Blockhouse Slide, Gay Head, sample R1267 (Miocene of the United States)

Where: Dukes County, Massachusetts (41.4° N, 70.8° W: paleocoordinates 41.5° N, 67.7° W)

• coordinate stated in text

When: Miocene (23.0 - 5.3 Ma)

• Frederiksen (1984): 'Kaye et al. (1979), on the basis of vertebrates, concluded that the greensand at Gay Head is early middle Miocene in age.'

Environment/lithology: marine; glauconitic, pebbly, phosphatic, shelly/skeletal, brown, green sandstone

• Greensand. Green, weathering brown, very glauconitic, phosphatic, shelly, pebbly sand.

Size class: microfossils

Preservation: original sporopollenin

Collected by C. A. Kaye; reposited in the USGS

Collection methods: bulk, chemical, hydrochloric, hydroflouric,

• Stored at the U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, Va.

Primary reference: N. O. Frederiksen. 1984. Stratigraphic, Paleoclimatic, and Paleobiogeographic Significance of Tertiary Sporomorphs from Massachusetts. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1308:1-35 [P. Jardine/H. Morck/H. Morck]more details

Purpose of describing collection: biostratigraphic analysis

PaleoDB collection 231784: authorized by Phillip Jardine, entered by Hannah Morck on 08.09.2023

Creative Commons license: CC BY (attribution)

Taxonomic list

• Vertebrates, crustaceans and mollusks are present, but not included in the list.
Show authors, comments, and common names
unclassified
  -
"Taxodiaceae-Cupressaceae-Taxaceae" indet., "Ulmus/Zelkova" spp., "Sparganium/Typha" spp., "Pterocarya type" sp., "Gleicheniidites/Neogenisporis" sp., "Chenopodiaceae-Amaranthaceae" indet.
"Gleicheniidites/Neogenisporis" sp.
probably Miocene but possibly reworked from the Eocene
"Chenopodiaceae-Amaranthaceae" indet.
occurrence denoted by a question mark
Polypodiopsida
  - Osmundaceae
Osmunda sp.
Osmunda sp. Linnaeus 1753
  - Gleicheniaceae
Gleicheniidites sp.
Gleicheniidites sp. Dettmann 1963
occurrence denoted by a question mark
Sphagnum
  - Sphagnaceae
Sphagnum sp.
Sphagnum sp. Linnaeus 1753 peat moss
Lycopodiopsida
 Lycopodiales - Lycopodiaceae
Lycopodium sp.
Lycopodium sp. Linnaeus 1753 ground pine
Angiospermae
 Fagales - Fagaceae
Castanea sp., Quercus sp., Fagus sp.
Castanea sp. Miller 1754 chestnut
Quercus sp. Linnaeus 1753 oak
Fagus sp. Linnaeus 1753 beech
 Fagales - Juglandaceae
Carya sp., Momipites "spackmanianus complex"
Carya sp. Nuttall 1818 hickory
Momipites "spackmanianus complex" Wodehouse 1933
occurrence denoted by a question mark
 Fagales - Myricaceae
Myrica sp.
Myrica sp. Linnaeus 1753 bayberry
 Fagales - Betulaceae
Alnus sp., Betula sp.
Alnus sp. Miller 1754 alder
Betula sp. Linnaeus 1753 birch
Dicotyledoneae
 Ericales - Ericaceae
Ericaceae indet.
Ericaceae indet. Jussieu 1789 heather
Angiospermae
 Asterales - Asteraceae
"Compositae "short spine"" = Asteraceae, "Compositae "long spine"" = Asteraceae
"Compositae "short spine"" = Asteraceae Berchtold and Presl 1820 daisy
"Compositae "long spine"" = Asteraceae Berchtold and Presl 1820 daisy
 Aquifoliales - Aquifoliaceae
Ilex sp.
Ilex sp. Linnaeus 1753 holly
 Cornales - Cornaceae
Cornaceae indet.
Cornaceae indet. Dumortier 1825
occurrence denoted by a question mark
 Cornales - Nyssaceae
Nyssa sp.
Nyssa sp. Linnaeus 1753 tupelo
 Saxifragales - Haloragaceae
Myriophyllum sp.
Myriophyllum sp. Linnaeus 1753 water milfoil
 Saxifragales - Hamamelidaceae
Liquidambar sp.
Liquidambar sp. Linnaeus 1753 sweetgum
 Poales - Poaceae
"Gramineae indet." = Poaceae
"Gramineae indet." = Poaceae Barnhart 1895 true grass
 Poales - Cyperaceae
Cyperaceae indet.
Cyperaceae indet. Jussieu 1789 sedge
occurrence denoted by a question mark
 Coniferales - Podocarpaceae
Podocarpus sp.
Podocarpus sp. L'Heritier and Persoon 1807 podocarp
Pinopsida
 Pinales - Sciadopityaceae
Sciadopitys sp.
Sciadopitys sp. Siebold and Zuccarini 1842
 Pinales - Pinaceae
Pinus sp., Larix sp., Picea sp., Abies sp., Tsuga sp.
Pinus sp. Linnaeus 1753 pine
Larix sp. Miller 1768 larch
occurrence denoted by a question mark
Picea sp. Dietrich 1824 spruce
Abies sp. Miller 1754 fir
occurrence denoted by a question mark
Tsuga sp. Carrière 1855