Hopeman Sandstone Formation

Hopeman Sandstone Formation
Stratigraphic range: Late Permian to Early Triassic
Cuttieshillock Quarry, locality of some of the reptile fossils
Type Formation
Underlies Burghead Sandstone Formation
Overlies Devonian Upper Old Red Sandstone
Area Moray Firth
Thickness 61 to 70 metres
Location
Region Scotland
Country United Kingdom
Type section
Named for The location around Hopeman, Scotland, where it outcrops

The Hopeman Sandstone Formation is a geologic formation in Scotland.[1] It preserves fossil footprints and body fossils from the Guadalupian Epoch in the Late Permian, to the Early Triassic,[2] It preserves fossils and fossil footprints from various extinct animals such as pareiasaurs and dicynodonts, which are collectively often referred to as the Elgin Reptiles.

The formation, named for the village of Hopeman, lies unconformably over the Devonian Upper Old Red Sandstone, and it underlies the waterlain sandstones of the Burghead Sandstone Formation. It represents a windswept dune landscape.

The Hopeman Sandstones were previously referred to as the Cutties Hillock Sandstone, Quarry Wood Sandstones, Sandstones of Hopeman, and Hopeman-Cummingstown Sandstone, but these names have since been superseded.

Lithology

The Hopeman Sandstone Formation is predominantly composed of fine- to coarse-grained yellowish sand with well rounded grains, mostly deposited as wind-blown dunes, but occasionally deposited by sheet floods.[1] Basal beds are pebbly and the unit varies, exhibiting large-scale crossbedding to fine rarely contorted laminations. Some beds are friable, while others hard and siliceous.[1]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 The BGS Lexicon of Named Rock Units: Hopeman Sandstone Formation
  2. ↑ Walker, AD. 1973. The age of Cuttie's Hillock Sandstone (Perm-Triassic) of the Elgin Area. Scottish Journal of Geology 9:177-183.
  • Various Contributors to the Paleobiology Database. "Fossilworks: Gateway to the Paleobiology Database". Archived from the original on 31 July 2014. Retrieved 8 July 2014.


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