Lagosteiros Dinosaur footprints - Sesimbra, Setúbal, Portugal
Posted by: Groundspeak Premium Member paulohercules
N 38° 25.546 W 009° 12.977
29S E 481121 N 4253078
[PT] A jazida de pegadas de dinossáurios dos Lagosteiros está localizada no Cabo Espichel, a Norte da Baía dos Lagosteiros. [EN] The Lagosteiros dinosaurs’ footprints is located at Cape Espichel, in the north of the Bay of Lagosteiros.
Waymark Code: WMJW4Z
Location: Setúbal, Portugal
Date Posted: 01/06/2014
Published By:Groundspeak Premium Member Outspoken1
Views: 13

[PT] A jazida de pegadas de dinossáurios dos Lagosteiros ter-se-à formado naturalmente há cerca de 130 a 120 milhões de anos, durante o Cretácico inferior, época em que naquele local os terrenos seriam planos, alagadiços e pantanosos, tendo-se entretanto transformado em rocha calcária, acolhendo e preservando as impressões (icnofósseis) das pegadas de dinossáurios que, presentemente podemos observar neste sítio.
A jazida está numa camada de calcário castanho amarelado associado a estratos de rochas de areias consolidadas do Cretácico inferior.
Em termos geológicos é a mais recente da região a incluir pegadas de dinossáurio, nomeadamente de um bípede.
Esta jazida foi classificada como Monumento Natural pelo Decreto-lei n.º 20/97 de 7 de Maio.

[EN] The dinosaurs' footprints were formed naturally about 130 to 120 million years ago, during the Lower Cretaceous, an epoch in time when the land at that location would be flat, swampy and marshy, having been transformed into a limestone rock, embracing and preserving the impressions of dinosaurs' footprints (trace fossils) that currently can be seen in this site.
The trail of a bipedal animal is on a layer of yellowish brown limestone rock strata associated with the lower Cretaceous consolidated sands.
It is a long trail with footprints rounded very aligned bipedal dinosaur, possibly a herbivore similar to Iguanodon.
In geological terms is the latest in the region to include dinosaur footprints, including a biped.
This deposit was classified as Portuguese Natural Monument by Decree-Law n.º 20/97 of 7 May.
What kinds of fossils are found here:
[PT] Neste sítio vai encontrar icnofósseis (do grego “ichnos”, impressões) que são registos da actividade dos seres vivos no passado, como por exemplo, pegadas, trilhos, marcas de actividade locomotora, rastros de nutrição, gastrólitos, etc. O estudo dos icnofósseis permite descobrir, entre outras coisas, de que se alimentavam ou como se deslocavam determinados seres vivos. Entre os icnofósseis mais comuns estão as pegadas de animais. As pegadas formam-se quando um animal anda sobre um solo que não esteja totalmente consolidado, como por exemplo, uma areia húmida ou lamacenta. A pressão decorrente do peso do animal faz com que o substrato ceda e deixe a impressão de parte ou da totalidade do seu corpo. A análise das pegadas auxilia a avaliação das dimensões dos animais, formas de deslocamento, etc. As pegadas fósseis têm quase sempre um interesse especial porque, possibilitam estudar o registo dinâmico dos animais e dos seus modos de vida. [EN] At this site you will find trace fossils, also called ichnofossils (from Greek “ikhnos”, trace, track). Trace fossils are geological records of biological activity and may be impressions made on the substrate by an organism: for example, burrows, borings (bioerosion), urolites (erosion caused by evacuation of liquid wastes), feeding marks, root cavities and footprints. The term in its broadest sense also includes the remains of other organic material produced by an organism, for example coprolites (fossilized droppings) or chemical markers, or sedimentological structures produced by biological means, for example, stromatolites. Trace fossils contrast with body fossils, which are the fossilized remains of parts of organisms' bodies, usually altered by later chemical activity or mineralization. Among the most common trace fossils are footprints and tracks of animals. They are formed when the animal walks on a soil that is not fully consolidated, for example, muddy or wet sand. The pressure of the weight of the animal causes the substrate sag and leaves the impression of all or part of his body.


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