Whitehill Formation

Whitehill Fm

Period:

Permian

Age Interval:

Early Permian (Sakmarian)

Province:
SouthAfrica-Namibia-Botswana

Type Locality and Naming

Main Karoo Basin (SE), Main Karoo Basin (Western Foredeep) South Africa. Third formation in Ecca Gr

Synonym:

Lithology and Thickness

A very thin but regionally extensive sequence composed almost entirely of thinly laminated, highly carbonaceous, and pyrite-rich black shales.

Lithology Pattern:

Claystone

Relationships and Distribution

Lower contact

Conformably overlies the marine mudstones of the Prince Albert Fm

Upper contact

Conformably overlain by the rhythmic mudstones and tuffs of the Collingham Fm in the south/east, and the Tierberg Fm in the west/north of the Main Karoo Basin

Regional extent

Main Karoo Basin, extending widely across southern Africa (Karasburg and Aranos basins) as a major regional marker horizon

GeoJSON

null

Fossils

Highly fossiliferous, famously containing the aquatic mesosaurid reptile Mesosaurus, alongside crustacean remains and paleoniscoid fish (Section 4.1).

Age

Early Permian (Sakmarian)

Age Span:

Beginning stage:

Sakmarian

Fraction up in beginning stage:

0.5

Beginning date (Ma):

292.02

Ending stage:

Sakmarian

Fraction up in the ending stage:

0.75

Ending date (Ma):

291.26

Depositional setting

Depositional pattern:

Additional Information

Compiler:

From the O. Catuneanu et al. / Journal of African Earth Sciences 43 (2005) 211–253