ash near westwater, UT (Cretaceous to of the United States)

Where: Utah (39.0° N, 109.0° W: paleocoordinates 39.8° N, 71.1° W)

• coordinate estimated from map

When: Naturita Formation, Middle Cenomanian to Middle Cenomanian (99.6 - 93.5 Ma)

• formation-level stratigraphic resolution

Environment/lithology: wet floodplain; ash

• The plants from the Dakota Sandstone Formation near Westwater are preserved in a light tan ash layer from five to ten inches in thickness. This layer was deposited directly upon a coal seam and is overlain by another. These plants are extremely well preserved with many of the leaf compressions illustrating cuticle, vascular tissue, and reproductive structures. In addition, many of these fossils are disposed in the strata in such a manner as to indicate that

•the plants were preserved in growth position, suggesting that deposition of the ash was rapid. The ash layer is uniform in color and composition throughout, with the exception of a one- to two-inch portion directly beneath the

•upper coal seam.

Size class: macrofossils

Preservation: adpression

Collection methods: " This flora was collected from an ash seam... in the Dakota Sandstone Formation.. along the road and surrounding areas between U.S. Highway 50 and Westwater, Grand County, Utah."

Primary reference: S. R. Rushforth. 1971. A flora from the Dakota Sandstone Formation (Cenomanian) near Westwater, Grand County, Utah. Brigham Young University Science Bulletin 14(3):1-44 [S. Wing/N. Jud]more details

Purpose of describing collection: paleoecologic analysis

PaleoDB collection 103148: authorized by Scott Wing, entered by Nathan Jud on 23.01.2011

Creative Commons license: CC BY (attribution)

Taxonomic list

Show authors, comments, and common names
unclassified
  -
Hausmania rigida
Polypodiopsida
  -
Cladophlebis parva, Cladophlebis constricta
Cladophlebis parva Fontaine 1889
Cladophlebis constricta Fontaine 1889
 Gleicheniales - Polypodiidae
Matonidium brownii, Matonidium lancipinnulum
 Cyatheales - Polypodiidae
Coniopteris hymenophylloides
Coniopteris hymenophylloides Brongniart 1828 scaly tree fern
 Schizaeales - Polypodiidae
Anemia dicksoniana, Anemia dakotensis
  - Gleicheniaceae
Gleichenia comptoniaefolia, Gleichenia delicatula
 Equisetales - Equisetidae
Equisetum burchardtii
  - Polypodiaceae
Astralopteris coloradica
Angiospermae
 Magnoliales - Magnoliaceae
Magnolia boulayana
Magnolia boulayana Lesquereux 1892 magnolia
 Malpighiales - Salicaceae
Salix newberryana
Salix newberryana Hollick 1895 willow
 Rosids - Moraceae
Ficus daphnogenoides
Ficus daphnogenoides Heer 1866 fig
Dicotyledoneae
 Myrtales - Myrtaceae
Eucalyptus dakotensis
Eucalyptus dakotensis Lesquereux 1891 eucalyptus
Angiospermae
 Aquifoliales - Aquifoliaceae
Ilex serrata