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Griman Creek Formation

Geological formation in Australia

Summary

Geological formation in Australia

Field	Value
name	Griman Creek Formation
type	Geological formation
period	Cenomanian
age	late Albian-early-mid Cenomanian
~
prilithology	Sandstone, siltstone, mudstone
otherlithology	Conglomerate, coal
namedfor	Griman Creek
namedby	Reiser
year_ts	1970
region	Queensland
New South Wales
country	Australia
coordinates
paleocoordinates
unitof	Rolling Downs Group
subunits	Coocoran Claystone & Wallangulla Sandstone Members
underlies	Unconformity with Oligo-Miocene Cumborah Gravel
overlies	Surat Siltstone, Wallumbilla Formation
thickness	Up to 345 m
extent	Surat Basin
map	{{Location map+	Australia
relief	1
width	250
float	center
lat_deg	-29.4
lon_deg	147.7
mark	Green pog.svg
marksize	12

~ New South Wales

The Griman Creek Formation is a geological formation in northern New South Wales and southern Queensland, Australia whose strata date back to the Albian-Cenomanian stages of the mid-Cretaceous. It is most notable being a major source of opal, found near the town of Lightning Ridge, New South Wales. Alongside the opal opalised fossils are also found, including those of dinosaurs and primitive monotremes.

Description

As a whole, the formation primarily consists of thinly bedded medium to fine sandstone, siltstone and mudstone, with sporadic coal seams. In the vicinity of Lightning Ridge, it is divided up into two informal members the underlying Wallangulla Sandstone Member which primarily consists of red fine grained sandstone, light siltstone and grey claystone and is up to 30 m thick while the overlying Coocoran Claystone consists of about 10 metres of claystone. The contact between the two units is sudden and unconformable. Discontinuous clay lens beds within the Wallangulla Sandstone Member near Lightning Ridge, referred to as the Finch Clay Facies, are one of Australia's primary sources of commercial precious opal, with many mines dug in the area. These deposits are also the primary source of fossils within the formation, a large proportion of which are preserved as semi-precious opalized pseudomorphs. The fauna found in lightning ridge indicates that the depositional environment of the Finch Clay Facies was in near-coastal freshwater lagoons.

Background

[[GPlates]] reconstruction for 100 Ma ([[Albian]]-[[Cenomanian]] and Early and Late Cretaceous boundary)]]

Fossil content

Indeterminate avialan, euornithopod, and sauropod remains that were once misidentified as brachiosaurid are present in New South Wales, Australia. Euornithopod tracks are also present in New South Wales.

Dipnoi

Dipnoi of the Griman Creek Formation	Taxa	Species	Presence	Material	Notes	Images
Q104114935	author-last=Kemp	author-first=A.	author-link=Anne Kemp}}	C. diutinus		Isolated tooth plates
Metaceratodus	M. wollastoni		Isolated tooth plates
last1=Kemp	first1=Anne	last2=Berrell	first2=Rodney	title=A New Species of Fossil Lungfish (Osteichthyes: Dipnoi) from the Cretaceous of Australia	journal=Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology	date=3 May 2020	volume=40	issue=3	article-number=e1822369	doi=10.1080/02724634.2020.1822369	bibcode=2020JVPal..40E2369K }}	N. potkooroki	Isolated tooth plates

Actinopterygii

Actinopterygians of the Griman Creek Formation	Taxa	Species	Presence	Material	Notes	Images
Calamopleurus?	sp.		Isolated jaw bones

Mammals

Monotremes

Mammals	Genus	Species	Presence	Materials	Notes	Images
last1=Flannery	first1=Timothy F.	last2=McCurry	first2=Matthew R.	last3=Rich	first3=Thomas H.	last4=Vickers-Rich	first4=Patricia	last5=Smith	first5=Elizabeth T.	last6=Helgen	first6=Kristofer M.	date=2024-04-02	title=A diverse assemblage of monotremes (Monotremata) from the Cenomanian Lightning Ridge fauna of New South Wales, Australia	journal=Alcheringa: An Australasian Journal of Palaeontology	volume=48	issue=2	pages=319–337	doi=10.1080/03115518.2024.2348753	bibcode=2024Alch...48..319F	issn=0311-5518	doi-access=free }}	D. aurora	A partial left mandibular ramus.	A monotreme.
Kollikodon	K. ritchiei		An opalised dentary fragment, with one premolar and two molars in situ, as well as a referred maxillary fragment containing the last premolar and all four molars	A monotreme.
Opalios	O. splendens		A fragmentary left dentary.	A monotreme.
Parvopalus	P. clytiei		A partial left dentary.	A monotreme.
Steropodon	S. galmani			A monotreme	[[File:Steropodon BW.jpg	center	150px]]
Stirtodon	S. elizabethae		A large isolated premolars.	A monotreme

Crocodyliformes

Crocodyliformes	Genus	Species	Presence	Materials	Notes	Images
Isisfordia	I. molnari	Lightning Ridge	Braincase and referred maxillary fragment	A crocodyliform.	[[File:Isisfordia.jpg	center	150px]]

Dinosaurs

Indeterminate ornithopods and iguanodontians are known from the formation. Indeterminate avetheropods and megaraptorans are known from the formation. Two species of titanosauriforms and one species of titanosaur are known from teeth.

