Matmor Formation
The Matmor Formation is a geologic formation of up to thick, that is exposed in Hamakhtesh Hagadol in southern Israel. The Matmor Formation contains fossils from a Jurassic equatorial shallow marine environment. Bivalves, gastropods, sponges, corals, echinoderms, and sclerobionts are present in the Matmor Formation to various degrees. The stratigraphy of the Matmor Formation consists of alternating layers of limestone and marl.Stratigraphy
The Iraq Petroleum Company originally described the Jurassic sequence in Hamakhtesh Hagadol of Israel in the 1930s. These findings were later described and published by Blake. Shaw published a limited summary of the stratigraphy. Hudson later subdivided the rocks into the Callovian, Divesian, Argovian, Sequanim biostratigraphic stages. In 1963, Goldberg subdivided the section into the Zohar, Kidod and Be'er Sheva Formations. Goldberg further divided the Zohar Formation into the Ziyya and Madsus members. In 1966, Mayac dated the Callovian and what appeared to be the Lower Oxfordian stages with forams. Further biostratigraphic work by Hirsch et al. and Grossowicz et al. show that the Matmor Formation is entirely Late Callovian.