Green Range (Eocene of Australia)

Where: Western Australia, Australia (34.7° S, 118.4° E: paleocoordinates 54.9° S, 104.5° E)

• coordinate based on nearby landmark

• outcrop-level geographic resolution

When: Pallinup Siltstone Member (Werillup Formation), Priabonian (38.0 - 33.9 Ma)

• The Werillup Formation is regarded as late Middle Eocene. This is supported by the presence of the Dasycladcian algae, Larvana and Neomeris (Cockbain 1969) and the foraminifer Asterocylinia(Cockbain 1967). The Pallinup Siltstone is of similar age, again from the presence of the nautiloid Aturia clarkei and foraminifer reported by Backhouse (1969), Cockbain (1968a) and Quilty (1969). The foraminifers correspond with Ludbrook's "Tortachilla microfauna" (Cockbain 1968c).

• group of beds-level stratigraphic resolution

Environment/lithology: offshore; lithified, brown, white, cherty/siliceous siltstone

• Was laid down in a shallow transgressive sea with negligible input of terrigenous material, allowing sponges to thrive. The Pallinup Siltstone formed in a shallow shelf environment with well circulated water of normal marine salinity. They inferred a depth of deposition of 76 m but Pickett (1982) suggested this estimate might be too great. Churchill (1973) and Clarke (1994) inferred a depth of deposition of approximately 150 m. The estimates of depth of deposition by Darragh and Kendrick (1980) are therefore possibly conservative.
• Cockbain (1968c) described the Pallinup Siltstone as typically 'white, brown or red siltstone and spongolite.'

Size class: macrofossils

Reposited in the WAM

Primary reference: R. S. Craig. 2001. The Cenozoic Brachiopoda of the Bremer and Eucla Basins, southwest Western Australia. Records of the Western Australian Museum 20:199-236 [M. Clapham/M. Manojlovic]more details

Purpose of describing collection: taxonomic analysis

PaleoDB collection 152479: authorized by Matthew Clapham, entered by Marko Manojlovic on 22.11.2013, edited by Mark Uhen

Creative Commons license: CC BY (attribution)

Taxonomic list

Rhynchonellata
 Terebratulida - Terebratellidae
Bivalvia
 Cardiida - Cardiidae
"Hedecardium moniletectum" = Hedecardium (Hedecardium) moniletectum
"Hedecardium moniletectum" = Hedecardium (Hedecardium) moniletectum Tate 1887 cockle