Frenchman Formation
Encyclopedia
The Frenchman Formation is a division of Upper Cretaceous rocks found in Saskatchewan
, Canada. More accurately described as Late Maastrichtian
, these rocks contain the youngest of dinosaur genera, much like the Hell Creek Formation
in the United States.
The formation was defined by G.M. Furnival in 1942 from observations of outcrops along the Frenchman River
in Saskatchewan
, between Ravenscrag and Highway 37
.
with interbedded claystone
bands and occasional layers of intraformational clay clast conglomerate
. A conglomerate layer with quartzite
pebbles can occur above the basal unconformity
.
Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan is a prairie province in Canada, which has an area of . Saskatchewan is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dakota....
, Canada. More accurately described as Late Maastrichtian
Maastrichtian
The Maastrichtian is, in the ICS' geologic timescale, the latest age or upper stage of the Late Cretaceous epoch or Upper Cretaceous series, the Cretaceous period or system, and of the Mesozoic era or erathem. It spanned from 70.6 ± 0.6 Ma to 65.5 ± 0.3 Ma...
, these rocks contain the youngest of dinosaur genera, much like the Hell Creek Formation
Hell Creek Formation
The Hell Creek Formation is an intensely-studied division of Upper Cretaceous to lower Paleocene rocks in North America, named for exposures studied along Hell Creek, near Jordan, Montana...
in the United States.
The formation was defined by G.M. Furnival in 1942 from observations of outcrops along the Frenchman River
Frenchman River
Frenchman River, or Frenchman Creek, is a river in Saskatchewan, Canada and Montana, United States. It is a tributary of the Milk River, itself a tributary of the Missouri.The river is approximately long....
in Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan is a prairie province in Canada, which has an area of . Saskatchewan is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dakota....
, between Ravenscrag and Highway 37
Saskatchewan Highway 37
Highway 37 is a highway in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It runs from Montana Secondary Highway 241 at the US border near Port of Climax to Highway 32 near Cabri. Highway 37 is about 188 km long. This north south route connects with the horseshoe tourism route at Shunavon...
.
Lithology
The Frenchman Formation consists of olive-green to brown cross bedded sandstoneSandstone
Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...
with interbedded claystone
Claystone
Claystone is a geological term used to describe a clastic sedimentary rock that is composed primarily of clay-sized particles ....
bands and occasional layers of intraformational clay clast conglomerate
Conglomerate (geology)
A conglomerate is a rock consisting of individual clasts within a finer-grained matrix that have become cemented together. Conglomerates are sedimentary rocks consisting of rounded fragments and are thus differentiated from breccias, which consist of angular clasts...
. A conglomerate layer with quartzite
Quartzite
Quartzite is a hard metamorphic rock which was originally sandstone. Sandstone is converted into quartzite through heating and pressure usually related to tectonic compression within orogenic belts. Pure quartzite is usually white to gray, though quartzites often occur in various shades of pink...
pebbles can occur above the basal unconformity
Unconformity
An unconformity is a buried erosion surface separating two rock masses or strata of different ages, indicating that sediment deposition was not continuous. In general, the older layer was exposed to erosion for an interval of time before deposition of the younger, but the term is used to describe...
.
Fauna
Dinosaur Dinosaur Dinosaurs are a diverse group of animals of the clade and superorder Dinosauria. They were the dominant terrestrial vertebrates for over 160 million years, from the late Triassic period until the end of the Cretaceous , when the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event led to the extinction of... s reported from the Frenchman Formation |
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Genus | Species | Location | Stratigraphic position | Material | Notes | Images |
Ankylosaurus Ankylosaurus Ankylosaurus is a genus of ankylosaurid dinosaur, containing one species, A. magniventris... or something similar. |
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Dromaeosaurus Dromaeosaurus Dromaeosaurus was a genus of theropod dinosaur which lived during the Late Cretaceous period , sometime between 76.5 and 74.8 million years ago, in the western United States and Alberta, Canada. The name means 'running lizard'.... |
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Edmontosaurus Edmontosaurus Edmontosaurus is a genus of crestless hadrosaurid dinosaur. It contains two species: Edmontosaurus regalis and Edmontosaurus annectens. Fossils of E. regalis have been found in rocks of western North America that date from the late Campanian stage of the Cretaceous Period 73 million years ago,... |
E. annectens |
"Complete skull, [three or four] partial skulls." |
A hadrosaurid Hadrosaurid Hadrosaurids or duck-billed dinosaurs are members of the family Hadrosauridae, and include ornithopods such as Edmontosaurus and Parasaurolophus. They were common herbivores in the Upper Cretaceous Period of what are now Asia, Europe and North America. They are descendants of the Upper... |
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E. saskatchewanensis |
Junior synonym of E. annectens |
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Thescelosaurus Thescelosaurus Thescelosaurus was a genus of small ornithopod dinosaur that appeared at the very end of the Late Cretaceous period in North America. It was a member of the last dinosaurian fauna before the Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction event around 65.5 million years ago... |
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Torosaurus Torosaurus Torosaurus is a genus of ceratopsid dinosaur that lived during the late Cretaceous period , between 70 and 65 million years ago. It possessed one of the largest skulls of any known land animal. The frilled skull reached in length... |
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Triceratops Triceratops Triceratops is a genus of herbivorous ceratopsid dinosaur which lived during the late Maastrichtian stage of the Late Cretaceous Period, around 68 to 65 million years ago in what is now North America. It was one of the last dinosaur genera to appear before the great Cretaceous–Paleogene... |
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Troodon Troodon Troodon is a genus of relatively small, bird-like dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous period . Discovered in 1855, it was among the first dinosaurs found in North America... |
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Tyrannosaurus Tyrannosaurus Tyrannosaurus meaning "tyrant," and sauros meaning "lizard") is a genus of coelurosaurian theropod dinosaur. The species Tyrannosaurus rex , commonly abbreviated to T. rex, is a fixture in popular culture. It lived throughout what is now western North America, with a much wider range than other... |
Tyrannosaurus rex |
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