| Hopeman Sandstone Formation | |
|---|---|
| Stratigraphic range: | |
 Cuttieshillock Quarry, locality of some of the reptile fossils | |
| Type | Formation |
| Underlies | Burghead Sandstone Formation |
| Overlies | Devonian Upper Old Red Sandstone |
| Area | Moray Firth |
| Thickness | 61 to 70 metres |
| Location | |
| Region | Scotland |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Type section | |
| Named for | The location around Hopeman, Scotland, where it outcrops |
The Hopeman Sandstone Formation is a geologic formation in Scotland.[1] It preserves fossil footprints and body fossils from the Guadalupian Epoch in the Late Permian, to the Early Triassic,[2] It preserves fossils and fossil footprints from various extinct animals such as pareiasaurs and dicynodonts, which are collectively often referred to as the Elgin Reptiles.
The formation, named for the village of Hopeman, lies unconformably over the Devonian Upper Old Red Sandstone, and it underlies the waterlain sandstones of the Burghead Sandstone Formation. It represents a windswept dune landscape.
The Hopeman Sandstones were previously referred to as the Cutties Hillock Sandstone, Quarry Wood Sandstones, Sandstones of Hopeman, and Hopeman-Cummingstown Sandstone, but these names have since been superseded.[1]
- ^ a b The BGS Lexicon of Named Rock Units: Hopeman Sandstone Formation
- ^ Walker, AD. 1973. The age of Cuttie's Hillock Sandstone (Perm-Triassic) of the Elgin Area. Scottish Journal of Geology 9:177-183.