Junction of the road to Old Pera and the Bowden Wharf: Late Pliocene, Jamaica

List of taxa
Where & when
Geology
Taphonomy & methods
Metadata & references
Taxonomic list
Malacostraca - Decapoda - Xanthidae
Micropanope cf. spinipes Milne-Edwards 1988
Malacostraca - Decapoda - Panopeidae
Tetraxanthus sp. Rathbun 1898
listed in Collins and Portell, 1998 as aff. Eurypoda sp.
Panopeus herbstii Edwards 1834
unclassified
Malacostraca - Decapoda - Panopeidae
Eurypanopeus sp. Milne-Edwards 1880
Malacostraca - Decapoda - Parthenopidae
Platylambrus sp. Stimpson 1871
Malacostraca - Decapoda - Geryonidae
Ovalipes sp. Rathbun 1898
Malacostraca - Decapoda - Portunidae
Portunus sp. Weber 1795
Malacostraca - Decapoda - Epialtidae
Pitho sp. Bell 1836
Rochinia sp. Milne Edwards 1875
Malacostraca - Decapoda - Oregoniidae
Hyas sp. Leach 1814
Malacostraca - Decapoda - Cancridae
Malacostraca - Decapoda - Leucosiidae
Persephona aff. punctata (Linnaeus 1758)
Malacostraca - Decapoda - Pilumnidae
Malacostraca - Decapoda - Eriphiidae
Eriphia sp. Latreille 1817
Malacostraca - Decapoda - Aethridae
Hepatus sp. Latreille 1802
Malacostraca - Decapoda - Calappidae
Malacostraca - Decapoda - Diogenidae
Paguristes sp. Dana 1851
unclassified
see common names

Geography
Country:Jamaica County:St. Thomas
Coordinates: 17.9° North, 76.3° West (view map)
Paleocoordinates:
Basis of coordinate:estimated from map
Time
Period: Neogene Epoch: Pliocene
Stage: Piacenzian 10 m.y. bin: Cenozoic 6
Key time interval: Late Pliocene
Age range of interval: 3.6 - 2.58 m.y. ago
Stratigraphy
Geological group:Lower Coastal Formation:Bowden Member:Shell Bed
Stratigraphy comments: North of Bowden, the Bowden Member (or formation) rests unconformably on the August Town Formation and is overlain disconformably by the Old Pera Formation (previously the Old Pera Beds of the Manchioneal Formation). Thickness: The Bowden Formation is 150 m thick, with the Bowden Shell Bed being about 5 m thick, and unit 2 being about 1.47 m thick. (Pickerill et al., 1998; James-Williamson and Mitchell, 2012).
Lithology and environment
Primary lithology:pebbly conglomeratic conglomerate
Secondary lithology:medium,coarse calcareous sandstone
Lithology description: The fossils were found in unit 2 of the 4-unit Bowden Shell Formation. The Bowden Shell Formation is itself one of the three lithofacies of the whole formation (conglomerate/sandstone facies). Clasts in the conglomerate layers comprise variably-sized shells, mainly molluscs, and sporadically distributed, well-rounded lithic pebbles and cobbles ranging up to 12 cm in diameter. The latter are of variable composition, and include siltstone, rhyolite, basalt and andesite; smaller pebbles also include quartz and chert (Palmer, 1945). Sorting is extremely poor. Shells are typically highly leached, and may be complete, broken, articulated or disarticulated and exhibit considerable size variation for individual species. Disarticulated valves of bivalve molluscs are preserved in all orientations from bedding parallel (both concave up and concave down) to perpendicular to bedding. Some of the larger, disarticulated valves are complete, but shattered by a pattern of cross-cutting fractures. Articulated shells may be 'empty', that is, not infilled by sediment. Carbonized wood fragments are also common. The conglomerate matrix comprises medium- to coarse-grained calcareous sandstone that is composed of bioclastic and siliciclastic grains of similar composition to the clast component. The internal texture of single conglomerate layers is heterogeneous with matrix- and clast-supported fabrics being variably developed both vertically and laterally. (Palmer, 1945; Pickerill et al., 1998).
Environment:submarine fan
Geology comments: There are three lithofacies in the Bowden Formation. The Bowden Shell Bed comprises the conglomerate/sandstone facies. Most conglomerate and calcareous siliciclastic/bioclastic sandstone layers exhibit evidence of deposition from sediment gravity flows. The presence of tractional features in several units and erosional bases in several others suggests deposition from high density, decelerating turbidity currents. No layers exhibit evidence of reworking by either fair weather or storm wave activity, suggesting that they were deposited in relatively deep water below storm wave base (>100 m). This would signify a submarine fan depositional environment. (Pickerill et al., 1998).
Taphonomy
Modes of preservation:body
Size of fossils:macrofossils
Collection methods and comments
Reason for describing collection:taxonomic analysis
Metadata
Database number:228744
Authorizer:J. Wolfe Enterer:A. Lynch
Created:2023-01-01 14:54:00 Last modified:2025-02-22 15:12:02
Access level:the public Released:2023-01-01 14:54:00
Creative Commons license:CC0
Reference information

Primary reference:
83545. J. S. H. Collins and R. W. Portell. 1998. Decapod, stomatopod and cirripede Crustacea from the Pliocene Bowden shell bed, St Thomas parish, Jamaica. Mededelingen van de Werkgroep voor Tertiaire en Kwartaire Geologie 35(1/4):113-127 [J. Wolfe/A. Lynch]