# Gosau Group

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The **Gosau Group** ([German](/source/German_language): *Gosau-Gruppe*) is a geological [stratigraphic group](/source/Group_(stratigraphy)) in [Austria](/source/Austria), [Germany](/source/Germany) and western [Slovakia](/source/Slovakia) and [Romania](/source/Romania) whose strata date back to the [Late Cretaceous](/source/Late_Cretaceous) to [Eocene](/source/Eocene).[1][2] It is exposed in numerous sporadic isolated basins within the [Northern Calcareous Alps](/source/Northern_Calcareous_Alps). It is divided into two subgroups, the Lower Gosau Subgroup which dates from the Turonian to Campanian, approximately 90 to 75 Ma and the Upper Gosau Subgroup which dates to the Santonian to Eocene, about 83.5 to 50 Ma.

The formations within each subunit vary significantly between basins. The thickness of the unit varies in but in the Gosau Basin it is over 2,300m thick.[3]: 21 The sequence is largely marine, but the [Grünbach Formation](/source/Gr%C3%BCnbach_Formation) represents a terrestrial deposit and to the south-west of [Vienna](/source/Vienna) coal deposits in the Gosau have been worked.[3]: 21 Many of the units of the group are fossiliferous, typically providing marine fossils such as ammonites, though terrestrial remains including those of dinosaurs are known from the [Grünbach Formation](/source/Gr%C3%BCnbach_Formation) and [Schönleiten Formation](/source/Sch%C3%B6nleiten_Formation).

[Stratigraphic contacts](/source/Stratigraphy) between the Gosau beds and any earlier units are generally [unconformable](/source/Unconformity) and the isolated pockets in which they occur are often [fault bounded](/source/Fault_(geology)).[3]: 21 Because the Gosau Group is a lithostratigraphic unit the time of deposition (in [Ma](/source/Million_years_ago) before present) may be somewhat variable from place to place but they can be dated by their fossil content and the younger Gosau beds can also be distinguished from those which are older than lower [Campanian](/source/Campanian) by the assemblage of 'heavy minerals' they contain.[4]

## Tectonic relevance

Upper Cretaceous sediments, particularly the Gosau beds, have been of importance in interpreting the tectonic history of the Northern Calcareous Alps.[3]: 19 & 21

Gosau beds rest unconformably on [thrust](/source/Nappe) contacts between sheets in the Northern Calcareous Alps. The unconformable relationship indicates that the early stages of thrusting ('pre-Gosau') had commenced before the Gosau units were deposited in the upper Cretaceous. During later 'post-Gosau' movements the Gosau beds were severely faulted. Those later events involved flexure [folding](/source/Fold_(geology)) and the northward movement of the Northern Calcareous Alps resulting in it overlying areas of the [molasse](/source/Molasse) deposits of [Miocene](/source/Miocene) age.[5]

## Fossil content

Among others, the following fossils have been described from the Gosau Group:[6][7]

reptiles Genus Species Presence Notes Images Struthiosaurus S. austriacus Niederösterreich, Austria [8] Mochlodon M. suessi A rhabdodontid iguanodont[8] Rhadinosaurus R. alcinus Possible indeterminate ankylosaur remains[8] "Crataeomus" C. lepidophorus Later found to be synonymous with Struthiosaurus austriacus[8] C. pawlowitschii Later found to be synonymous with Struthiosaurus austriacus in partim[8] "Danubiosaurus" D. anceps Later found to be indeterminate ankylosaurian and Struthiosaurus austriacus remains in partim[8] "Indeterminate fragments"[9] "Hoplosaurus" H. ischyrus Later found to be synonymous with Struthiosaurus austriacus[8] "Leipsanosaurus" L. noricus Later found to be synonymous with Struthiosaurus austriacus[8] "Pleuropeltus" P. suessi Later found to be synonymous with Struthiosaurus austriacus in partim[8] "Megalosaurus" M. pannoniensis Later found to be indeterminate theropod remains[8] Ornithocheiridae indet. [10][11] Mollusca Genus Species Presence Notes Images "Trochactaeon" T. conicus Nördliche Kalkalpen, Niederösterreich, Austria Very common fossil, rock forming

