Dinosaur Beds | |
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Stratigraphic range: | |
Type | Geological formation |
Unit of | Lupata Group |
Sub-units | Lower Member, Upper Member |
Underlies | Unconformity with Pliocene Chiwondo Beds |
Overlies | Precambrian metamorphic basement |
Thickness | Upper member is 210 m (690 ft) thick in vicinity of CD-9 locality |
Lithology | |
Primary | Sandstone, siltstone, mudstone |
Location | |
Coordinates | 10°17′S 34°02′E / 10.28°S 34.04°E |
Region | Northern Region |
Country | Malawi |
Extent | Karonga District |
The Dinosaur Beds is a geological formation in Malawi whose strata date back to the Early Cretaceous. The age of the deposit is poorly constrained, but is likely to date from the Barremian to Aptian.[1] Dinosaurs, turtles and crocodylomorphs remains are among the fossils that have been recovered from the formation.[2] It is correlated with the Galula Formation in Tanzania. It consists of two members, a lower unfossiliferous member consisting of deep red stained sandstones, and an upper fossiliferous member consisting of white sands and grey to red mudstones and siltstones. The upper member is 210 m thick in the vicinity of the CD-9 locality.[3]