Maastricht Formation

The Maastricht Formation (Dutch: Formatie van Maastricht; abbreviation: MMa), named after the city of Maastricht, the Netherlands, is a geological formation in the Netherlands and Belgium whose strata date back to the Late Cretaceous, within 500,000 years of the Cretaceous–Paleogene boundary,[1] now dated at 66 million years ago. The formation is part of the Chalk Group and is between 30 and 90 metres (98 and 295 ft) thick. It crops out in southern parts of Dutch and Belgian Limburg and adjacent areas in Germany. It can be found in the subsurface of northern Belgium and southeastern Netherlands, especially in the Campine Basin and Roer Valley Graben. Dinosaur remains are among the fossils that have been recovered from the formation.[2]

Maastricht Formation
Stratigraphic range: Maastrichtian–Danian
Old stone quarry at Kunrade, where the Kunrade Member of the Maastricht Formation crops out
TypeGeological formation
Sub-unitsMeerssen Member, Nekum Member, Emael Member, Schiepersberg Member, Gronsveld Member, Valkenburg Member and Kunrade Member
UnderliesHouthem Formation
OverliesGulpen Formation
Thickness30–90 m (98–295 ft)
Lithology
PrimaryChalk
OtherMarl, flint
Location
RegionEurope
Country Netherlands
 Belgium
Type section
Named forMaastricht
Named byDumont
Year defined1849

Lithology

The Maastricht Formation consists of soft, sandy shallow marine limestone (in Limburg locally called "mergel"), in fact chalk and calcareous arenite. These lithologies locally alternate with thin bands of marl or clay. The lower parts of the formation contain flint concretions. The upper parts can have shellrich layers. Its age is between about 70 and 66 million years, which puts it in the Maastrichtian, a stage that was named after the formation. The top of the formation has been identified as Danian (early Paleocene) in age.[3][4]

The type locality is at the ruins of Lichtenberg castle on the Sint-Pietersberg, Maastricht.

Stratigraphy

The Maastricht Formation was first described by Belgian geologist André Dumont in 1849. The formation is subdivided in seven members, from top to bottom these are the Meerssen Member, Nekum Member, Emael Member, Schiepersberg Member, Gronsveld Member, Valkenburg Member and Kunrade Member. The members are often hard to distinguish.[5]

The Maastricht Formation is overlain by the Paleocene Houthem Formation and was deposited on top of the older Gulpen Formation.

Vertebrate paleofauna

Dinosaurs
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.
Dinosaurs reported from the Maastricht Formation
Genus Species Location Stratigraphic position Material Notes Images
Asteriornis A. maastrichtensis[6] Limb bones and a mostly complete skull A stem-Galloanserae
Betasuchus B. bredai Geographically present in the Dutch province of Limburg. "Femur."[7] An abelisauroid.[2]
Megalosaurus M. bredai Geographically present in the Dutch province of Limburg. Reclassified as Betasuchus bredai.[2]
Orthomerus O. dolloi Geographically present in the Dutch and Belgian provinces of Limburg. A dubious hadrosaurid.[2]
Indeterminate euhadrosaurian remains Geographically present in the Dutch province of Limburg. A hadrosauroid.[2]
"Unnamed ornithurine" Unnamed A basal ornithurine closely related to Ichthyornis.[1][8]
"Unnamed ornithurine" Unnamed An ornithurine.[1][9]
"Unnamed enantiornithine" Unnamed An enantiornithine.[1][9]

Mammals
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.
Mammals reported from the Maastricht Formation
Genus Species Location Stratigraphic position Material Notes Images

Maastrichtidelphys

M. meurismeti

 Geographically present in the Dutch province of Limburg.

"Right upper molar."

A herpetotheriid marsupial.[10]

Mosasaurs
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.
Mosasaurs reported from the Maastricht Formation
Genus Species Location Stratigraphic position Material Notes Images

Carinodens

C. belgicus

C. fraasi

Junior synonym of C. belgicus.

Globidens

G. fraasi

Reclassified as Carinodens fraasi

Liodon

L. sectorius

Mosasaurus

M. hoffmanni

 Holotype

M. lemonnieri

Plioplatecarpus

P. marshi

Testudines
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
  • The dictionary definition of maastricht formation at Wiktionary

References
  1. Longrich, N.R.; Tokaryk, T.; Field, D.J. (2011). "Mass extinction of birds at the Cretaceous–Paleogene (K–Pg) boundary". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 108 (37): 15253–15257. doi:10.1073/pnas.1110395108. PMC 3174646. PMID 21914849.
  2. Weishampel, David B; et al. (2004). "Dinosaur distribution (Late Cretaceous, Europe)." In: Weishampel, David B.; Dodson, Peter; and Osmólska, Halszka (eds.): The Dinosauria, 2nd, Berkeley: University of California Press. Pp. 588-593. ISBN 0-520-24209-2.
  3. Vellekoop, J., Van Tilborgh, K.H., Van Knippenberg, P., Jagt, J.W.M., Stassen, P., Goolaerts, S. and Speijer, R.P. (2020), Type‐Maastrichtian gastropod faunas show rapid ecosystem recovery following the Cretaceous–Palaeogene boundary catastrophe. Palaeontology, 63: 349-367. doi:10.1111/pala.12462
  4. John W.M. Jagt, Werner M. Felder, Rudi W. Dortangs & Jacques Severijns (1996) The Cretaceous/Tertiary boundary in the Maastrichtian type area (SE Netherlands, NE Belgium); a historical account, Geologie en Mijnbouw 75: 107-118
  5. See for example: Stratigraphy of the ENCI quarry, by H. Zevenberg
  6. Field, Daniel J.; Benito, Juan; Chen, Albert; Jagt, John W. M.; Ksepka, Daniel T. (March 2020). "Late Cretaceous neornithine from Europe illuminates the origins of crown birds". Nature. 579 (7799): 397–401. doi:10.1038/s41586-020-2096-0. ISSN 1476-4687. PMID 32188952.
  7. "Table 4.1," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 78.
  8. Dyke, G.J; Dortangs, R.W.; Jagt, J.W.M.; Mulder, E.W.; Schulp, A.S.; Chiappe, L.M. (2002). "Europe's last Mesozoic bird". Naturwissenschaften. 89 (9): 408–411. doi:10.1007/s00114-002-0352-9. PMID 12435093.
  9. Dyke, G.J.; Schulp, A.S.; Jagt, J.W.M. (2008). "Bird remains from the Maastrichtian type area (Late Cretaceous)". Netherlands Journal of Geosciences. 87 (4): 353–358. doi:10.1017/S0016774600023404.
  10. Martin, J.; Case, J.; Jagt, J.W.M.; Schulp, A.S.; Mulder., E. (2005). "A New European Marsupial Indicates a Late Cretaceous High-Latitude Transatlantic Dispersal Route". Journal of Mammalian Evolution. 12 (3): 495–511. doi:10.1007/s10914-005-7330-x.
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