The Forbes Shale is a

geologic formation A geological formation, or simply formation, is a body of rock having a consistent set of physical characteristics ( lithology) that distinguishes it from adjacent bodies of rock, and which occupies a particular position in the layers of rock exp ...

in the

Sacramento Valley The Sacramento Valley is the area of the Central Valley of the U.S. state of California that lies north of the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta and is drained by the Sacramento River. It encompasses all or parts of ten Northern California ...

of northern

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. It is found in the

Sutter Buttes The Sutter Buttes (Maiduan languages, Maidu: ''Histum Yani'' or ''Esto Yamani'', Wintuan languages, Wintun: ''Olonai-Tol'', Nisenan language, Nisenan: ''Estom Yanim'') are a small circular complex of eroded volcanic lava domes which rise as but ...

area of

Sutter County, California Sutter County is a county (United States), county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 99,633. The county seat is Yuba City, California, Yuba City. Sutter County is includ ...

. It preserves

fossils A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...

dating back to the

Coniacian The Coniacian is an age or stage in the geologic timescale. It is a subdivision of the Late Cretaceous Epoch or Upper Cretaceous Series and spans the time between 89.8 ± 1 Ma and 86.3 ± 0.7 Ma (million years ago). The Coniacian is preceded by ...

stage of the

Late Cretaceous The Late Cretaceous (100.5–66 Ma) is the more recent of two epochs into which the Cretaceous Period is divided in the geologic time scale. Rock strata from this epoch form the Upper Cretaceous Series. The Cretaceous is named after ''cre ...

period Period may refer to: Common uses * Period (punctuation) * Era, a length or span of time *Menstruation, commonly referred to as a "period" Arts, entertainment, and media * Period (music), a concept in musical composition * Periodic sentence (o ...

.Forbes Shale
at

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.org

Fossil content

The following fossils were reported from the formation:Anderson, 1958 ;Bivalves * ''

Cladoceramus undulatoplicatus ''Cladoceramus'' is an extinct genus of fossil Marine (ocean), marine pteriomorphian bivalves that superficially resembled the related winged pearly oysters of the Extant taxon, extant genus ''Pteria (bivalve), Pteria''. They lived in the Santoni ...

'' * ''Glycymerita veatchii'' * '' Inoceramus subundatus'' * '' I. Inoceramus vancouverensis'' * '' I. aff. chicoensis'' * '' I. aff. klamathensis'' * '' I. aff. whitneyi'' * ''Parallelodon, Parallelodon (Nanonavis) brewerlanus'' * '' Pseudomelania colusaensis'' ;Gastropods * '' Bernaya (Protocypraea) kayei'' * ''Biplica obliqua'' * '' Dentalium (Entalis) whiteavesi'' * '' Pseudomelania colusaensis'' * '' Tessarolax distorta'' * ''Volutoderma californica'' ;Ammonites * '' Baculites chicoensis'' * '' B. inornatus'' * '' Desmophyllites diphylloides'' * '' Eupachydiscus arbucklensis'' * '' E. willgreeni'' * ''

Eutrephoceras campbelli ''Eutrephoceras'' is an extinct genus of nautilus from the Late Jurassic to the Miocene (around 161 to 5 million years ago). They are characterized by a highly rounded involute shell with slightly sinuous suture patterns. Description ''Eutre ...

'' * '' Lytoceras (Gaudryceras) alamedense'' * ''Nowakites dobbinsi'' * ''N. rumseyensis'' * ''Oxybeloceras petrolense'' * ''Parapachydiscus cortinaensis'' * '' Puzosia (Holcodiscoides) gorrilli'' * '' Puzosia (Parapuzosia) arenaica'' * '' Baculites sp.'' * ''Canadoceras sp.'' * '' Hauericeras sp.''

References

Bibliography

* {{citation , last=Anderson , first=F. M , year=1958 , title=Upper Cretaceous of the Pacific Coast , journal=Geological Society of America Memoir , series=Geological Society of America Memoirs , volume=71 , pages=1–378, doi=10.1130/MEM71-p1

Fossil content

See also

References

Bibliography

Further reading