INVESTIGADORES
DÍAZ MARTÍNEZ Ignacio
congresos y reuniones científicas
Título:
Dinosaur tracks in an Albian braid delta system of the Billao Cape Geosite, Biscay (Gorliz, Basque Cantabrian Basin).
Autor/es:
IGNACIO DÍAZ MARTÍNEZ; LOPEZ-HORGUE, MIKEL A.; AGIRREZABALA, LUIS M.; CARLOS CÓNSOLE GONELLA; PEREDA-SUBERBIOLA, XABIER
Reunión:
Congreso; 3nd Palaeontological Virtual Congress; 2021
Resumen:
The Geodiversity Strategy of the Autonomous Communityof the Basque Country (2020) aims to assess the geodiversityof this territory and its geological heritage. For this purpose,150 sites of geological interest (geosites) were identifiedas the basis for a plan of geodiversity management andconservation. One of these geosites is the Billao CapeComplex (LIG 125), located in the city of Gorliz, on the coastof Biscay. It takes part of the Western Biscay Coast Area ofNatural Interest, which also includes the Armintza LIG 24. Bothgeosites are characterized by impressive outcrops of coastalto deep marine Albian sedimentary successions forminga nice example of tectonically controlled sedimentationwith igneous activity. The Billao Cape geosite has also akey palaeontological interest as evidenced by the record ofdinosaur tracks and other trace fossils. The tracksite is in theMonte Grande Formation (lower Albian), interpreted as aretreating braid delta that was formed during a transgressiveevent related to a hyperextension phase in the basin leadingto the opening of the Bay of Biscay. Four track-bearing levels(two of them previously described) with more than a hundreddinosaur ichnites, including theropod trackmakers, possiblysauropods and undetermined dinosaurs, were identified.The invertebrate ichnoassociation contains Ophiomorpha,Skolithos and locally Teichichnus. The Gorliz dinosaur tracksiteis one of the very few worldwide localities where Albiandinosaur tracks have been found in deltaic facies, and one ofthe few localities with dinosaur footprints of this age in thesouthwestern European island archipelago.