The New Oxford Formation is a mapped bedrock unit consisting primarily of sandstones, conglomerates, and shales. The New Oxford Formation was first described in Adams County, Pennsylvania in 1929, and over the following decade was mapped in adjacent York County, PennsylvaniaStose, G.W., and Jonas, A.I., 1939, Geology and mineral resources of York County, Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania Geological Survey County Report, 4th series, no. 67, 199 p. and Frederick County, Maryland.Jonas, A.I., and Stose, G.W., 1938, Geologic map of Frederick County and adjacent parts of Washington and Carroll Counties (Maryland): Maryland Geological Survey County Geologic Map, 1 sheet, scale 1:62,500 It was described as "red shale and sandstone with beds of micaceous sandstone, arkose, and conglomerate." The majority of this early mapping was done by George Willis Stose, Anna Isabel Jonas, and Florence Bascom.
Depositional Environment The New Oxford Formation and other formations of the Newark Supergroup were deposited in the Gettysburg Basin, just one of many Triassic rift basins existing on the east coast of North and South America, which formed as plate tectonics pulled apart Pangaea into the continents we see today.
Stratigraphy The New Oxford Formation is overlain by the Gettysburg Formation in Frederick County, Maryland and in Adams, Cumberland, Lancaster, and York Counties in Pennsylvania. In all other areas to the northeast in Pennsylvania the New Oxford Formation is overlain by the Hammer Creek Formation.Wood, C. R., 1980, Groundwater resources of the Gettysburg and Hammer Creek Formations, southeastern Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania Geological Survey, 4th ser., Water Resource Report 49, 87 p. (see W 49).
The New Oxford Formation overlies precambrian and paleozoic rocks at the bottom of the Gettysburg Basin.
The New Oxford Formation is not divided into members.
Paleofauna
Vertebrate paleofauna The New Oxford Formation contains mainly tetrapod fossils, including dinosaur remains.Weishampel, David B; et al. (2004). "Dinosaur distribution (Late Triassic, North America)." In: Weishampel, David B.; Dodson, Peter; and Osmólska, Halszka (eds.): The Dinosauria, 2nd, Berkeley: University of California Press. Pp. 518–521. . Vertebrate paleofauna of the New Oxford Formation Genus Species Location Stratigraphic position Material Notes ImagesArchosauriaIndeterminate"Footprints"AnaschismaA. browni"Several partial specimens, including a well-preserved skull"Initially referred to the now obsolete taxon KoskinonodonAnchisauripusA. sillimani"Footprints"Possibly the same animal as Eubrontes AtreipusA. milfordensis"Footprints"ClepsysaurusC. veatleianus"Tooth"Cope, E. D. (1877). Descriptions of extinct Vertebrata from the Permian and Triassic formations of the United States. Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society 17(100):182-193CompsosaurusC. priscus"Teeth"Leidy, J. (1856). Notice of some remains of extinct vertebrated animals. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 163-165GaltoniaG. gibbidens"Teeth.""Table 14.1," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 326.GrallatorG. tenuis"Footprints"MetoposauridaeIndeterminate?OtozoumO. minus"Footprints" Palaeoctonus P. appalachianus"Teeth" P. aulacodus "Teeth"RedondasaurusIndeterminate"Tooth"RutiodonEmmons, E. (1856). Geological Report of the Midland Counties of North Carolina xx-351R. carolinensis"Holotype consists of five teeth, the vertebral centrum, vertebrae and ribs, the neural spine, and a fragment of interclavicle"Emmons, E. (1856). Geological Report of the Midland Counties of North Carolina xx-351SauropodomorphaIndeterminate (originally "Palaeosaurus" fraserianus)"Tooth.""Table 12.1," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 236.Originally known as Palaeosaurus fraserianusSphodrosaurusS. pennsylvanicus"Partial skeleton including the back of the skull, the spinal column, all of the ribs, all of the hindlimbs and parts of the upper forelimbs"E. H. Colbert. 1960. A New Triassic Procolophonid from Pennsylvania. American Museum Novitates 2022:1-19Originally believed to have been a member of the Procolophonidae and then a dinosaur, it is now believed to be a basal member of the EosuchiaSuchoprionS. cyphodon"Teeth"
Paleoflora
Acrostichites linnaeaefolius Acrostichites microphyllus Anomozamites princeps Araucarites? pennsylvaninicus Araucarites yorkensis Asterocarpus falcatus Baiera muensteriana Brachyphyllum yorkense cf. Brachyphyllum cf. yorkense Cheirolepis muensteri Cladophlebis reticulata Conewagia longiloba Ctenophyllum grandifolium Ctenophyllum wannerianum Cycademyelon yorkense Cycadeospermum wanneri Dioonites carnallianus Equisetum rogersii Lonchopteris oblonga Macrotaeniopteris magnifolia Palissya diffusa Palissya sphenolepis Podozamites distans Pseudoddanaeopis plana Pterophyllum inaequale Sagenopteris sp. Schizolepis liaso-kueperinus Sphenozamites rogersianus Taeniopteris? yorkensis Thinnfeldia? reticulata Yorkia gramineoides Zamites pennsylvanicus Zamites yorkensis
Age Relative age dating of the New Oxford Formation places it in the Late Triassic period, around ~221.5–205.6 Ma (Norian-Rhaetian), possibly reaching as old as 230 Ma (Carnian) in some places.
See also List of dinosaur-bearing rock formations
References