Gosau Group Explained

Gosau Group
Type:stratigraphic group
Age:Late Cretaceous-Eocene
~
Period:Late Cretaceous
Region:Central Europe
Country:Austria
Germany
Slovakia
Coordinates:47.6°N 13.5°W
Paleocoordinates:32.1°N 15.6°W
Subunits:
  • Eastern realm:
    Upper Gosau Subgroup - Piesting & Zweiersdorf Formations
    Lower Gosau Subgroup - Kreuzgraben, Maiersdorf & Grünbach Formations
  • Western realm:
    Upper Gosau Subgroup - Ressen, Nierental & Zwieselalm Formations
    Lower Gosau Subgroup - Kreuzgraben, Schönleiten, Streiteck, Noth, Grabenbach, Hochmoos & Bibereck Formations
Overlies:Unconformity with folded and faulted Permian to Lower Cretaceous rocks
Thickness:2200-
Extent:Gosau Basin, Limestone Alps

The Gosau Group (German: Gosau-Gruppe) is a geological stratigraphic group in Austria, Germany and western Slovakia whose strata date back to the Late Cretaceous to Eocene.[1] [2] It is exposed in numerous sporadic isolated basins within the Northern Calcareous Alps. It is divided into two subgroups, the Lower Gosau Subgroup which dates from the Turonian to Campanian, approximately 90 to 75 Ma and the Upper Gosau Subgroup which dates to the Santonian to Eocene, about 83.5 to 50 Ma. The formations within each subunit vary significantly between basins. The sequence is largely marine, but the Grünbach Formation represents a terrestrial deposit. Many of the units of the group are fossiliferous, typically providing marine fossils such as ammonites, though terrestrial remains including those of dinosaurs are known from the Grünbach Formation and Schönleiten Formation.

Fossil content

Among others, the following fossils have been described from the Gosau Group:[3] [4]

reptiles
Genus width=120px Species !Presence Notes Images
StruthiosaurusS. austriacusNiederösterreich, Austriaalign=center
MochlodonM. suessiA rhabdodontid iguanodont
RhadinosaurusR. alcinusPossible indeterminate ankylosaur remains
"Crataeomus"C. lepidophorusLater found to be synonymous with Struthiosaurus austriacus[5]
C. pawlowitschiiLater found to be synonymous with Struthiosaurus austriacus in partim
"Danubiosaurus"D. ancepsLater found to be indeterminate ankylosaurian and Struthiosaurus austriacus remains in partim
"Indeterminate fragments"[6]
"Hoplosaurus"H. ischyrusLater found to be synonymous with Struthiosaurus austriacus
"Leipsanosaurus"L. noricusLater found to be synonymous with Struthiosaurus austriacus
"Pleuropeltus"P. suessiLater found to be synonymous with Struthiosaurus austriacus in partim
"Megalosaurus"M. pannoniensisLater found to be indeterminate theropod remains
Ornithocheiridae indet.align=center [7] [8]
Mollusca
Genus width=120px Species !Presence Notes Images
"Trochactaeon"T. conicus'Nördliche Kalkalpen, Niederösterreich, AustriaVery common fossil, rock forming

See also

References

Bibliography

Notes and References

  1. Höfling, 1985
  2. McCann, 2008
  3. http://www.fossilworks.org/cgi-bin/bridge.pl?action=displayStrata&geological_group=Gosau&group_formation_member=Gosau Gosau Group
  4. http://www.fossilworks.org/cgi-bin/bridge.pl?action=displayStrata&geological_group=Lower%20Gosau&group_formation_member=Lower%20Gosau Lower Gosau Group
  5. Weishampel, 2004, pp. 588-593
  6. "Table 17.1," in Weishampel et al., 2004, p.367
  7. http://epub.ub.uni-muenchen.de/12007/1/zitteliana_2008_b28_05.pdf Zitteliana
  8. Agnolin & Varricchio, 2012