Earth:Griman Creek Formation
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| Griman Creek Formation Stratigraphic range: late Albian-early-mid Cenomanian ~106–98 Ma | |
|---|---|
| Type | Geological formation |
| Unit of | Rolling Downs Group |
| Sub-units | Coocoran Claystone & Wallangulla Sandstone Members |
| Underlies | Unconformity with Oligo-Miocene Cumborah Gravel |
| Overlies | Surat Siltstone, Wallumbilla Formation |
| Thickness | Up to 345 m (1,132 ft) |
| Lithology | |
| Primary | Sandstone, siltstone, mudstone |
| Other | Conglomerate, coal |
| Location | |
| Coordinates | [ ⚑ ] : 29°24′S 147°42′E / 29.4°S 147.7°E |
| Paleocoordinates | [ ⚑ ] 64°24′S 134°54′E / 64.4°S 134.9°E |
| Region | Queensland New South Wales |
| Country | Australia |
| Extent | Surat Basin |
| Type section | |
| Named for | Griman Creek |
| Named by | Reiser |
| Year defined | 1970 |
  Griman Creek Formation (Australia) | |
The Griman Creek Formation is a geological formation in northern New South Wales and southern Queensland, Australia whose strata date back to the Albian-Cenomanian stages of the mid-Cretaceous.[1] It is most notable being a major source of opal, found near the town of Lightning Ridge, New South Wales. Alongside the opal opalised fossils are also found, including those of dinosaurs and primitive monotremes.[2]
Description
As a whole, the formation primarily consists of thinly bedded medium to fine sandstone, siltstone and mudstone, with sporadic coal seams. In the vicinity of Lightning Ridge, it is divided up into two informal members the underlying Wallangulla Sandstone Member which primarily consists of red fine grained sandstone, light siltstone and grey claystone and is up to 30 metres (98 ft) thick while the overlying Coocoran Claystone consists of about 10 metres of claystone. The contact between the two units is sudden and unconformable. Discontinuous clay lens beds within the Wallangulla Sandstone Member near Lightning Ridge, referred to as the Finch Clay Facies, are one of Australia's primary sources of commercial precious opal, with many mines dug in the area. These deposits are also the primary source of fossils within the formation, a large proportion of which are preserved as semi-precious opalized pseudomorphs. The fauna found in lightning ridge indicates that the depositional environment of the Finch Clay Facies was in near-coastal freshwater lagoons.[1]
Background
GPlates reconstruction for 100 Ma (Albian-Cenomanian and Early and Late Cretaceous boundary)
Original map by Ron Blakey
Fossil content
Indeterminate avialan, euornithopod, and sauropod remains that were once misidentified as brachiosaurid are present in New South Wales, Australia.[2] Euornithopod tracks are also present in New South Wales.
Color key
|
Notes Uncertain or tentative taxa are in small text; |
Dinosaurs
Ornithischians
Indeterminate ornithopods and iguanodontians are known from the formation.[1] Indeterminate avetheropods and megaraptorans are known from the formation.[1]
| Ornithischians of the Griman Creek Formation | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Genus | Species | Location | Stratigraphic position | Material | Notes | Image |
| Ankylosauria Indet.[3] | Indeterminate | Osteoderm | ||||
| Elasmaria indet.[4] | Indeterminate | New South Wales, Australia | An articulated hindlimb comprising the femur, tibia, astragalus | |||
| Fostoria | F. dhimbangunmal | New South Wales, Australia | A elasmarian ornithopod | |||
| Fulgurotherium[2] | F. australe | New South Wales, Australia | An indeterminate ornithischian | |||
| Weewarrasaurus[1] | W. pobeni | New South Wales, Australia | Isolated dentary | A non-iguanodontian ornithopod | ||
Sauropods
Two species of titanosauriforms and one species of titanosaur are known from teeth.[5]
| Sauropods of the Griman Creek Formation | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Genus | Species | Location | Stratigraphic position | Material | Notes | Image |
| Sauropoda Indet.[6] |
Indeterminate | Five morphotypes of teeth indicating at least two distinct non-titanosaur titanosauriform species and one titanosaur species. | An indeterminate sauropod | |||
Theropods
| Theropods of the Griman Creek Formation | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Genus | Species | Location | Stratigraphic position | Material | Notes | Image |
| Indeterminate | Partial femora | |||||
