Stratigraphy and paleontology of the Imperial Formation in the western Colorado Desert

• Other Authors: Stump, Thomas Edward (author), Kern, John Philip, Landis, Vincent J., Frederiksen, N. O., Geological Sciences (Department)
• Format: Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: 1972
• Subjects: Paleontology; Salton Trough; Colorado Desert; Stratigraphy; Split Mountain Formation; Alverson Formation; Imperial Formation; Latrania Member; Palm Spring Formation; Burro Bend member; Invertebrata; QE90.C6 S89; Pacific; Barrett; Planktonic foraminifera
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11929/sdsu:192

Plate 1; Fauna of the Imperial Formation. Plate 2; Fauna of the Imperial Formation. Plate 3; Fauna of the Imperial Formation, in back pocket. The Imperial Formation crops out extensively in the Salton Sea trough in the western Colorado Desert. The formation is divided into the lower Latrania Member and the upper Burrobend Member. In its type section the Latrania Member consists of green micaceous sandy siltstone and shale which are laterally correlative with commercial quantities of gypsum and anhydrite. Higher in the section the member contains fine-grained calcareous sandstone and shale interbeds. The Burrobend Member consists of massive siltstone and claystone. Islands and basement ridges were present in at least two areas in the Coyote Mountains and one locality near the Fish Creek Mountains at the time of Latrania deposition. The Latrania Member contain s planktonic foraminifera of the N 19 zone, or early Pliocene, and is correlative with the abundantly megafossiliferous localities in the Coyote Mountains and Alverson and Barrett Canyons. The Burrobend Member belongs to the N 20 and N 21 zones or middle and late Pliocene and is transitional with the Blancan-aged (Plio-Pleistocene) Palm Spring Formation. The Imperial Formation and Panamic molluscan faunas are products of interoceanic interchange between the Caribbean and East Pacific. The areas of oceanic communication were across Central America and northern South America. Oceanic interchange between three areas seemingly ceased during or slightly before the early Pliocene. Two hundred species of molluscs, corals, barnacles, bryozoa, and echinoids are listed from the Imperial Formation and Caribbean cognates, or closely related species, are suggested. Faunal changes, in the form of almost complete extinctions of genera and species, occurred in the Pliocene coral and echinoid faunas as well as in certain groups of the molluscs at the Plio -Pleistocene transition. These extinctions could be related to changes in salinity or sedimentation or to the ...