The Papo Seco Formation is a 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 secondary ...

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, whose strata date back to the

Early Cretaceous The Early Cretaceous (geochronological name) or the Lower Cretaceous ( chronostratigraphic name), is the earlier or lower of the two major divisions of the Cretaceous. It is usually considered to stretch from 145 Ma to 100.5 Ma. Geology Pr ...

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 ...

fossil 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 ...

s are among the fossils that have been recovered from the formation.Weishampel et al., 2004, p.562Papo Seco Formation
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Name

The unit was previously referred to as the "Gres a Dinosauriens", due to the abundant dinosaur remains found in the past.Aillud, 2001, p.211

Description

The Papo Seco Formation (Rey, 1992) marks the return to

clastic Clastic rocks are composed of fragments, or clasts, of pre-existing minerals and rock. A clast is a fragment of geological detritus,Essentials of Geology, 3rd Ed, Stephen Marshak, p. G-3 chunks, and smaller grains of rock broken off other rock ...

-dominated sedimentation. Exposure of the formation is found above the low cliff between Rochadouro and Areia do Mastro, and on the foreshore and beach at Boca do Chapim. The Papo Seco Formation is dominated by silty mud-mud deposition. This is interbedded with medium to coarse, commonly ribbon shaped, clastic

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. Along the exposure, between Rochadouro and Boca do Chapim, the clastic sands are not laterally continuous. The exposure clearly shows that the ribbon sands are isolated and change laterally into muds. Three distinct sand facies have been identified within the Papo Seco Formation.

Vertebrate paleofauna

Correlation

References

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Name

Description

Vertebrate paleofauna

Correlation

See also

References

Further reading