## See also

- [List of dinosaur-bearing rock formations](/source/List_of_dinosaur-bearing_rock_formations)

## References

1. Höfling, 1985

1. McCann, 2008

1. Oxburgh, E.R. (1968). [*The Geology of the Eastern Alps*](https://books.google.com/books?id=71XwAAAAMAAJ). The Geologists Association. ISBN 978-0-913312-33-9. Retrieved 22 July 2025.

1. Stattegger, Karl (1987). ["Heavy minerals and provenance of sands; modeling of lithological end members from river sands of northern Austria and from sandstones of the Austroalpine Gosau Formation (Late Cretaceous)"](https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/sepm/jsedres/article-abstract/57/2/301/97966/Heavy-minerals-and-provenance-of-sands-modeling-of?redirectedFrom=PDF). *Journal of Sedimentary Research*. **57** (2): 301–310. [doi:10.1306/212F8B0C-2B24-11D7-8648000102C1865D](https://doi.org/10.1306/212F8B0C-2B24-11D7-8648000102C1865D). Retrieved 7 August 2025.

1. Linzer, Hans-Gert; Ratschbacher, Lothar; Frisch, Wolfgang (1995). ["Transpressional collision structures in the upper crust: the fold-thrust belt of the Northern Calcareous Alps"](https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0040-1951%2894%2900152-Y). *Tectonophysics*. **242** (1–2): 41–61. [Bibcode:1995Tectp.242...41L](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1995Tectp.242...41L). [doi:10.1016/0040-1951(94)00152-Y](https://doi.org/10.1016/0040-1951(94)00152-Y). Retrieved 5 August 2025.

1. [Gosau Group](https://paleobiodb.org/classic/displayStrata?geological_group=Gosau&group_formation_member=Gosau) at [Fossilworks](/source/Fossilworks).org

1. [Lower Gosau Group](https://paleobiodb.org/classic/displayStrata?geological_group=Lower%20Gosau&group_formation_member=Lower%20Gosau) at [Fossilworks](/source/Fossilworks).org

1. Weishampel, 2004, pp. 588-593

1. "Table 17.1," in Weishampel et al., 2004, p.367

1. [Zitteliana](http://epub.ub.uni-muenchen.de/12007/1/zitteliana_2008_b28_05.pdf)

1. Agnolin & Varricchio, 2012

### Bibliography

- Agnolin, Federico L. & Varricchio, David (2012), ["Systematic reinterpretation of *Piksi barbarulna* Varricchio, 2002 from the Two Medicine Formation (Upper Cretaceous) of Western USA (Montana) as a pterosaur rather than a bird"](http://www.mnhn.fr/museum/front/medias/publication/48099_g2012n4a10.pdf), *[Geodiversitas](/source/Geodiversitas)*. **34** (4): 883–894, [Bibcode:2012Geodv..34..883A](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2012Geodv..34..883A). [doi:10.5252/g2012n4a10](https://doi.org/10.5252/g2012n4a10), [archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20130115164102/http://www.mnhn.fr/museum/front/medias/publication/48099_g2012n4a10.pdf) 2013-01-15 at the Wayback Machine, retrieved 2013-01-15
- Höfling, R (1985), "Faziesverteilung und Fossilvergesellschaftungen im karbonatischen Flachwasser-Milieu der alpinen Oberkreide (Gosau-Formation)", *Münchner Geowissenschaftliche Abhandlungen Reihe A: Geologie und Paläontologie*. **3**: 1–241
- McCann, T (2008), [*The Geology of Central Europe- Volume 2 Mesozoic and Cenozoic*](https://books.google.com/books?id=KZe24VMp6_UC&pg=PA1086), [Geological Society of London](/source/Geological_Society_of_London), pp. 1–752, ISBN 978-1862392656
- Weishampel, David B.; Dodson, Peter; Osmólska, Halszka (2004), [*The Dinosauria, 2nd edition*](https://books.google.com/books?id=vtZFDb_iw40C), Berkeley: University of California Press, pp. 1–880, ISBN 0-520-24209-2, retrieved 2019-02-21

