Table of Formations
This table of formations exposed in the Death Valley area lists and describes the exposed formations of the Death Valley National Park and the surrounding area.
| System | Series | Formation | Lithology and thickness | Characteristic fossils |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quaternary | Holocene | Fan gravel; silt and salt on floor of playa, less than 100 feet (30 m) thick. | None | |
| Pleistocene | Fan gravel; silt and salt buried under floor of playa; perhaps 2,000 feet (600 m) thick. | |||
| Funeral fanglomerate | Cemented fan gravel with interbedded basaltic lavas, gravels cut by veins of calcite (Mexican onyx); perhaps 1,000 feet (300 m) thick. | Diatoms, pollen. | ||
| Tertiary | Pliocene | Furnace Creek Formation | Cemented gravel, silty and saliferous playa deposits; various salts, especially borates, more than 5,000 feet (1,500 m) thick. | Scarce. |
| Miocene | Artist Drive Formation | Cemented gravel; playa deposits, much volcanic debris, perhaps 5,000 feet (1,500 m) thick. | Scarce. | |
| Oligocene | Titus Canyon Formation | Cemented gravel; mostly stream deposits; 3,000 feet (900 m) thick. | Vertebrates, titanotheres, etc. | |
| Eocene and Paleocene | Granitic intrusions and volcanics, not known to be represented by sedimentary deposits. | |||
| Cretaceous and Jurassic | Not represented, area was being eroded. | |||
| Triassic | Butte Valley Formation of Johnson (1957) | Exposed in Butte Valley 1 mile (1.6 km) south of this area; 8,000 feet (2,400 m) of metasediments and volcanics. | Ammonites, smooth-shelled brachiopods, belemnites, and hexacorals. | |
| Pennsylvanian and Permian | Formations at east foot of Tucki Mountain | Conglomerate, limestone, and some shale. Conglomerate contains cobbles of limestone of Mississippian, Pennsylvanian, and Permian age. Limestone and shale contain spherical chert nodules. Abundant fusulinids. Thickness uncertain on account of faulting; estimate 3,000 feet (900 m), top eroded. | Beds with fusulinids, especially Fusulinella | |
| Carboniferous | Mississippian and Pennsylvanian | Rest Spring Shale | Mostly shale, some limestone, abundant spherical chert nodules. Thickness uncertain because of faulting; estimate 750 feet (230 m). | None. |
| Mississippian | Tin Mountain Limestone and younger limestone | Mapped as 1 unit. Tin Mountain Limestone 1,000 feet (300 m) thick, is black with thin-bedded lower member and thick-bedded upper member. Unnamed limestone formation, 725 feet (221 m) thick, consists of interbedded chert and limestone in thin beds and in about equal proportions. | Mixed brachiopods, corals, and crinoid stems. Syringopora (open-spaced colonies) Caninia cf. C. cornicula. | |
| Devonian | Middle and Upper Devonian | Lost Burro Formation | Limestone in light and dark beds 1 to 10 feet (0.30 to 3.0 m) thick give striped effect on mountainsides. Two quartzite beds, each about 3 feet (0.91 m) thick, near base, numerous sandstone beds 800 to 1,000 feet (240 to 300 m) above base. Top 200 feet (60 m) is well-bedded limestone and quartzite. Total thickness uncertain because of faulting; estimated 2,000 feet (600 m). | Brachiopods abundant, especially Spirifer, Cyrtospirifer, Productilla, Carmarotoechia, Atrypa. Stromatoporoids. Syringopora (closely spaced colonies). |
| Silurian and Devonian | Silurian and Lower Devonian | Hidden Valley Dolomite | Thick-bedded, fine-grained, and even-grained dolomite, mostly light color. Thickness 300 to 1,400 feet (90 to 430 m). | Crinoid stems abundant, Including large types. Favosites. |
| Ordovician | Upper Ordovician | Ely Springs Dolomite | Massive black dolomite, 400 to 800 feet (120 to 240 m) thick. | Streptelasmatid corals: Grewingkia, Bighornia. Brachiopods. |
| Middle and Upper (?) Ordovician | Eureka Quartzite | Massive quartzite, with thin-bedded quartzite at base and top, 350 feet (110 m) thick. | None | |
| Lower and Middle Ordovician | Pogonip Group | Dolomite, with some limestone, at base, shale unit in middle, massive dolomite at top. Thickness, 1,500 feet (460 m). | Abundant large gastropods in massive dolomite at top: Palliseria and Maclurites, associated with Receptaculites. In lower beds: Protopliomerops, Kirkella, Orthid brachiopods. | |
