Coordinates: 20°00′S 28°24′E / 20.0°S 28.4°E / -20.0; 28.4

Forest Sandstone

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Forest Sandstone
Stratigraphic range: Hettangian-Sinemurian
~200–190 Ma
File:Dune beds Chewore.jpg
Dune beds in the Forest Sandstone, Chewore Safari Area, Hurungwe District, Zimbabwe
TypeGeological formation
Unit ofKaroo Supergroup
 Upper Karoo Group
UnderliesBatoka Formation
OverliesPebbly Arkose Formation
Lithology
PrimarySandstone
Location
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Approximate paleocoordinatesLua error: callParserFunction: function "#coordinates" was not found.
RegionSouth-central Africa
CountryBotswana
Zambia
Zimbabwe
Type section
Named forForests of Nyamandlovu District, Zimbabwe
Named byA.M. MacGregor, Zimbabwe Geological Survey

The Forest Sandstone is a geological formation in southern Africa, dating to roughly between 200 and 190 million years ago and covering the Hettangian to Sinemurian stages of the Jurassic Period in the Mesozoic Era.[1] As its name suggests, it consists mainly of sandstone.

Fossils of the prosauropod dinosaur Massospondylus and the primitive sauropod Vulcanodon have been recovered from the Forest Sandstone.

Geology

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Description

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The formation is a sedimentary unit, consisting mainly of aeolian sands and silts with interbedded fluvial sediments,[2] laid down during a period of increasing aridity.[3]

Extent

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The Forest Sandstone is found in Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe, in the Mid-Zambezi, Mana Pools, Cabora Bassa and Limpopo Basins,[4][5][6][7] with its greatest thickness in the Cabora Bassa Basin.[8]

Deposition

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Age

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The formation is dated at 200 to 190 Ma.[1]

Stratigraphy

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The Forest Sandstone is the penultimate formation in the Upper Karoo Group of the Karoo Supergroup, lying above the Pebbly Arkose Formation and below the Batoka Formation.[7] In the Thuli Basin it is sometimes referred to as the Samkoto Formation.[9]

The Forest Sandstone has been correlated to the Clarens Formation of the Great Karoo Basin in South Africa.[5][7][8]

Fossil content

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Vertebrate fauna

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Protosuchia
Genus Species Presence Notes Images
  • unknown protosuchid crocodile[10]
 indeterminate Geographically located in Matabeleland North, Zimbabwe.
Sphenodontia of the Forest Sandstone Formation
Genus Species Presence Notes Images
indeterminate Unspecified, Zimbabwe
Sauropodomorphs of the Forest Sandstone Formation
Genus Species Presence Notes Images
  1. M. carinatus[11]
 Geographically located in Matabeleland North, Zimbabwe.[11]
File:Massospondylus BW.jpg
  1. V. karibaensis
 Geographically located in the Bumi Hills area and the Sibilobilo Islands, in Kariba (District), Mashonaland West, Zimbabwe Partial skeleton and scapula
  1. Indeterminate remains[11]
 Geographically located in Matabeleland North, Zimbabwe.[11]
Theropods of the Forest Sandstone Formation
Genus Species Presence Notes Images
  1. M. rhodesiensis[11]
 Geographically located in Nyamandhlovu area, Tsholotsho District, Matabeleland North, Zimbabwe.[11] Note: Referred to as Syntarsus by Weishampel et al.[11]
File:Coelophysis rhodesiensis.JPG

Economic importance

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Hydrogeology

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The Forest Sandstone is the major groundwater-bearing unit of the Upper Karoo Group.[14]

References

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  11. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Weishampel, David B; et al. (2004). "Dinosaur distribution (Early Jurassic, Africa)." In: Weishampel, David B.; Dodson, Peter; and Osmólska, Halszka (eds.): The Dinosauria, 2nd, Berkeley: University of California Press. Pp. 535–536. Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value)..
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