Pedra-que-pica: Messinian, Portugal

List of taxa
Where & when
Geology
Taphonomy & methods
Metadata & references
Taxonomic list
Chondrichthyes - Carcharhiniformes - Carcharhinidae
Carcharhinus cf. leucas (Valenciennes 1839)
Chondrichthyes - Lamniformes - Lamnidae
Cosmopolitodus hastalis (Agassiz 1838)
recombined as Carcharodon hastalis
see common names

Geography
Country:Portugal State/province:Azores County:Santa Maria Island
Coordinates: 36.9° North, 25.0° West (view map)
Paleocoordinates:37.0° North, 25.2° West
Basis of coordinate:stated in text
Geographic resolution:outcrop
Time
Period:Neogene Epoch:Miocene
Stage:Messinian 10 m.y. bin:Cenozoic 6
Key time interval:Messinian
Age range of interval:7.24600 - 5.33300 m.y. ago
Age estimate:5.51 ± 0.21 Ma (Sr isotope)
Stratigraphy
Formation:Facho-Pico Alto Complex
Stratigraphy comments: The overall sequence was assigned to Facho-Pico Alto Complex (Serralheiro et al., 1987; Serralheiro,
2003) and the age of the sediments is inferred to be Messinian (Late Miocene) because Kirby et al. (2007) dated three fossil specimens of molluscs (oyster, spondylid, and pectinid) from this deposit, and found an average 87Sr/86Sr composition of 0.709018 ± 0.000008 that represents an average estimated age of 5.51 ± 0.21 Ma. For a better description of these sediments and their fossil assemblage, refer to Kirby et al. (2007) and Habermann (2011).
Lithology and environment
Primary lithology: "siliciclastic"
Lithology description: Pedra-que-pica” outcrop comprises a lens of calcarenitic marine sediments, very fossiliferous, conformably above a spur of basaltic pillowlavas. This erosion-resistant spur acted as a barrier against currents and allowed the deposition of sediments, forming a pocket beach that was preserved by the later deposition of the volcanic sequence above. The overlying volcanic sequence comprises a thick tuffite of reworked surtseyan pyroclasts (originated in the nearby surtseyan cone at Rocha Alta) conformably above the fossiliferous sediments, and followed by a package of submarine and subaerial lavas.
Environment:coastal indet.
Taphonomy
Modes of preservation:body
Size of fossils:macrofossils
Collection methods and comments
Collection excludes:all macrofossils
Reason for describing collection:taxonomic analysis
Collection method comments: All numbered and figured specimens are housed in the palaeontological collections of the Department of Biology of the University of the Azores (DBUA-F).
Metadata
Database number:154210
Authorizer:C. Jaramillo Enterer:C. Pimiento
Created:2014-02-01 19:04:21 Last modified:2014-02-01 19:04:21
Access level:authorizer only Released:2017-02-01 19:04:21
Creative Commons license:CC BY
Reference information

Primary reference:
49965. S. P. Ávila, R. S. Ramalho, and R. Vullo. 2012. Systematics, palaeoecology and palaeobiogeography of the Neogene fossil sharks from the Azores (Northeast Atlantic). Annales de Paléontologie 98:167-189 [M. Uhen/M. Uhen/S. Ávila]