mean of 30 centimetres (12 in) and point to animals ranging in size of 4 to 6 metres (13 to 20 ft), with estimated hip heights between 1.8 and 2 metres (5.9 and 6.6 ft) and 1.4 to 1.7 metres (4.6 to 5.6 ft). [12]
Iguanodon, named in 1825, is a genus of iguanodontian dinosaur. While many species found worldwide have been classified in the genus Iguanodon, dating from the Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous, taxonomic revision in the early 21st century has defined Iguanodon to be based on one well-substantiated species: I. bernissartensis, which lived during the Barremian to early Aptian ages of the Early Cretaceous in Belgium, Germany, England, and Spain, between about 126 and 122 million years ago. Iguanodon was a large, bulky herbivore, measuring up to 9–11 metres (30–36 ft) in length and 4.5 metric tons in body mass. Distinctive features include large thumb spikes, which were possibly used for defense against predators, combined with long prehensile fifth fingers able to forage for food.
Weald Clay or the Weald Clay Formation is a Lower Cretaceous sedimentary rock unit underlying areas of South East England, between the North and South Downs, in an area called the Weald Basin. It is the uppermost unit of the Wealden Group of rocks within the Weald Basin, and the upper portion of the unit is equivalent in age to the exposed portion of the Wessex Formation on the Isle of Wight. It predominantly consists of thinly bedded mudstone. The un-weathered form is blue/grey, and the yellow/orange is the weathered form, it is used in brickmaking.
Yaverlandia is a genus of maniraptoran dinosaur. Known from a partial fossil skull found in Lower Cretaceous strata of the Wessex Formation on the Isle of Wight. it was described as the earliest known member of the pachycephalosaurid family, but research by Darren Naish shows it to have actually been a theropod, seemingly a maniraptoran. The type species is Y. bitholus.
Kangnasaurus is a genus of iguanodontian ornithopod dinosaur found in supposedly Early Cretaceous rocks of South Africa. It is known from a tooth and possibly some postcranial remains found in the early-Aptian Kalahari Deposits Formation. It was probably similar to Dryosaurus.
The Glen Rose Formation is a shallow marine to shoreline geological formation from the lower Cretaceous period exposed over a large area from South Central to North Central Texas. The formation is most widely known for the dinosaur footprints and trackways found in the Dinosaur Valley State Park near the town of Glen Rose, Texas, southwest of Fort Worth and at other localities in Central Texas.
Cedrorestes is a genus of iguanodontian dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous of Utah. It is based on an incomplete skeleton which was found in the Valanginian-age Yellow Cat Member of the Cedar Mountain Formation.
The Cedar Mountain Formation is the name given to a distinctive sedimentary geologic formation in eastern Utah, spanning most of the early and mid-Cretaceous. The formation was named for Cedar Mountain in northern Emery County, Utah, where William Lee Stokes first studied the exposures in 1944.
Dakotadon is a genus of iguanodont dinosaur from the Barremian-age Lower Cretaceous Lakota Formation of South Dakota, USA, known from a partial skull. It was first described in 1989 as Iguanodon lakotaensis, by David B. Weishampel and Philip R. Bjork. Its assignment has been controversial. Some researchers suggest that "I." lakotaensis was more basal than I. bernissartensis, and related to Theiophytalia, but David Norman has suggested that it was a synonym of I. bernissartensis. Gregory S. Paul, working on a revision of iguanodont species, gave "I." lakotaensis its own genus (Dakotadon) in 2008. He measured its length at 6 metres (20 ft) and body mass at 1 metric ton.
The Inferior Oolite is a sequence of Jurassic age sedimentary rocks in Europe. It was deposited during the Middle Jurassic. The Inferior Oolite Group as more recently defined is a Jurassic lithostratigraphic group in southern and eastern England. It has been variously known in the past as the Under Oolite, the Inferior Oolite, the Inferior Oolite Series and the Redbourne Group.
The Camarillas Formation is a geological formation in the Teruel Province of Aragón, Spain whose strata date back to the Early Cretaceous. The sandstones, mudstones and conglomerates of the formation, that due to syn-sedimentary faulting varies greatly in thickness from 300 to 800 metres, were deposited in fluvial, deltaic and lacustrine environments.
The Blesa Formation is a geological formation in Teruel and La Rioja, Spain whose strata date back to the Barremian of the Early Cretaceous. Dinosaur remains as well as eggs are among the fossils that have been recovered from the formation. Along with the fragmentary anhanguerian pterosaur Iberodactylus. While the lower and upper parts of the formation were deposited in a continental setting, the middle portion of the formation is largely nearshore marine, with remains of plesiosaurs.
The Enciso Group is a geological formation in La Rioja, Spain whose strata date back to the Early Cretaceous.
The Wonthaggi Formation is an informal geological formation in Victoria, Australia whose strata date back to the Early Cretaceous. It is part of the Strzelecki Group within the Gippsland Basin. Dinosaur remains are among the fossils that have been recovered from the formation. It is partially equivalent to the Eumeralla Formation.
The Chacarilla Formation is an Oxfordian to Early Cretaceous geologic formation of the Tarapacá Basin in northern Chile, close to the border with Bolivia. The marine and fluvial formation preserves several dinosaur trackways and has been declared a Natural Sanctuary in 2004.
The Imi-n-Ifri Formation is a Sinemurian geologic formation outcropping about 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) from Demnate, to the east of Marrakech, Morocco. Fossil ornithopod tracks have been reported from the formation.
The Hensel Formation or Hensel Sand is a Mesozoic geologic formation in Texas. Fossil ornithopod tracks have been reported from the formation.
The Tongfosi Formation is a Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian) geologic formation of the Yanji Group in China. Fossil ornithopod tracks of iguanodontids and theropods have been reported from the fluvial sandstones of the formation.
The Mesa Rica Sandstone is a geologic formation in Oklahoma and New Mexico. It preserves fossils dating back to the Cretaceous period.
The Upper Bedoulian Formation is a geological formation in the Murcia Region, Spain whose strata date back to the Early Cretaceous. The marls were deposited in an open marine environment. The lower unit is marly with iron concretions and septaria.