earth science

Kilmaluag Formation

Kilmaluag 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 Kilmaluag Formation rather than just read about it. In short: The Kilmaluag Formation is a Middle Jurassic geological formation in Scotland. It was formerly known as the Ostracod Limestone for preserving an abundance of fossil freshwater/low salinity ostracods.

Key takeaways

Kilmaluag 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 Kilmaluag Formation to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Kilmaluag Formation from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Kilmaluag Formation is a Middle Jurassic geological formation in Scotland. It was formerly known as the Ostracod Limestone for preserving an abundance of fossil freshwater/low salinity ostracods. Gastropods, bivalves, trace fossil burrows, and vertebrate fossil remains have also been recorded from the formation. Vertebrate fossils include fish, crocodylomorphs, mammals, small reptiles, amphibians, theropod and sauropod dinosaurs and pterosaurs.

Geology The Kilmaluag Formation was deposited during the Bathonian stage ~167 million years ago and is part of the Great Estuarine Group. Like other rock formations within the Great Estuarine Group, the Kilmaluag Formation is composed of a series of fine grained sandstones, silts, mudstones, and dolomitised limestones. The sediments were deposited in a freshwater influenced low salinity closed lagoonal palaeoenvironment subject to lagoon margin transgressions and regressions. During regressions, sediment abandonment ensued and is indicated by the deposition of dolomitised limestones, in which large desiccation cracks can be observed. In contrast, during transgressions, sediment influxes and increases in water depth led to the deposition of finer grained silts and muds. Occasional shoreline conditions are indicated by rippled sandstones. The Kilmaluag Formation is divided into two facies: the clastic facies deposited in the Sea of the Hebrides basin of northern Skye, and argillaceous limestone facies present in the Inner Hebrides basin, present on the Straithaird peninsula, Isles of Eigg and Muck.

Fossils In many beds, freshwater gastropods and bivalves can be found, including Viviparus and Unio, and freshwater ostracods such as Darwinula and Theriosynoecum. Many vertebrate fossils have been recorded from the argillaceous facies of Straithaird since the 1970s, when the first mammal fossil were found by Michael Waldman. He returned with fellow palaeontologist Robert Savage and named two new species from the area: the Docodont Borealestes serendipitus, and the tritylodontid, Stereognathus hebridicus (although S. hebridicus is now thought to be a junior synonym to S. ooliticus). Many other fossils are found in the Kilmaluag, including members of other Mesozoic mammal groups, turtles, reptiles, and amphibians. Notable vertebrate fossil recent discoveries in the Kilmaluag Formation include Palaeoxonodon ooliticus and Wareolestes rex. A notable dinosaur find includes the tooth of a sauropod dinosaur. The most recent scientifically pre-published find includes a pterosaur found in 2006. Comparisons between the Kilmaluag Formation and other British and global Middle Jurassic localities suggest that the fauna represented is globally significant, due to the scarcity of similarly aged sediments. The fauna is a subset of the animals represented in the Forest Marble Formation in England, but fossils in the Kilmaliag Formation are substantially more complete. Exposures of the Kilmaluag Formation are protected by law as SSSIs (Site of Special Scientific Interest) and under the new Scottish NCO (Nature Conservation Order), thus no public collection is permitted. Most fossils found to date are held in the collections of the National Museum of Scotland.

Vertebrate paleobiota

Amphibians

Turtles

Lepidosauromorphs

Choristoderes

Dinosaurs

Pterosaurs

Mammaliamorphs

See also List of fossiliferous stratigraphic units in Scotland

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Kilmaluag Formation

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Kilmaluag 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 Kilmaluag 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 Kilmaluag 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 Kilmaluag Formation

In research: Kilmaluag 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 Kilmaluag 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: Kilmaluag Formation is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Bathonian Stage, Geologic formations of Scotland, Jurassic Scotland, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Kilmaluag 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 Kilmaluag Formation in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Kilmaluag 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 Kilmaluag Formation out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Kilmaluag Formation in simple terms?

The Kilmaluag Formation is a Middle Jurassic geological formation in Scotland. It was formerly known as the Ostracod Limestone for preserving an abundance of fossil freshwater/low salinity ostracods.

Why does Kilmaluag 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 Kilmaluag 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 Kilmaluag Formation.