Oxford Clay

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Oxford Clay

Oxford Clay is a Jurassic

Jurassic

The Jurassic is a geologic period that extends from about annum to Ma, that is, from the end of the Triassic to the beginning of the Cretaceous....
marine sedimentary rock

Sedimentary rock

Sedimentary rock is one of the three main Rock types . Sedimentary rock is formed by deposition and consolidation of mineral and organic material and from precipitation of minerals from solution....
underlying much of South East England

England

Dorset

Dorset , is a Counties of England in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town is Dorchester, Dorset, situated in the south of the county at ....
and as far north as Yorkshire

Yorkshire

Yorkshire is a Historic counties of England of northern England and the largest in Great Britain. Because of its great size, over time functions were increasingly undertaken by its subdivisions, which have been subject to History of local government in Yorkshire....
. The Oxford Clay is argillaceous

Argillaceous minerals

Argillaceous minerals appear silvery upon optical reflection and are minerals containing substantial amounts of clay-like components . Argillaceous components are fine-grained aluminosilicates, and more particularly clay minerals such as kaolinite, montmorillonite-smectite, illite, and Chlorite group....
(consists of clay) and is of Callovian

Callovian

The Callovian is a stage on the geologic time scale occurring 164.7 ? 4.0 annum to 161.2 ? 4.0 Ma .It is the last stage of the Middle Jurassic....
to lower Oxfordian

Oxfordian stage

The Oxfordian stage is the first faunal stage of the Late Jurassic epoch . It spans the time between 161.2 ? 4 annum and 155.7 ? 4 Ma .The stage takes its name from the city of Oxford in England....
age.

Oxford Clay appears at the surface around Oxford

Oxford

Oxford is a City status in the United Kingdom, and the county town of Oxfordshire, in South East England. It has a population of 151,000. The rivers River Cherwell and River Thames run through Oxford and meet south of the city centre....
, Peterborough

Peterborough

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Encyclopedia

Oxford Clay is a Jurassic

Jurassic

The Jurassic is a geologic period that extends from about annum to Ma, that is, from the end of the Triassic to the beginning of the Cretaceous....
marine sedimentary rock

Sedimentary rock

England

Dorset

Yorkshire

Argillaceous minerals

Callovian

The Callovian is a stage on the geologic time scale occurring 164.7 ? 4.0 annum to 161.2 ? 4.0 Ma .It is the last stage of the Middle Jurassic....
to lower Oxfordian

Oxfordian stage

Oxford

Peterborough

Peterborough is a cathedral city and unitary authority area in the East of England, with an estimated population of as of June 2006. For ceremonial counties of England purposes it is in the Counties of England of Cambridgeshire....
and Weymouth and is exposed in many quarries around these areas. The top of the Lower Oxford Clay shows a lithological change, where fissile shale changes to grey mudstone. The Middle and Upper Oxford Clays differ slightly, as they are separated by an argillaceous limestone in the South Midlands.

The Callovo-Oxfordian Clay also occurs in the Paris basin

Paris Basin

*As a modern administrative r?gion of France, it is known as the ?le-de-France *As the territory at the political centre of the Kingdom of France, it is known as the ?le-de-France ...
(France) and it is a potential host formation to dispose high-level radioactive waste in France.

Palaeontology

The Oxford Clay is well known for its rich fossil

Fossil

Fossils are the preserved remains or trace fossil of animals, plants, and other organisms from the remote past. The totality of fossils, both discovered and undiscovered, and their placement in fossiliferous Rock formations and sedimentary rock layers is known as the fossil record....
record of fish

Fish

A fish is any marine biology vertebrate animal that is typically ectothermic , covered with scale , and equipped with two sets of paired fins and several unpaired fins....
and invertebrates. Many of the fossils are well preserved, occasionally some are found exceptionally well preserved. Animals which lived in the Oxford Clay Sea include ichthyosaurs, cephalopods (such as belemnites), bivalves (such as Gryphaea
Gryphaea

Gryphaea, common name Devil's toenails, is a genus of extinct oysters, Marine bivalve mollusks in the family Gryphaeidae.These fossils range from the Jurassic to the Cretaceous periods....
), and a variety of gastropods.

Dinosaur Dinosaur Dinosaurs were the dominant vertebrate animals of Landform ecosystems for over 160 million years, from the late Triassic Period until the end of the Cretaceous Period , when most of them became extinct in the Cretaceous?Tertiary extinction event.... incertae cedis of the Oxford Clay
Taxa	Presence	Description	Images
Superorder: Dinosauria Eggs.	Stratigraphically present in the Lower Oxford Clay. Geographically located in Cambridgeshire, England.

