La Matilde Formation
Jurassic geological formation
title: "La Matilde Formation" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["geologic-formations-of-argentina", "late-jurassic-south-america", "middle-jurassic-south-america", "jurassic-system-of-south-america", "jurassic-argentina", "bathonian-stage", "kimmeridgian-stage", "shale-formations", "sandstone-formations", "siltstone-formations-of-argentina", "conglomerate-formations-of-argentina", "tuff-formations-of-argentina", "coal-formations", "coal-in-argentina", "aeolian-deposits", "lacustrine-deposits", "ichnofossiliferous-formations", "fossiliferous-stratigraphic-units-of-south-america", "paleontology-in-argentina", "geology-of-patagonia"] description: "Jurassic geological formation" topic_path: "philosophy" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Matilde_Formation" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Jurassic geological formation ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox rockunit"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | La Matilde Formation |
| type | Geological formation |
| period | Kimmeridgian |
| age | Bathonian-Kimmeridgian |
| ~ | |
| prilithology | Claystone, sandstone, siltstone |
| otherlithology | Coal beds, conglomerate, tuff |
| location | Patagonia |
| region | Santa Cruz Province |
| country | Argentina |
| coordinates | |
| paleocoordinates | |
| underlies | San Julián Formation |
| overlies | Chon Aike Formation |
| extent | Austral Basin |
| map | {{Location map+ |
| relief | 1 |
| width | 250 |
| float | center |
| lat_deg | -47.6 |
| lon_deg | -68.1 |
| mark | Cyan pog.svg |
| marksize | 12 |
| :: |
| name = La Matilde Formation | image = | caption = | type = Geological formation | period = Kimmeridgian | age = Bathonian-Kimmeridgian ~ | prilithology = Claystone, sandstone, siltstone | otherlithology = Coal beds, conglomerate, tuff | namedfor = | namedby = | location = Patagonia | region = Santa Cruz Province | country = Argentina | coordinates = | paleocoordinates = | unitof = | subunits = | underlies = San Julián Formation | overlies = Chon Aike Formation | thickness = | extent = Austral Basin | area = | map = {{Location map+ | Argentina | relief = 1 | width = 250 | float = center | places = | lat_deg = -47.6 | lon_deg = -68.1 | mark = Cyan pog.svg | marksize = 12 | map_caption = La Matilde Formation is a Jurassic geological formation in the Austral Basin of Santa Cruz Province, Patagonia, Argentina. It is dated to the Middle to Late Jurassic. From the Bathonian age (164.7 to 167.7 million years ago) to the Kimmeridgian age (150.8 to 155.7 million years ago) at the latest.
The area was once part of the subtropical and temperate regions of the southern supercontinent Gondwana in the Mesozoic era, a more or less continuous landmass consisting of what is now modern South America, Africa, Antarctica, Australia, New Zealand, and New Guinea.
Description
La Matilde consists primarily of sedimentary rocks. It includes claystone, coal beds, conglomerates, siltstones, sandstones, and volcanic tuff. La Matilde overlies but sometimes intersperses with the Middle Jurassic Chon Aike Formation. The two formations are the subunits of the Bahía Laura Group.
Fossil content
La Matilde is known for the abundant fossils recovered from it. Notable fossil localities in the formation include the Cerro Cuadrado Petrified Forest, the Cerro Madre e Hija Petrified Forest, and the remains and trace fossils (including trackways) of dinosaurs in the Laguna Manantiales Farm.
Fossil taxa recovered from the La Matilde Formation include:
;Flora
- Agathoxylon matildense
- Araucaria mirabilis
- Araucarites sanctaecrucis
- Brachyphyllum
- Equisetum thermale
- Pararaucaria patagonica
;Ichnofossils
- Ameghinichnus patagonicus
- Casamiquelichnus navesorum
- Delatorrichnus goyenechei
- Grallator
- Notobatrachus degiustoi
- Sarmientichnus scagliai
- Wildeichnus navesi
References
Bibliography
References
- Channing et al., 2007
- Clarke et al., 2011
- Sequiera & Farrell, 2001
- Iglesias et al., 2011
- (2009). "Darwin's great patagonian tertiary formation at the mouth of the río Santa Cruz: a reappraisal". Revista de la Asociación Geológica Argentina.
- Claudio A. Sylwan. (2001). "Geology of the Golfo San Jorge Basin, Argentina". [[Journal of Iberian Geology]].
- Fernando E. Novas. (2009). "The age of dinosaurs in South America". Indiana University Press.
- IUCN Commission on National Parks and Protected Areas. (1982). "IUCN directory of neotropical protected areas". IUCN.
- (2009). "Paleobotany: the biology and evolution of fossil plants". Academic Press.
- (1978). "On the structure and evolutionary relationships of the Cerro Cuadrado fossil conifer seedlings". Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society.
- (2011). "''Equisetum thermale'' sp. nov. (Equisetales) from the Jurassic San Agustin hot spring deposit, Patagonia: Anatomy, paleoecology, and inferred paleoecophysiology.". American Journal of Botany.
- Leonardi, 1994, p.27
- Leonardi, 1994, p.26
- Leonardi, 1994, p.25
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