Mule Spring Limestone
American geologic formation
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The Mule Spring Limestone is a geologic formation in the Saline Range of eastern California and Split Mountain and Goldfield Hills of Nevada.
- Monola Formation (Saline Range)
- Emigrant Formation (Split Mountain)
- Saline Valley Formation (Saline Range)
- Harkless Formation (Split Mountain)
| Mule Spring Limestone | |
|---|---|
| Stratigraphic range: [1] | |
| Type | Formation |
| Underlies |
|
| Overlies |
|
| Thickness | 0–1,000 feet (0–305 m)[1] |
| Lithology | |
| Primary | Limestone |
| Other | Siltstone, Shale, |
| Location | |
| Region | Mojave Desert, California, Nevada |
| Country | United States |
It is also to be found in the Inyo Mountains and White Mountains.
It preserves fossils, such as trilobites, and algal structures like Girvanella, dating back to the Cambrian period.[2][1]
Geology
The Mule Spring Limestone, as its name suggests, is mainly composed of limestone rocks. These rocks are medium-gray to light-medium-gray, as well as very fine to fine crystalline, and is thin to very thin-bedded in most areas. In the lower sections of the formation, there are also occasional layers, up to 500 ft (150 m) thick, of pale-yellowish-brown or greenish-gray shale, limy siltstone and silty limestone.[1] In the Split Mountain, the formation overlies the Harkless Formation and underlies the Emigrant Formation,[1][3] whilst in other areas it overlies the Saline Valley Formation and underlies the Monola Formation.[1]
Paleobiota
The Mule Spring Limestone contains examples of Archaeocyatha, a clade of sponges that went extinct during this time,[4] as well as a collection of trilobites.[2][1]
Color key
|
Notes Uncertain or tentative taxa are in small text; |
Arthropoda
| Genus | Species | Notes | Images |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bristolia[1][2][5][3] |
|
Biceratopsid trilobites. |  |
| Peachella[1][2][5] |
|
Biceratopsid trilobite. | |
| Mesonacis[2] |
|
Olenellid trilobite. Mesonacis sp. previously described as Fremontia sp. which was later synonymised into Mesonacis.[1] |  |
| Olenellus[2][5][6][3] |
|
Olenellid trilobite. Olenellus sp. previously described as Paedumias sp. which was later synonymised into Olenellus.[1] | |
| Onchocephalus[2][5] |
|
Ptychoparid trilobite. | |
| Ptychoparioid[2][6][3] |
|
Ptychoparid trilobites. | |
| Bonnia[1][2][5][3] |
|
Dorypygid trilobite. | |
| Crassifimbra[3] |
|
Trilobite, family unknown. | |
Porifera (Sponges)
| Genus | Species | Notes | Images |
|---|---|---|---|
| Archaeocyathus[4] |
|
Archaeocyathide sponge. |  |
Flora
| Genus | Species | Notes | Images |
|---|---|---|---|
| Girvanella[1] |
|
Cyanobacteria structures. | |
