Oxford Clay

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Oxford Clay
Ma
Claystone
OtherMudstone
Location
RegionOxford, Peterborough, Dorset, Yorkshire
CountryEngland
Type section
Named forOxford

The Oxford Clay (or Oxford Clay Formation) is a

Oxfordian ages,[1] and comprises two main facies. The lower facies comprises the Peterborough Member, a fossiliferous organic-rich mudstone
. This facies and its rocks are commonly known as lower Oxford Clay. The upper facies comprises the middle Oxford Clay, the Stewartby Member, and the upper Oxford Clay, the Weymouth Member. The upper facies is a fossil poor assemblage of calcareous mudstones.

Oxford Clay appears at the surface around Oxford, Peterborough and Weymouth and is exposed in many quarries around these areas. The top of the Lower Oxford Clay shows a lithological change, where fissile shale changes to grey mudstone. The Middle and Upper Oxford Clays differ slightly, as they are separated by an argillaceous limestone in the South Midlands.

Palaeontology

The Oxford Clay is well known for its rich

gastropods. Dinosaur eggs are stratigraphically present in the Lower Oxford Clay. Geographically, they are located in Cambridgeshire, England.[3]

Life restoration of Eustreptospondylus and Lexovisaurus in the Oxford Clay
environment

Ornithischians

Indeterminate euronithopod remains stratigraphically present in the Lower Oxford Clay and geographically located in Cambridgeshire, England.[3]

Color key
Taxon Reclassified taxon Taxon falsely reported as present Dubious taxon or junior synonym Ichnotaxon
Ootaxon
Morphotaxon
Notes
Uncertain or tentative taxa are in small text; crossed out taxa are discredited.
Ornithischians
of the Oxford Clay
Genus Species Location Stratigraphic position Material Notes Images

Callovosaurus

C. leedsi[3]

  • Cambridgeshire[3]

Lower[3]

"Femur."[4]

Callovosaurus
Lexovisaurus

Lexovisaurus[5]

L. durobivensis[6]

Lower[6]

Indeterminate[8]

  • Bedfordshire[9]

Loricatosaurus[3]

L. priscus[3]

  • Cambridgeshire[3]

Lower[3]

Sarcolestes[3]

S. leedsi[3]

  • Cambridgeshire[3]

Lower[3]

"Partial mandible."[10]

Saurischians

Color key
Taxon Reclassified taxon Taxon falsely reported as present Dubious taxon or junior synonym Ichnotaxon
Ootaxon
Morphotaxon
Notes
Uncertain or tentative taxa are in small text; crossed out taxa are discredited.
Saurischians
of the Oxford Clay
Genus Species Location Stratigraphic position Material Notes Images

Cetiosauriscus[3]

C. stewarti[3]

  • Cambridgeshire[3]

Lower[3]

"Rear half of a skeleton."[11]

Cetiosauriscus
Eustreptospondylus
Metriacanthosaurus

Eustreptospondylus[12]

E. oxoniensis[12]

Upper[12]

Disarticulated skull and skeleton, with some referred limb elements.[13]

Sauropoda

Indeterminate[14]

The caudal vertebrae from Cambridgeshire were mistakenly considered part of the syntypic series of "Ornithopsis" leedsi by Upchurch and Martin (2003).[15]

Theropoda

Indeterminate[12]

Middle[12]

Metriacanthosaurus

M. parkeri
  • Weymouth
 Upper

Plesiosaurs

Color key
Taxon Reclassified taxon Taxon falsely reported as present Dubious taxon or junior synonym Ichnotaxon
Ootaxon
Morphotaxon
Notes
Uncertain or tentative taxa are in small text; crossed out taxa are discredited.
Genus Species Location Member Abundance Notes Images

Cryptoclidus

C. eurymerus

A

cryptoclidid
Cryptoclidus
Eardasaurus
Liopleurodon
Muraenosaurus
Pachycostasaurus
Peloneustes
Simolestes

C. richardsoni

A cryptoclidid

Eardasaurus

E. powelli

A

pliosaurid

Liopleurodon

L. ferox

A

pliosaurid

L. pachydeirus

A thalassophonean pliosaurid

Marmornectes

M. candrewi

A pliosaurid

Muraenosaurus

M. leedsi

A cryptoclidid

Pachycostasaurus

P. dawnii

A pliosaurid

Peloneustes

P. philarchus

A thalassophonean pliosaurid

Picrocleidus

P. beloclis

A cryptoclidid

Pliosaurus

P. andrewsi

A thalassophonean pliosaurid; represents a new genus distinct from Pliosaurus

Simolestes

S. vorax

A thalassophonean pliosaurid

Tricleidus

T. seeleyi

A cryptoclidid

Pachycormiformes

Color key
Taxon Reclassified taxon Taxon falsely reported as present Dubious taxon or junior synonym Ichnotaxon
Ootaxon
Morphotaxon
Notes
Uncertain or tentative taxa are in small text; crossed out taxa are discredited.
Genus Species Location Member Abundance Notes Images
Leedsichthys L. problematicus Giant filter feeding pachycormiform
Martillichthys M. renwickae Filter feeding pachyocormiform
"Hypsocormus" "H." tenuirostris Carnivorous pachycormiform, not closely related to Hypsocormus, and more closely related to Orthocormus

