In the geologic timescale , the Sinemurian is an age and stage in the Early or Lower Jurassic Epoch or Series . It spans the time between 199.5 ±0.3 Ma and 192.9 ±0.3 Ma (million years ago). The Sinemurian is preceded by the Hettangian and is followed by the Pliensbachian .
15-531: The Precipice Sandstone an Early Jurassic ( Sinemurian to early Pliensbachian , with possible Hettangian levels) geologic formation of the Surat Basin in New South Wales and Queensland , eastern Australia, know due to the presence of abundant vertebrate remains & tracks. This unit includes the previously described Razorback beds . This unit represents a major, almost primary, source of hydrocarbons in
30-473: A hinterland rich in vegetation, hinting at wet environments like swamps, where agglutinated foraminifera suggests marine flooding and drier conditions or the encroachment of seawater onto coastal areas. The Fireclay Caverns were excavated by the Mount Morgan Mine to provide clay for its brickworks resulting in very large openings that measure between 4–12 metres in height from the cave floor. Excavation of
45-769: A slight turn in direction. After cavern excavations ceased, a colony of bent-wing bats began inhabiting the caverns. The sections of the caverns containing the bats are inaccessible to protect the bat habitat. Anomoepodidae Anomoepodidae ichnog. indeterminate Lower Member Footprints ornithischian footprints, unassigned to any concrete ichnogenus, but with resemblance with Anomoepodidae Anomoepus Lower Member Footprints Ornithischian Footprints, originally suggested as quadrupedal theropod tracks, latter identified as of Ornithischian origin. Up to 130 tracks & 4 short trackways are know. Eubrontes Eubrontes isp. Fireclay Caverns Lower Member Footprints Medium-sized Theropod Footprints. Currently represent
60-443: The 70th anniversary of when Ross Staines published Australia's first dinosaur trackway-consisting of four footprints. To celebrate, previously unpublished archival photographs (c. 1954) enabled a re-examination of Staines' original trackway, from which two additional footprints were revealed. Analyses indicated the trackmaker exhibited a walking gait, initially walking at ~3.8 km/h and then slowed to 1.8 km/h in association with
75-602: The Jurassic limestone of the region is in part responsible for the character of the classic Sancerre wines . The base of the Sinemurian Stage is at the first appearance of the ammonite genera Vermiceras and Metophioceras in the stratigraphic record. A global reference profile ( GSSP or golden spike ) for the Sinemurian Stage is located in a cliff north of the hamlet of East Quantoxhead , 6 kilometers (3.7 mi) east of Watchet , Somerset , England . The top of
90-681: The Precipice Sandstone indicate two distinct areas of sediment accumulation, suggesting two separate depocentres filled from different source regions during the Sinemurian, with the Thomson orogeny and New England Orogen hinterlands as possible ones. This unit represented a fluvial-palustrine-lacustrine braided channel north-flowing succession, that seem to have debouch into a shallow restricted tidal/wave influenced marine embayment, marked at areas like Woleebee Creek. Paleoenvironment-wise, it represents
105-704: The Sinemurian (the base of the Pliensbachian) is at the first appearances of the ammonite species Bifericeras donovani and ammonite genus Apoderoceras . The Sinemurian contains six ammonite biozones in the Tethys domain : Anomoepus 26, see text Anomoepus is the name assigned to several fossil footprints first reported from Early Jurassic beds of the Connecticut River Valley , Massachusetts , US in 1802. All four feet have left impressions. The smaller forefeet have five toes, whereas
120-564: The caverns ceased when the mine brickworks were decommissioned in the early 1900s. Erosion revealed dinosaur footprints (preserved as infills) being discovered in 1954. To date, nine different ceiling sections of the Fireclay Caverns have been recognised as containing dinosaur footprints . These have been dated to the Early Jurassic ( Sinemurian ) ~195 million years ago. Walkways and stairs had been constructed in 2010 to provide access to
135-448: The caverns ceased when their clay was no longer required by the mine. After cavern excavations ceased, clay progressively fell from the cavern ceilings, revealing rock ceilings above. In 1954, HRE Staines, a Mount Morgan Limited geologist, identified dinosaur footprints in the rock ceilings. Over 300 such footprints have been identified on the cavern ceilings dated to the Early Jurassic ( Sinemurian ) ~195 million years ago. 2024 represents
150-423: The dinosaur footprints as part of the mine site tours. The site was closed to access in 2011 due to ceiling erosion posing a significant risk to public safety. The Fireclay Caverns were excavated to supply clay to brickworks of the Mount Morgan Mine . Clay was mined from within the caverns by pick and shovel, then transferred by underground rail to a brickworks lower in the Mount Morgan Mine site. Excavation from
165-720: The family Sphagnaceae in the Sphagnopsida . Sinemurian In Europe the Sinemurian age, together with the Hettangian age, saw the deposition of the lower Lias , in Great Britain known as the Blue Lias . The Sinemurian Stage was defined and introduced into scientific literature by French palaeontologist Alcide d'Orbigny in 1842. It takes its name from the French town of Semur-en-Auxois , near Dijon . The calcareous soil formed from
SECTION 10
#1732851534561180-459: The larger hind feet have three toes. There is also an impression which might indicate where the creature rested. The footprints were discovered, amongst others, by a farm boy, Pliny Moody. E.B. Hitchcock , a clergyman, described the Anomoepus footprints and others as evidence of ancient birds . They have since been identified as belonging to a dinosaur , probably an ornithischian , as indicated by
195-916: The largest of the prints at Mount Morgan Grallator Grallator isp. Fireclay Caverns Lower Member Footprints Small-sized Theropod Footprints Indeterminate Razorback Beds A Freshwater Plesiosaur that cannot be confidently attributed to any particular plesiosaurian clade Theropodipedia Theropodipedia ichnog. indeterminate Lower Member Footprints Possible theropod footprints, unassigned to any concrete ichnogenus. One morphotype includes large tridactyl prints, up to 24 cm. Theropodipedia "indet. 2" Fireclay Caverns Theropodipedia "indet. 3" Fireclay Caverns Wintonopus Wintonopus isp. Fireclay Caverns Lower Member Footprints Small-sized Ornithischian Footprints Annulispora Incertae sedis ; affinities with Bryophyta . Cingutriletes Incertae sedis ; affinities with Bryophyta . Distalanulisporites Affinities with
210-428: The number of toes and the absence of claws on the rear digits. Trackways assigned to Anomoepus from Western Australia , Poland and Czech Republic have also been described. Anomoepus is the name of the footprint, not of the dinosaur, the identity of which remains unknown. Edwin H. Colbert (1962). Dinosaurs . Hutchinson & Co. Ltd. p. 188. This article related to ornithischian dinosaurs
225-561: The region, with a Potential CO2 reservoir of up to 70m. It was deposited on top of older sediments, like Bowen Basin units, in an unconformable manner, resting along the eastern basin margin and the Back Creek Group in the southern Comet Platform , while in other areas it directly overlies the Triassic Moolayember Formation & Callide Coal Measures , being deposited in a comparatively stable basin. Isopach maps of
#560439