Morrison Formation

Morrison Formation

Morrison Formation, series of sedimentary rocks deposited during the Jurassic Period in western North America, from Montana to New Mexico. The Morrison Formation is famous for its dinosaur fossils, which have been collected for more than a century, beginning with a find near the town of Morrison, Colorado, in 1877. Radiometric dating indicates that the Morrison Formation is between 148 million and 155 million years old. Correlation of fossils indicates that it was deposited during the Kimmeridgian and early Tithonian ages and possibly during the latest Oxfordian Age.

The sediments in the Morrison Formation include multicoloured mudstones, sandstones, and conglomerates, as well as minor amounts of marls, limestone, and claystones. The sediments were derived from western mountains, such as the Sierra Nevada range, that were uplifted during Late Jurassic time. There are also numerous volcanic ash beds within the formation that have been used to date the deposits through radiometric techniques. Some sediments in the lowest portion of the Morrison Formation are marine in origin, but the majority of the sediments were deposited along rivers, streams, lakes, mudflats, swamps, and alluvial plains that covered the western interior of North America during the Late Jurassic.

The nonmarine sediments contain abundant fossils—plants as well as the famous invertebrate and vertebrate animals. Dinosaur National Monument in eastern Utah was established to preserve and exhibit fossils from the Morrison Formation. Many of the dinosaur fossils are found as jumbled accumulations consisting of dozens of partially disarticulated skeletons; these probably resulted from the transportation of dinosaur carcasses along streams and their subsequent burial on sandbars. The dinosaurs are quite diverse and represent a number of different habitats. Mollusks, fishes, insects, crocodiles, turtles, and other fossils suggest that some lakes in the area were freshwater but that saline, alkaline lakes were also present.