## Further reading

- Stern (2011), ["Stratigraphy and geochemical \[*sic*\] of Upper Cretaceous non-marine - marine cycles (Grünbach Formation, Gosau Group, Austria"](https://www.researchgate.net/publication/235334158), *[Austrian Journal of Earth Sciences](/source/Austrian_Journal_of_Earth_Sciences)*. **104**: 90–107, retrieved 2020-04-02
- Wagreich, Michael; Egger, Hans; Gebhardt, Holger; Mohammed, Omar; Spötl, Christoph; Koukal, Veronika; Hobiger, Gerhard (2011), ["A new expanded record of the Paleocene-Eocene transition in the Gosau Group of Gams (Eastern Alps, Austria)"](http://verlag.nhm-wien.ac.at/pdfs/113A_035066_Wagreich.pdf), *[Annalen des Naturhistorischen Museums in Wien](/source/Annalen_des_Naturhistorischen_Museums_in_Wien)*. **113**: 35–65, retrieved 2020-04-02
- Wagreich, Michael; Lukeneder, Alexander; Egger, Hans (2008), ["Cretaceous History of Austria"](https://opac.geologie.ac.at/wwwopacx/wwwopac.ashx?command=getcontent&server=images&value=BR0074_012_A.pdf), *[Berichte der Geologischen Bundesanstalt](/source/Berichte_der_Geologischen_Bundesanstalt)*. **76**: 12–30, [ISSN 1017-8880](https://www.worldcat.org/issn/1017-8880), retrieved 2020-04-02
- Ortner, Hugo (2007), ["Styles of soft-sediment deformation on top of a growing fold system in the Gosau Group at Muttekopf, Northern Calcareous Alps, Austria: Slumping versus tectonic deformation"](https://www.researchgate.net/publication/229232491), *[Sedimentary Geology](/source/Sedimentary_Geology)*. **196** (1–4): 99–118, [Bibcode:2007SedG..196...99O](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2007SedG..196...99O). [doi:10.1016/j.sedgeo.2006.05.028](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sedgeo.2006.05.028), retrieved 2020-04-02
- Zagorsek, K. & Kroh, A. (2003), ["Cretaceous Bryozoa from Scharrergraben (Santonian, Gosau Group, Eastern Alps)"](https://www.researchgate.net/publication/260017151), *[Geologica Carpathica](/source/Geologica_Carpathica)*. **54**: 395–407, retrieved 2020-04-02
- Wagreich, Michael (2003), ["The Grabenbach Formation (Gosau Group, Santonian – Lower Campanian) in the Lattengebirge (Germany): lithostratigraphy, biostratigraphy and strontium isotope stratigraphy"](https://www.researchgate.net/publication/266894233), *[Stratigraphia Austriaca](/source/Stratigraphia_Austriaca)*. **16**: 141–150, retrieved 2020-04-02
- Wagreich, Michael & Decker, Kurt (2001), ["Sedimentary tectonics and subsidence modelling of the type Upper Cretaceous Gosau Basin (Northern Calcareous Alps, Austria)"](https://www.researchgate.net/publication/225128458), *[International Journal of Earth Sciences](/source/International_Journal_of_Earth_Sciences)*. **90** (3): 714–726, [Bibcode:2001IJEaS..90..714W](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2001IJEaS..90..714W). [doi:10.1007/s005310000181](https://doi.org/10.1007/s005310000181), retrieved 2020-04-02

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Gosau Group](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gosau_Group) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gosau_Group?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.