The Azilal Formation (historically Toundute Continental Series and Wazzant Formation)
[Known wholly in the past by the current sub-unit terms ''Toundute Continental Series'' and ''The Wazzant Formation''] is a
geological unit
A stratigraphic unit is a volume of rock of identifiable origin and relative age range that is defined by the distinctive and dominant, easily mapped and recognizable petrographic, lithologic or paleontologic features (facies) that characterize it ...
in the
Azilal
Azilal ( ber, ⴰⵣⵉⵍⴰⵍ, ar, أزيلال) is a provincial capital in central Morocco, in the Atlas Mountains. It is also the capital of the M'Goun Conservation Area and home to a unique dialect of Tamazight.
History
Azilal was origin ...
and
Ouarzazate
Ouarzazate (; ar, ورزازات, Warzāzāt, ; ary, وارزازات, Wārzāzāt; shi, label= Berber, ⵡⴰⵔⵣⴰⵣⴰⵜ, Warzazat), nicknamed ''the door of the desert'', is a city and capital of Ouarzazate Province in the region of Dr ...
provinces of the
High Atlas mountains of Morocco.
It covers the Latest
Pliensbachian
The Pliensbachian is an age of the geologic timescale and stage in the stratigraphic column. It is part of the Early or Lower Jurassic Epoch or Series and spans the time between 190.8 ± 1.5 Ma and 182.7 ± 1.5 Ma (million years ago). The Plien ...
to early
Aalenian
The Aalenian () is a subdivision of the Middle Jurassic Epoch/Series of the geologic timescale that extends from about 174.1 Ma to about 170.3 Ma (million years ago). It was preceded by the Toarcian and succeeded by the Bajocian.
Stratigraphic ...
stages of the
Jurassic
The Jurassic ( ) is a Geological period, geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately Mya. The J ...
period. It is a terrestrial deposit that overlies marine
dolomite Dolomite may refer to:
*Dolomite (mineral), a carbonate mineral
*Dolomite (rock), also known as dolostone, a sedimentary carbonate rock
*Dolomite, Alabama, United States, an unincorporated community
*Dolomite, California, United States, an unincor ...
s of equivalent age to the
Budoš Limestone of
Montenegro
)
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, map_caption =
, image_map2 =
, capital = Podgorica
, coordinates =
, largest_city = capital
, official_languages = M ...
or the
Marne di Monte Serrone
The Marne di Monte Serrone ("Monte Serrone Marl") is a geological formation in Italy, dating to roughly between 181 and 178 million years ago,Baldanza, 1989Sabatino et al., 2009 and covering the early and middle Toarcian stage of the Jurassic Peri ...
of Italy.
Dinosaur remains, such as the
sauropod
Sauropoda (), whose members are known as sauropods (; from '' sauro-'' + '' -pod'', 'lizard-footed'), is a clade of saurischian ('lizard-hipped') dinosaurs. Sauropods had very long necks, long tails, small heads (relative to the rest of their bo ...
''
Tazoudasaurus
''Tazoudasaurus'' is a genus of vulcanodontid sauropod dinosaurs hailing from the Early Jurassic, located in the High Atlas Mountains of Morocco in North Africa. Along with ''Ohmdenosaurus'' is one of the two formally described sauropods from th ...
'' and the basal
ceratosaur
Ceratosaurs are members of the clade Ceratosauria, a group of dinosaurs defined as all theropods sharing a more recent common ancestor with ''Ceratosaurus'' than with birds. The oldest known ceratosaur, ''Saltriovenator'', dates to the earlies ...
''
Berberosaurus'' are known from the unit, along with several undescribed
genera
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nomenclat ...
.
The units in the group have been considered individual in the past, a division of the so-called "couches rouges" (red layers), and subdivided by a supposed geological scale.
The strata of the group extend toward the Central High Atlas, covering different
anticline
In structural geology, an anticline is a type of fold that is an arch-like shape and has its oldest beds at its core, whereas a syncline is the inverse of an anticline. A typical anticline is convex up in which the hinge or crest is the ...
s and topographic accidents along the mountain range. New studies, however, have suggested that the strata is