The Mint Canyon Formation (Tm) is a
Miocene geologic formation in the
Sierra Pelona Mountains of
Los Angeles County
Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles, and sometimes abbreviated as L.A. County, is the most populous county in the United States and in the U.S. state of California, with 9,861,224 residents estimated as of 2022. It is the ...
, southern
California.
[Elsmerecanyon.com: "Tick Canyon Geology"]
/ref> The formation preserves fossils dating back to the Middle
Middle or The Middle may refer to:
* Centre (geometry), the point equally distant from the outer limits.
Places
* Middle (sheading), a subdivision of the Isle of Man
* Middle Bay (disambiguation)
* Middle Brook (disambiguation)
* Middle Creek (d ...
to Late Miocene
The Late Miocene (also known as Upper Miocene) is a sub-epoch of the Miocene epoch (geology), Epoch made up of two faunal stage, stages. The Tortonian and Messinian stages comprise the Late Miocene sub-epoch, which lasted from 11.63 Ma (million ye ...
( Barstovian and Clarendonian in NALMA classification).[Mint Canyon Formation]
at Fossilworks
Fossilworks is a portal which provides query, download, and analysis tools to facilitate access to the Paleobiology Database
The Paleobiology Database is an online resource for information on the distribution and classification of fossil animals ...
.org
Geology
Mint Canyon is a fluvial landform in the Sierra Pelona range. It consists of terrestrial deposits from streams and lakes consisting mostly of sandstone and conglomerate with some claystone.["Geologic Map of the Mint Canyon Quadrangle" (DF-57) by Thomas W. Dibblee, Jr., 1996.]
The formation correlates with the Caliente Formation in the Plush Ranch Basin to the northwest and the lower Punchbowl Formation
The Punchbowl Formation is a sedimentary sandstone geologic formation in the northern San Gabriel Mountains, above the Antelope Valley in Los Angeles County, southern California.[fluvial
In geography and geology, fluvial processes are associated with rivers and streams and the deposits and landforms created by them. When the stream or rivers are associated with glaciers, ice sheets, or ice caps, the term glaciofluvial or fluviog ...]
, alluvial, and lacustrine conglomerate
Conglomerate or conglomeration may refer to:
* Conglomerate (company)
* Conglomerate (geology)
* Conglomerate (mathematics)
In popular culture:
* The Conglomerate (American group), a production crew and musical group founded by Busta Rhymes
** Co ...
s, sandstones, and mudstone
Mudstone, a type of mudrock, is a fine-grained sedimentary rock whose original constituents were clays or muds. Mudstone is distinguished from '' shale'' by its lack of fissility (parallel layering).Blatt, H., and R.J. Tracy, 1996, ''Petrology. ...
s. The Mint Canyon Formation is overlain by the dominantly marine Castaic Formation
Castaic () ( Chumash: ''Kaštiq''; Spanish: ''Castéc'') is an unincorporated community in the northwestern part of Los Angeles County, California. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 19,015. For statistical purposes the Census Bure ...
, which consists of shale, sandstone, and minor conglomerate.[ In the Texas Canyon sub-basin, the formation is overlain by the Saugus Formation.][Coffey et al., 2019, p.492] The contact between the Mint Canyon and Castaic Formations is an angular unconformity in some places, and it is apparently conformable and gradational in others.[Coffey et al., 2019, p.481]
Fossil content
The formation preserves vertebrate 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 in ...
dating back to the Middle Miocene subperiod of 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:[
]
Mammals
Artiodactyls
* '' ?Merycodus sp.''[
* Camelidae indet.][
* Tayassuidae indet.][
]
Perissodactyls
* '' Hipparion cf. forcei''[
* '' Hipparion sp.''][
* '' ?Nannippus sp.''][
* Equini indet.][Alroy, 2002]
* Hipparionini indet.[
* Rhinocerotidae indet.][
]
Rodents
* '' Pronotolagus apachensis''[Maxson, 1930]
Proboscideans
* '' Gomphotherium sp.''[
]
Carnivora
* Canidae indet.[Stirton, 1933]
See also
*
* List of fossiliferous stratigraphic units in California
This article contains a list of fossil-bearing stratigraphic units in the state of California, U.S.
Sites
See also
* Paleontology in California
References
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fossiliferous stratigraphic units in California
California
S ...
* Paleontology in California
* Diligencia Formation
The Diligencia Formation (Td) is a geologic formation cropping out in the Orocopia Mountains in southern California. It preserves mammal fossils dating to the Late Oligocene to Early Miocene (Arikareean in the NALMA classification).
* Plush Ranch Formation
The Plush Ranch Formation is a Formation (geology), geologic formation in the Transverse Ranges of southern California. The formation preserves fossils dating back to the Late Oligocene to Early Miocene (Arikareean in the North American land mammal ...
References
Bibliography
*
*
*
*
Further reading
* Geology of the Mint Canyon Area by William T. Holser, 1946
External links
Field Notes regarding Mint Canyon taken by Hildegarde Howard on California Revealed
{{Santa Clara River
Geologic formations of California
Miocene Series of North America
Miocene California
Langhian
Serravallian
Tortonian
Barstovian
Clarendonian
Conglomerate formations
Mudstone formations
Sandstone formations of the United States
Alluvial deposits
Fluvial deposits
Lacustrine deposits
Paleontology in California
Geology of Los Angeles County, California
Sierra Pelona Ridge