Gosau Group

The Gosau Group (German: Gosau-Gruppe) is a geological stratigraphic group in Austria, Germany and western Slovakia whose strata date back to the Late Cretaceous to Eocene.[1][2] It is exposed in numerous sporadic isolated basins within the Northern Calcareous Alps. It is divided into two subgroups, the Lower Gosau Subgroup which dates from the Turonian to Campanian, approximately 90 to 75 Ma and the Upper Gosau Subgroup which dates to the Santonian to Eocene, about 83.5 to 50 Ma. The formations within each subunit vary significantly between basins. The sequence is largely marine, but the Grünbach Formation represents a terrestrial deposit. Many of the units of the group are fossiliferous, typically providing marine fossils such as ammonites, though terrestrial remains including those of dinosaurs are known from the Grünbach Formation and Schönleiten Formation.

Gosau Group
Stratigraphic range: Late Cretaceous-Eocene
~90–50 Ma
Rocks of the Gosau Group exposed in the Imster Muttekopf
Typestratigraphic group
Sub-units
  • Eastern realm:
    Upper Gosau Subgroup - Piesting & Zweiersdorf Formations
    Lower Gosau Subgroup - Kreuzgraben, Maiersdorf & Grünbach Formations
  • Western realm:
    Upper Gosau Subgroup - Ressen, Nierental & Zwieselalm Formations
    Lower Gosau Subgroup - Kreuzgraben, Schönleiten, Streiteck, Noth, Grabenbach, Hochmoos & Bibereck Formations
OverliesUnconformity with folded and faulted Permian to Lower Cretaceous rocks
Thickness2,200–2,600 m (7,200–8,500 ft)
Location
Coordinates47.6°N 13.5°E / 47.6; 13.5
Approximate paleocoordinates32.1°N 15.6°E / 32.1; 15.6
RegionCentral Europe
Country Austria
 Germany
 Slovakia
ExtentGosau Basin, Limestone Alps
Gosau Group (Austria)

Fossil content

Among others, the following fossils have been described from the Gosau Group:[3][4]

Dinosaurs
GenusSpeciesPresenceNotesImages
Struthiosaurus S. austriacus Niederösterreich, Austria [5]
Mochlodon M. suessi A rhabdodontid iguanodont[5]
Rhadinosaurus R. alcinus Possible indeterminate ankylosaur remains[5]
"Crataeomus" C. lepidophorus Later found to be synonymous with Struthiosaurus austriacus[5]
C. pawlowitschii Later found to be synonymous with Struthiosaurus austriacus in partim[5]
"Danubiosaurus" D. anceps Later found to be indeterminate ankylosaurian and Struthiosaurus austriacus remains in partim[5]
"Indeterminate fragments"[6]
"Hoplosaurus" H. ischyrus Later found to be synonymous with Struthiosaurus austriacus[5]
"Leipsanosaurus" L. noricus Later found to be synonymous with Struthiosaurus austriacus[5]
"Pleuropeltus" P. suessi Later found to be synonymous with Struthiosaurus austriacus in partim[5]
"Megalosaurus" M. pannoniensis Later found to be indeterminate theropod remains[5]
Ornithocheiridae indet. [7][8]
Mollusca
GenusSpeciesPresenceNotesImages
"Trochactaeon" T. conicus' Nördliche Kalkalpen, Niederösterreich, Austria Very common fossil, rock forming
Color key
Taxon Reclassified taxon Taxon falsely reported as present Dubious taxon or junior synonym Ichnotaxon Ootaxon Morphotaxon
Notes
Uncertain or tentative taxa are in small text; crossed out taxa are discredited.

See also

  • List of dinosaur-bearing rock formations

References

  1. Höfling, 1985
  2. McCann, 2008
  3. Gosau Group at Fossilworks.org
  4. Lower Gosau Group at Fossilworks.org
  5. Weishampel, 2004, pp. 588-593
  6. "Table 17.1," in Weishampel et al., 2004, p.367
  7. Zitteliana
  8. Agnolin & Varricchio, 2012

Bibliography

  • Agnolin, Federico L., and David Varricchio. 2012. Systematic reinterpretation of Piksi barbarulna Varricchio, 2002 from the Two Medicine Formation (Upper Cretaceous) of Western USA (Montana) as a pterosaur rather than a bird. Geodiversitas 34. 883–894. Accessed 2013-01-15. doi:10.5252/g2012n4a10
  • Höfling, R. 1985. Faziesverteilung und Fossilvergesellschaftungen im karbonatischen Flachwasser-Milieu der alpinen Oberkreide (Gosau-Formation). Münchner Geowissenschaftliche Abhandlungen Reihe A: Geologie und Paläontologie 3. 1–241.
  • McCann, T. 2008. The Geology of Central Europe- Volume 2 Mesozoic and Cenozoic, 1–752. Geological Society of London. ISBN 978-1862392656
  • Weishampel, David B.; Peter Dodson, and Halszka Osmólska (eds.). 2004. The Dinosauria, 2nd edition, 1–880. Berkeley: University of California Press. Accessed 2019-02-21. ISBN 0-520-24209-2

Further reading

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