The Sânpetru Formation is an

early Maastrichtian The Maastrichtian () is, in the ICS geologic timescale, the latest age (uppermost stage) of the Late Cretaceous Epoch or Upper Cretaceous Series, the Cretaceous Period or System, and of the Mesozoic Era or Erathem. It spanned the interval fro ...

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 ...

Dinosaur Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the evolution of dinosaurs is t ...

remains are among the fossils that have been recovered from the formation.Weishampel, et al. (2004). "Dinosaur distribution." Pp. 517-607. It is located in Romania, near Sânpetru village, part of

Sântămăria-Orlea Sântămăria-Orlea ( hu, Őraljaboldogfalva, german: Liebfrauen) is a Communes of Romania, commune in Hunedoara County, Transylvania, Romania. It is composed of nine villages: Balomir (''Balomir''), Bărăștii Hațegului (''Baresd''), Bucium-Orle ...

commune. It forms a component of the

Hațeg Island Hațeg Island was a large offshore island in the Tethys Sea which existed during the Late Cretaceous period, probably from the Cenomanian to the Maastrichtian ages. It was situated in an area corresponding to the region around modern-day Hațeg, H ...

fauna.

Description

The Sânpetru Formation crops out in the central to southern

Hațeg Basin Hațeg (; german: Wallenthal; hu, Hátszeg) is a town in Hunedoara County, Romania with a population of 9,340. Three villages are administered by the town: Nălațvad (''Nalácvád''), Silvașu de Jos (''Alsószilvás''), and Silvașu de Sus ( ...

along the Bărbat River and comprises

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 and

mudstone Mudstone, a type of mudrock, is a fine-grained sedimentary rock whose original constituents were clays or muds. Mudstone is distinguished from '' shale'' by its lack of fissility (parallel layering).Blatt, H., and R.J. Tracy, 1996, ''Petrology. ...

s deposited in a wet

floodplain A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river which stretches from the banks of its channel to the base of the enclosing valley walls, and which experiences flooding during periods of high discharge.Goudi ...

environment Environment most often refers to: __NOTOC__ * Natural environment, all living and non-living things occurring naturally * Biophysical environment, the physical and biological factors along with their chemical interactions that affect an organism or ...

characterized by

braided Braided is a musical group consisting of Casey LeBlanc, Ashley Leitão, and Amber Fleury, who all competed on the third season of '' Canadian Idol'' in 2005. They are the third music group to come from an Idol show in the world, after Young Div ...

fluvial In geography and geology, fluvial processes are associated with rivers and streams and the deposits and landforms created by them. When the stream or rivers are associated with glaciers, ice sheets, or ice caps, the term glaciofluvial or fluviog ...

channels. The formation is correlated with the Densuș-Ciula Formation of the northern section of the same basin, both dating to the Maastrichtian of the

Late Cretaceous The Late Cretaceous (100.5–66 Ma) is the younger of two epochs into which the Cretaceous Period is divided in the geologic time scale. Rock strata from this epoch form the Upper Cretaceous Series. The Cretaceous is named after ''creta'', the ...

.Solomon & Codrea, 2015, p.26

Fossil content

Amphibians

Turtles

Squamates

Crocodyliformes

Ornithischians

Sauropods

Theropods

Pterosaurs

Mammals

References

Bibliography

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sanpetru Formation Geologic formations of Romania Upper Cretaceous Series of Europe Cretaceous Romania Maastrichtian Stage Sandstone formations Mudstone formations Fluvial deposits Ooliferous formations Fossiliferous stratigraphic units of Europe Paleontology in Romania