{{Short description|Geologic formation in Germany}} {{Infobox rockunit | name = Obernkirchen Sandstein | image = | caption = | type = Geological formation | age = Late {{fossilrange|Berriasian}} | period = Berriasian | prilithology = Sandstone | otherlithology = Coal, mudstone | namedfor = | namedby = | region = Niedersachsen | country = Germany | coordinates = {{coord|52.3|N|9.1|E|display=inline,title}} | paleocoordinates = {{coord|43.5|N|17.6|E|display=inline}} | unitof = Bückeberg Formation (Obernkirchen Member) | subunits = | underlies = | overlies = | thickness = Up to {{convert|20|m|ft|abbr=on}} | extent = Lower Saxony Basin | area = | map = {{Location map+ | Germany | relief = 1 | width = 250 | float = center | places = {{Location map~ | Germany | lat_deg = 52.3 | lon_deg = 9.1 | mark = Green pog.svg | marksize = 10 }} }} | map_caption = }} The '''Obernkirchen Sandstein''' or '''Obernkirchen Sandstone''' is a geological unit in Lower Saxony, Germany whose strata date back to the Early Cretaceous. The remains of the dinosaur ''Stenopelix'' and numerous dinosaur tracks are known from the unit.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Hornung|first1=Jahn J.|last2=Böhme|first2=Annina|last3=van der Lubbe|first3=Torsten|last4=Reich|first4=Mike|last5=Richter|first5=Annette|date=September 2012|title=Vertebrate tracksites in the Obernkirchen Sandstone (late Berriasian, Early Cretaceous) of northwest Germany— their stratigraphical, palaeogeographical, palaeoecological, and historical context|journal=Paläontologische Zeitschrift|volume=86|issue=3|pages=231–267|doi=10.1007/s12542-012-0131-7|issn=0031-0220|doi-access=free|bibcode=2012PalZ...86..231H }}</ref><ref name="cretaceousdistribution">Weishampel, David B; et al. (2004). "Dinosaur distribution (Early Cretaceous, Europe)." In: Weishampel, David B.; Dodson, Peter; and Osmólska, Halszka (eds.): The Dinosauria, 2nd, Berkeley: University of California Press. Pp. 562. {{ISBN|0-520-24209-2}}.</ref> The unit is a thin interval within the Bückeberg Formation As its name would suggest the lithology primarily consists of sandstone with thin intercalations of coal. This was deposited in a sandy barrier to lagoonal complex setting. The unit has historically been extensively quarried for its high quality building stone, which has been used as far away as Jakarta.
== Vertebrate paleofauna == {| class="wikitable" align="center" |- ! colspan="5" align="center" |'''Ornithischians of the Obernkirchen Sandstein''' |- ! Taxa !! Presence !! Notes !! Images |- | '''Infraorder:''' * Ankylosauria<ref name="cretaceousdistribution" /> # Tracks<ref name="cretaceousdistribution" /> | Niedersachsen<ref name="cretaceousdistribution" /> | | |- | '''Genus:''' * Euornithopoda<ref name="cretaceousdistribution" /> # Tracks<ref name="cretaceousdistribution" /> | Niedersachsen<ref name="cretaceousdistribution" /> | | |- | '''Genus:''' * ''Iguanodon''<ref name="cretaceousdistribution" /> # ''Iguanodon'' sp.<ref name="cretaceousdistribution" /> | Niedersachsen<ref name="cretaceousdistribution" /> | | |- | '''Order:''' * ?Ornithischia<ref name="cretaceousdistribution" /> # Possible ornithischian tracks.<ref name="cretaceousdistribution" /> | Niedersachsen<ref name="cretaceousdistribution" /> | | |- | '''Genus:''' * ''Stenopelix''<ref name="cretaceousdistribution" /> # ''S. valdensis''.<ref name="cretaceousdistribution" /> | Niedersachsen<ref name="cretaceousdistribution" /> | "Partial skeleton, no skull."<ref name="table-21-1-465">"Table 21.1," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 465.</ref> | |- | '''Suborder:''' * Theropoda<ref name="cretaceousdistribution" /> # Indeterminate remains.<ref name="cretaceousdistribution" /> # Tracks<ref name="cretaceousdistribution" /> | Niedersachsen<ref name="cretaceousdistribution" /> | "(= ''Megalosaurus dunkeri'')"<ref name="cretaceousdistribution" /> | |- |}
== See also == * List of dinosaur-bearing rock formations
== References == {{Reflist}}
Category:Cretaceous Germany Category:Lower Cretaceous Series of Europe Category:Berriasian Stage Category:Sandstone formations Category:Coal formations Category:Deltaic deposits Category:Ichnofossiliferous formations Category:Coal in Germany Category:Paleontology in Germany Category:Geologic formations of Germany