Felton (Scotts Valley - Purisima Formation) (Miocene to of the United States)

Also known as Purisima Formation - Scotts Valley, Felton, Santa Cruz

Where: Santa Cruz County, California (37.0° N, 122.0° W)

• coordinate based on nearby landmark

• outcrop-level geographic resolution

When: Purisima Formation, Late/Upper Miocene to Late/Upper Miocene (11.6 - 3.6 Ma)

• From lower 60 m. Purisima Formation in its type area is as much as 1725 m thick; Diatom floras in Purisima Fm are diagnostic of a late Miocene and early Pliocene age.

• bed-level stratigraphic resolution

Environment/lithology: offshore; poorly lithified, diatomaceous, tuffaceous, gray, yellow siltstone and gray, blue sandstone

• Upper Miocene to Pliocene sedimentary sequence consisting of shallow water transgressive sandstone (Santa Margarita Sandstone), and the deep water siliceous organic mudstone unit (Santa Cruz Mudstone) and a shallow water unit (Purisima Fm)
• Very thick-bedded yellowish-gray tuffaceous and diaotomaceous siltstone with thick interbeds of bluish-gray semifriable andesitic sandstone.

Size class: macrofossils

Reposited in the UMMP

Collection methods: quarrying,

• Also collections at USGS, Menlo Park

Primary reference: J. C. Clark. 1981. Stratigraphy, paleontology, and geology of the Central Santa Cruz Mountains, California Coast Ranges. United States Geological Survey Professional Paper 1168:1-51 [A. Miller/A. Hendy/R. McClees-Funinan]more details

Purpose of describing collection: biostratigraphic analysis

PaleoDB collection 37551: authorized by Austin Hendy, entered by Austin Hendy on 16.03.2004

Creative Commons license: CC0 (CC0)

Taxonomic list

• Representative for molluscan, echinoid and cirriped taxa; does not include mentioned foraminifera
Bivalvia
 Nuculida - Nuculidae
Acila (Truncacila) castrensis Hinds 1843 divaricate nutclam
 Nuculanida - Yoldiidae
Yoldia sp. Möller 1842 clam
 Pectinida - Pectinoidae
"? Chlamys hericius" = Chlamys hastata
"? Chlamys hericius" = Chlamys hastata Sowerby 1842 spear scallop
 Cardiida - Tellinidae
Macoma sp. Leach 1819 tellin clam
 Lucinida - Lucinidae
"Lucinoma cf. annulata" = Lucinoma annulatum
"Lucinoma cf. annulata" = Lucinoma annulatum Reeve 1850 ringed lucine
Gastropoda
  - Neptuneidae
Neptunea (Sulcosipho) tabulata Baird 1863 tabled whelk
 Neotaenioglossa - Calyptraeidae
Crepidula cf. onyx Sowerby 1824 onyx slippersnail
 Neogastropoda - Muricidae
"Forreria coalingensis" = Forreria coalingense
"Forreria coalingensis" = Forreria coalingense Arnold 1909 murex snail