Ponce Limestone
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Ponce Limestone is a geologic formation in Puerto Rico. It preserves fossils dating back to the Neogene period[3] (20.45 million years ago (Mya).
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| Ponce Limestone | |
|---|---|
| Stratigraphic range: Neogene ~ | |
Ponce Limestone, near Río Pastillo, Bo. Canas, Ponce, Puerto Rico, looking southwest from INT PR-163 and PR-500 | |
| Type | Formation |
| Lithology | |
| Primary | Limestone |
| Other | Carbonate,[1] Clastic facies,[2] Chalk, Marl, Shale Phosphate |
| Location | |
| Coordinates | 18.007°N 66.661°W |
| Approximate paleocoordinates | 18.0°N 66.6°W |
| Region | Caribbean |
| Country | Puerto Rico |
| Type section | |
| Named for | Ponce, Puerto Rico |
| Named by | Watson H. Monroe |
  Ponce Limestone (Puerto Rico) | |
Description
Ponce Limestone includes beds of brown clay and has a maximum estimated thickness of 850 meters.[4] It consists mostly of yellowish-orange, soft to moderately hard, fossiliferous limestone and appears almost continuously as a narrow band extending from Bahía Montalva in Patillas to Río Pastillo, in Barrio Canas.[5]
Deposits
Exposed in the Ponce, Río Descalabrado, Punta Cucharas, Yauco, Punta Verraco, Guanica, La Parguera, San German, and Cabo Rojo quadrangles of the United States Geological Survey maps.[6]
Fossil content
Various fossils have been found in the Ponce Limestone: molds of gastropods, pelecypods, coral heads, and large foraminifera are indicative of deposition in shallow-water lagoon and back-reef environments. The large foraminifera, Lepidocyclina undosa and the ahermatypic “deep sea” coral Flabellum are reported within the Ponce Limestone.[7]
