Overhead dangling fossilized whale spine in Purisima Formation, R. Forest
Taphonomic Stratigraphy
Taphonomy: “The Laws of Burial”
The study of the incorporation of living things into the sedimentary record
The study of decomposition and transformation of biologic material (plants and animals) to fossilization (mineral/petrologic state)
Taphonomic Stratigraphy describes an assemblage of fossilized bones and specimens in a sedimentary depositional setting, which can aid in relative aging of the geologic surroundings; and help determine past environmental conditions
Taphonomic patterns within stratigraphic sequences aid in the study and aging of fossil flora and fauna, as well as historic biogeography, and extinction events
(Definition references are listed at the bottom of the Geomorphology Word of the Day home page)
Where in California: (Just to name a few sites)
Rancho La Brea/La Brea Tar Pits: The largest and most diverse depositional assemblage of Pleistocene fossils on earth is found in Los Angeles, CA at the Rancho La Brea Tar Pits. Fossil specimens at La Brea are subsumed within an unusual fluid sedimentary depositional environment, which disarticulates, mixes, and moves the biologic material within the taphonomic sequences, emplacing fossiliferous facies that defy the stratigraphic laws of superposition. Due to the immensity of the fossil flora and fauna discovered at this site, the Rancholabrean Provincial Land Mammal Age was selected as the standard to which all other North American late Pleistocene faunas are compared.
Purisima Formation: An extensive coastal sedimentary deposit of shallow marine origins, containing prevalent marine fossil assemblages. The Purisima Formation is of late Miocene to middle Pliocene age, found throughout central California, outcropping in coastal cliffs and within the central Coast Range west of the San Andreas Fault. The type locality for the Purisima Formation is near Purisima Creek in San Mateo County.
Barstow Formation: subdivided by tectonic faulting within an extensional basin in the Mojave region of the Basin and Range geomorphic province, the Barstow Formation preserves a taphonomic assemblage of continental fossil fauna and past sedimentary environments. Dating from the middle Miocene, the type fauna of the Barstovian North American Land Mammal Age is documented from the type locality of the Barstow Formation in the Mud Hills near Barstow, California.
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