Thalattosuchians

Color key
Taxon Reclassified taxon Taxon falsely reported as present Dubious taxon or junior synonym Ichnotaxon
Ootaxon
Morphotaxon
Notes
Uncertain or tentative taxa are in small text; crossed out taxa are discredited.
Genus Species Location Member Abundance Notes Images

Lemmysuchus

L. obtusidens

A teleosauroid belonging to the Machimosauridae

Neosteneosaurus
Thalattosuchus
Suchodus
Tyrannoneustes

Charitomenosuchus

C. leedsi

A machimosaurid teleosauroid

Steneosaurus

S. edwardsi

Now referred to Neosteneosaurus.

S. durobrivensis

Junior synonym of N. edwardsi.

Neosteneosaurus

N. edwardsi

A machimosaurid teleosauroid

Mycterosuchus

M. leedsi

A teleosaurid teleosauroid

Metriorhynchus

M. superciliosus

This species was referred to a new genus, Thalattosuchus.[16]

Thalattosuchus

T. superciliosus

A

metriorhynchid

Gracilineustes

G. leedsi

A metriorhynchine metriorhynchid

Suchodus

S. brachyrhynchus

A

geosaurine
metriorhynchid

S. durobrivensis

A geosaurine metriorhynchid

Tyrannoneustes[17]

T. lythrodectikos

A geosaurine metriorhynchid

Economic use

Oxford Clay has a porous consistency and is soft and is often used in the making of roads. It is also the source of the Fletton stock brick of which much of London is built. For brick making, the Oxford Clay has the advantage of containing carbon which provides part of the fuel required in firing it so reducing the requirement for an external fuel source.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Oxford Clay Formation". The BGS Lexicon of Named Rock Units. British Geological Survey. Retrieved 21 August 2017.
  2. ^ Martill, D.M.; Hudson J.D. (1991). Fossils of the Oxford Clay. Palaeontological Association.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s "10.9 Cambridgeshire, England; 1. Lower Oxford Clay," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 540.
  4. ^ "Table 18.1," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 396.
  5. ^ Weishampel, et al. (2004). Pages 539-540.
  6. ^ a b "10.7 Dorset, England; 3. Lower Oxford Clay" and "cambridgeshire">"10.9 Cambridgeshire, England; 1. Lower Oxford Clay," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Pages 539-540.
  7. ^ "10.7 Dorset, England; 3. Lower Oxford Clay," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 539.
  8. ^ Listed as "?Lexovisaurus sp." in "10.10 Bedfordshire, England; 1. Oxford Clay," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 540.
  9. ^ "10.10 Bedfordshire, England; 1. Oxford Clay," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 540.
  10. ^ "Table 17.1," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 367.
  11. ^ "Table 13.1," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 265.
  12. ^ a b c d e f g "10.14 Oxfordshire, England; 8. Middle Oxford Clay," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 540.
  13. ^ "Table 4.1," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 72.
  14. ^ a b "10.14 Wiltshire, England; 4. Oxford Clay," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 540.
  15. ^ Noé LF, Liston JJ, Chapman SD. 2010. ‘Old bones, dry subject’: the dinosaurs and pterosaur collected by Alfred Nicholson Leeds of Peterborough, England. Geological Society, London, Special Publications 343: 49–77.
  16. doi:10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaa092
    .
  17. S2CID 85276836
    .

Bibliography

Further reading

  • Andrews, C. W. 1910. "A Descriptive Catalogue of the Marine Reptiles of the Oxford Clay, Part I". British Museum (Natural History), London, England: 205 pp.
  • Andrews, CW. 1913. "A descriptive catalogue of the Marine Reptiles of the Oxford Clay, Part II". British Museum (Natural History). pp. 205pp.
  • M. J. Benton and P. S. Spencer. 1995. Fossil Reptiles of Great Britain. Chapman & Hall, London 1–386
  • J. B. Delair. 1973. "The dinosaurs of Wiltshire". The Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Magazine 68:1–7
  • P. M. Galton. 1980. "European Jurassic ornithopod dinosaurs of the families Hypsilophodontidae and Camptosauridae". Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie, Abhandlungen 160(1):73–95
  • D. M. Martill. 1988. "A review of the terrestrial vertebrate of fossils of the Oxford Clay (Callovian-Oxfordian) of England". Mercian Geologist 11(3):171–190
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