La Meseta Formation
| La Meseta Formation Stratigraphic range: Eocene |
|
|---|---|
| Type | Geological formation |
| Unit of | Seymour Island group. |
| Underlies | glacial deposits |
| Overlies | Lopez de Bertodano Formation, Sobral Formation, Cross Valley Formation |
| Thickness | 557 m. |
| Location | |
| Coordinates | 64°14′21.782″S 56°36′11.69″W / 64.23938389°S 56.6032472°WCoordinates: 64°14′21.782″S 56°36′11.69″W / 64.23938389°S 56.6032472°W. |
The La Meseta Formation is a sedimentary sequence deposited during the Eocene. The formation is found on Seymour Island, Antarctica.
La Meseta Formation lies unconformably on the Cretaceous Lopez de Bertodano Formation. It is an approximately 557 m thick sequence of poorly consolidated sandstones and siltstones. The depositional environment was probably coastal, deltaic or estuarine in character. The top of the sequence is an erosional unconformity to glacial gravels. La Meseta Formation is just one of the sequences that make up the fill of the Late Jurassic to Paleogene James Ross Basin.
La Meseta Formation is extremely rich in fossils. It is famous for its penguin fossils, for example the two genera Archaeospheniscus and Palaeeudyptes. Other bird fossils include Dasornis, a genus of pseudotooth birds. There are also an abundance of trace fossils. Diplocraterion, Helminthopsis, Muensteria, Oichnus, Ophiomorpha, Skolithos, Teredolites and Zapfella have been described. Over 35 species and 26 families of fish have been described from the Ypresian Cucullaea bed.
List of bird fossils:
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