Barstow Formation

Barstow Formation
Barstow Formation
Stratigraphic range: Early to Middle Miocene (Barstovian); ~
	Barstow Formation exposed in Owl Canyon near Barstow, California.
Type	Sedimentary
Lithology
Primary	limestone, shale, siltstone, sandstone, tuff
Other	conglomerate
Location
Region	Mojave Desert,; California
Country	United States
Extent	Northern San Bernardino County, Southeastern California
Type section
Named for	Barstow, California
Named by	Hershey (1902)

The Barstow Formation is a series of limestones, conglomerates, sandstones, siltstones and shales exposed in the Mojave Desert near Barstow in San Bernardino County, California.^[1]^[2]

It is of the early to middle Miocene epoch, (19.3 - 13.4 million years ago) in age, in the Neogene Period.^[3] It lends its name to the Barstovian North American land mammal age (NALMA).

The sediments are fluvial and lacustrine in origin except for nine layers of rhyolitic tuff.^[3] It is well known for its abundant vertebrate fossils including bones, teeth and footprints.^[4] The formation is also renowned for the fossiliferous concretions in its upper member, which contain three-dimensionally preserved arthropods.

^ Dibblee, T.W., Jr. (1967). Areal Geology of the Western Mojave Desert, California. Geological Survey Professional Paper no. 522. United States Government Printing Office, Washington D.C.
^ Dibblee, T.W., Jr. (1968). Geology of the Fremont Peak and Opal Mountain Quadrangles, California. California Division of Mines and Geology, San Francisco.
^ ^a ^b Woodburne, M.O., Tedford, R.H., Swisher III, C.C. (1990). Lithostratigraphy, biostratigraphy, and geochronology of the Barstow Formation, Mojave Desert, southern California: Geological Society of America Bulletin, Vol. 102, p. 459-477.
^ Lindsay, E.H. (1972). Small Mammal Fossils from the Barstow Formation, California. University of California Publications in Geological Sciences, Vol. 93. University of California Press, Berkeley.

[Dibblee1967-1] Dibblee, T.W., Jr. (1967). Areal Geology of the Western Mojave Desert, California. Geological Survey Professional Paper no. 522. United States Government Printing Office, Washington D.C.

[Dibblee1968-2] Dibblee, T.W., Jr. (1968). Geology of the Fremont Peak and Opal Mountain Quadrangles, California. California Division of Mines and Geology, San Francisco.

[Woodburne1990-3] Woodburne, M.O., Tedford, R.H., Swisher III, C.C. (1990). Lithostratigraphy, biostratigraphy, and geochronology of the Barstow Formation, Mojave Desert, southern California: Geological Society of America Bulletin, Vol. 102, p. 459-477.

[Lindsay1972-4] Lindsay, E.H. (1972). Small Mammal Fossils from the Barstow Formation, California. University of California Publications in Geological Sciences, Vol. 93. University of California Press, Berkeley.

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