La Matilde Formation

La Matilde Formation is a Jurassic geological formation in the Austral Basin of Santa Cruz Province, Patagonia, Argentina. It is dated to the Middle to Late Jurassic. From the Bathonian age (164.7 to 167.7 million years ago) to the Kimmeridgian age (150.8 to 155.7 million years ago) at the latest.[1][2][3]

La Matilde Formation
Stratigraphic range: Bathonian-Kimmeridgian
~167–151 Ma
TypeGeological formation
UnderliesSan Julián Formation
OverliesChon Aike Formation
Lithology
PrimaryClaystone, sandstone, siltstone
OtherCoal beds, conglomerate, tuff
Location
LocationPatagonia
Coordinates47.6°S 68.1°W / -47.6; -68.1
Approximate paleocoordinates44.2°S 27.3°W / -44.2; -27.3
RegionSanta Cruz Province
Country Argentina
ExtentAustral Basin
La Matilde Formation (Argentina)

The area was once part of the subtropical and temperate regions of the southern supercontinent Gondwana in the Mesozoic era, a more or less continuous landmass consisting of what is now modern South America, Africa, Antarctica, Australia, New Zealand, and New Guinea.[4][5]

Description

La Matilde consists primarily of sedimentary rocks. It includes claystone, coal beds, conglomerates, siltstones, sandstones, and volcanic tuff. La Matilde overlies but sometimes intersperses with the Middle Jurassic Chon Aike Formation.[6] The two formations are the subunits of the Bahía Laura Group.[1]

Fossil content

La Matilde is known for the abundant fossils recovered from it. Notable fossil localities in the formation include the Cerro Cuadrado Petrified Forest, the Cerro Madre e Hija Petrified Forest, and the remains and trace fossils (including trackways) of dinosaurs in the Laguna Manantiales Farm.[7][8]

Fossil taxa recovered from the La Matilde Formation include:[9][10]

Flora
Ichnofossils
gollark: When is the drawing, anyway? The *start* of the 31st? The *end*?
gollark: Probably.
gollark: I wonder whether the entry requirements will ever be harder than raising 3 dragons during a *month*.
gollark: It's not unreasonable to ask for a green copper for two xenowyrms.
gollark: Good luck! Hopefully at least one person on here will get something.

See also

References
  1. Claudio A. Sylwan (2001). "Geology of the Golfo San Jorge Basin, Argentina" (PDF). Journal of Iberian Geology. 27: 123–157. ISSN 0378-102X.
  2. Channing et al., 2007
  3. Clarke et al., 2011
  4. Sequiera & Farrell, 2001
  5. Iglesias et al., 2011
  6. Ana Parras; Miguel Griffin (2009). "Darwin's great patagonian tertiary formation at the mouth of the río Santa Cruz: a reappraisal". Revista de la Asociación Geológica Argentina. 64 (1). ISSN 1851-8249.
  7. Fernando E. Novas (2009). The age of dinosaurs in South America. Indiana University Press. p. 99. ISBN 978-0-253-35289-7.
  8. IUCN Commission on National Parks and Protected Areas (1982). IUCN directory of neotropical protected areas. IUCN. pp. 26–27. ISBN 978-0-907567-62-2.
  9. Thomas N. Taylor; Edith L. Taylor; Michael Krings (2009). Paleobotany: the biology and evolution of fossil plants. Academic Press. p. 844–845. ISBN 978-0-12-373972-8.
  10. Ruth A. Stockey; T.N. Taylor (1978). "On the structure and evolutionary relationships of the Cerro Cuadrado fossil conifer seedlings" (PDF). Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society. 76 (2): 161–176. doi:10.1111/j.1095-8339.1978.tb01504.x.
  11. Channing, A.; Zamuner, A.; Edwards, D.; Guido, D. (2011). "Equisetum thermale sp. nov. (Equisetales) from the Jurassic San Agustin hot spring deposit, Patagonia: Anatomy, paleoecology, and inferred paleoecophysiology". American Journal of Botany. 98 (4): 680–697. doi:10.3732/ajb.1000211. PMID 21613167.
  12. Leonardi, 1994, p.27
  13. Leonardi, 1994, p.26
  14. Leonardi, 1994, p.25

Bibliography

Further reading
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.