USGS 17537 - Naha Limestone, Ryukyu Group, Okinawa: Late/Upper Pliocene, Japan

List of taxa
Where & when
Geology
Taphonomy & methods
Metadata & references
Taxonomic list
Gastropoda - Lepetellida - Haliotidae
Haliotis cf. diversicolor
Gastropoda - Naticidae
Naticarius cf. andoi
    = Tanea undulata Röding 1798
Majima 1989
Gastropoda - Strombidae
Strombus aff. gibberulus Linnaeus 1758
recombined as Strombus (Gibberulus) gibberulus
see common names

Geography
Country:Japan State/province:Okinawa
Coordinates: 26.4° North, 127.7° East (view map)
Paleocoordinates:26.6° North, 127.3° East
Basis of coordinate:estimated from map
Geographic resolution:outcrop
Time
Period:Neogene Epoch:Pliocene
Stage:Piacenzian 10 m.y. bin:Cenozoic 6
Key time interval:Late/Upper Pliocene
Age range of interval:3.60000 - 2.58000 m.y. ago
Stratigraphy
Geological group:Ryukyu Member:Naha Limestone
Local section:Higashionna
Regional section:Okinawa
Stratigraphic resolution:bed
Stratigraphy comments: The lower part of the Riukiu Limestone is called the Naha Limestone. It is of Pliocene age and is seperated from the overlying Yontan Limestone (Pleistocene) by an erosional boundary. The Naha Limestone is not a homogeneous lithologic unit. Most of it is poorly indurated medium to coarse grained lime sand, but other parts of it range from a powdery limestone to a dense nonporous limestone. It ranges in color from nearly white to brownish yellow.
Lithology and environment
Primary lithology:brown,white poorly lithified calcareous grainstone
Secondary lithology:brown,white poorly lithified "limestone"
Includes fossils?Y
Includes fossils?Y
Lithology description: Poorly indurated medium to coarse grained lime sand, but other parts of it range from a powdery limestone to a dense nonporous limestone. It ranges in color from nearly white to brownish yellow.
Environment:lagoonal/restricted shallow subtidal
Glacial or sequence phase:transgressive
Geology comments: Probably is a reef limestone, but only coral rich in a few places. It is presumed that the Naha Limestone is a detrital lagoon deposit or a reef detritus deposited on an insular shelf. The lower part is more widespread that the upper part, probably reflecting erosion during deposition of the Yontan Limestone. The highest beds are less conglomeratic and generally contain abundant algal nodules.
Taphonomy
Modes of preservation:body,original aragonite
Size of fossils:macrofossils
Collection methods and comments
Collection methods:selective quarrying,field collection
Reason for describing collection:taxonomic analysis
Collection method comments: Collections held in USNM and UGSG repositories.
Taxonomic list comments:Exhaustive for gastropoda. No bivalves.
Metadata
Also known as:WF 267
Database number:42296
Authorizer:A. Hendy Enterer:A. Hendy
Modifier:A. Hendy Research group:marine invertebrate
Created:2004-07-27 13:11:51 Last modified:2013-11-25 13:37:23
Access level:the public Released:2004-07-27 13:11:51
Creative Commons license:CC BY
Reference information

Primary reference:
7337. F. S. MacNeil. 1960. Tertiary and Quaternary Gastropoda of Okinawa: A comparison of the late Miocene, Pliocene, and Pleistocene Gastropoda of Okinawa with related faunas of East Asia together with a resume of the geological setting of the fossiliferous deposits. United States Geological Survey Professional Paper 339:1-148 [A. Miller/C. Ferguson/P. Wagner]

Secondary references:

26376 R. Majima. 1989. Cenozoic fossil Naticidae (Mollusca: Gastropoda) in Japan. Bulletins of American Paleontology 96(331):1-159 [A. Hendy/A. Hendy]