The Woodbine Group is a geological formation in east Texas whose strata date back to the Early to Middle Cenomanian age of the Late Cretaceous. It is the producing formation of the giant East Texas Oil Field (also known as the "Black Giant") from which over 5.42 billion barrels of oil have been produced.Dokur, M., and Hentz, T.F. (2012). Reservoir Characterization of the Upper Cretaceous Woodbine Group in Northeast Texas Field, Texas. AAPG Search and Discovery Article #20152. The Woodbine overlies the Maness Shale, Buda Limestone, or older rocks, and underlies the Eagle Ford Group or Austin Chalk. In outcrop the Woodbine Group has been subdivided into the Lewisville Sandstone, Dexter Sandstone, and/or Pepper Shale formations. Thin-bedded sands of the Woodbine and Eagle Ford are collectively referred to as the "Eaglebine" oil and gas play in the southwestern portion of the East Texas region.Hentz, T. F., Ambrose, W. A., and Smith, D. C. (2014). Eaglebine play of the southwestern East Texas basin: Stratigraphic and depositional framework of the Upper Cretaceous (Cenomanian-Turonian) Woodbine and Eagle Ford Groups: AAPG Bulletin, v. 98, p. 2551-2580.
Dinosaur and crocodilian remains are among the fossils that have been recovered from the formation.Weishampel, David B; et al. (2004). "Dinosaur distribution (Late Cretaceous, North America)." in Weishampel, David B.; Dodson, Peter; and Osmólska, Halszka (eds.): The Dinosauria, 2nd, Berkeley: University of California Press. p. 574-588. . This fossil formation preserves organisms that were endemic to Appalachia.
The Woodbine Group was first mapped and named by Robert T. Hill, known as the "Father of Texas Geology", for outcrops near the small town of Woodbine, Texas in 1901. The Woodbine represents ancient river and delta systems that originated from erosion of the Ouachita Uplift in modern-day Oklahoma and Arkansas and the Sabine Uplift in modern-day Texas and Louisiana. Sediments from these deltas flowed into the East Texas and Brazos Basins of the ancient East Texas shelf.Denne, R. A., and Breyer, J. A. (2016). Regional depositional episodes of the Cenomanian-Turonian Eagle Ford and Woodbine groups of Texas: in Breyer, J. A. (ed.), The Eagle Ford Shale: A renaissance in U.S. oil production, AAPG Memoir 110, p. 85-125.
The Arlington Archosaur Site is a location in Arlington, Texas that currently excavates fossils from the Woodbine Group. It became available to access by the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA) in spring of 2008. UTA and the Dallas Paleontological Society have excavated at the site up to present day, where work continues.About Arlington Archosaur Site
Vertebrate paleofauna Scolomastax sahlsteini: A paralligatorid endemic to Appalachia. Ampelognathus coheni: A small-bodied ornithopod Protohadros byrdi: "Partial skull, teeth, partial postcranium.""Table 19.1," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 417. A hadrosaur found in Flower Mound, Texas in the early 1990s. Woodbinesuchus byersmauricei: Lower jaw and a variety of postcranial elements, such as vertebrae, limb bones, shoulder and hip bones, and bony armor.Lee, Yuong–Nam (1997). The Archosauria from the Woodbine Formation (Cenomanian) in Texas: Journal of Paleontology, v. 71, n.6, p. 1147–1156 Unnamed theropodFossils at AAS Deltasuchus motherali: Parts of the upper skull, most likely the apex predator in its ecosystem. Terminonaris robusta: A pholidosaurid crocodyliform whose remains have been found in North America and Europe. Flexomornis howei: A enantiornithe bird. Pleurochayah appalachius: A recently described species of bothremydid turtle, which is also known as a side-necked turtle. Mawsonia sp., a giant Coelacanth known from Africa and South America, but fossils of the genus were described in 2021. Bardackichthys carteri: an ichthyodectiform fish. Indeterminate Nodosauridae. Indeterminate Carcharodontosauridae. Indeterminate Tyrannosauroidea. Indeterminate Ornithomimosauria. Indeterminate Dromaeosauridae. Indeterminate Troodontidae. Indeterminate Coelurosauria.
Other fossils Other vertebrate fossils that have been identified in the Woodbine include lungfish, fish, turtles, sharks, and coprolites containing bones. Invertebrate fossils found in the Woodbine include ammonites, Inoceramus, oysters, crustaceans,Stephenson, L. W. (1952). Larger invertebrate fossils of the Woodbine Formation (Cenomanian) of Texas: USGS Professional Paper 242, 226 p. and agglutinated foraminifera.
Necrocarcinus christinae: a podotreme crab.
See also List of dinosaur-bearing rock formations
References