earth science

Jagua Formation

Jagua Formation is a earth science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Jagua Formation rather than just read about it. In short: The Jagua Formation is a Late Jurassic (middle to late Oxfordian) geologic formation in the Sierra de los Órganos and Sierra del Rosario mountain ranges in Pinar del Río Province, western Cuba. Plesiosaur, pliosaur, pterosaur, metriorhynchid, turtle and dinosaur remains are among the fossils that have been recovered from its strata.

Key takeaways

Jagua Formation belongs to earth science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Jagua Formation to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Jagua Formation from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Jagua Formation is a Late Jurassic (middle to late Oxfordian) geologic formation in the Sierra de los Órganos and Sierra del Rosario mountain ranges in Pinar del Río Province, western Cuba. Plesiosaur, pliosaur, pterosaur, metriorhynchid, turtle and dinosaur remains are among the fossils that have been recovered from its strata.

Description The formation comprises marine shales and limestones. The 60 metres (200 ft) thick Jagua Vieja Member consists of black shales and horizontally laminated marly micritic to biomicritic limestones. The latter contains calcareous concretions which the fossils are found in. The formation overlies the San Cayetano Formation and is overlain by the Guasasa Formation. The bedding direction is steeply dipping towards the northwest.

Fossil content

Vertebrate paleofauna Based on Iturralde-Vinent & Izquierdo (2015):

Bony fishes

Reptiles

Dinosaurs

Pterosaurs

Crocodylomorphs

Plesiosaurs

Ichthyosaurs

Turtles

Other fossils

See also Plesiosaur stratigraphic distribution List of pterosaur-bearing stratigraphic units

References

Bibliography Barrett, P.M.; Butler, R.J.; Edwards, N.P.; Milner, A.R. (2008), Pterosaur distribution in time and space: an atlas - pp. 61–107 (PDF), Flugsaurier: Pterosaur papers in honour of Peter Wellnhofer - Hone, D.W.E., and Buffetaut, É. (eds). Zitteliana B, 28., pp. 1–264, retrieved 2019-02-07 De la Fuente, M.S.; Iturralde Vinent, M. (2001), "A new pleurodiran turtle from the Jagua Formation (Oxfordian) of western Cuba" (PDF), Journal Information, 75 (4): 860–869, Bibcode:2001JPal...75..860D, doi:10.1017/S0022336000016954, retrieved 2019-02-07 Gasparini, Zulma (2009), "A New Oxfordian Pliosaurid (Plesiosauria, Pliosauridae) in the Caribbean Seaway" (PDF), Palaeontology, 52 (3): 661–669, Bibcode:2009Palgy..52..661G, doi:10.1111/j.1475-4983.2009.00871.x, archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-16, retrieved 2019-02-07 Archived 2011-07-16 at the Wayback Machine Gasparini, Z.; Fernández, M.; De La Fuente, M. (2004), "A new pterosaur from the Jurassic of Cuba", Palaeontology, 47 (4): 919–927, Bibcode:2004Palgy..47..919G, doi:10.1111/j.0031-0239.2004.00399.x, retrieved 2019-02-07 Gasparini, Z.; Bardet, N.; Iturralde Vinent, M. (2002), "A new cryptoclidid plesiosaur from the Oxfordian (Late Jurassic) of Cuba", Geobios, 35 (2): 201–211, Bibcode:2002Geobi..35..201G, doi:10.1016/s0016-6995(02)00019-0, archived from the original on 2010-07-02, retrieved 2019-02-07 Gasparini, Z.; Iturralde Vinent, M. (2001), "Metriorhynchid crocodiles (Crocodyliformes) from the Oxfordian of Western Cuba", Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie - Monatshefte, 2001 (9): 534–542, doi:10.1127/njgpm/2001/2001/534, retrieved 2019-02-07 Iturralde Vinent, Manuel; Norell, Mark A. (1996), "Synopsis of Late Jurassic Marine Reptiles from Cuba" (PDF), American Museum Novitates, American Museum of Natural History: 1–17, retrieved 2019-02-07

Further reading Bermúdez, Pedro J (1961), "Las formaciones geológicas de Cuba" (PDF), Geología Cubana, 1: 1–180, retrieved 2019-02-06 Colbert, Edwin H (1969), "A Jurassic pterosaur from Cuba" (PDF), American Museum Novitates (2370): 1–26, retrieved 2019-02-07 Fernández, M.; Iturralde Vinent, M. (2000), "An Oxfordian Ichthyosauria (Reptilia) from Vinales, western Cuba: paleobiogeographic significance", Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 20: 191–193, doi:10.1671/0272-4634(2000)020[0191:AOIRFV]2.0.CO;2, retrieved 2019-02-07 Pugaczewska, H (1978), "Jurassic pelecypods from Cuba", Acta Palaeontologica Polonica, 23: 163–186 Schevill, W.E (1950), "An Upper Jurassic sepioid from Cuba", Journal of Paleontology, 24: 99–101 Thies, D (1989), "Lepidotes gloriae, sp. nov. (Actinopterygii: Semionotiformes) from the Late Jurassic of Cuba" (PDF), Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 9 (1): 18–40, Bibcode:1989JVPal...9...18T, doi:10.1080/02724634.1989.10011736, retrieved 2019-02-07

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Jagua Formation

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Jagua Formation claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In earth science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Jagua Formation before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Jagua Formation ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Jagua Formation

In research: Jagua Formation appears in earth science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Jagua Formation in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Jagua Formation is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Fossiliferous stratigraphic units of North America, Geography of Pinar del Río Province, Geologic formations of Cuba, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Jagua Formation outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Jagua Formation in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Jagua Formation means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Jagua Formation out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Jagua Formation in simple terms?

Why does Jagua Formation matter?

Because it connects several earth science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Jagua Formation?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Jagua Formation.