| Megaraptora Indet. ("Lightning Claw")[7] | Indeterminate | New South Wales, Autralia | Partial skeleton including parts of the lower arm, claws, lower leg, part of the hip, and pieces of ribs. | |||
| Noasauridae Indet.[8] | Indeterminate | Cervical vertebra | ||||
| Rapator[2][9] | R. ornitholestoides | New South Wales, Australia | "Manual element" | A megaraptoran theropod |  | |
| Walgettosuchus[2][10][2] | W. woodwardi | New South Wales, Australia | "Vertebra" | An indeterminate theropod |  | |
Pterosaurs
| Pterosaurs of the Griman Creek Formation | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Genus | Species | Location | Stratigraphic position | Material | Notes | Image |
| Indeterminate | "two isolated tooth crowns", possible limb elements | |||||
Crocodylomorphs
| Crocodylomorphs of the Griman Creek Formation | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Genus | Species | Location | Stratigraphic position | Material | Notes | Image |
| Isisfordia[11] | I. molnari | Lightning Ridge, New South Whales, Australia | Braincase and referred maxillary fragment | A neosuchian metasuchian |  | |
Turtles
| Turtle of the Griman Creek Formation | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Genus | Species | Location | Stratigraphic position | Material | Notes | Image |
| Spoochelys[12][13] | S. ormondea | perichelydian stem-turtle | ||||
| Chelidae Indet.[14] | Indeterminate | |||||
Mammals
Monotremes
| Monotremes of the Griman Creek Formation | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Genus | Species | Location | Stratigraphic position | Material | Notes | Image |
| Dharragarra[15] | D. aurora | A partial left mandibular ramus. | A ornithorhynchid monotreme | |||
| Kollikodon[15] | K. ritchiei | An opalised dentary fragment, with one premolar and two molars in situ, as well as a referred maxillary fragment containing the last premolar and all four molars | A kollikodontid monotreme | |||
| Opalios[15] | O. splendens | A fragmentary left dentary. | A opalionid monotreme | |||
| Parvopalus | P. clytiei | A partial left dentary. | A steropodontid monotreme | |||
| Steropodon | S. galmani | A steropodontid monotreme |  | |||
| Stirtodon | S. elizabethae | A large isolated premolars. | A teinolophid monotreme | |||
Fish
Lobe-finned Fish
| Lobe-finned Fish of the Griman Creek Formation | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Genus | Species | Location | Stratigraphic position | Material | Notes | Image |
| C. diutinus | Isolated tooth plates | A ceratodontid lungfish | ||||
| Metaceratodus[16] | M. wollastoni | Isolated tooth plates | A ceratodontid lunfish | |||
| Neoceratodus[17] | N. potkooroki | Isolated tooth plates | A neoceratodontid lungfish | |||
Ray-finned Fish
| Ray-finned Fish of the Griman Creek Formation | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Genus | Species | Location | Stratigraphic position | Material | Notes | Image |
| Calamopleurus?[17] | C. sp. | Isolated jaw bones | ||||
See also
- List of dinosaur-bearing rock formations
- South Polar region of the Cretaceous
- Western Interior Seaway
- Cenomanian-Turonian extinction event
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Bell et al. 2019.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Weishampel, Dodson & Osmólska 2004, pp. 573–574.
- ↑ Bell, Burns & Smith 2018.
- ↑ Bell, P. R.; Herne, M. C.; Birch, S. A.; Molnar, R. E.; Smith, E. T. (2025-08-10). "Articulated hindlimb of a small-bodied ornithopod dinosaur from the Cenomanian Griman Creek Formation of New South Wales, Australia". Alcheringa: An Australasian Journal of Palaeontology: 1–16. doi:10.1080/03115518.2025.2537025.
- ↑ Frauenfelder et al. 2021.
- ↑ Frauenfelder, Timothy G.; Campione, Nicolás E.; Smith, Elizabeth T.; Bell, Phil R. (29 October 2020). "Diversity and palaeoecology of Australia's southern-most sauropods, Griman Creek Formation (Cenomanian), New South Wales, Australia" (in en). Lethaia 54 (3): 354–367. doi:10.1111/let.12407. ISSN 0024-1164. Bibcode: 2021Letha..54..354F. https://www.scup.com/doi/full/10.1111/let.12407. Retrieved 20 September 2025.
- ↑ Bell et al. 2016.
- ↑ Birch, Smith & Bell 2020.
- ↑ "Table 4.1," in Weishampel, Dodson & Osmólska 2004, p. 74
- ↑ "Table 4.1," in Weishampel, Dodson & Osmólska 2004, p. 78
- ↑ Hart et al. 2019.
- ↑ T-Bone Extension, Coocoran Opal Fields at Fossilworks.org
- ↑ Smith & Kear 2013.
