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KIMERIDGIAN

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Originally appearing in Volume V15, Page 800 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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KIMERIDGIAN , in See also:

geology, the basal See also:division of the Upper Oolites in the See also:Jurassic See also:system. The name is derived from the See also:hamlet of Kimeridge or Kimmeridge near the See also:coast of See also:Dorset-See also:shire, See also:England. It appears to have been first suggested by T. See also:Webster in 1812; in 1818, in the See also:form Kimeridge See also:Clay, it was used by See also:Buckland. From the See also:Dorsetshire coast, where it is splendidly exposed in the See also:fine cliffs from St See also:Alban's See also:Head to See also:Gad Cliff, it follows the See also:line of Jurassic outcrop through Wilt-shire, where there is a broad expanse between See also:Westbury and See also:Devizes, as far as See also:Yorkshire, there it appears in the vale of See also:Pickering and on the coast in See also:Filey See also:Bay. It generally occupied broad valleys, of which the vale of See also:Aylesbury may be taken as typical. See also:Good exposures occur at Seend, See also:Caine, See also:Swindon, Wootton Bassett, See also:Faringdon, See also:Abingdon, Culham, Shotover See also:Hill, See also:Brill, See also:Ely and See also:Market Kasen. Traces of the formation are found as far See also:north as the See also:east ccast of See also:Cromarty and See also:Sutherland at Eathie and Helmsdale. In England the Kimeridgian is usually divisible into an Upper See also:Series, 600-650 ft. in the See also:south, dark bituminous shales, See also:paper shales and See also:clays with layers and nodules of See also:cement-stones and septaria. These beds See also:merge gradually into the overlying See also:Portlandian formation. The See also:Lower Series, with a maximum thickness of 40o ft., consists of clays and dark shales with septaria, cement-stones and calcareous " doggers." These lithological characters are very persistent. The Upper Kimeridgian is distinguished as the See also:zone of Perisphinctes biplex, with the sub-zone of Discina latissima in the higher portions.

Cardioceras alternans is the zonal ammonite characteristic of the lower division, with the sub-zone of Ostrea deltoidea in the lower portion. Exogyra virgula is See also:

common in the upper See also:part of the lower division, and the lower part of the Upper Kimeridgian. A large number of See also:ammonites are See also:peculiar to this formation, including Reineckia See also:eudoxus, R. Thurmanni, Aspidoceras longispinus, &c. Large dinosaurian See also:reptiles are abundant, Cetiosaurus, Gigantosaurus, Megalosaurus, also plesiosaurs and ichthyosaurs; crocodilian and chelonian remains are also found. Protocardia striatula, Thracia depressa, Belemnites abreviatus, B. Blainvillei, Lingula ovalis, Rhynchonella inconstans and Exogyra nana are characteristic fossils. See also:Alum has been obtained from the Kimeridge Clay, and the cement-stones have been employed in Purbeck; See also:coprolites are found in small quantities. Bricks, tiles, See also:flower-pots, &c., are made from the clay at Swindon, See also:Gillingham, Brill, Ely, Horncastle, and other places. The so-called "Kimeridge See also:coal" is a highly bituminous shale cap-able of being used as See also:fuel, which has been worked on the cliff at Little Kimeridge. The " Kimeridgien " of See also:continental geologists is usually made to contain the three sub-divisions of A. See also:Oppel and W.

See also:

Waagen, Upper (Virgulian) with Exogyra virgula Kimeridgien See also:Middle (Pteroceran) with Pteroceras oceani Lower (Astartian) with See also:Astarte supracorallina; but the upper portion of this continental Kimeridgian is See also:equivalent to some of the See also:British Portlandian; while most of the Astartian corresponds to the See also:Corallian. A. de See also:Lapparent now recognizes only the Virgulian and Pteroceran in the Kimeridgien. Clays and marls with occasional limestones and sandstones represent the Kimeridgien of most of See also:northern See also:Europe, including See also:Russia. In See also:Swabia and some other parts of See also:Germany the curious ruiniform See also:marble Felsenkalk occurs on this See also:horizon, and most of the Kimeridgien of See also:southern Europe, including the See also:Alps, is calcareous.. Representatives of the formation occur in See also:Caucasia, See also:Algeria, See also:Abyssinia, See also:Madagascar; in South See also:America with volcanic rocks, and possibly in See also:California (Maripan beds), See also:Alaska and See also:King See also:Charles's See also:Land. See " Jurassic Rocks of See also:Britain," vols. v. and i., See also:Memoirs of the See also:Geological Survey (vol. v. contains references to literature up to 1895). (J. A. H.) KIl1JI, or QIMHI, the See also:family name of three Jewish grammarians and biblical scholars who worked at See also:Narbonne in the 12th See also:century and the beginning of the 13th, and exercised See also:great See also:influence on the study of the See also:Hebrew See also:language. The name, as is shown by See also:manuscript testimony, was also pronounced Xamhi and further mention is made of the See also:French surname See also:Petit.

End of Article: KIMERIDGIAN

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