Cerro del Pueblo Formation

Cerro del Pueblo Formation
Stratigraphic range: Campanian
~73.6–72.7 Ma
TypeGeological formation
Unit ofDifunta Group
UnderliesCerro Huerta Formation
OverliesParras Shale
Thickness160 m (520 ft)
Lithology
PrimaryMudstone, sandstone
OtherSiltstone, conglomerate, limestone
Location
Coordinates26°06′N 101°06′W / 26.1°N 101.1°W / 26.1; -101.1
Approximate paleocoordinates32°12′N 75°30′W / 32.2°N 75.5°W / 32.2; -75.5
RegionCoahuila
Country Mexico
ExtentParras Basin
Cerro del Pueblo Formation is located in Mexico
Cerro del Pueblo Formation
Cerro del Pueblo Formation (Mexico)
Cerro del Pueblo Formation is located in Coahuila
Cerro del Pueblo Formation
Cerro del Pueblo Formation (Coahuila)
Paleogeography of the Campanian
Outcrops of the Cerro del Pueblo Formation at the type locality of Cerro del Pueblo, on the edge of Saltillo, Coahuila

The Cerro del Pueblo Formation is a geological formation in Coahuila, Mexico, whose strata date back to the latest Campanian of the Late Cretaceous, just before the Campanian-Maastrichtian boundary. Dinosaur remains are among the fossils that have been recovered from the formation.[1] The formation is believed to correlate with the Baculites reesidesi and Baculites jenseni ammonite zones, which dates it to 73.63-72.74 Ma.[2]

Fragments of a hadrosaur skeleton weathering out of the Cerro del Pueblo Formation near Rincon Colorado, Coahuila

The Cerro del Pueblo Formation includes marine, brackish, and non-marine environments, and was laid down in a coastal lowland environment, with Coahuila being on the edge of the Western Interior Seaway at the time. Fossils are abundant in the Cerro del Pueblo Formation, and include dinosaurs and other vertebrates, plants and seeds, and invertebrates including oysters, snails, and other molluscs. The formation is underlain by the Parras Shale and is overlain by the Cerro Huerta Formation.

  1. ^ Weishampel et al., 2004, pp.574-588
  2. ^ Fowler, Denver Warwick (2017-11-22). "Revised geochronology, correlation, and dinosaur stratigraphic ranges of the Santonian-Maastrichtian (Late Cretaceous) formations of the Western Interior of North America". PLOS ONE. 12 (11): e0188426. Bibcode:2017PLoSO..1288426F. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0188426. ISSN 1932-6203. PMC 5699823. PMID 29166406.