5 new dinosaur related papers on Geogaceta

[Jose Ignacio Ruiz-Omeñaca <jigruiz@gmail.com>]

Five new dinosaur related papers in the last number of
Geogaceta,available as free pdf files (all but one in Spanish):

G. Piga, A. Santos Cubedo, M. Piccinini & S. Enzo. 2012. An X-Ray
diffraction (XRD) study to characterize the mineralogy of dinosaur
bones from Arcillas de Morella Formation. Geogaceta, 51, 23-26.

http://www.sociedadgeologica.es/archivos/geogacetas/geo51/art06.pdf

ABSTRACT: An investigation by powder X-ray Diffraction (XRD),
supplemented with the Rietveld analysis, was conducted on twenty-two
Spanish dinosaur bone specimens from Lower Cretaceous age to
investigate mineralogy, taphonomy and diagenetic processes. The
diffraction approach assessed in all specimens the presence of
fluorapatite at various levels of percentage as the mineral phase
constituting the fossil bone. In addition to fluorapatite, calcite and
quartz were also found as main secondary phases in many specimens. The
average crystallite size of the “apatitic” constituent phase was found
to vary from a minimum of ca. 183 A to an upper level of 2107 A. No
systematic relation between apatite crystallite size and age of the
dinosaur bones was found that suggests a high variability of
diagenetic processes affecting the growth of bone crystallites even in
the same site.

Key-words: X-ray Diffraction, dinosaur bones, mineralogy, diagenetic processes.
-----------------------------

L. Alcala, A. Cobos, E. Espilez, F. Gasco, L. Mampel, C. Martin
Escorza & R. Royo-Torres. 2012. Icnitas de dinosaurios en la Formacion
Villar del Arzobispo de Ababuj (Teruel, Espana). Geogaceta, 51, 35-38.

http://www.sociedadgeologica.es/archivos/geogacetas/geo51/art09.pdf

ABSTRACT: The dinosaur footprints site in Ababuj was one of the first
to be described in Aragon. Three lustra later we revise its
palaeontological content and we announce the finding of four new
dinosaur footprints sites placed in that municipality. All of them are
mapped in the Villar del Arzobispo Formation which age, in this area,
have been considered medium Tithonian-basal Berriasian. Although some
of the sites can be placed even in the upper part of the Formation,
regional palaeontological data seems to indicate that the Formation
contain always Jurassic vertebrate remains. The first site described
in Ababuj (called here AB–1) includes, at least, three well identified
dinosaur ichnite trackways, as well as others less evident, and
isolated footprints. One of the trackways consists of tridactyl
ichnites produced by a large theropod dinosaur; another trackway shows
oval imprints which are similar to others from a Thyreophora
(“Deltapodus-like”) producer described nearby, and the third, with
circular and semilunar footprints of larger size, was left by a big
sauropod (maybe a diplodocoid).

Key-words: Footprints, theropods, stegosaurs, sauropods,
Jurassic-Cretaceous transition, Teruel.
-----------------------------

J. Herrero Gascon & F. Perez-Lorente. 2012. El Rompido (Aguilar del
Alfambra). Icnitas de dinosaurios en la Formacion Villar del
Arzobispo. Teruel. Geogaceta, 51, 39-42.
http://www.sociedadgeologica.es/archivos/geogacetas/geo51/art10.pdf

ABSTRACT: The dinosaur footprints site in Ababuj was one of the first
to be described in Aragon. Three lustra later we revise its
palaeontological content and we announce the finding of four new
dinosaur footprints sites placed in that municipality. All of them are
mapped in the Villar del Arzobispo Formation which age, in this area,
have been considered medium Tithonian-basal Berriasian. Although some
of the sites can be placed even in the upper part of the Formation,
regional palaeontological data seems to indicate that the Formation
contain always Jurassic vertebrate remains. The first site described
in Ababuj (called here AB–1) includes, at least, three well identified
dinosaur ichnite trackways, as well as others less evident, and
isolated footprints. One of the trackways consists of tridactyl
ichnites produced by a large theropod dinosaur; another trackway shows
oval imprints which are similar to others from a Thyreophora
(“Deltapodus-like”) producer described nearby, and the third, with
circular and semilunar footprints of larger size, was left by a big
sauropod (maybe a diplodocoid).

Key-words: Footprints, theropods, stegosaurs, sauropods,
Jurassic-Cretaceous transition, Teruel.
-----------------------------

M. Boutakiout, J. Nouri, L. Ladel, I. Diaz-Martinez & F.
Perez-Lorente. 2012. El yacimiento de icnitas de dinosaurio 34IGR.
Iouaridene, Alto Atlas Central. Marruecos. Geogaceta, 51, 43-46.

http://www.sociedadgeologica.es/archivos/geogacetas/geo51/art11.pdf

ABSTRACT: The dinosaur footprints site in Ababuj was one of the first
to be described in Aragon. Three lustra later we revise its
palaeontological content and we announce the finding of four new
dinosaur footprints sites placed in that municipality. All of them are
mapped in the Villar del Arzobispo Formation which age, in this area,
have been considered medium Tithonian-basal Berriasian. Although some
of the sites can be placed even in the upper part of the Formation,
regional palaeontological data seems to indicate that the Formation
contain always Jurassic vertebrate remains. The first site described
in Ababuj (called here AB–1) includes, at least, three well identified
dinosaur ichnite trackways, as well as others less evident, and
isolated footprints. One of the trackways consists of tridactyl
ichnites produced by a large theropod  dinosaur; another trackway
shows oval imprints which are similar to others from a Thyreophora
(“Deltapodus-like”) producer described nearby, and the third, with
circular and semilunar footprints of larger size, was left by a big
sauropod (maybe a diplodocoid).

Key-words: Footprints, theropods, stegosaurs, sauropods,
Jurassic-Cretaceous transition, Teruel.
-----------------------------

C. de Santisteban, A. Santos-Cubedo & B. Poza. 2012. Revisión de la
sección del yacimiento del Mas de la Chimenea Alta (Formación Arcillas
de Morella, Castellón) y significado en el contexto paleoambiental.
Geogaceta, 51, 67-70.

http://www.sociedadgeologica.es/archivos/geogacetas/geo51/art17.pdf

ABSTRACT: From the first stratigraphic and paleontological studies,
dated from the beginning of the XX century the Morella Fm has been
characterized for its reddish coloration and fossil content. Most of
its deposits has been interpreted as continental, although with local
intercalations of marine materials. In this unit the paradox is given
that many of the locations described with continental vertebrate fauna
are in deposits interpreted as shallow marine and transitional
environments. The section of Mas de la Chimenea Alta is an example. It
contains localities with direct vertebrate remains that are clearly
alochthonous, but also others, with ichnites that allow relating these
organisms with the environment in which they lived.

Key-words: : Iberian System, Maestrat Basin, Lower Cretaceous,
dinosaurs, wave-dominated delta.

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Jose Ignacio Ruiz-Omenaca
Museo del Jurasico de Asturias (MUJA)
E-33328 Colunga, Spain
www.dinoastur.com
www.museojurasicoasturias.com
www.aragosaurus.com
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