The McCoy Brook Formation is a geological formation dating to roughly between 200 and 190 million years ago and covering the Hettangian to Sinemurian stages. The McCoy Brook Formation is found in outcrops around the Bay of Fundy, Nova Scotia.[1]
| McCoy Brook Formation | |
|---|---|
| Stratigraphic range: | |
 Breccia in the McCoy Brook Formation (Jurassic), Wasson's Bluff, Nova Scotia. | |
| Type | Geological formation |
| Unit of | Newark Supergroup Meriden Group |
| Sub-units | Scots Bay Member |
| Underlies | Erosional top |
| Overlies | North Mountain Basalt |
| Thickness | more than 230 m (750 ft) |
| Location | |
| Coordinates | 45°24′N 64°12′W / 45.4°N 64.2°W |
| Approximate paleocoordinates | 27°24′N 13°18′W / 27.4°N 13.3°W |
| Region |  Nova Scotia |
| Country |  Canada |
| Extent | Bay of Fundy |
| Type section | |
| Named for | McCoy Brook, Nova Scotia |
  McCoy Brook Formation (Canada)  McCoy Brook Formation (Nova Scotia) | |
Agen edit
The McCoy Brook Formation rests on the North Mountain Basalt, one of the volcanic flows associated with the Triassic–Jurassic boundary in the Newark Supergroup. The base of the McCoy Brook Formation is probably within 100,000 to 200,000 years of the boundary.[2]
Scots Bay Member edit
This thin unit (9 m) of lacustrine sediments is preserved in six small synclinal outcrops around Scots Bay on the west side of the Blomidon Peninsula. Originally named as the Scots Bay Formation, it is now correlated with the lowermost part of the McCoy Brook Formation, where it is referred to as the Scots Bay Member.[3][4] The Scots Bay Member accumulated in an aerobic lake on the floor of the subtropical Fundy Rift Valley, associated with Silica-rich Hydrothermal Springs derived from the CAMP vulcanism, where the biota is composed of algal Stromatolites, Oncolites, Charophyta, Ostracoda, Gastropoda, Conchostraca, fish bones, calcispheres and logs.[5]
Fossil content edit
Sharks edit
Color key
|
Notes Uncertain or tentative taxa are in small text; |
| Sharks | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Species | Location | Stratigraphic position | Material | Notes | |
|
Indeterminate |
Wasson Bluff |
Scots Bay member |
Teeth & Coprolites |
A hybodont shark. Recovered from lacustrine facies |
 | |
Ray-finned fish edit
| Ray-finned fish | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Species | Location | Stratigraphic position | Material | Notes | Images |
|
None designated |
Wasson Bluff |
Scots Bay member |
Scales and skull bones[2] |
Found in lacustrine limestone and lacustrine basalt aggregate |
||
|
aff. Semionotus sp.[2][7] |
None designated |
Wasson Bluff |
Scots Bay member |
Disarticulated remains |
Found in lacustrine limestone, lacustrine basalt aggregate, and lacustrine mudstone |
 |
Synapsids edit
| Synapsids | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Species | Location | Stratigraphic position | Material | Notes | Images |
|
Indeterminate |
Wasson Bluff |
Scots Bay Member |
|
A cynodont | ||
|
Oligokyphus sp. |
Wasson Bluff |
Scots Bay Member |
Fragment of a right Dentary. |
A tritheledontid cynodont, found in the layers of the Scots Bay member. |
 | |
|
cf. P. monus |
Wasson Bluff |
Upper Member |
Excellently preserved fragments of two premaxillae, ten maxillae, and six dentaries |
 | ||
|
Indeterminate |
Wasson Bluff |
Scots Bay Member |
Right humerus |
A tritylodontid cynodont, found in the layers of the Scots Bay member. |
||
Sphenodonts edit
| Sphenodonts | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Species | Location | Stratigraphic position | Material | Notes | Images |
|
C. bairdi[10] |
Wasson Bluff |
Lower McCoy Brook Formation |
Partial skulls and jaws, isolated cranial bones, partial postcranium, postcranial bones |
A sphenodontian of relatively small size,[10] found in fluvio-lacustrine sandstone and mudstone, and basalt agglomerate |
 | |
|
Indeterminate |
Wasson Bluff |
Middle McCoy Brook Formation |
Isolated Remains |
|||
|
Indeterminate |
Wasson Bluff |
Middle McCoy Brook Formation |
Isolated Remains |
|||
Crocodyliforms edit
| Protosuchidae | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Genus | Species | Location | Stratigraphic position | Material | Notes | Images |
| Protosuchus[6][11] |
P. micmac[11] |
Wasson Bluff |
Lower McCoy Brook Formation |
Partial lower jaw, several other skull bones[11] |
Found in fluvio-lacustrine sandstone and mudstone, and basalt agglomerate[2] |
 |
|
Indeterminate |
|
Lower McCoy Brook Formation |
|
Found in fluvio-lacustrine sandstone and mudstone, and basalt agglomerate |
||
Dinosaurs edit
Ornithischia edit
| Ornithischians | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Genus | Species | Location | Stratigraphic position | Material | Notes | |
|
Indeterminate |
Wasson Bluff |
Scots Bay Member |
|
Suggested to be similar to Scutellosaurus and to Leshotosaurus. Represent among the oldest reliable Ornithischian remains of North America. | ||
Theropoda edit
