The Aïn el Guettar Formation is a geological formation in

Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...

, whose strata date back to the Late Aptian to Late Albian stages of the

Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 143.1 to 66 mya (unit), million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era (geology), Era, as well as the longest. At around 77.1 million years, it is the ...

period. The lithology consists of coarse sandstones with occasional conglomerates and mudstones. Dinosaur remains are among the fossils that have been recovered from the formation.Weishampel, David B; et al. (2004). "Dinosaur distribution (Early Cretaceous, Africa)." In: Weishampel, David B.; Dodson, Peter; and Osmólska, Halszka (eds.): The Dinosauria, 2nd, Berkeley: University of California Press. Pp. 571-573. .

Stratigraphy

The Aïn el Guettar Formation is divided into at least 3 members, which represent different

depositional environment In geology, depositional environment or sedimentary environment describes the combination of physical, chemical, and biological processes associated with the deposition of a particular type of sediment and, therefore, the rock types that will b ...

s. In ascending order these are: the

Chenini Member The Chenini Member is a geological member (geology), member of the Ain el Guettar Formation in Tunisia, whose strata date back to the Aptian, Late Aptian to Albian, Early Albian stages of the Cretaceous period. The lithology consists of coarse san ...

, the

Oum ed Diab Member The Oum ed Diab Member is a middle-upper Albian geologic member, part of the Aïn el Guettar Formation of Tunisia. Dinosaur remains are among the fossils that have been recovered from the formation.Weishampel, et al. (2004). "Dinosaur distributi ...

and the Jebel El Mra Member.

Vertebrate paleofauna

The Ain el Guettar Formation during the Early Cretaceous period was a marsh-like habitat with swamps and plenty of water. The most famous dinosaur discoveries made here include ''

Carcharodontosaurus ''Carcharodontosaurus'' (; ) is a genus of large carnivorous theropod dinosaur that lived in Northwest Africa from about 100 to 94 million years ago during the Cenomanian age of the Cretaceous. Two teeth of the genus, now lost, were first des ...

'' and ''

Spinosaurus ''Spinosaurus'' (; ) is a genus of large spinosaurid theropod dinosaurs that lived in what now is North Africa during the Cenomanian faunal stage, stage of the Late Cretaceous Period (geology), period, about 100 to 94 annum, million year ...

''.

References

{{Reflist

* S. Bouaziz, É. Buffetaut, M. Ghanmi, J.-J. Jaeger, M. Martin, J.-M. Mazin, and H. Tong. 1988. Nouvelles découvertes de vertébrés fossiles dans l'Albien du sud tunisien ew discoveries of fossil vertebrates in the Albian of southern Tunisia Bulletin de la Société Géologique de France, 8e série 4(2):335-339 * J. Le Loeuff, É. Buffetaut, G. Cuny, Y. Laurent, M. Ouaja, C. Souillat, D. Srarfi and H. Tong. 2000. Mesozoic continental vertebrates of Tunisia. 5th European Workshop on Vertebrate Palaeontology, Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde, Geowissenschaften Abteilung. Program. Abstracts. Excursion Guides 45 ' Geologic formations of Tunisia Lower Cretaceous Series of Africa Albian Stage Aptian Stage Sandstone formations Fluvial deposits Paludal deposits Paleontology in Tunisia Formations

Stratigraphy

Vertebrate paleofauna

See also

References

Further reading