Hanging Rocks Formation

The Hanging Rocks Formation is a geologic formation in Leicestershire, and is the youngest and smallest of the Maplewell Group and the larger Charnian Supergroup which it is a part of. Due to this, and the fact that the rocks are not well exposed at both the top and base,^[1] there have been no Ediacaran fossils found to date, unlike the two underlying Bradgate and Beacon Hill Formations.

Hanging Rocks Formation
Stratigraphic range: Ediacaran 557–550 Ma[1] PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Type	Formation
Unit of	Maplewell Group
Sub-units	Hallgate and Sliding Stone Slump Breccia Members
Underlies	Brand Hills Formation[2] Diorite unconformity[3]
Overlies	Bradgate Formation[2]
Thickness	50 m (164 ft)[1]
Lithology
Primary	Tuff
Other	Graywacke
Location
Region	Leicestershire
Country	United Kingdom
Type section
Named for	Bradgate Park

Dating

Despite the poor exposure of the formation, scientists were able to collect zircon crystals from the lower parts of the formation, allowing them to perform zircon U-Pb dating, which recovered a date of 556±6.4 Ma, close to the Bradgate Formations top age of 557 Ma. It is noted that the top of the formation is capped at a zircon age of roughly 550 Ma,^[1] which is just before the first formations of the Nama assemblage were deposited.

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