- ↑ Smith, Elizabeth T. (September 2010). "Early Cretaceous chelids from Lightning Ridge, New South Wales". Alcheringa: An Australasian Journal of Palaeontology 34 (3): 375–384. doi:10.1080/03115518.2010.488117. Bibcode: 2010Alch...34..375S.
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 Flannery, Timothy F.; McCurry, Matthew R.; Rich, Thomas H.; Vickers-Rich, Patricia; Smith, Elizabeth T.; Helgen, Kristofer M. (2024-04-02). "A diverse assemblage of monotremes (Monotremata) from the Cenomanian Lightning Ridge fauna of New South Wales, Australia". Alcheringa: An Australasian Journal of Palaeontology 48 (2): 319–337. doi:10.1080/03115518.2024.2348753. ISSN 0311-5518. Bibcode: 2024Alch...48..319F.
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs named4species - ↑ 17.0 17.1 Kemp, Anne; Berrell, Rodney (3 May 2020). "A New Species of Fossil Lungfish (Osteichthyes: Dipnoi) from the Cretaceous of Australia". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 40 (3). doi:10.1080/02724634.2020.1822369. Bibcode: 2020JVPal..40E2369K.
Bibliography
- Frauenfelder, Timothy G.; Campione, Nicolás E.; Smith, Elizabeth T.; Bell, Phil R. (July 2021). "Diversity and palaeoecology of Australia's southern-most sauropods, Griman Creek Formation (Cenomanian), New South Wales, Australia". Lethaia 54 (3): 354–367. doi:10.1111/let.12407. Bibcode: 2021Letha..54..354F.
- Birch, Sienna A.; Smith, Elizabeth T.; Bell, Phil R. (29 January 2020). "Noasaurids are a component of the Australian 'mid'-Cretaceous theropod fauna". Scientific Reports 10 (1): 1428. doi:10.1038/s41598-020-57667-7. PMID 31996712. Bibcode: 2020NatSR..10.1428B.
- Bell, Phil R.; Fanti, Federico; Hart, Lachlan J.; Milan, Luke A.; Craven, Stephen J.; Birch, Sienna A.; Smith, Elizabeth (January 2019). "Revised geology, age, and vertebrate diversity of the dinosaur-bearing Griman Creek Formation (Cenomanian), Lightning Ridge, New South Wales, Australia". Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 514: 655–671. doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2018.11.020. Bibcode: 2019PPP...514..655B.
- Hart, Lachlan J.; Bell, Phil R.; Smith, Elizabeth T.; Salisbury, Steven W. (21 June 2019). "Isisfordia molnari sp. nov . , a new basal eusuchian from the mid-Cretaceous of Lightning Ridge, Australia". PeerJ 7. doi:10.7717/peerj.7166. PMID 31275756.
- Bell, Phil R.; Herne, Matthew C.; Brougham, Tom; Smith, Elizabeth T. (4 December 2018). "Ornithopod diversity in the Griman Creek Formation (Cenomanian), New South Wales, Australia". PeerJ 6. doi:10.7717/peerj.6008. PMID 30533306.
- Bell, Phil R.; Burns, Michael E.; Smith, Elizabeth T. (2 January 2018). "A probable ankylosaurian (Dinosauria, Thyreophora) from the Early Cretaceous of New South Wales, Australia". Alcheringa: An Australasian Journal of Palaeontology 42 (1): 120–124. doi:10.1080/03115518.2017.1384851. Bibcode: 2018Alch...42..120B.
- Bell, Phil R.; Cau, Andrea; Fanti, Federico; Smith, Elizabeth T. (August 2016). "A large-clawed theropod (Dinosauria: Tetanurae) from the Lower Cretaceous of Australia and the Gondwanan origin of megaraptorid theropods". Gondwana Research 36: 473–487. doi:10.1016/j.gr.2015.08.004. Bibcode: 2016GondR..36..473B.
- Smith, Elizabeth T.; Kear, Benjamin P. (2013). "Spoochelys ormondea gen. Et sp. Nov., an Archaic Meiolaniid-Like Turtle from the Early Cretaceous of Lightning Ridge, Australia". Morphology and Evolution of Turtles. Vertebrate Paleobiology and Paleoanthropology. pp. 121–146. doi:10.1007/978-94-007-4309-0_9. ISBN 978-94-007-4308-3.
- Weishampel, David B.; Dodson, Peter; Osmólska, Halszka, eds (2004). The Dinosauria (2nd ed.). University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-94143-4.
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