The Woodbury Formation is a
Mesozoic
The Mesozoic Era is the Era (geology), era of Earth's Geologic time scale, geological history, lasting from about , comprising the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous Period (geology), Periods. It is characterized by the dominance of archosaurian r ...
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 secondary ...
in
New Jersey
New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...
, United States. It primarily consists of massive dark gray clays and silts with carbonized wood fragments and
pyrite
The mineral pyrite ( ), or iron pyrite, also known as fool's gold, is an iron sulfide with the chemical formula Fe S2 (iron (II) disulfide). Pyrite is the most abundant sulfide mineral.
Pyrite's metallic luster and pale brass-yellow hue ...
, deposited in a marine setting.
The remains of the dinosaur ''
Hadrosaurus
''Hadrosaurus'' (; ) is a genus of hadrosaurid ornithopod dinosaurs that lived in North America during the Late Cretaceous Period in what is now the Woodbury Formation in New Jersey about 83.6 to 77.9 Ma. The holotype specimen was found in flu ...
'' have been recovered from this formation.
[Weishampel, David B.; Dodson, Peter; and Osmólska, Halszka (eds.): The Dinosauria, 2nd, Berkeley: University of California Press. 861 pp. .]
Using radio isotope dating of
bivalve
Bivalvia () or bivalves, in previous centuries referred to as the Lamellibranchiata and Pelecypoda, is a class (biology), class of aquatic animal, aquatic molluscs (marine and freshwater) that have laterally compressed soft bodies enclosed b ...
shells, the formation has been dated to between 80.5 and 78.5 million years ago.
[Gallagher, W.B. (2005).]
Recent mosasaur discoveries from New Jersey and Delaware, USA: stratigraphy, taphonomy and implications for mosasaur extinction.
''Netherlands Journal of Geosciences'', 84(3): 241. However, a more accurate date make range from 83.6 to around 77.9 MYA.
See also
*
List of dinosaur-bearing rock formations
This list of dinosaur-bearing rock formations is a list of geologic formations in which dinosaur fossils have been documented.
* List of stratigraphic units with dinosaur body fossils
* List of stratigraphic units with dinosaur trace fossils
** ...
*
List of stratigraphic units with few dinosaur genera
This is a list of stratigraphic units from which dinosaur body fossils have been recovered. Although Dinosauria is a clade which includes modern birds, this article covers only Mesozoic stratigraphic units. Units listed are all either formation ...
References
Geologic formations of New Jersey
Campanian Stage
Cretaceous geology of New Jersey
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