| Cambrian | Upper Cambrian | Nopah Formation | Highly fossiliferous shale member 100 feet (30 m) thick at base, upper 1,200 feet (370 m) is dolomite in thick alternating black and light hands about 100 feet (30 m) thick. Total thickness of formation 1,200 to 1,500 feet (370 to 460 m). | In upper part, gastropods. In basal 100 feet (30 m), trilobite trash beds containing Elburgis, Pseudagnostus, Horriagnostris, Elvinia, Apsotreta. |
| Middle and Upper Cambrian | Bonanza King Formation | Mostly thick-bedded arid massive dark-colored dolomite, thin-bedded limestone member 500 feet (150 m) thick 1,000 feet (300 m) below top of formation, 2 brown-weathering shaIy units, upper one fossiliferous, Total thickness Uncertain because of faulting; estimated about 3,000 feet (900 m) in Panamint Range, 2,000 feet (600 m) in Funeral Mountains. | The only fossiliferous bed is shale below limestone member neat middle of formation. This shale contains linguloid brachiopods and trilobite trash beds with fragments of "Ehmaniella." | |
| Lower and Middle Cambrian | Carrara Formation | An alternation of shaly and silty members with limestone members transitional between underlying clastic formations and overlying carbonate ones. Thickness about 1,000 feet (300 m) but variable because of shearing. | Numerous trilobite trash beds in lower part yield fragments of olenellid trilobites. | |
| Lower Cambrian | Zabriskie Quartzite | Quartzite, mostly massive arid granulated due to shearing, locally it) beds 6 inches (15 cm) to 2 feet (0.61 m) thick. Thickness more than 150 feet (46 m), variable because of shearing. | No fossils. | |
| Lower Cambrian and Lower Cambrian (?) | Wood Canyon Formation | Basal unit is well-bedded quartzite above 1,650 feet (500 m) thick ' shaly Unit above this 520 feet (160 m) thick contains lowest olenellids in section; top unit of dolomite and quartzite 400 feet (120 m) thick. | A few scattered olenellid trilobites and archaeocyathids in upper part of formation. Scolithus? tubes. | |
| Stirling Quartzite | Well-bedded quartzite in beds 1 to 5 feet (0.30 to 1.5 m) thick comprising thick members of quartzite 700 to 800 feet (210 to 240 m) thick separated by 500 feet (150 m) of purple shale, crossbedding conspicuous in quartzite. Maximum thickness about 2,000 feet (600 m). | None. | ||
| Johnnie Formation | Mostly shale, in part olive brown, in part purple. Basal member 400 feet (120 m) thick is interbedded dolomite arid quartzite with pebble conglomerate. Locally, fair dolomite near middle arid at top. Thickness more than 4,000 feet (1,200 m). | None. | ||
| Precambrian | Noonday Dolomite | In southern Panamint Range, dolomite in Indistinct beds; lower part cream colored, upper part gray. Thickness 800 feet (240 m). Farther north, where mapped as Noonday(?) Dolomite, contains much limestone, tan and white, and some limestone conglomerate. Thickness about 1,000 feet (300 m). | Scolithus? tubes. | |
| Unconformity | ||||
| Kingston Peak(?) Formation | Mostly conglomerate, quartzite, and shale; some limestone arid dolomite near middle. At least 3,000 feet (900 m) thick. Although tentatively assigned to Kingston Peak Formation, similar rocks along west side of Panamint Range have been identified as Kingston Peak. | None. | ||
| Beck Spring Dolomite | Not mapped; outcrops are to the west. Blue-gray cherry dolomite, thickness estimated about 500 feet (150 m) Identification uncertain. | None. | ||
| Pahrump Series | Crystal Spring Formation | Recognized only in Galena Canyon and south. Total thickness about 2,000 feet (600 m). Consists of basal conglomerate overlain by quartzite that grades upward into purple shale arid thinly bedded dolomite, upper part, thick bedded dolomite, diabase, and chert. Talc deposits where diabase intrudes dolomite. | None. | |
| Unconformity | ||||
| Rocks of the crystalline basement | Metasedimentary rocks with granitic intrusions. | None. |
Read more about this topic: Geology Of The Death Valley Area
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