earth science

Villar del Arzobispo Formation

Villar del Arzobispo 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 Villar del Arzobispo Formation rather than just read about it. In short: The Villar del Arzobispo Formation is a Late Jurassic to possibly Early Cretaceous geologic formation in eastern Spain. It is equivalent in age to the Lourinhã Formation of Portugal.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

The Villar del Arzobispo Formation is a Late Jurassic to possibly Early Cretaceous geologic formation in eastern Spain. It is equivalent in age to the Lourinhã Formation of Portugal. It was originally thought to date from the Late Tithonian-Middle Berriasian, but more recent work suggests a Kimmeridigan-Late Tithonian, possibly dating to the Early Berriasian in some areas. The Villar del Arzobispo Formation's age in the area of Riodeva in Spain has been dated based on stratigraphic correlations as middle-upper Tithonian, approximately 145-141 million years old. In the area of Galve, the formation potentially dates into the earliest Cretaceous. Isotope dating gives the formation a Late Kimmeridgian date of 152.5-151 million years old. This unit includes, at its uppermost part, the essentially siliciclastic deposits previously assigned to the El Collado Fm, a unit traditionally assigned to the Barremian and recently dated as Kimmeridgian-Tithonian. Most of the unit consists of siliciclastic mudstone, however the lower portion of the formation is dominated by bioclastic, oolitic and peloidal limestone, while channelized sandstone and conglomerate is found in the middle portion of the unit. While the lower part of the formation was deposited in an inner carbonate platform, the upward gradation into mudstone in the middle and upper portions of the formation represents a change in depositional environment to paralic and alluvial plain conditions. Provenance studies indicate that the source areas of the sediments of this formation were mostly peraluminic granites that probably came the erosion of the Central Iberian Zone (Iberian Massif), located more than 200 km away from the depositional areas. Dinosaur remains are found throughout the unit, but are more abundant and better preserved in the terrestrially deposited middle-upper sections. Remains of the stegosaurid Dacentrurus were recovered in the Barranco Conejero locality in this formation. Over the years, other stegosaurian remains have been discovered in this formation, but none have yet been referred to a specific genus. Turiasaurs and brachiosaurids are also known from the formation. The formation is also well known for its fossil footprints, representing many different taxa.

Fossil content

Dinosaurs

Ornithischians

Ornithopods

Stegosaurs

Sauropods

Theropods

Reptiles

Correlation

See also List of dinosaur-bearing rock formations List of stratigraphic units with few dinosaur genera

References

Further reading L. Alcalá, A. Cobos, E. Espilez, F. Gascó, L. Mampel, C. M. Escorza, and R. Royo-Torres. 2012. Icnitas de dinosaurios en la Formación Villar del Arzobispo de Ababuj (Teruel, España) [Dinosaur footprints from the Villar del Arzobispo Formation in Ababuj (Teruel, Spain)]. Geogaceta 51:35-38 J. L. Barco. 2005. Estudio y comparación del esqueleto axial de un saurópodo (Dinosauria, Sauropodomorpha) procedente de la Formación Villar del Arzobispo (Titónico-Berriasiense) de Galve, Teruel [Study and comparison of the axial skeleton of a sauropod (Dinosauria, Sauropodomorpha) from the Villar del Arzobispo Formation (Tithonian-Berriasian) of Galve, Teruel]. Treballs del Museu de Geología de Barcelona 13:15-59 J. L. Barco, J. I. Canudo, J. I. Ruiz-Omeñaca and R. Royo-Torres. 1999. Bones, teeth and tracks: about sauropod dinosaur remains from Aragón (northeastern Spain). In J. I. Canudo & G. Cuenca-Bescós (eds.), IV European Workshop on Vertebrate Paleontology, Albarracin, Spain. Universidad de Zaragoza 22-23 M. L. Casanovas-Cladellas, J. V. Santafé-Llopis, J. Pereda-Suberbiola and C. Santisteban-Bové. 1995. Presencia, por primera vez en España, de dinosaurios estegosaurios (Cretácico Inferior de Aldea de Losilla, Valencia) [Presence, for the first time in Spain, of stegosaurian dinosaurs (Lower Cretaceous of Aldea de Losilla, Valencia)]. Revista Española de Paleontología 10(1):83-89 A. Cobos and F. Gascó. 2013. New vertebral remains of the stegosaurian dinosaur Dacentrurus from Riodeva (Teruel, Spain). Geogaceta 53:17-20 A. Cobos, R. Royo-Torres, L. Alcalá and L. Mampel. 2010. An Iberian stegosaurs paradise: The Villar del Arzobispo Formation (Tithonian–Berriasian) in Teruel (Spain). Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 293(1-2):223-236 F. Gascó, A. Cobos, R. Royo-Torres, L. Mampel, and L. Alcalá. 2012. Theropod teeth diversity from the Villar del Arzobispo Formation (Tithonian–Berriasian) at Riodeva (Teruel, Spain). Palaeobiodiversity and Palaeoenvironments R. Royo-Torres, A. Cobos, and L. Alcalá. 2008. Primeros restos directos de dinosaurios en la Sierra de Albarracín (Teruel) [First direct remains of dinosaurs in the Sierra de Albarracín (Teruel)]. In J. I. Ruiz-Omeñaca, L. Piñuela and J. C. García-Ramos (eds), XXIV Jornadas de la Sociedad Española de Paleontología, October 15–18, 2008, Museo del Jurásico de Asturias (MUJA), Colunga, Spain, Libro de Resúmenes 189-190 R. Royo-Torres, A. Cobos, A. Aberasturi, E. Espílez, I. Fierro, A. González, L. Luque, L. Mampel, and L. Alcalá. 2007. Riodeva sites (Teruel, Spain) shedding light to European sauropod phylogeny. Geogaceta 41:183-186 B. Sánchez-Hernández, M. J. Benton, and D. Naish. 2007. Dinosaurs and other fossil vertebrates from the Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous of the Galve area, NE Spain. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 249:180-215 C. d. Santisteban, B. Vila, and M. Suñer. 2007. Huellas de dinosaurios conservadas en materiales del cortejo transgresivo en cauces encajados. Jurásico superior y Cretácico inferior de Alpuente, Valencia [Dinosaur footprints preserved in deposits of the transgressive systems tract in incised valleys. Upper Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous of Alpuente, Valencia ]. Geogaceta 42:79-82

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Villar del Arzobispo Formation

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Villar del Arzobispo 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 Villar del Arzobispo 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 Villar del Arzobispo 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 Villar del Arzobispo Formation

In research: Villar del Arzobispo 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 Villar del Arzobispo 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: Villar del Arzobispo Formation is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Deltaic deposits, Fluvial deposits, Geologic formations of Spain, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Villar del Arzobispo 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 Villar del Arzobispo Formation in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is Villar del Arzobispo Formation in simple terms?

The Villar del Arzobispo Formation is a Late Jurassic to possibly Early Cretaceous geologic formation in eastern Spain. It is equivalent in age to the Lourinhã Formation of Portugal.

Why does Villar del Arzobispo 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 Villar del Arzobispo 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 Villar del Arzobispo Formation.