Malhada Vermelha Formation

The Malhada Vermelha Formation is an Early Cretaceous (Valanginian to Hauterivian) geologic formation in Ceará, northeastern Brazil. The formation preserves reptile, fish and ichnofossils.

Malhada Vermelha Formation Stratigraphic range: Valanginian-Hauterivian ~138–130 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Type	Geological formation
Unit of	Iguatu Group
Underlies	Lima Campos Formation
Overlies	Quixoá Formation
Thickness	500–800 m (1,600–2,600 ft)
Lithology
Primary	Sandstone
Other	Siltstone
Location
Coordinates	6.3°S 39.1°W
Approximate paleocoordinates	4.5°S 6.2°W
Region	Ceará
Country	Brazil
Extent	Lima Campos & Malhada Vermelha Basins
Malhada Vermelha Formation (Brazil)

Description

The formation is characterized by a cyclic sequence of siltstones that are intercalated with fine to medium sandstones with the presence of festoon cross-stratification and climbing ripples, deposited in an alluvial environment in a hot semiarid paleoclimate.[1]

The formation crops out in two minibasins, the Lima Campos and eponymous Malhada Vermelha Basins. The 500 to 800 metres (1,600 to 2,600 ft) thick formation overlies the Quixoá Formation and is overlain by the Lima Campos Formation.[2]

Fossil content

The following fossils were reported from the formation:[1]

• Fish
  • cf. Lepitodes sp.[3]
  • Hybodontidae indet.[3]
• Reptiles
  • Crocodylomorpha indet.[3]
• Ichnofossils
  • Taenidium barretti[4]
  • Carnosauria indet.[5]

See also

• Crato Formation
• Romualdo Formation
• Missão Velha Formation

References

1. Malhada Vermelha Formation at Fossilworks.org
2. Paula Moreira, 2018, p.106
3. Pinheiro et al., 2013
4. Paula Moreira, 2018, p.107
5. Leonardi, 1989

Bibliography

• Paula Moreira, João Victor; Francisco Danilo Sales Paula; Maria Somália Sales Viana; Arquimedes Pompeu de Paulo Chaves, and Ana Emilia Quezado de Figueiredo. 2018. Taenidium barretti Bradshaw, 1981 na Formação Malhada Vermelha (Cretáceo Inferior), Bacia de Malhada Vermelha, Ceará, Brasil - Taenidium barretti Bradshaw, 1981 in the Malhada Vermelha Formation (Lower Cretaceous), Malhada Vermelha Basin, Ceará, Brazil. Anuário do Instituto de Geociências - UFRJ 41. 104-112. Accessed 2020-06-18.
• Pinheiro, F.; A. E. Q. de Figueiredo; P. C. Dentzien-Dias; D. C. Fortier; C. I. Schultz, and M. S. S. Viana. 2013. Planohybodus marki sp. nov., a new fresh-water hybodontid shark from the Early Cretaceous of northeastern Brazil. Cretaceous Research 41. 210-216.
• Leonardi, G. 1989. Inventory and statistics of the South American dinosaurian ichnofauna and its paleobiological interpretation, 165-178. D. D. Gillette & M. G. Lockley (ed.), Dinosaur Tracks and Traces.