Moreno Hill Formation

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Moreno Hill Formation
Stratigraphic range: Turonian–Coniacian [1]
TypeGeological formation
UnderliesFence Lake Formation
OverliesAtarque Sandstone
Thickness217 meters (712 ft)
Lithology
PrimarySandstone, Shale
OtherSiltstone, Coal
Location
Coordinates34°35′21″N 108°45′33″W / 34.5893°N 108.7592°W / 34.5893; -108.7592
Region New Mexico
Country United States
Type section
Named forMoreno Hill
Named byMcLellan, Haschke, Robinson, Carter, and Medlin
Year defined1983
Moreno Hill Formation is located in the United States
Moreno Hill Formation
Moreno Hill Formation (the United States)
Moreno Hill Formation is located in New Mexico
Moreno Hill Formation
Moreno Hill Formation (New Mexico)

The Moreno Hill Formation is a geological

formation in western New Mexico whose strata were deposited in the Late Cretaceous. Dinosaur remains are among the fossils that have been recovered from the formation.[2] The age of the formation is dated between approximately 90.9 to 88.6 million years ago based on detrital zircons.[1]

Description

The formation is a nonmarine

fluvial environment. The shales include thin lenses of bituminous coal, including tonsteins (distinctive thin ash beds). The total maximum thickness is 217 meters (712 ft). It overlies the Atarque Sandstone and is in turn overlain by the Fence Lake Formation.[3]

Moreno Hill Formation was first named by McLellan and coinvestigators in 1983 for exposures around Moreno Hill in the Salt Lake coal field of western New Mexico. The beds were originally mapped as

lithologically distinguishable.[4] It also documents a time of tectonic upheaval, volcanic activities, humid paleoclimate, and North American coastal margin shifts.[1]

Fossil content

Moreno Hill Formation was originally thought to be devoid of fossils,[3] but it has since yielded a diverse vertebrate paleofauna, including four genera of dinosaurs. An indeterminate crocodyliform fossil has been reported.[4][5] Coalified and permineralized fossil wood are also common in this formation, including those of gymnosperms and angiosperms.[6]

Vertebrate fossils

Fish

Fish of the Moreno Hill Formation
Genus Species Presence Material Notes Images
Amiidae indet. Amiid teeth[5] Had been tentatively classified as Melvius sp. by Wolfe and Kirkland (1998)[4]
Lepisosteidae
 indet. Gar scales[5] Had been tentatively classifed as Lepisosteus sp. by Wolfe and Kirkland (1998)[4]

Dinosaurs

Dinosaurs of the Moreno Hill Formation
Genus Species Presence Material Description Images
Ankylosauria indet. Indeterminate Teeth (specimens MSM P15742 and MSM P15743).[7] Ankylosaur teeth.
Jeyawati J. rugoculus A basal hadrosauromorph.[8]
Nothronychus N. mckinleyi "Teeth, fragmentary skull bones, cervical and other vertebrae, scapula, partial forelimb and hindlimb."[9] A
therizinosaur.[10]
Suskityrannus S. hazelae Partial skull & skeleton.[11] A
tyrannosauroid
.
Zuniceratops Z. christopheri "Partial cranial and postcranial materials of five individuals."[12] A ceratopsian.[4]

Testudines

Testudines
of the Moreno Hill Formation
Genus Species Presence Material Notes Images
Edowa E. zuniensis [5] A baenid.
Naomichelys N. sp. [5] A helochelydrid.
Trionychidae [5] An indeterminate trionychid.

Paleoflora

Plants of the Moreno Hill Formation[13]
Genus Species Presence Material Notes Images
Paraphyllanthoxylon P. arizonense
Herendeenoxylon H. zuniense
Vasunum V. cretaceum

See also

References

  1. ^
    PMID 33854833
    .
  2. ISBN 0-520-24209-2
    .
  3. ^ a b c McLellan, M.W.; Haschke, L.R.; Robinson, L.N.; Carter, M.D.; Medlin, A.L. (1983). "Middle Turonian and younger Cretaceous rocks, northern Salt Lake coal field, Cibola and Catron Counties, New Mexico" (PDF). New Mexico Bureau of Mines and Mineral Resources Circular. 185: 41–47. Retrieved 16 September 2020.
  4. ^ a b c d e Wolfe, D.G; Kirkland, J.I. (1998). "Zuniceratops christopheri n. gen. & n. sp., a ceratopsian dinosaur from the Moreno Hill Formation (Cretaceous, Turonian) of west-central New Mexico". New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science, Bulletin. 14: 303–317.
  5. ^
    S2CID 253905727
    .
  6. doi:10.1016/j.coal.2009.04.001
    .
  7. S2CID 146115938
    .
  8. ^ McDonald, A.T.; Wolfe, D.G.; Kirkland, J.I. (2006). "On a hadrosauromorph (Dinosauria: Onithopoda) from the Moreno Hill Formation (Cretaceous, Turonian) of New Mexico". New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin. 35: 277–280. Retrieved 16 September 2020.
  9. ^ "Table 7.1," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 152.
  10. S2CID 85705529
    .
  11. S2CID 146115938
    .
  12. ^ "Table 22.1," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 480.
  13. S2CID 135306441
    .
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