Dinosaur Beds | |
Type: | Geological formation |
Period: | Aptian |
Prilithology: | Sandstone, siltstone, mudstone |
Region: | Northern Region |
Country: | Malawi |
Unitof: | Lupata Group |
Subunits: | Lower Member, Upper Member |
Underlies: | Unconformity with Pliocene Chiwondo Beds |
Overlies: | Precambrian metamorphic basement |
Thickness: | Upper member is 210m (690feet) thick in vicinity of CD-9 locality |
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]