Mint Canyon Formation
| Mint Canyon Formation | |
|---|---|
| Stratigraphic range: Mid-Late Miocene (Barstovian-Clarendonian) ~ | |
| File:Mint Canyon Formation.jpg Sedimentary outcroppings in the Canyon Country borough of Santa Clarita | |
| Type | Geologic formation |
| Underlies | Castaic & Saugus Formations |
| Overlies | Tick Canyon Formation |
| Lithology | |
| Primary | Conglomerate & sandstone |
| Other | Mudstone |
| Location | |
| Coordinates | Lua error in Module:Coordinates at line 489: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). |
| Approximate paleocoordinates | Lua error: callParserFunction: function "#coordinates" was not found. |
| Region | Los Angeles County, California |
| Country | United States |
| Extent | Sierra Pelona Ridge, San Gabriel Mountains |
| Type section | |
| Named for | Mint Canyon |
| Named by | Kew |
| Year defined | 1923 |
Mint Canyon Formation (the United States) Mint Canyon Formation (California) | |
The Mint Canyon Formation (Tm) is a Miocene geologic formation in the Sierra Pelona Mountains of Los Angeles County, southern California.[1] The formation preserves fossils dating back to the Middle to Late Miocene (Barstovian and Clarendonian in NALMA classification).[2]
Geology
[edit | edit source]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.[1][3]
The formation correlates with the Caliente Formation in the Plush Ranch Basin to the northwest and the lower Punchbowl Formation in the Punchbowl Block to the southeast.[4] The Mint Canyon Formation consists primarily of fluvial, alluvial, and lacustrine conglomerates, sandstones, and mudstones. The Mint Canyon Formation is overlain by the dominantly marine Castaic Formation, which consists of shale, sandstone, and minor conglomerate.[5] In the Texas Canyon sub-basin, the formation is overlain by the Saugus Formation.[6] 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.[5]
Fossil content
[edit | edit source]The formation preserves vertebrate fossils dating back to the Middle Miocene subperiod of the Neogene period:[2]
Mammals
[edit | edit source]Artiodactyls
[edit | edit source]Perissodactyls
[edit | edit source]Rodents
[edit | edit source]Proboscideans
[edit | edit source]Carnivora
[edit | edit source]See also
[edit | edit source]References
[edit | edit source]- ^ a b Elsmerecanyon.com: "Tick Canyon Geology"
- ^ a b Mint Canyon Formation at Fossilworks.org
- ^ "Geologic Map of the Mint Canyon Quadrangle" (DF-57) by Thomas W. Dibblee, Jr., 1996.
- ^ Coffey et al., 2019, p.480
- ^ a b Coffey et al., 2019, p.481
- ^ Coffey et al., 2019, p.492
- ^ a b c Stirton, 1933
- ^ a b c d e f g Maxson, 1930
- ^ a b c Alroy, 2002
Bibliography
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Further reading
[edit | edit source]- Geology of the Mint Canyon Area by William T. Holser, 1946
External links
[edit | edit source]- Geologic formations of California
- Miocene Series of North America
- Miocene California
- Langhian
- Serravallian
- Tortonian
- Barstovian
- Clarendonian
- Conglomerate formations of the United States
- Mudstone formations of the United States
- Sandstone formations of the United States
- Alluvial deposits
- Fluvial deposits
- Lacustrine deposits
- Paleontology in California
- Geology of Los Angeles County, California
- Sierra Pelona Ridge