The Gram Formation is a

geological formation A geological formation, or simply formation, is a body of rock having a consistent set of physical characteristics (lithology) that distinguishes it from adjacent bodies of rock, and which occupies a particular position in the layers of rock expo ...

in Gram, Denmark. It preserves

fossils A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...

dating from the

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and means "less recent" ...

period. The formation consists of three layers: the

glauconite Glauconite is an iron potassium phyllosilicate (mica group) mineral of characteristic green color which is very friable and has very low weathering resistance. It crystallizes with a monoclinic geometry. Its name is derived from the Greek () ...

-rich, the Gram Clay, and the Gram sand. The sediments in the formation were deposited in an open marine depositional environment known as the

Gram Sea The gram (originally gramme; SI unit symbol g) is a unit of mass in the International System of Units (SI) equal to one one thousandth of a kilogram. Originally defined as of 1795 as "the absolute weight of a volume of pure water equal to th ...

Fossil content

Many fossils of new species have been discovered in the formation, including those of the beaked-whale ''Dagonodum mojnum'' and the mollusk species

Pseudocochlespira gramensis ''Pseudocochlespira gramensis'' is a species of extinct sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the genus Pseudocochlespira from the late Miocene. Description A Pseudocochlespira species with a beaded carina situated below mid-whorl. The whor ...

, as well as specimens of better-known species such as ''Carcharodon megalodon''.

References

Geologic formations of Denmark Miocene Series of Europe Tortonian Shale formations Shallow marine deposits Paleontology in Denmark {{Denmark-geo-stub

Fossil content

See also

References