| Ornithischians | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Genus | Species | Location | Stratigraphic position | Material | Notes | |
|
Indeterminate |
Wasson Bluff |
Scots Bay Member |
Teeth |
Theropod dinosaur teeth similar to Megapnosaurus. | ||
Sauropodomorpha edit
| Sauropodomorph dinosaurs | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Genus | Species | Location | Stratigraphic position | Material | Notes | Images |
|
F. eldoni |
Wasson Bluff |
Middle McCoy Brook Formation |
|
Although long assigned to Ammosaurus, the material actually represents a new genus and species; represents the most abundant dinosaur in the formation, and has yield specimens with preserved stomach contents that suggest migration patterns. The possibility that represents more than one genus is open.[6] |
||
Ichnotaxa edit
Color key
|
Notes Uncertain or tentative taxa are in small text; |
| Ichnotaxa | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Genus | Species | Location | Stratigraphic position | Material | Notes | Images |
|
|
Middle McCoy Brook Formation |
Footprints |
Small Theropod Footprints |
||
|
|
Middle McCoy Brook Formation |
Footprints |
Ornithischian Footprints |
||
|
|
Middle McCoy Brook Formation |
Footprints |
Crocodrylomorph Footprints |
||
|
|
Middle McCoy Brook Formation |
Footprints |
Medium-sized Theropod Footprints |
||
|
|
Middle McCoy Brook Formation |
Footprints |
Small Theropod Footprints |
 | |
|
|
Middle McCoy Brook Formation |
Footprints |
Sauropodomorph Footprints |
 | |
See also edit
References edit
- ^ a b Van Drecht, L. (2014). "Sedimentology and Paleoenvironment of an Early Jurassic Dinosaur Bone Bed, Wasson Bluff, Parrsboro, Nova Scotia" (PDF). Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of Bachelor of Sciences, Honours Department of Earth Sciences Dalhousie University, Halifax: 1–80. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Shubin, N. H.; Olsen, P. E.; Sues, H.-D. (1994). "Early Jurassic small tetrapods from the McCoy Brook Formation of Nova Scotia, Canada". In Fraser, N. C.; Sues H. D. (eds.). In the Shadow of the Dinosaurs. Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press. pp. 242–250. ISBN 0-521-45899-4.
- ^ Tanner, L.H. (1996). "Formal definition of the Lower Jurassic McCoy Brook Formation, Fundy Rift Basin, eastern Canada". Atlantic Geology. 32: 127–135. Retrieved 15 December 2012.
- ^ Hassan, H.S. "Sedimentology and Paleontology of the Lower Jurassic Scots Bay Formation, Bay of Fundy, Nova Scotia, Canada" (PDF). MSc thesis. Retrieved 24 November 2012.
- ^ De WET, C. C. B.; Hubert, J. F. (1989). "The Scots Bay formation, Nova Scotia, Canada, a Jurassic carbonate lake with Silica‐rich hydrothermal springs". Sedimentology. 36 (5): 857–873. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Sues, H. D.; Olsen, P. E. (2015). "Stratigraphic and temporal context and faunal diversity of Permian-Jurassic continental tetrapod assemblages from the Fundy rift basin, eastern Canada". Atlantic Geology. 51 (1): 139–205. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Olsen, P. E. (1988). "Paleontology and paleoecology of the Newark Supergroup (early Mesozoic, eastern North America)". Developments in Geotectonics. 22 (1): 185–230. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
- ^ a b c Fedak, Tim; Sues, Hans-Dieter; Olsen, Paul E. (2015). "First record of the tritylodontid cynodont Oligokyphus and cynodont postcranial bones from the McCoy Brook Formation of Nova Scotia, Canada". Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences. 52 (4): 1–7. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
- ^ Shubin, N. H.; Crompton, A. W.; Sues, H.D.; Olsen, P. E. (1991). "New fossil evidence on the sister-group of mammals and early Mesozoic faunal distributions". Science. 251: 1063–1065. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
- ^ a b c Sues, H.-D.; Shubin, N. H.; Olsen, P. E. (1994). "A new sphenodontian (Lepidosauria: Rhynchocephalia) from the McCoy Brook Formation (Lower Jurassic) of Nova Scotia, Canada". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 14 (3): 327–340. doi:10.1080/02724634.1994.10011563.
- ^ a b c Sues, H.-D.; Shubin, N. H.; Olsen, P. E.; Amaral, W. W. (1996). "On the cranial structure of a new protosuchid (Archosauria: Crocodyliformes) from the McCoy Brook Formation (Lower Jurassic) of Nova Scotia, Canada". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 16 (1): 34–41. doi:10.1080/02724634.1996.10011281.
- ^ Fedak, Timothy J. (2007). "Description and evolutionary significance of the sauropodomorph dinosaurs from the early Jurassic (Hettangian) McCoy Brook Formation". Thesis (Ph.D.)--Dalhousie University (Canada) (1–271). Retrieved 11 October 2023.
- ^ a b Olsen, P. E. (1989). "Stop 11.3: Wasson Bluff. Paleontology". Tectonic, Depositional, and Paleoecological History of Early Mesozoic Rift Basins, Eastern North America. 351 (2): 159–161.
- ^ Grantham, R. G. (1986). "Dinosaur tracks and mega-flutes in the Jurassic of Nova Scotia". First International Symposium on Dinosaur Tracks and Traces. 14.