|
Article |
1 Department of Geology, University of Leicester, Leicester LE1 7RH, UK
2 Department of Geology, National Museums of Scotland, Chambers Street, Edinburgh EH1 1JF, UK
3 English Nature, Northminster House, Peterborough PE1 1UA, UK
4 British Geological Survey, Keyworth, Nottingham NG12 5GG, UK
5 Department of Geological Sciences, University College London WC1E 6BT, UK
The Peterborough Member of the Oxford Clay Formation is organic-rich and contains an abundance of well-preserved vertebrate and invertebrate fossils. A high nutrient input supported a diverse biota. Phytoplankton was exceptionally abundant in the surface water, and formed the basis for an intricate food web in both surface and bottom waters. Top predators include some of the largest known Mesozoic marine reptiles. A giant teleost fish was analogous to modern filter feeding whales and sharks. Benthic faunas depended on organic matter sinking from surface waters, and two parallel food webs may have existed. Trophic partitioning allowed the higher level predators to become diverse, especially the plesiosaurs. Productivity was high in the surface waters, probably high in the mid-water column, and high on the sea floor at times, although benthic diversity may have been reduced due to substrate consistency and/or dysoxia. Bacterial activity within the sediment was also intense. The contribution of organic material to the sea floor was high, but heterotrophic reworking probably reduced the abundance considerably during early diagenesis. A decrease in organic carbon content in the Upper Callovian and Lower Oxfordian parts of the Oxford Clay Formation parallels a decreasing abundance of vertebrate fossils.
This article has been cited by other articles:
 |
|
 |
|
  K. J. Phipps The ammonite succession in the 'Oxford Clay' at South Cave Station Quarry, Yorkshire Proceedings of the Yorkshire Geological Society, 2007; 56: 159 - 176. [Abstract] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 Z. Gasparini and M. Fernandez Jurassic marine reptiles of the Neuquen Basin: records, faunas and their palaeobiogeographic significance Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 2005; 252: 279 - 294. [Abstract] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 J. B. RIDING MIDDLE AND UPPER JURASSIC (CALLOVIAN TO KIMMERIDGIAN) PALYNOLOGY OF THE ONSHORE MORAY FIRTH BASIN, NORTHEAST SCOTLAND Palynology, 2005; 29: 87 - 142. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 F. Kenig, J. D. Hudson, J. S. S. Damste, and B. N. Popp Intermittent euxinia: Reconciliation of a Jurassic black shale with its biofacies Geology, 2004; 32: 421 - 424. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
R. Forrest and N. Oliver Ichthyosaurs and plesiosaurs from the Lower Spilsby Sandstone Member (Upper Jurassic), north Lincolnshire Proceedings of the Yorkshire Geological Society, 2003; 54: 269 - 275. [Abstract] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
J. D. Hudson Advances in the study of 'black shales': source rocks for bricks and hydrocarbons Proceedings of the Yorkshire Geological Society, 2001; 53: 231 - 236. [Abstract] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 A Triassic Upwelling Zone: The Shublik Formation, Arctic Alaska, U.S.A. Journal of Sedimentary Research, 2001; 71: 272 - 285.
|
|
|
|
|
|
G. D. Price Isotopic variation in fossils and matrix of the Cretaceous Red Chalk at Speeton and South Ferriby, Yorkshire, England Proceedings of the Yorkshire Geological Society, 1998; 52: 107 - 112. [Abstract] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 J. B. Riding and J. E. Thomas Marine palynomorphs from the Staffin Bay and Staffin Shale formations (Middle-Upper Jurassic) of the Trotternish Peninsula, NW Skye Scottish Journal of Geology, 1997; 33: 59 - 74. [Abstract] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 A. R. I. CRUICKSHANK, D. M. MARTILL, and L. F. NOE A pliosaur (Reptilia, Sauropterygia) exhibiting pachyostosis from the Middle Jurassic of England Journal of the Geological Society, 1996; 153: 873 - 879. [Abstract] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
J. D. HUDSON and D. M. MARTILL The Peterborough Member (Callovian, Middle Jurassic) of the Oxford Clay Formation at Peterborough, UK Journal of the Geological Society, 1994; 151: 113 - 124. [Abstract] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
S. BELIN and F. KENIG Petrographic analyses of organo-mineral relationships: depositional conditions of the Oxford Clay Formation (Jurassic), UK Journal of the Geological Society, 1994; 151: 153 - 160. [Abstract] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
J. H. S. MACQUAKER A lithofacies study of the Peterborough Member, Oxford Clay Formation (Jurassic), UK: an example of sediment bypass in a mudstone succession Journal of the Geological Society, 1994; 151: 161 - 172. [Abstract] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
M. J. NORRY, A. C. DUNHAM, and J. D. HUDSON Mineralogy and geochemistry of the Peterborough Member, Oxford Clay Formation, Jurassic, UK: element fractionation during mudrock sedimentation Journal of the Geological Society, 1994; 151: 195 - 207. [Abstract] [PDF]
|
|
