Coralline Oolite Formation

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Coralline Oolite Formation
Stratigraphic range: Oxfordian
~163–158  Ma
O
S
D
C
P
T
J
K
Pg
N
Type Formation
Unit of Corallian Group
Sub-unitsCoral Rag, Yedmandale, Hambleton Oolite, Malton Oolite, Birdsall Calcareous Grit, Middle Calcareous Grit & Hildenley Limestone Members
Underlies Upper Calcareous Grit, Ampthill Clay & Hunstanton Formations
Overlies Lower Calcareous Grit Formation & Oxford Clay
Thickness36–60 m (118–197 ft)
Lithology
Primary Limestone
Other Sandstone
Location
Region North Yorkshire
CountryFlag of England.svg  England
Extent Cleveland Basin
Type section
LocationFiley Brigg, Filey

The Coralline Oolite Formation is a limestone formation of Oxfordian (Upper Jurassic) age, found in the Cleveland Basin of North Yorkshire, England. [1]

Contents

Coral Rag Member

Coral Rag as building stone: the Saxon tower of St Michael at the Northgate, Oxford Cornmarket StMichael.jpg
Coral Rag as building stone: the Saxon tower of St Michael at the Northgate, Oxford

The rock forms some of the hills around Oxford and was once used as building stone. Coral rag can be seen in some of the oldest buildings in that city, including the Saxon tower of St Michael at the Northgate, St George's Tower of Oxford Castle and the mediaeval walls of the city. [2]

Hambleton Oolite Member

This ooidal limestone lies above either the Yedmandale Member or the Lower Calcareous Grit Formation. It is overlain by either the Middle Calcareous Grit or Malton Oolite Members. It is distinguished from the latter by its smaller grain-size and poorer sorting. [3]

Vertebrate paleofauna

Dinosaurs

The following dinosaurs were reported from the formation, with many of them reidentified. [4]

TaxaLocationDescriptionImages
  1. Undescribed dinosaur genus. [4]
Berkshire, England [4]
Metriacanthosaurus
  1. M. parkeri
misidentifiedActually from the Weymouth Member. [5]
Sauropoda [4]
  1. Indeterminate remains. [4]
Oxfordshire, England [4] "(= Cetiosaurus sp.)" [4]
Stegosauridae [4]
  1. Indeterminate remains. [4]
North Yorkshire, England. [4] "(= Omosaurus phillipsi)" [4] "Juvenile femur." [6]
Theropoda [4]
  1. Indeterminate remains. [4]
  2. Indeterminate remains. [4]
  3. Possible indeterminate theropod remains. [4]
North Yorkshire & Oxfordshire, England [4] "(= Megalosaurus bucklandii)" [4]
  1. "(= Megalosaurus sp.)" [4]
  2. "(=? Cryptodraco sp.)" [4]

Related Research Articles

Oxford Clay

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.

The Blisworth Limestone Formation is a geological formation primarily consisting of limestone deposited during the Bathonian stage of the Middle Jurassic, found in the Jurassic ridge which extends north and south through England. It was laid down in the shallows of the Jurassic sea and is part of the more widely defined Great Oolite Group. It was previously known as the Great Oolite Limestone, White Limestone and the Snitterby Limestone Formation. It is the lateral equivalent of the White Limestone Formation From the Jurassic ridge it extends eastwards below the later deposits and in the North Sea terminology, it is part of the West Sole Group.

Purbeck Group

The Purbeck Group is an Upper Jurassic to Lower Cretaceous lithostratigraphic group in south-east England. The name is derived from the district known as the Isle of Purbeck in Dorset where the strata are exposed in the cliffs west of Swanage.

Blue Lias Triassic/Jurassic geological formation in the UK

The Blue Lias is a geological formation in southern, eastern and western England and parts of South Wales, part of the Lias Group. The Blue Lias consists of a sequence of limestone and shale layers, laid down in latest Triassic and early Jurassic times, between 195 and 200 million years ago. The Blue Lias is famous for its fossils, especially ammonites.

The Taynton Limestone is a geological formation in Oxfordshire in the United Kingdom. It dates to the Middle Jurassic, mid-Bathonian stage. It predominantly consists of ooidal grainstone. The term "Stonesfield Slate" refers to slaty limestone horizons within the formation that during the 18th and 19th centuries were extensively quarried for use in roof tiling within the vicinity of Stonesfield, Oxfordshire. Previously these were thought to belong to the Sharp's Hill Formation, but boreholes and shaft sections suggest that at least three horizons within the Taynton Limestone were quarried for the slate. These horizons are well known for producing a diverse set of fossils including those of plants, insects as well as vertebrates, including some of the earliest known mammals, pterosaurs as well as those of first dinosaur ever described, Megalosaurus.

Inferior Oolite

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.

Forest Marble Formation Jurassic geological formation in England

The Forest Marble is a geological formation in England. Part of the Great Oolite Group, it dates to back to the late Bathonian stage of the Middle Jurassic.

Cornbrash Formation

The Cornbrash Formation is a Middle Jurassic geological formation in England. It ranges in age from Bathonian to Callovian, the uppermost part of the Middle Jurassic. Dinosaur remains are among the fossils that have been recovered from the formation, although none have yet been referred to a specific genus. The name Cornbrash is an old English agricultural name applied in Wiltshire to a variety of loose rubble or brash which, in that part of the country, forms a good soil for growing corn. The name was adopted by William Smith for a thin band of shelly limestone which, in the south of England, breaks up in the manner indicated. Although only a thin group of rocks, it is remarkably persistent; it may be traced from Weymouth to the Yorkshire coast, but in north Lincolnshire it is very thin, and probably dies out in the neighborhood of the Humber. It appears again, however, as a thin bed in Gristhorpe Bay, Cayton Bay, Wheatcroft, Newton Dale and Langdale. In the inland exposures in Yorkshire it is difficult to follow on account of its thinness, and the fact that it passes up into dark shales in many places the so-called clays of the Cornbrash, with Avicula echinata. The Cornbrash is of little value for building or road-making, although it is used locally; in the south of England it is not oolitic, but in Yorkshire it is a rubbly, marly, frequently ironshot oolitic limestone. In Bedfordshire it has been termed the Bedford limestone.

