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Geological Formation

Fezouata Formation

Named Rock Formations and Groups

The Fezouata Formation is an Early Ordovician sedimentary formation exposed near Zagora in the Anti-Atlas region of Morocco, preserving an exceptionally diverse marine fauna, including soft bodied animals rarely fossilized elsewhere, in fine grained mudstone roughly four hundred and eighty million years old. The formation has become one of the most important sites for understanding the Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event, the rapid rise in marine animal diversity that followed the Cambrian explosion.

Facts
Classification
Protected Status
IUGS Geological Heritage Site 1
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Source Fezouata Formation (Wikipedia)

In Discipline

Source Fezouata Formation (Wikipedia)
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Sources
1. Fezouata Formation (Wikipedia)
  • Article text
    In respect of the "exceptional fossil preservation bridging the Cambrian Explosion and the Great Ordovician Biodiversification", the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS) included the "Ordovician Fezouata Shale Fossil Site at Jbel Tizagzaouine" in its assemblage of 100 "geological heritage sites" around the world, in a listing published in October 2022.
  • In Discipline: Stratigraphy, Lead paragraph
    The Fezouata Formation or Fezouata Shale is a geological formation in Morocco which dates to the Early Ordovician
  • Caused By: Sedimentation, Lead paragraph
    It was deposited in a marine environment, and is known for its exceptionally preserved fossils, filling an important preservational window beyond the earlier and more common Cambrian Burgess shale-type deposits
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