Nature of Aragon in English > Geology
The presence of dinosaur remains in the Jurassic-Cretaceous layers of the Iberian Mountains has been known for a long time; some of them were found in the province of Teruel (Utrillas)
Subsequently, other remains were discovered in Galve, which were attributed to Iguanadon and sauropods from the Lower Cretaceous. This area has turned out to be one of the richest in this type of fossils and where new finds continue to be made.
The new Ababuj ichnite site is located in Upper Jurassic strata, according to cartography by Gautier (1980). It contains isolated footprints, although some of them may belong to the track of the same individual. Most are oval in shape but there are also tridactyls. The oval ones show variety in their dimensions, which indicates a diversity of sizes of individuals and/or the circumstances at the time of the footprint.
The Ababuj ichnite site is located at kilometer point 19 of the road that connects Ababuj with Aguilar del Alfambra, on both sides and a few meters from it. This place is located on page 543 (Villarluengo) of the National Topographic map at scale 1:50,000.
Its position with respect to the coordinates of the Greenwich meridian is: longitude 0º 48.03' W and latitude 40º 33.96' N; The altitude is 1,322 meters above sea level.
The layers with ichnites correspond to those considered by Gautier as Portlandian in Purbeck facies. The strata have a dip that varies between 55º and 90º and are affected by frequent faults with displacements of metric and decimetric range. The specific stratigraphic section, immediately below and above the layers with ichnites, is composed from roof to wall by:
The layers where the footprints are found are calco-marly, similar to those of the Las Zabacheras area and, like them, would correspond to a shallow platform of lakes related to deltaic plains, interspersed between terrigenous sediments with fluvial structures.
Most Ababuj footprints are subelliptical or oval in shape. In some, the impression is bordered by a ring of "spattered mud" that was ejected by the impact of the animal's limb stepping on the ground. The deepest part of each footprint is usually at one of the ends of the footprint but, on some occasions, the maximum depth is detected near the middle geometric point of the footprint.
In the case of oval footprints, the maximum length has been measured, which corresponds to the anteroposterior direction, and the maximum width, which is almost always defined by the perpendicular to the length at the geometric middle point.
These variables have been obtained in 20 tracks located in the layers on both sides of the road. Lengths vary between 25 and 50 cm; widths, between 18 and 34 cm. The average length is 35.8 (with a standard deviation of 9.41 cm) and the average width is 25.2 cm (with a standard deviation of 5.89).
The representation of the lengths versus the widths of the oval-shaped footprints shows a linear correspondence that could suggest their belonging to individuals of the same type. But it must be taken into account that they are distributed in at least three layers and it may be more convenient to wait until a greater number of data is available at possible nearby points before accepting this hypothesis. It should be noted that in the vicinity of Aguilar del Alfambra, at a level similar to that containing those described in Ababuj, there is another set of oval footprints, which are found in an almost vertical layer that is very difficult to access.
There are not many known sites of ichnites with oval morphology, generally attributed to sauropods.
The Ababuj ichnites are found in at least two levels of the Upper Jurassic complex. The distances between one level and another are 40 to 50 cm. Thus, although close, it must be taken into account that not all traces are isochronous. However, all of them seem to fit the same series of points. Perhaps this lack of complete isochrony could be obviated by admitting a period of time between one level and another that was small enough so that the individuals that produced them could be considered as belonging to coeval species. A factor that can lead to errors is the different conditions of humidity or water content of the soil at the time the footprint occurred and that can be more influential in the morphometric variations of the footprints than the possible morphological differences of the individuals. .
These footprints from Ababuj are similar to those from Barkhausen (Germany), both from the Upper Jurassic. Morphometric correspondence is also obtained with those found in Los Cayos (La Rioja) and Morrison (USA).
In order to carry out future studies of these interesting dinosaur footprint sites in Ababuj, which can To clarify the questions raised by the experts, specific actions must be undertaken to protect these traces and their possible irreparable loss.
The Government of Aragon, the Provincial Council of Teruel, the University of Zaragoza and the Ababuj City Council itself must put the maximum effort into this.
Data obtained from: Geogaceta Magazine (L. Alcalá y C. Martín)
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Dinosaur Footprints in Ababuj. Teruel. Dinosaurs in Aragon.
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