Northampton Sand Formation

The Northampton Sand Formation, sometimes called the Northamptonshire Sand, is a Middle Jurassic geological formation which is placed within the Inferior Oolite Group. It was formerly worked extensively in Northamptonshire for its ironstone.

Valtos Sandstone Formation

The Valtos Sandstone Formation is a Middle Jurassic (Bathonian) formation found in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. It is the thickest member of the Great Estuarine Group. The lithology consists of sets of approximately 6 metre thick cross bedded sandstone, capped by thin shelly limestones containing bivalves of the genus Neomiodon Dinosaur remains are among the fossils that have been recovered from the formation, although none have yet been referred to a specific genus.

Whitby Mudstone

The Whitby Mudstone is a Toarcian geological formation in Yorkshire and Worcestershire, England. The formation, part of the Lias Group, is present in the Cleveland and Worcester Basins and the East Midlands Shelf.

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. 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.

The Hampen Formation is a Jurassic geological formation of Bathonian age found in central Southern England. Dinosaur remains diagnostic to the genus level are among the fossils that have been recovered from the formation. This formation was formerly known as the Hamden Marly Formation or the Hamden Marly Beds.

White Limestone Formation

The White Limestone Formation is a Bathonian geologic formation in the United Kingdom, dating to the Middle Jurassic, 168.3 to 166.1 million years ago. Fossil sauropod tracks have been reported from the formation. It is the lateral equivalent of the Blisworth Limestone. It predominantly consists of grey-yellow limestone, typically wackestone and packstone with subordinate ooidal grainstone. The Woodeaton Quarry locality has yielded microvertebrates.

Lealt Shale

The Lealt Shale Formation is a Middle Jurassic geologic formation in Scotland. Fossil ornithopod, theropod and stegosaur tracks, a theropod dinosaur tooth and the pterosaur Dearc have been reported from the formation. The lithology consists of silty fissile mudstones with subordinate thin limestones.

Great Estuarine Group

The Great Estuarine Group is a sequence of rocks which outcrop around the coast of the West Highlands of Scotland. Laid down in the Hebrides Basin during the middle Jurassic, they are the rough time equivalent of the Inferior and Great Oolite Groups found in southern England.

Lulworth Formation

The Lulworth Formation is a geologic formation in England. It dates from the late Tithonian to the mid Berriasian. It is a subunit of the Purbeck Group. In Dorset, it consists of three members, which are in ascending order, the Mupe Member, the Ridgway Member, and the Warbarrow Tout Member. The Mupe Member is typically 11 to 16 m thick and largely consists of marls and micrites with interbeds of calcareous mudstone. The Ridgeway Member is about 3 to 7 m thick and consists of in its western portion carbonaceous muds, marls and micrites, in the east the muds are replaced by micritic limestone. The Warbarrow Tout Member is 17 to 39 m thick and consists of limestone at the base and micrite and mudstone for the rest of the sequence, this member is the primary source of the vertebrate fossils within the formation. Elsewhere the unit is undifferentiated.

Chipping Norton Limestone

The Chipping Norton Limestone is a geological formation in the Cotswolds, England. It preserves fossils dating back to the Bathonian. Including those of dinosaurs Cetiosaurus, Megalosaurus and Cruxicheiros as well as the Tritylodontid Stereognathus. It primarily consists of ooidal limestone.

Charmouth Mudstone Formation Geological formation in England

The Charmouth Mudstone Formation is a geological formation in England. It preserves fossils dating back to the early part of the Jurassic period (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.

Finedon Top Lodge Quarry

Finedon Top Lodge Quarry, also known as Finedon Gullet is a 0.9 hectare geological Site of Special Scientific Interest east of Wellingborough in Northamptonshire. It is a Geological Conservation Review site revealing a sequence of middle Jurassic limestones, sandstones and ironstones, and is the type section for a sequence of sedimentary rocks known as the 'Wellingborough Member'. It was created by quarrying for the underlying ironstone for use at Wellingborough and Corby Steelworks; the ore was transported by the 1,000 mm gauge Wellingborough Tramway.

References

  1. British Geological Survey. "Coralline Oolite Formation". BGS Lexicon of Named Rock Units.
  2. "Strategic Stone Study: A Building Stone Atlas of Oxfordshire". English Heritage. March 2011. Retrieved 23 April 2015.
  3. British Geological Survey. "Hambleton Oolite Member". BGS Lexicon of Named Rock Units. Retrieved 4 November 2018.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Weishampel, David B; et al. (2004). "Dinosaur distribution (Late Jurassic, Europe)." In: Weishampel, David B.; Dodson, Peter; and Osmólska, Halszka (eds.): The Dinosauria, 2nd, Berkeley: University of California Press. Pp. 545–549. ISBN   0-520-24209-2.
  5. Benson, R.B.J. & Barrett, P. (2009). "Dinosaurs of Dorset: Part 1. The carnivorous dinosaurs (Saurischia;Theropoda)". Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society. 130: 133–147.
  6. "Table 16.1," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 345.