Enciso Group


The Enciso Group is a geological formation in La Rioja, Spain whose strata date back to the Early Cretaceous.
The turtle Camerochelys was described from the Enciso Group. Dinosaur remains, including the holotype of the spinosaurid Riojavenatrix, are among the fossils that have been recovered from the formation.
The first spinosaurid fossil remains found at Igea, Enciso Group were a jaw fragment found in 1983 and isolated teeth.

Description

The Cameros Basin containing the Enciso Group represents continental synrift deposition. It consists of carbonate and siliciclastic lacustrine deposits. Cobble to boulder-sized dropstones and sand to silt sized IRD were observed in three different lithofacies. These are restricted glaciolacustrine shales, laminated glaciolacustrine silts, and proglacial sandy lobes correlated to glacier front retreat. This deep glacial lake system is compared favourably lacustrine sediment sequences related to Pleistocene glacial cycles of the Laurentide Ice Sheet in the eastern Canadian Arctic. This along with other evidence of cryospheric activity suggested extensive continental ice sheets during the Hauterivian Cold Snap.

Fossil content

The following fossils have been found in the formation:

Dinosaurs

Ornithischians

Theropods

Turtles