Navesink Formation

Navesink Formation
Stratigraphic range: Maastrichtian
Type	Geological formation
Unit of	Monmouth Group
Underlies	Sandy Hook Formation, New Egypt Formation
Overlies	Mount Laurel Formation
Location
Coordinates	39.8°N 75.2°W / 39.8; -75.2
Approximate paleocoordinates	40.2°N 50.3°W / 40.2; -50.3
Region	New Jersey
Country	United States
Type section
Named for	Navesink, New Jersey

The Navesink Formation is a 66 to 70 mya greensand glauconitic marl and sand geological formation in New Jersey. It is known for its Cretaceous period fossil shell beds and dinosaur bones.[1]

Description

The Navesink Formation, named after Navesink, New Jersey, is typically found above the Mount Laurel Formation and under the Red Bank Formation. There is a 5 mya gap between the Navesink and Mount Laurel Formations.[2] The Navesink varies in depth from 45 feet (14 m) to 65 feet (20 m) across its range from Sandy Hook to Pennsville.[3][4]

The Navesink has the highest radon gas potential of the New Jersey geologic[5] formations.

Sites

There are several locations where the Navesink Formation is visible including Poricy Park in Middletown, New Jersey which has several exposures along Poricy Brook. There is also exposure in Big Brook Park in Marlboro, NJ.

Paleofauna

Dinosaurs

Color key Taxon Reclassified taxon Taxon falsely reported as present Dubious taxon or junior synonym Ichnotaxon Ootaxon Morphotaxon		Notes Uncertain or tentative taxa are in small text; crossed out taxa are discredited.

Genus	Species	Material	Notes	Images
Coelosaurus[6]	C. antiquus	Tibia	An ornithomimid.
Diplotomodon[7]	D. horrificus	Tooth	Indeterminate theropod.
Dryptosaurus[8]	D. aquilunguis		A large eutyrannosaur.
Hadrosaurus[9]	H. foukii	Caudal vertebrae	A hadrosaurid.
"Hadrosaurus"[10]	"H." minor	Partial hindlimb, vertebrae, [and] ribs.	Probably a basal hadrosaurid different from Hadrosaurus.[8]
Nodosauridae[8]	Indeterminate	Vertebra	An indeterminate nodosaurid, possibly a new taxon.
Ornithomimosauria[11]	Indeterminate	End of metatarsal, end of tibia, pedal phalanges	Ornithomimosaur part of "Laelaps" macropus.
"Teihivenator"	Indeterminate	Tibia fragments	Informal genus of tyrannosauroid theropod. Might be a chimera of tyrannosauroid and ornithomimid remains.
Telmatornis	T. priscus		Possibly a charadriform.
Tyrannosauroidea[12]	Indeterminate	Tibia	Tyrannosauroid part of "Laelaps" macropus. A small tyrannosauroid, possibly juvenile, closely related to Bistahieversor.
Tyrannosauroidea[13]	Indeterminate	Pedal phalanx	A large tyrannosauroid possibly the same taxon as "Laelaps" macropus.

References

1. Gallagher, William B. (1997). When dinosaurs roamed New Jersey. Rutgers University Press. pp. 122. ISBN 978-0-8135-2349-1. navesink formation.
2. Hernandez, John C.; Kenneth G. Miller; Mark Feigenson (2000). "87Sr/86Sr dating of Upper Cretaceous (Campanian and Santonian) depositional sequences: Bass River and Ancora, NJ ODP Leg 174 AX". Department of Geological Sciences, Rutgers University. Retrieved 2009-04-21.
3. Bennington, J Bret (October 18, 2003). "Paleontology and Sequence Stratigraphy of the Upper Cretaceous Navesink Formation, New Jersey" (PDF). Retrieved 2009-04-21.
4. "Late Cretaceous Stratigraphic Units of the Coastal Plain". United States Geological Survey. July 22, 2003. Retrieved 2009-04-19.
5. Sugarman, Peter J. (1999). "Radon Potential of New Jersey Coastal Plain Formations" (PDF). Retrieved 2009-04-21.
6. Baird D., and Horner, J., 1979, "Cretaceous dinosaurs of North Carolina", Brimleyana 2: 1–28
7. "Table 5.1," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 114.
8. Brownstein, Chase D. (2018-02-08). "The biogeography and ecology of the Cretaceous non-avian dinosaurs of Appalachia". Palaeontologia Electronica. 21 (1): 1–56. doi:10.26879/801. ISSN 1094-8074.
9. "Table 20.1," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 442.
10. "Table 20.1," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 441.
11. Brownstein, Chase D. (2017-07-24). "Theropod specimens from the Navesink Formation and their implications for the Diversity and Biogeography of Ornithomimosaurs and Tyrannosauroids on Appalachia". doi:10.7287/peerj.preprints.3105v1. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
12. Brownstein, Chase D. (2018-05-01). "A tyrannosauroid tibia from the Navesink Formation of New Jersey and its biogeographic and evolutionary implications for North American tyrannosauroids". Cretaceous Research. 85: 309–318. Bibcode:2018CrRes..85..309B. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2018.01.005. ISSN 0195-6671.
13. Brownstein, Chase (2018). "LARGE BASAL TYRANNOSAUROIDS FROM THE MAASTRICHTIAN AND TERRESTRIAL VERTEBRATE DIVERSITY IN THE SHADOW OF THE K-PG EXTINCTION". The Mosasaur. X.