Dinosaur footprints preserved in the deposits of the trasgressive system tract inside incised valleys. Late Jurassic and early Cretaceous of Alpuente, Valencia

The upper Jurassic and lower Cretaceous deposits of the Southwestern Iberian Basin at Alpuente (Valencia) contain abundant remains of dinosaurs, including several localities with footprints. In this area deltaic sediments deposited in fluvial, estuarine, beach and shallow-marine environments, controlled by eustatic sea-level changes outcrop extensively. In spite of the fluvial deposits dominance, most of dinosaur footprints sites found here are placed in beach sandstones. Beach sandstones were deposited in the basin during the low sea-level stand and transgressions. The study of four new ichnological sites shows that the footprints are preferently preserved in those beach deposits that built up the transgressive system tract, as the infill of incised valley