Oxford Clay
Jurassic rock formation in southeast England
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The Oxford Clay (or Oxford Clay Formation) is a Jurassic marine sedimentary rock formation underlying much of southeast England, from as far west as Dorset and as far north as Yorkshire. The Oxford Clay Formation dates to the Jurassic, specifically, the Callovian and Oxfordian ages,[1] and comprises two main facies. The lower facies comprises the Peterborough Member, a fossiliferous organic-rich mudstone. This facies and its rocks are commonly known as lower Oxford Clay. The upper facies comprises the middle Oxford Clay, the Stewartby Member, and the upper Oxford Clay, the Weymouth Member. The upper facies is a fossil poor assemblage of calcareous mudstones.
| Oxford Clay | |
|---|---|
| Stratigraphic range: Middle to Late Jurassic (Callovian-Oxfordian), | |
Coastal exposure of the Oxford Clay Formation near Weymouth | |
| Type | Geological formation |
| Unit of | Ancholme Group |
| Sub-units | Peterborough Member, Stewartby Member, Weymouth Member |
| Underlies | West Walton Formation, Corallian Group |
| Overlies | Kellaways Formation, Osgodby Formation |
| Thickness | Up to 185 metres, typically 50 to 70 m on East Midlands Shelf |
| Lithology | |
| Primary | Claystone |
| Other | Mudstone |
| Location | |
| Region | Oxford, Peterborough, Dorset, Yorkshire |
| Country | England |
| Type section | |
| Named for | Oxford |
Oxford Clay appears at the surface around Oxford, Peterborough and Weymouth and is exposed in many quarries around these areas. The top of the Lower Oxford Clay shows a lithological change, where fissile shale changes to grey mudstone. The Middle and Upper Oxford Clays differ slightly, as they are separated by an argillaceous limestone in the South Midlands.
Palaeontology
The Oxford Clay is well known for its rich fossil record of fish and invertebrates.[2] Many of the fossils are well preserved, occasionally some are found exceptionally well preserved. Animals which lived in the Oxford Clay Sea include plesiosaurs, marine crocodiles, ichthyosaurs, cephalopods (such as belemnites), bivalves (such as Gryphaea), and a variety of gastropods. Dinosaur eggs are stratigraphically present in the Lower Oxford Clay. Geographically, they are located in Cambridgeshire, England.[3]
Fossil Content
Color key
|
Notes Uncertain or tentative taxa are in small text; |
Dinosaurs
Ornithischians
Indeterminate euronithopod remains stratigraphically present in the Lower Oxford Clay and geographically located in Cambridgeshire, England.[3]
| Ornithischians of the Oxford Clay | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Genus | Species | Location | Stratigraphic position | Material | Notes | Images |
|
C. leedsi[3] |
|
Lower[3] |
"Femur."[4] |
An iguanodontian dryosaur. |   | |
|
L. durobivensis[6] |
Lower[6] |
A holotype pelvis. | A stegosaur | |||
|
Indeterminate[8] |
|
|||||
|
L. priscus[3] |
|
Lower[3] |
A stegosaur. | |||
|
S. leedsi[3] |
|
Lower[3] |
"Partial mandible."[10] |
An ankylosaur. | ||
Saurischians
| Saurischians of the Oxford Clay | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Genus | Species | Location | Stratigraphic position | Material | Notes | Images |
|
C. stewarti[3] |
|
Lower[3] |
"Rear half of a skeleton."[11] |
   | ||
|
E. oxoniensis[12] |
|
Upper[12] |
Disarticulated skull and skeleton, with some referred limb elements.[13] |
|||
|
Indeterminate[14] |
The caudal vertebrae from Cambridgeshire were mistakenly considered part of the syntypic series of "Ornithopsis" leedsi by Upchurch and Martin (2003).[15] | |||||
|
Indeterminate[12] |
|
Middle[12] |
||||
| M. parkeri |
|
Upper | ||||
Pterosaurs
Additional indeterminate pterosaur material is stratigraphically present in the Weymouth and Peterborough Members.[16]
| Pterosaurs of the Oxford Clay | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Genus | Species | Location | Stratigraphic position | Material | Notes | Images |
| Rhamphorhynchinae indet.[16] | Stewartby Member[16] | Scapulocoracoid, humerus, ulna | Possibly cf. Rhamphorhynchus[16] | |||
| "Rhamphorhynchus" | "R." jessoni[16] |
|
Weymouth Member[16] | Indeterminate non-monofenestratan pterosaur[16] | ||
Ichthyosaurs
| Genus | Species | Location | Member | Abundance | Notes | Images |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
O. icenicus [17] |
Specimens consist of skulls, limb bones, and partial skeletons |
Plesiosaurs
| Genus | Species | Location | Member | Abundance | Notes | Images |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
C. eurymerus |
       | |||||
|
C. richardsoni |
A cryptoclidid | |||||
| Eardasaurus |
E. powelli |
|||||
|
L. ferox |
||||||
|
L. pachydeirus |
A thalassophonean pliosaurid; probably a junior synonym of L.ferox | |||||
|
M. candrewi |
A pliosaurid | |||||
|
M. leedsi |
A cryptoclidid | |||||
|
P. dawnii |
A pliosaurid | |||||
|
P. philarchus |
A thalassophonean pliosaurid | |||||
|
P. beloclis |
A cryptoclidid | |||||
|
P. andrewsi |
A thalassophonean pliosaurid; represents a new genus distinct from Pliosaurus | |||||
|
S. vorax |
A thalassophonean pliosaurid | |||||
|
T. seeleyi |
A cryptoclidid | |||||
Pachycormiformes
| Genus | Species | Location | Member | Abundance | Notes | Images |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leedsichthys | L. problematicus | Giant filter feeding pachycormiform | ||||
| Martillichthys | M. renwickae | Filter feeding pachyocormiform | ||||
| Paraorthocormus | P. tenuirostris | Carnivorous pachycormiform | ||||
Thalattosuchians
| Genus | Species | Location | Member | Abundance | Notes | Images |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
L. obtusidens |
A teleosauroid belonging to the Machimosauridae |
    | ||||
|
C. leedsi |
A machimosaurid teleosauroid | |||||
|
S. edwardsi |
Now referred to Neosteneosaurus. | |||||
|
S. durobrivensis |
Junior synonym of N. edwardsi. | |||||
|
N. edwardsi |
A machimosaurid teleosauroid | |||||
|
M. leedsi |
A teleosaurid teleosauroid | |||||
|
M. superciliosus |
This species was referred to a new genus, Thalattosuchus.[18] | |||||
|
T. superciliosus |
||||||
|
G. leedsi |
A metriorhynchine metriorhynchid | |||||
|
S. brachyrhynchus |
A geosaurine metriorhynchid | |||||
|
S. durobrivensis |
A geosaurine metriorhynchid | |||||
|
T. lythrodectikos |
A geosaurine metriorhynchid | |||||
Economic use
Oxford Clay has a porous consistency and is soft and is often used in the making of roads. It is also the source of the Fletton stock brick of which much of London is built. For brick making, the Oxford Clay has the advantage of containing carbon which provides part of the fuel required in firing it so reducing the requirement for an external fuel source.
See also
- List of fossil sites (with link directory)
- List of dinosaur-bearing rock formations
- Kimmeridge Clay
- London Clay
- Weald Clay