Geological formation of the Stormberg Group in southern Africa
Clarens Formation
Stratigraphic range: Pliensbachian-Toarcian ~190–180 Ma
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Brandwag Rock in the Golden Gates Highlands National Park
Type
Geological formation
Unit of
Stormberg Group
Sub-units
Lower Elliot and Upper Elliot
Underlies
Drakensberg Group
Overlies
Elliot Formation
Thickness
up to 300 m (980 ft)
Lithology
Primary
Sandstone, claystone
Other
Mudstone, siltstone
Location
Coordinates
30°30′S27°24′E / 30.5°S 27.4°E / -30.5; 27.4
Approximate paleocoordinates
44°06′S1°54′W / 44.1°S 1.9°W / -44.1; -1.9
Region
Free State, KwaZulu-Natal & Eastern Cape
Country
South Africa Lesotho
Type section
Named for
Clarens, Free State
Clarens Formation (South Africa)
The Clarens Formation is a geological formation found in several localities in Lesotho and in the Free State, KwaZulu-Natal, and Eastern Cape provinces in South Africa. It is the uppermost of the three formations found in the Stormberg Group of the greater Karoo Supergroup rocks and represents the final phase of preserved sedimentation of the Karoo Basin.[1]
^Broom, R. 1948. A contribution to our knowledge of the vertebrates of the Karroo Beds of South Africa. Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, 61, 577–629.
The ClarensFormation is a geological formation found in several localities in Lesotho and in the Free State, KwaZulu-Natal, and Eastern Cape provinces...
Province. There are numerous caves in the easily eroded sandstone of ClarensFormation, the layer below the thick, hard basalt layer on the KwaZulu Natal-Lesotho...
known from fossils found in formations of the Karoo Supergroup, including the Upper Elliot Formation and the ClarensFormation, which date to the Hettangian...
show strong similarities to that of the Morrison Formation in the United States and the Lourinha Formation in Portugal. For example, similar theropods, ornithopods...
palaeontologist Robert Broom discovered a partial skull, possibly in the ClarensFormation of South Africa, which was sold to the American Museum of Natural...
Sandstones are called the ClarensFormation. The oldest dinosaur embryos ever discovered were found in the ClarensFormation in 1978. The eggs were from...
the town. The Elliot Formation unconformably overlies the Molteno Formation and is conformably overlain by the ClarensFormation. Due to the reddish colour...
formations is visible in the park (starting from the bottom): the Molteno Formation, Elliott Formation, ClarensFormation, and Drakensberg Formation....
declivis, is known from the Early Triassic Panchet Formation of the Damodar Valley and the Kamthi Formation of the Pranhita-Godavari Basin in India. Seven...
found in southern Africa, Whitehill Formation, and eastern South America (Melo Formation, Uruguay and Irati Formation, Brazil), two widely separated regions...
protosuchian crocodyliform. Fossils have been found from the lower ClarensFormation of the Karoo Supergroup in South Africa, dating back to the Pliensbachian...
consensus on kimberlites is that they are formed deep within the mantle. Formation occurs at depths between 150 and 450 kilometres (93 and 280 mi), potentially...
extinct sauropodomorph from the Early Jurassic (Sinemurian-aged) ClarensFormation of Eagle's Crag, South Africa. The type species, Hortalotarsus skirtopodus...
Massospondylus remains have been found in the Upper Elliot Formation, the ClarensFormation, and the Bushveld Sandstone of South Africa and Lesotho, as...
animals has been found worldwide in some Late Triassic and Early Jurassic formations. The type species C. bauri, originally given to the genus Coelurus by...
crystallisation of different minerals at different temperatures, resulted in the formation of a structure rather like a layered cake consisting of distinct rock...
was discovered at the "Upper Drumbo Farm" locality in the upper Elliot Formation which is part of the Stormberg Group in Eastern Cape Province, South Africa...
and crocodylomorph Protosuchus. Within the upper Elliot Formation and younger ClarensFormation, sauropodomorphs are the most abundant dinosaur group and...
the supercontinent Gondwana are believed to have been the cause for the formation of the Drakensberg Group. Networks of hyperbyssal (shallow intrusives)...
valley floors while the erosion resistant sandstones (of the Peninsula Formation) form the parallel ranges, the Cape Fold Mountains, which reach a maximum...
the mixture and the formation of a nearly monomineralic layer on the magma chamber floor. The leading theory regarding the formation of the Merensky reef...
recovered from named geologic formations (e.g. the Morrison Formation or the Hell Creek Formation). When this is not the case, a city or landmark near the...
surface. The Witwatersrand Basin is a largely underground geological formation which surfaces in the Witwatersrand. It holds the world's largest known...
Global Information
South Africa
Lesotho
