La Matilde Formation

La Matilde Formation
Stratigraphic range: Middle Jurassic to Upper Jurassic
Type Geological formation
Underlies San Julián Formation
Overlies Chon Aike Formation
Lithology
Primary Sedimentary rocks
Other coal beds, conglomerates, tuff
Location
Country  Argentina

La Matilde Formation is a Jurassic geological formation in Patagonia, Argentina. It is dated to the Middle to Upper 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] 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]

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]

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]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Claudio A. Sylwan (2001). "Geology of the Golfo San Jorge Basin, Argentina". Journal of Iberian Geology 27: 123–157. ISSN 0378-102X. http://www.ucm.es/BUCM/revistas/geo/16986180/articulos/JIGE0101110123A.PDF. 
  2. ^ Alan Channing, Alba B. Zamuner, & Adolfo Zúñiga (2007). "A new Middle–Late Jurassic flora and hot spring chert deposit from the Deseado Massif, Santa Cruz province, Argentina". Geological Magazine (Cambridge University Press) 144 (2): 401–411. doi:10.1017/S0016756807003263. http://alan-channing.co.uk/Documents/channing%20et%20al%202007%20Flecha%20Negra.pdf. 
  3. ^ John T. Clarke, Rachel C. M.Warnock, & Philip C. J. Donoghue (2011). "Establishing a time-scale for plant evolution". New Phytologist (New Phytologist Trust) 192 (2011): 266–301. http://www.umsl.edu/~chvc4/MOJC/Clarke_etal_2011.pdf. 
  4. ^ Andrea S. Sequiera & Brian D. Farrell (2001). "Evolutionary origins of Gondwanan interactions: How old are Araucaria beetle herbivores?". Biological Journal of the Linnean Society (The Linnean Society of London) 74: 459–474. doi:10.1006/bijl.2001.0582,. ISSN 0024–4066. http://www.bio-nica.info/biblioteca/Sequeira2001BayesianInference.pdf. 
  5. ^ Ari Iglesias, Analia E. Artabe, & Eduardo M. Morel (2011). "The evolution of Patagonian climate and vegetation from the Mesozoic to the present". Biological Journal of the Linnean Society (The Linnean Society of London) 103: 409–422. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/store/10.1111/j.1095-8312.2011.01657.x/asset/j.1095-8312.2011.01657.x.pdf?v=1&t=guz88xip&s=2920c432bc405ceb1c42df2396521faa13686cb8. 
  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 (Asociación Geológica Argentina) 64 (1). ISSN 1851-8249. http://www.scielo.org.ar/scielo.php?pid=S0004-48222009000100009&script=sci_arttext. 
  7. ^ Fernando E. Novas (2009). The age of dinosaurs in South America. Indiana University Press. p. 99. ISBN 9780253352897. http://books.google.com.ph/books?id=dXYi6j7QQ-YC&lpg=PA99&ots=PaPNvAhg7z&dq=Petrified%20forest%20la%20matilde&pg=PA99#v=onepage&q=Petrified%20forest%20la%20matilde&f=false. 
  8. ^ IUCN Commission on National Parks and Protected Areas (1982). IUCN directory of neotropical protected areas. IUCN. pp. 26–27. ISBN 9780907567622. http://books.google.com.ph/books?id=qjhlcSkdKjUC&lpg=PP1&pg=PA26#v=onepage&q&f=false. 
  9. ^ Thomas N. Taylor, Edith L. Taylor, & Michael Krings (2009). Paleobotany: the biology and evolution of fossil plants. Academic Press. p. 844–845. ISBN 9780123739728. http://books.google.com.ph/books?id=_29tNNeQKeMC&lpg=PA844&ots=_YUWa5iBf5&dq=Petrified%20forest%20la%20matilde&pg=PA844#v=onepage&q=Petrified%20forest%20la%20matilde&f=false. 
  10. ^ Ruth A. Stockey & T.N. Taylor (1978). "On the structure and evolutionary relationships of the Cerro Cuadrado fossil conifer seedlings". Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society (The Linnean Society of London) 76: 161–176. http://paleobotany.bio.ku.edu/taylorPDFs%5C%5B1978%5D%20Stockey%20and%20Taylor-Cerro%20Cuadrado%20fossil%20conifer%20seedlings.pdf.