Itombe Formation Explained

Itombe Formation
Period:	Coniacian
Type:	Geological formation
Prilithology:	Shale
Otherlithology:	Limestone, siltstone, sandstone
Subunits:	Tadi Beds
Underlies:	N'Golome Marl
Overlies:	Cabo Ledo & Massangano Formations
Thickness:	up to 600m (2,000feet)
Coordinates:	-8.2°N 13.2°W
Paleocoordinates:	-23°N 1.4°W
Region:	Bengo
Country:	Angola
Extent:	Kwanza Basin

The Itombe Formation is a geological formation of the Kwanza Basin in Angola dated to the Coniacian stage of the Late Cretaceous. The environment of deposition is shallow marine. Reptile fossils have been recovered from the Tadi beds locality within the formation, including the dinosaur Angolatitan,^[1] the mosasaurs Angolasaurus and Mosasaurus iembeensis and the turtle Angolachelys.^[2] The Itombe formation was formerly considered Turonian in age, but new data suggests to be Coniacian.^[3]

See also

• List of fossiliferous stratigraphic units in Angola
• Geology of Angola
• Santos Formation

Further reading

• M. T. Antunes. 1964. O Neocretacio e o Cenozoico do litoral de Angola. Junta de Investigcoes do Ultramar 1-254

Notes and References

1. Mateus . Octávio . Jacobs . Louis L. . Schulp . Anne S. . Polcyn . Michael J. . Tavares . Tatiana S. . Buta Neto . André . Morais . Maria Luísa . Antunes . Miguel T. . March 2011 . Angolatitan adamastor, a new sauropod dinosaur and the first record from Angola . Anais da Academia Brasileira de Ciências . 83 . 1 . 221–233 . 10.1590/S0001-37652011000100012 . 21437383 . 0001-3765. free .
2. Mateus . Octávio . Jacobs . Louis . Polcyn . Michael . Schulp . Anne S. . Vineyard . Diana . Buta Neto . André . Telles Antunes . Miguel . December 2009 . The Oldest African Eucryptodiran Turtle from the Cretaceous of Angola . . en . 54 . 4 . 581–588 . 10.4202/app.2008.0063 . 0567-7920. free .
3. Book: Mateus . Octávio . Biodiversity of Angola . Callapez . Pedro M. . Polcyn . Michael J. . Schulp . Anne S. . Gonçalves . António Olímpio . Jacobs . Louis L. . The Fossil Record of Biodiversity in Angola Through Time: A Paleontological Perspective . Springer International Publishing . 53–76 . en . 10.1007/978-3-030-03083-4_4 . 2019. 978-3-030-03082-7 . 133717540 .