Puente Formation

{{Short description|Geologic formation in California, United States}}

{{Infobox rockunit

| name = Puente Formation

| image =

| caption =

| type = Geological formation

| age = {{fossil range|11.6|7.3|Tortonian}}

| prilithology = Sandstone, conglomerate & mudrock

| otherlithology =

| namedfor =Puente Hills

| namedby =

| region = {{Flag|California}}

| country = {{Flag|United States}}

| coordinates =

| unitof =Los Angeles Basin

| subunits =(ascending) La Vida, Soquel, Yorba, Sycamore Canyon

| underlies =* Fernando Formation

Repetto Formation

| overlies = *El Modeno Volcanics

| thickness = About 3900 meters

| extent =

| area =

| map =

| map_caption =

|period=Tortonian}}

The Puente Formation is a geologic formation in California. It preserves fossils dating back to the middle to upper Miocene epoch of the Neogene period, most of which were deposited in a deepwater environment.{{Cite journal |last=Salvatore Critelli, Peter E. Rumelh |date=January 1994 |title=Composition and Provenance of the Puente Formation (Miocene), Los Angeles Basin |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/255135021_Composition_and_provenance_of_the_Puente_Formation_Miocene_Los_Angeles_Basin |journal=AAPG Bulletin |volume=78 |doi=10.1306/bdff9302-1718-11d7-8645000102c1865d |issn=0149-1423}} Owing to its depositional environment, it is one of the very few geologic formations to preserve articulated specimens of fossilized deep-sea anglerfish.{{Cite book |last=California Academy of Sciences |url=https://archive.org/details/occasionalpaper00calif |title=Occasional papers of the California Academy of Sciences |date=1890 |publisher=San Francisco : California Academy of Sciences |others=California Academy of Sciences}}File:Cenozoic Basin Stratigraphy.pdf of the Los Angeles Basin incl. Puente Formation]]As its name suggests, it primarily outcrops in the Puente Hills.{{Cite web |title=Geolex — Puente publications |url=https://ngmdb.usgs.gov/Geolex/UnitRefs/PuenteRefs_14192.html |access-date=2024-11-29 |website=ngmdb.usgs.gov}}

Paleoecology

The Yorba Member of the Puente Formation preserves some of the world's only known fossils of deep-sea anglerfish, most of which were discovered during the construction of a rail line. These anglerfish are assigned to several genera and species that inhabit hypoxic, upwelling-influenced subtropical and tropical environments in the eastern Pacific today, suggesting that the composition of these ecological communities has changed little in the time since the deposition of this formation. These taxa are not found off the coast of California today, suggesting that the region was much warmer and more tropical during the late Miocene. The minimum depth of this depositional environment would have been about {{Convert|1,000|m|ft}} deep.

Paleobiota

= Ray-finned fish =

Based on Fierstine et al (2012):

class="wikitable" width="100%" align="center"

!Genus

!Species

!Location

!Member

!Material

!Notes

!Images

Acentrophryne

|A. sp.

|City of Industry, Pomona Freeway Chalk Hill

|Yorba

|Articulated skeleton

|An leftvent deep-sea anglerfish.{{Cite journal |last=Carnevale |first=Giorgio |last2=Pietsch |first2=Theodore W. |date=2009-06-12 |title=The deep-sea anglerfish genus Acentrophryne (Teleostei, Ceratioidei, Linophrynidae) in the Miocene of California |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1671/039.029.0232 |journal=Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology |volume=29 |issue=2 |pages=372–378 |doi=10.1671/039.029.0232 |issn=0272-4634}}

Puente Formation

Paleoecology

Paleobiota

= Ray-finned fish =

See also

References