Dinosaurs	Genus	Species	Presence	Notes	Images
Fostoria	F. dhimbangunmal	New South Wales	A member of Rhabdodontomorpha.
Fulgurotherium	F. australe	New South Wales
Rapator	R. ornitholestoides	New South Wales	A megaraptoran; "Manual element"	[[File:Rapator.png	center	frameless]]
Walgettosuchus	W. woodwardi	New South Wales	"Vertebra"
Later determined to be an indeterminate theropod	[[File:Walgettosuchus.png	center	frameless]]
Weewarrasaurus	W. pobeni	New South Wales	An ornithopod known from an isolated dentary
Ankylosauria	Indeterminate		Osteoderm
last1=Bell	first1=P. R.	last2=Herne	first2=M. C.	last3=Birch	first3=S. A.	last4=Molnar	first4=R. E.	last5=Smith	first5=E. T.	title=Articulated hindlimb of a small-bodied ornithopod dinosaur from the Cenomanian Griman Creek Formation of New South Wales, Australia	date=2025-08-10	journal=Alcheringa: An Australasian Journal of Palaeontology	pages=1–16	doi=10.1080/03115518.2025.2537025	doi-access=free }}	Indeterminate	New South Wales	An articulated hindlimb comprising the femur, tibia, astragalus
Enantiornithes	Indeterminate		Partial femora
Megaraptora ("Lightning Claw")	Indeterminate	New South Wales	Partial skeleton including parts of the lower arm, claws, lower leg, part of the hip, and pieces of ribs.
Noasauridae	Indeterminate		Cervical vertebra
Sauropoda	Indeterminate		last1=Frauenfelder	first1=Timothy G.	last2=Campione	first2=Nicolás E.	last3=Smith	first3=Elizabeth T.	last4=Bell	first4=Phil R.	date=29 October 2020	title=Diversity and palaeoecology of Australia's southern-most sauropods, Griman Creek Formation (Cenomanian), New South Wales, Australia	url=https://www.scup.com/doi/full/10.1111/let.12407	journal=Lethaia	language=en	volume=54	issue=3	pages=354–367	doi=10.1111/let.12407	bibcode=2021Letha..54..354F	issn=0024-1164	access-date=20 September 2025	via=Scandinavian University Press	url-access=subscription }}

Pterosaurs

Pterosaurs	Genus	Species	Presence	Notes	Images
Anhangueria	Indeterminate		"two isolated tooth crowns", possible limb elements

Testudines

Turtles	Genus	Species	Presence	Notes	Images
Spoochelys	S. ormondea		Smith	Kear	2013}}
Chelidae	Indeterminate

References

Bibliography

References

{{Cite Q. Q104114935
(3 May 2020). "A New Species of Fossil Lungfish (Osteichthyes: Dipnoi) from the Cretaceous of Australia". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.
(2024-04-02). "A diverse assemblage of monotremes (Monotremata) from the Cenomanian Lightning Ridge fauna of New South Wales, Australia". Alcheringa: An Australasian Journal of Palaeontology.
"Table 4.1," in {{harvnb. Weishampel. Dodson. Osmólska. 2004
"Table 4.1," in {{harvnb. Weishampel. Dodson. Osmólska. 2004
(2025-08-10). "Articulated hindlimb of a small-bodied ornithopod dinosaur from the Cenomanian Griman Creek Formation of New South Wales, Australia". Alcheringa: An Australasian Journal of Palaeontology.
(29 October 2020). "Diversity and palaeoecology of Australia's southern-most sauropods, Griman Creek Formation (Cenomanian), New South Wales, Australia". [[Lethaia]].
[https://paleobiodb.org/classic/displayCollResults?collection_no=133649 T-Bone Extension, Coocoran Opal Fields] at [[Fossilworks]].org
(September 2010). "Early Cretaceous chelids from Lightning Ridge, New South Wales". [[Alcheringa: An Australasian Journal of Palaeontology]].

Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

cretaceous-system-of-australia early-cretaceous-australia cenomanian-stage sandstone-formations siltstone-formations mudstone-formations fluvial-deposits ichnofossiliferous-formations fossiliferous-stratigraphic-units-of-oceania paleontology-in-new-south-wales paleontology-in-queensland geology-of-new-south-wales geology-of-queensland

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