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Mawson Formation
Stratigraphic range: Pliensbachian-Toarcian ~185–181 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
File:Oreochima WilliamStout.pngFreshwater environment of the Mawson Formation, with hydrothermal influences and the fish Oreochima
Type	Geological formation
Unit of	Ferrar Large Igneous Province
Sub-units	Carapace Sandstone Member
Lithology
Primary	Volcaniclastic mudstone
Other	Volcaniclastic gray & blue mudstone
Location
Coordinates	76°54′S 159°24′E / 76.9°S 159.4°E / -76.9; 159.4
Approximate paleocoordinates	60°06′S 46°30′E / 60.1°S 46.5°E / -60.1; 46.5
Region	Storm Peak
Country	Antarctica
Type section
Named for	Mawson Peak
Mawson Formation (Antarctica)

The Mawson Formation is a geological formation in Antarctica, dating to roughly between 185-181 million years ago and covering the Pliensbachian-Toarcian stages of the Jurassic Period in the Mesozoic Era. Vertebrate remains are known from the formation.

Description

The formation was deposited in an ancient lake, with hydrothermal influences, thanks to the relationships with the Kirckpatrick Basalt. Sedimentary interbeds deposited over lava flows of the Kirkpatrick Basalt during the Early Jurassic splitting of Gondwana represent unusual freshwater paleoenvironments, with hotter conditions that allow to the diversification of the Microbes (Archea)

Fossil content

There abundant Fossils of microorganisms, as members of the group Archea and other who take advantage of the hydrothermal activity

Spinicaudata

Fish

Insects

Fossil insect wings not described to the genus level are known from the formation.

Ostracoda

Fungi

Plants

One of the best preserved fossil flora of the Antarctic.

See also

• List of fossiliferous stratigraphic units in Antarctica
• Shafer Peak Formation
• Hanson Formation
• Shackleton Formation
• South Polar region of the Cretaceous

References

1. Ballance et al., 1971
2. Burgess et al., 2015
3. Elliot, 2013
4. Bradshaw, 1987
5. ^ Babcock et al., 2006
6. ^ Stigall et al., 2008
7. Norris, 1965
8. Schaeffer, 1972
9. Bomfleur et al., 2011
10. ^ Carpenter, 1969
11. Tasch, 1973
12. Harper et al., 2012
13. Bomfleur et al., 2007
14. Gair et al., 1965
15. ^ Townrow, 1967
16. Hieger et al., 2015
17. Atkinson et al., 2018
18. Yao et al., 1991

Bibliography

• Atkinson, B. A., Serbet, R., Hieger, T. J., & Taylor, E. L. (2018). Additional evidence for the Mesozoic diversification of conifers: Pollen cone of Chimaerostrobus minutus gen. et sp. nov.(Coniferales), from the Lower Jurassic of Antarctica. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 257, 77-84
• S.D. Burgess, S.A. Bowring, T.H. Fleming, D.H. Elliot High-precision geochronology links the Ferrar large igneous province with early Jurassic ocean anoxia and biotic crisis Earth Planet. Sci. Lett., 415 (2015), pp. 90-99
• Hieger, T. J., Serbet, R., Harper, C. J., Taylor, T. N., Taylor, E. L., & Gulbranson, E. L. (2015). Cheirolepidiaceous diversity: An anatomically preserved pollen cone from the Lower Jurassic of southern Victoria Land, Antarctica. Review of palaeobotany and palynology, 220, 78-87
• D.H. Elliot The geological and tectonic evolution of the Transantarctic Mountains: a review Geol. Soc. Lond. Spec. Publ., 381 (2013), pp. 7-35
• Harper, C. J., Bomfleur, B., Decombeix, A. L., Taylor, E. L., Taylor, T. N., & Krings, M. (2012). Tylosis formation and fungal interactions in an Early Jurassic conifer from northern Victoria Land, Antarctica. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 175, 25-31
• Bomfleur, B., Schneider, J. W., Schöner, R., Viereck-Götte, L., & Kerp, H. (2011). Fossil sites in the continental Victoria and Ferrar groups (Triassic-Jurassic) of north Victoria Land, Antarctica. Polarforschung, 80(2), 88-99
• Stigall, A. L., Babcock, L. E., Briggs, D. E. G., & Leslie, S. A. (2008). Taphonomy of Lacustrine Interbeds in the Kirkpatrick Basalt (Jurassic), Antarctica. PALAIOS, 23(6), 344–355. doi:10.2110/palo.2007.p07-029r
• Bomfleur, B., Schneider, J., Schöner, R., Viereck-Götte, L., Kerp, H., Cooper, A. K., & Raymond, C. R. (2007, August). Exceptionally well-preserved Triassic and Early Jurassic floras from North Victoria Land, Antarctica. In Antarctica: a keystone in a changing world. Proceedings of the 10th International Symposium on Antarctic Earth Sciences, US Geol. Surv., OF-2007-1047, extend. abstr (Vol. 34)
• Babcock LE, Leslie SA, Elliot DH, Stigall AL, et al. 2006. The “Preservation Paradox”: microbes as a key to exceptional fossil preservation in the Kirkpatrick Basalt (Jurassic), Antarctica. The Sedimentary Record 4: 4–8
• Yao, X., Taylor, T. N., & Taylor, E. L. (1991). Silicified dipterid ferns from the Jurassic of Antarctica. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 67(3-4), 353-362
• P. Tasch. 1973. Jurassic beetle from southern Victoria Land, Antarctica. 47:590-592
• M.A. Bradshaw Additional field interpretation of the Jurassic sequence at Carapace Nunatak and Coombs Hills, south Victoria Land Antarctica N. Z. J. Geol. Geophys., 30 (1987), pp. 37-49
• Schaeffer, Bobb. "A Jurassic Fish from Antarctica". American Museum of Natural History, 1972
• P.F. Ballance, W.A. Watters The Mawson Diamictite and the Carapace Sandstone, formations of the Ferrar Group at Allan Hills and Carapace Nunatak, Victoria Land, Antarctica N. Z. J. Geol. Geophys., 14 (1971), pp. 512-527
• F. M. Carpenter. 1969. Fossil insects from Antarctica 76: 418–425
• J. A. Townrow. 1967. Fossil plants from Allan and Carapace Nunataks, and from the Upper Mill and Shackleton Glaciers, Antarctica. 10(2):456-473 ISBN 0-520-24209-2
• Gair, H. S., Norris, G., & Ricker, J. (1965). Early mesozoic microfloras from Antarctica. New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics, 8(2), 231-235
• Norris, G. (1965). Triassic and Jurassic miospores and acritarchs from the Beacon and Ferrar groups, Victoria Land, Antarctica. New Zealand journal of geology and geophysics, 8(2), 236-277

• Geologic formations of Antarctica
• Jurassic System of Antarctica
• Pliensbachian Stage
• Toarcian Stage
• Mudstone formations
• Tuff formations
• Lacustrine deposits
• Paleontology in Antarctica