Santa Susana Formation
Geologic formation in California, United States
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Santa Susana Formation is a Paleogene period geologic formation in the Simi Hills and western Santa Susana Mountains of southern California.[1][2][3]
| Santa Susana Formation | |
|---|---|
| Stratigraphic range: Late Paleocene-Early Eocene | |
| Type | Formation |
| Underlies | Meganos Formation |
| Overlies | Martinez Formation |
| Thickness | 1,000–1,500 ft (300–460 m) |
| Lithology | |
| Primary | Shale |
| Other | Sandstone, conglomerate |
| Location | |
| Region | Los Angeles County and Ventura County, California |
| Country | United States |
| Extent | Simi Hills, Santa Susana Mountains |
| Type section | |
| Named for | Santa Susana, California |
The formation consists largely of light-gray shale and some fine-grained shaly sandstone, with a lens of heavy conglomerates in the lower part.[1][4] Small beds of limestone are also present.[5] It is from 1,000 to 1,500 feet (300 to 460 m) thick.[1][4]
Fossil content
The Santa Susana Formation preserves fossils from the Late Paleocene to Early Eocene epochs in the Paleogene period of the Cenozoic Era.[4][6] Fossilized fauna in the Santa Susana Formation is entirely different from that of underlying Martinez Formation, and has very little in common with that of the overlying Meganos Formation.[1][3][7]
