The Chanac Formation is a

Cenozoic Era The Cenozoic ( ; ) is Earth's current geological era, representing the last 66million years of Earth's history. It is characterised by the dominance of mammals, birds and flowering plants, a cooling and drying climate, and the current configu ...

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates ...

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 southeastern

San Joaquin Valley The San Joaquin Valley ( ; es, Valle de San Joaquín) is the area of the Central Valley of the U.S. state of California that lies south of the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta and is drained by the San Joaquin River. It comprises seven ...

, within

Kern County, California Kern County is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 909,235. Its county seat is Bakersfield. Kern County comprises the Bakersfield, California, Metropolitan statistical area. The county ...

.USGS.gov: "The Kern River Formation, Southeastern San Joaquin Valley, California"
Geological Survey Bulletin 1529-D; By J. Alan Bartow and Gardner M. Pittman; United States Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C.; 1983 (with map on pg. D4).

Geology

The Kern River Series is divided into the lower Chanac Formation unit, and the upper Kern River Beds Formation unit, with the wedge of the Etchegoin Formation in the middle in the western section. It is composed of

and cobble conglomerate. It overlies the

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and means "less recent" ...

period

Santa Margarita Formation The Santa Margarita Formation is a Neogene Period geologic formation in the San Joaquin Valley of central California. It preserves fossils dating back to the Miocene epoch. See also * List of fossiliferous stratigraphic units in California ...

. 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

Neogene The Neogene ( ), informally Upper Tertiary or Late Tertiary, is a geologic period and system that spans 20.45 million years from the end of the Paleogene Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the present Quaternary Period Mya. ...

period.

Fossil content

Mammals

Carnivorans

References

Neogene California Geology of Kern County, California Geography of the San Joaquin Valley {{Neogene-stub