Kurek Formation Explained

Kurek Formation
Type:	Geological formation
Age:	Late Oxfordian ~
Period:	Oxfordian
Prilithology:	Limestone
Otherlithology:	Mudstone
Namedfor:	Mount Kurek
Region:	Lebap (Turkmenistan) Kashkadarya (Uzbekistan)
Country:	Turkmenistan Uzbekistan
Coordinates:	38.5°N 68.6°W
Paleocoordinates:	43.2°N 73.2°W
Unitof:	Kugitang Svita

The Kurek Formation (ru|Kurek Svita) is a late Oxfordian (Late Jurassic) geologic formation of the Kugitang Svita in Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. Fossil sauropod tracks have been reported from the formation.^[1]

Etymology

The formation is named after Mount Kurek (2280m (7,480feet)), near Langar, Uzbekistan.^[2]

Description

The mudstones and limestones of the formation comprise a 2cm (01inches) thick, massive micrite (mudstone) with sporadic and poorly preserved thin-walled bivalves. Also tracks were preserved at that were probably made in shallow water, showing, in some parts, ripple marks.^[3]

Fossil content

Among the following fossils have been found in the Kurek Formation:^[4]

Dinosaurs

• Gissarosaurus tetrafalangensis

Ichnofossils

• Megalosauripus uzbekistanicus
• Mirsosauropus tursunzadei
• Regarosauropus manovi
• Shirkentosauropus shirkentensis
• Therangospodus pandemicus

Invertebrates

• Bivalvia indet.

See also

• List of dinosaur-bearing rock formations
  • List of stratigraphic units with sauropodomorph tracks
    • Sauropod tracks
• Bissekty Formation
• Bostobe Formation
• Qiketai, Toutunhe, Shishugou and Qigu Formations, fossiliferous formations of the Junggar Basin, Xinjiang
• Haifanggou Formation, Hebei Basin, Hebei
• Oxfordian formations
  • Oxford Clay, England
  • Tendaguru Formation, fossiliferous formation of Tanzania
  • Cañadón Calcáreo Formation, fossiliferous formation of the Cañadón Asfalto Basin, Argentina

References

Bibliography

Further reading

• F. Fanti, M. Contessi, A. Nigarov and P. Esenov. 2013. New data on two large dinosaur tracksites from the Upper Jurassic of eastern Turkmenistan (Central Asia). Ichnos 20:54-71
• V. P. Novikov and M. R. Dzhalilov. 1988. Litologicheskaya interpretatsiya mestonakhozhdeniy sledov dinozavrov i Tadzhikistane [A lithological interpretation of localities with dinosaurian traces in Tajikistan]. In T. N. Bogdanova, L. I. Khosatzky, & A. A. Istchenko (eds.), Sledy Zhiznedeyatel'nosti i Dinamika Sredy v Drevnikh Biotopakh. Trudy XXX Sessii Vsesoyuznogo Paleontologicheskogo Obshchestva i VII Sessii Ukrainskogo Paleontologicheskogo Obshchestva [Fossil Traces of Vital Activity and Dynamics of the Environment in Ancient Biotopes. Transactions of the XXX Session of All-Union Paleontological Society and the VII Session of the Ukrainian Paleontological Society]. Naukova Dumka, Kiev 58–69
• K. N. Amanniyazov. 1985. Ob unikalnykh sledakh verkhneyurskikh dinozavrov v Turkmenistane [Unique tracks of dinosaurs in the Upper Jurassic of Turkmenistan]. In M. P. Dzhalilov, V. P. Novikov (eds.), Problemy Osvoeniya Pustyn [Problems of Desert Development], Institute of Geology, Academy of Sciences Turkmenistan 2:23-29

Notes and References

1. Weishampel et al., 2004, pp. 517-607
2. http://uzbek-travel.com/about-uzbekistan/facts/katta-langar/ Katta Langar - Mount Kurek
3. https://paleobiodb.org/classic/displayCollResults?collection_no=182215 Ak-Gaya tracksite
4. https://paleobiodb.org/classic/displayStrata?geological_group=Kugitang&formation=Kurek&group_formation_member=Kurek Kurek Formation