Paleogene fossils in erratic blocks from Averøy and Frei, Nordmøre, Norway

Abstract

Two erratic blocks found on Averøy and Frei in Nordmøre contain fossils of Paleocene-Oligocene age. A yellowish sandstone block found at the shore on Tjønnøya at Averøy contains a fossil decapod Palaeocarpilius sp., a genus previously known from the Eocene and Oligocene of the Tethys. A brownish sandstone block found 60-65 m above present sea-level in Frei contains fossil plants leaves (alder and beech), and common terrestrial and rare marine palynomorphs. The recovered dinflagellated cysts point to a Late Paleocene age for this erratic rock. The two erratic blocks found on Nordmøre derived from sediments deposited in marine, warm-water, near-shore environments. Possibly, the erratic blocks originate from relatively shallow water sediments deposited in the Northern Norwegian-Danish Basin (Skagerrak area) in Late Paleocene to Oligocene times.