Matmor Formation

The Iraq Petroleum Company originally described the Jurassic sequence in Hamakhtesh Hagadol of Israel in the 1930s (Hudson, 1958). These findings were later described and published by Blake (1935). Shaw (1947) published a limited summary of the stratigraphy. Hudson (1958) 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 (1963) 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 (Mayac, 1966, in Hirsch and Roded, 1996). Further biostratigraphic work by Hirsch et al. (1998) and Grossowicz et al. (2000) show that the Matmor Formation is entirely Late Callovian. == Gallery ==

Image:MakhteshGadolCenter02.jpg|Marls and limestones of the Matmor Formation exposed near the center of Makhtesh Gadol Image:GastrochaenolitesMatmor.jpg|Gastrochaenolites boring in a coral from the Matmor Formation Image:Jurassic Calcarea Matmor Israel.jpg|Calcarea sponge and encrusting crinoid from the Matmor Formation Image:MatmorScleractinian.JPG|Scleractinian coral from the Matmor Formation Image:Cymatonautilus.JPG|Paracenoceras, a nautiloid from the Matmor Formation Image:Enallhelia 370 Callovian Israel.JPG|Enallhelia, a scleractinian coral from the Matmor Formation Image:Fimbria CW265 2007.JPG|Fimbria sp.; a bivalve from the Matmor Formation Image:Amphiastrea Etallon 1859 Matmor Formation.JPG|Amphiastrea Etallon 1859; a scleractinian coral from the Matmor Formation Image:Axosmilia side 031815.jpg|Axosmilia, a scleractinian coral from the Matmor Formation (Middle Jurassic) of southern Israel; side view Image:Axosmilia oral view 031815.jpg|Axosmilia, a scleractinian coral from the Matmor Formation (Middle Jurassic) of southern Israel; oral view Image:MicrosolenaCW366.jpg|The scleractinian coral Microsolena from the Matmor Formation, Middle Jurassic, southern Israel Image:Epistreptophyllum Matmor CW366.jpg|Epistreptophyllum, a scleractinian coral from the Matmor Formation (Middle Jurassic) of southern Israel; side view Image:Actinostreon Matmor Jurassic 171 173.jpg|Actinostreon spp. from the Matmor Formation (Middle Jurassic, Callovian) of Makhtesh Gadol, southern Israel Image:Mytilus (Falcimytilus) jurensis.jpg|Mytilus (Falcimytilus) jurensis from the Middle Jurassic (Callovian) Matmor Formation of Makhtesh Gadol, southern Israel == References ==