The Wonthaggi Formation is an informal geological

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 ...

in Victoria, Australia whose strata date back to the Early Cretaceous. It is part of the

Strzelecki Group The Halibut Field, is an oil field, within the Gippsland Basin. The oil field is located approximately 64 km offshore of southeastern Australia. The total area of this field is 26.9 km2 and is composed of 10 mappable units. Geologic ...

within the Gippsland Basin. Dinosaur remains are among the fossils that have been recovered from the formation.Weishampel, David B; ''et al.'' (2004). "Dinosaur distribution (Early Cretaceous, Australasia)." In: Weishampel, David B.; Dodson, Peter; and Osmólska, Halszka (eds.): The Dinosauria, 2nd, Berkeley: University of California Press. Pp. 573-574. . It is partially equivalent to the

Eumeralla Formation The Eumeralla Formation is a geological formation in Victoria, Australia whose strata date back to the Early Cretaceous. It is Aptian to Albian in age. Dinosaur remains are among the fossils that have been recovered from the formation, particular ...

Geology

The Wonthaggi Formation was deposited within the

extensional In any of several fields of study that treat the use of signs — for example, in linguistics, logic, mathematics, semantics, semiotics, and philosophy of language — an extensional context (or transparent context) is a syntactic environment in wh ...

rift valley formed between Australia and Antarctica. The lithology primarily consists of fluvially deposited siliciclastics derived from volcanic rocks of the Whitsunday Silicic

Large Igneous Province A large igneous province (LIP) is an extremely large accumulation of igneous rocks, including intrusive (sills, dikes) and extrusive (lava flows, tephra deposits), arising when magma travels through the crust towards the surface. The formation ...

to the East, with suggestions that the sediments either originated from

braided river A braided river, or braided channel, consists of a network of river channels separated by small, often temporary, islands called braid bars or, in English usage, '' aits'' or ''eyots''. Braided streams tend to occur in rivers with high sediment ...

and

sheet flood Sheet erosion or sheet wash is the even erosion of substrate along a wide area. It occurs in a wide range of settings such as coastal plains, hillslopes, floodplains, beaches, savanna plains and semi-arid plains. Water moving fairly uniformly with ...

deposits, or

meandering river A meander is one of a series of regular sinuous curves in the channel of a river or other watercourse. It is produced as a watercourse erodes the sediments of an outer, concave bank (cut bank) and deposits sediments on an inner, convex bank ...

systems on vegetated floodplains. The age of the formation is thought to be

Valanginian In the geologic timescale, the Valanginian is an age or stage of the Early or Lower Cretaceous. It spans between 139.8 ± 3.0 Ma and 132.9 ± 2.0 Ma (million years ago). The Valanginian Stage succeeds the Berriasian Stage of the Lower Cretace ...

Barremian The Barremian is an age in the geologic timescale (or a chronostratigraphic stage) between 129.4 ± 1.5 Ma (million years ago) and 121.4 ± 1.0 Ma). It is a subdivision of the Early Cretaceous Epoch (or Lower Cretaceous Series). It is preceded ...

, with the Flat Rocks site being late Barremian (~125 Ma) in age, older than the sediments from the Eumeralla Formation, which are thought to be

Aptian The Aptian is an age in the geologic timescale or a stage in the stratigraphic column. It is a subdivision of the Early or Lower Cretaceous Epoch or Series and encompasses the time from 121.4 ± 1.0 Ma to 113.0 ± 1.0 Ma (million years ago) ...

Albian The Albian is both an age (geology), age of the geologic timescale and a stage (stratigraphy), stage in the stratigraphic column. It is the youngest or uppermost subdivision of the Early Cretaceous, Early/Lower Cretaceous epoch (geology), Epoch/s ...

in age.

Vertebrate paleofauna

Indeterminate ornithopod remains are present in Victoria, Australia. Indeterminate megaraptorid remains are present in Victoria, Australia.

References

{{Reflist Geologic formations of Australia Cretaceous System of Australia Early Cretaceous Australia Valanginian Stage Hauterivian Stage Barremian Stage Aptian Stage Sandstone formations Siltstone formations Fluvial deposits Fossiliferous stratigraphic units of Oceania Paleontology in Victoria Geology of Victoria (Australia)

Geology

Vertebrate paleofauna

See also

References