The Botucatu Formation is an
Aptian geologic
formation
Formation may refer to:
Linguistics
* Back-formation, the process of creating a new lexeme by removing or affixes
* Word formation, the creation of a new word by adding affixes
Mathematics and science
* Cave formation or speleothem, a secondar ...
of the
Paraná and
Pelotas Basin
The Pelotas Basin ( pt, Bacia de Pelotas, es, Cuenca de Pelotas) is a mostly offshore sedimentary basin of approximately in the South Atlantic, administratively part of the southern states Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul of Brazil and the ...
s in southern
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
and northern
Uruguay
Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...
. The formation is composed of
quartz
Quartz is a hard, crystalline mineral composed of silica ( silicon dioxide). The atoms are linked in a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon-oxygen tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall chemical ...
itic
sandstone
Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks.
Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates ...
s, deposited in an
eolian environment.
[Petrolli & Pimentel, 2014, p.1] Fossil
theropod
Theropoda (; ), whose members are known as theropods, is a dinosaur clade that is characterized by hollow bones and three toes and claws on each limb. Theropods are generally classed as a group of saurischian dinosaurs. They were ancestrally c ...
tracks have been reported from the formation.
[Weishampel, et al. (2004). "Dinosaur distribution." Pp. 517-607.]
Description
The sandstone is fine-textured and well sorted, containing no pebbles; its colour is occasionally white, yellowish, and reddish, but more commonly it is pinkish. Nearly always it is silicified and therefore compact and hard.
[ The formation was deposited in an arid desert environment, characterized by ]sabkha
A sabkha ( ar, سبخة) is a coastal, supratidal mudflat or sandflat in which evaporite-saline minerals accumulate as the result of semiarid to arid climate. Sabkhas are gradational between land and intertidal zone within restricted coastal p ...
s and wadi
Wadi ( ar, وَادِي, wādī), alternatively ''wād'' ( ar, وَاد), North African Arabic Oued, is the Arabic term traditionally referring to a valley. In some instances, it may refer to a wet (ephemeral) riverbed that contains water ...
s.[Leonardi, 1994, p.50]
Fossil content
Among the following fossils were reported from the Botucatu Formation:[São Bento quarry, Araraquara]
at Fossilworks.org
* Coelurosauria indet.
* Lacertilia indet.
* Mammalia indet.
* Ornithopoda indet.
* Theropoda indet.
* '' Vespersaurus''
* ?Tritylodontoidea indet.
;Ichnofossil
A trace fossil, also known as an ichnofossil (; from el, ἴχνος ''ikhnos'' "trace, track"), is a fossil record of biological activity but not the preserved remains of the plant or animal itself. Trace fossils contrast with body fossils, ...
s
* '' Brasilichnium elusivum''[
]
See also
* List of dinosaur-bearing rock formations
This list of dinosaur-bearing rock formations is a list of geologic formations in which dinosaur fossils have been documented.
Containing body fossils
* List of stratigraphic units with dinosaur body fossils
** List of stratigraphic units with ...
** List of stratigraphic units with theropod tracks
The following tables list the global geological sites where tracks of theropod dinosaurs have been found, together with the proper names of the rock formations ( stratigraphic units) that contain them.
Non-avian theropods
Avialans
See also
* ...
* List of fossiliferous stratigraphic units in Uruguay
* Itapecuru Formation
The Itapecuru Formation is a geological formation in Itapecuru Mirim, Maranhão, Brazil.
It was formed during the Aptian to Albian stages of the Early Cretaceous. Dinosaur remains are among the fossils that have been recovered from the format ...
, contemporaneous fossiliferous formation of the São Luis and Parnaíba Basins
* Bahia Group, contemporaneous fossiliferous formation of the Recôncavo Basin
* Quiricó Formation, contemporaneous fossiliferous formation of the São Francisco Basin
* La Cruz Formation, contemporaneous fossiliferous formation of the Marayes-El Carrizal Basin, Argentina
* Rayoso Formation, contemporaneous fossiliferous formation of the Neuquén Basin
Neuquén Basin ( es, Cuenca Neuquina) is a sedimentary basin covering most of Neuquén Province in Argentina. The basin originated in the Jurassic and developed through alternating continental and marine conditions well into the Tertiary. The bas ...
, Argentina
* Cerro Barcino Formation
The Cerro Barcino Formation (also known as the Gorro Frigio Formation) is a geological formation in South America whose strata span the Early Cretaceous to the earliest Late Cretaceous. The top age for the formation has been estimated to be Cenoman ...
, contemporaneous fossiliferous formation of the Cañadón Asfalto Basin
The Cañadón Asfalto Basin ( es, Cuenca de Cañadón Asfalto) is an irregularly shaped sedimentary basin located in north-central Patagonia, Argentina. The basin stretches from and partly covers the North Patagonian Massif in the north, a high for ...
, Argentina
* Río Belgrano Formation, contemporaneous fossiliferous formation of the Austral Basin, Argentina
References
Bibliography
*
*
* {{ISBN, 0-520-24209-2
Further reading
* Leonardi, G. 1989. Inventory and statistics of the South American dinosaurian ichnofauna and its paleobiological interpretation. In D. D. Gillette & M. G. Lockley (ed.), ''Dinosaur Tracks and Traces'' 165–178.
* Leonardi, G. 1980. On the discovery of an abundant ichno-fauna (vertebrates and invertebrates) in the Botucatu Formation s.s. in Araraquara, São Paulo, Brazil. ''Anais da Academia Brasileira de Ciências'' 52(3):559-56
link
* Leonardi,G., Carvalho, I.S., and Fernandes, M.A. 2007. The desert ichnofauna from Botucatu Formation (Upper Jurassic–Lower Cretaceous), Brazil. In: Carvalho, I.S., Cassab, R.C.T., Schwanke, C.,Carvalho, M.A., Fernandes, A.C.S., Rodrigues, M.A.C., Carvalho, M.S.S., Arai, M., and Oliveira, M.E.Q. (eds.). ''Paleontologia'': Cenários da Vida, I. Interciência, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. p, 372–383
link
Geologic formations of Brazil
Geologic formations of Uruguay
Cretaceous Brazil
Cretaceous Uruguay
Aptian Stage
Sandstone formations
Aeolian deposits
Ichnofossiliferous formations
Reservoir rock formations
Formations
Fossiliferous stratigraphic units of South America
Paleontology in Brazil
Formations