Ornithischians

Ornithischians of the Oxford Clay
Taxa	Presence	Description	Images
Genus: Euornithopoda Indeterminate remains.	Stratigraphically present in the Lower Oxford Clay. Geographically located in Cambridgeshire, England.
Genus: Iguanodontia Possible indeterminate remains.	Stratigraphically present in the Lower Oxford Clay. Geographically located in Cambridgeshire, England.	"(=Camptosaurus Camptosaurus *Camptosaurus* is a genus of plant-eating, beaked dinosaurs of the Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous Period . The name means 'bent lizard', because, when standing on all fours, its body must have been arched .... leedsi)"
Genus: Lexovisaurus Lexovisaurus *Lexovisaurus* was one of the first dinosaurs from mid-to-Late Jurassic Europe, 165 mya to be discovered. It was a stegosaur. Its fossils have been found in France and northern England.... L. durobrivensis	Stratigraphically present in the Lower Oxford Clay. Geographically located in Dorset and Cambridgeshire, England.	For the Cambridgeshire remains: "(=Stegosaurus Stegosaurus *Stegosaurus* is a genus of Stegosauria Thyreophora dinosaur from the Late Jurassic Period in what is now western North America. In 2006, a specimen of Stegosaurus was announced from Portugal, showing that they were present in Europe as well.... priscus, Omosaurus leedsi partim)"
Genus: Sarcolestes Sarcolestes *Sarcolestes* is a genus of early ankylosaurian dinosaur from Middle Jurassic England, around 160 million years ago. The type species, Sarcolestes leedsi, was described by Richard Lydekker in 1893, but is based on very fragmentary material, including jaw bones and teeth.... S. leedsi	Stratigraphically present in the Lower Oxford Clay. Geographically located in Cambridgeshire, England.
Infraorder: Stegosauria Stegosauria Known colloquially as stegosaurs, the Stegosauria are a group of Herbivore dinosaurs of the Jurassic and Early Cretaceous Period , being found mostly in the Northern Hemisphere, predominantly in what is now North America and China.... Indeterminate remains.	Geographically located in Bedfordshire, England.	"(=?Lexovisaurus Lexovisaurus *Lexovisaurus* was one of the first dinosaurs from mid-to-Late Jurassic Europe, 165 mya to be discovered. It was a stegosaur. Its fossils have been found in France and northern England.... sp.)"

Sauropods

Sauropods of the Oxford Clay
Taxa	Presence	Description	Images
Genus: Cetiosauriscus Cetiosauriscus *Cetiosauriscus* was a close relative of Diplodocus and lived in the Middle to Late Jurassic Period of England It was first named by German people Palaeontology Friedrich von Huene, in 1927 and is known from a series of vertebrae from the rear half of the skeleton.... C. stewarti	Stratigraphically present in the Lower Oxford Clay. Geographically located in Cambridgeshire, England.
Infraorder: Sauropoda Sauropoda Sauropoda , or the sauropods , are an Order or clade of saurischian dinosaurs. They notable for the enormous sizes attained by some species, and the group includes many of the largest animals to have ever lived on land.... Indeterminate remains. Indeterminate remains.	Stratigraphically present in the Lower Oxford Clay. Geographically located in Cambridgeshire, England. Geographically located in Wiltshire, England.	"(=Ornithopsis Ornithopsis *Ornithopsis* was a medium-sized Early Cretaceous sauropod dinosaur, described by Harry Seeley in 1870. The type is known from dorsal vertebrae from Europe.... leedsi)" "(=Cetiosaurus Cetiosaurus *Cetiosaurus* meaning 'whale lizard', from the Ancient Greek *cetus/??t??* meaning 'sea monster' and *saurus/sa????* meaning 'lizard', was a sauropod dinosaur from the Mid to Late Jurassic Period in what are now Europe and Africa.... sp.)"

Theropods

Theropods of the Oxford Clay
Taxa	Presence	Description	Images
Genus: Eustreptospondylus Eustreptospondylus *Eustreptospondylus* was a genus of megalosaurid dinosaurs from the Callovian stage of the Middle Jurassic period in southern England, at a time when Europe was a series of scattered islands .... E. oxoniensis	Stratigraphically present in the Middle Oxford Clay. Geographically located in Oxfordshire, England.
Suborder: Theropoda Theropoda Theropods are a group of bipedal saurischian dinosaurs. Although they were primarily carnivorous, a number of theropod families evolved herbivore during the Cretaceous Period .... Indeterminate remains.	Geographically located in Oxfordshire, England.	"(=Megalosaurus Megalosaurus *Megalosaurus* is a genus of large meat-eating theropod dinosaurs of the Middle Jurassic Period of Europe . It is significant as the first genus of dinosaur to be described and named.... sp.)"

Uses

Oxford Clay has a porous consistency and is soft and is often used in the making of roads. It is also the source of the Fletton stock brick

Fletton

Fletton is a residential area and electoral ward of the city of Peterborough, Cambridgeshire in the United Kingdom. For parliamentary purposes it falls within North West Cambridgeshire constituency....
of which much of London

London

London is the capital of both England and the United Kingdom, and the most populous municipality in the European Union. An important settlement for two millennia, History of London goes back to its founding by the Roman Empire....
is built. For brick making, the Oxford Clay has the advantage of containing carbon which provides part of the fuel required in firing it so reducing the requirement for an external fuel source.

Oxford Clay

Palaeontology

Ornithischians

Sauropods

Theropods

Uses

See also