The Turners Falls Formation or Turners Falls Sandstone is an Early Jurassic geological formation in Massachusetts . Various reptile tracks and footprints are known from this strata. These include Antipus flexiloquus quadrupedal reptile[ 1] pterosaur ,[ 2] crocodylomorph .[ 3]
The formation is thought to represent the distal zones of three alluvial fans flowing west into a semiarid rift valley formed by a Mesozoic graben .[ 4] Connecticut River Valley .[ 4]
In addition to trace fossils , the Turners Falls Formation bears some of the most well-preserved specimens of armored mud balls in the world.[ 4] [ 5]
See also
References
^ Coombs, Walter P. (1996). "Redescription of the ichnospecies Antipus flexiloquus Hitchcock, from the Early Jurassic of the Connecticut Valley" . Journal of Paleontology . 70 (2): 327–331. doi :10.1017/S0022336000023416 . ISSN 0022-3360 . S2CID 132779327 . ^ Rainforth, E.C. (2006). "Antipus flexiloquus – the earliest pterosaur tracks from North America?". Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs . 38 (2): 82. ^ Whyte, M. A.; Romano, M. (2014-05-01). "First record of the pterosaur footprint Pteraichnus from the Saltwick Formation (Aalenian) of the Cleveland Basin, Yorkshire, UK" . Proceedings of the Yorkshire Geological Society . 60 (1): 19–27. doi :10.1144/pygs2014-338 . ISSN 0044-0604 . ^ a b c Little, Richard D. (1982). "Lithified Armored Mud Balls of the Lower Jurassic Turners Falls Sandstone, North-Central Massachusetts" . The Journal of Geology . 90 (2): 203–207. doi :10.1086/628665 . ISSN 0022-1376 . JSTOR 30070759 . S2CID 140571464 . ^ Little, R. D. (2020). Exploring Franklin County, Western Massachusetts: Your Guide to Amazing Stories in Rocks & Landscapes . Easthampton, MA: Earth View LLC.
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