La Toca Formation

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
La Toca Formation
Stratigraphic range: Burdigalian-Langhian (Hemingfordian)
~20–14 Ma
TypeFormation
Underlies,
Overlies
Lithology
PrimarySandstone, marl, conglomerate, breccia
OtherDominican amber
Location
Coordinates19°12′N 69°18′W / 19.2°N 69.3°W / 19.2; -69.3Coordinates: 19°12′N 69°18′W / 19.2°N 69.3°W / 19.2; -69.3
Approximate paleocoordinates19°00′N 68°06′W / 19.0°N 68.1°W / 19.0; -68.1
RegionDuarte, Hermanas Mirabal, Puerto Plata Province, Samaná Province & La Vega Provinces
Country Dominican Republic
ExtentCordillera Septentrional, Cordillera Central
Type section
Named forLa Toca mine
Named byRedmond
Year defined1982
La Toca Formation is located in the Dominican Republic
La Toca Formation
La Toca Formation
La Toca Formation
La Toca Formation
La Toca Formation (the Dominican Republic)

The La Toca Formation is a geologic formation in the northern and eastern part of the Dominican Republic. The formation, predominantly an alternating sequence of marls and turbiditic sandstones, breccias and conglomerates, is renowned for the preservation of insects and other arthropods in amber, known as Dominican amber. The formation is dated to the Burdigalian to Langhian stages of the Miocene period (Hemingfordian in the NALMA classification).[1]

Description[]

Geologic map of Hispaniola. La Toca Formation forms part of the brown-colored areas in the north and northeast of the island, indicated by uT. The black triangles indicate the Late Eocene Hatillo thrust fault.

La Toca Formation was first defined by Redmond in 1982.[2] The formation mainly consists of marls and turbiditic sandstones and conglomerates deposited in the northeastern part of Hispaniola.[3] The formation overlies the and is overlain by the and in places by the .[4] It is laterally and time-equivalent with the and and the Agua Clara Unit.[5]

Esperanza

In the vicinity of Esperanza,[6] La Toca Formation is cropping out in the northeast of the geologic map, while it is also present in the neighboring municipalities of Imbert and San Francisco Arriba. The formation in this area comprises rhythmic alternations of ochre fine-to-medium-grained, locally grading to course-grained sandstones and greyish clayey and ochre marls. This succession is locally cut by meters thick microconglomerates and conglomerates with rounded and subrounded clasts. Analysis of the clasts in San Francisco Arriba shows the clasts consist of up to ten percent of volcanic rock fragments, mainly limestone fragments (23-42%), quartz (8-33%), chert of up to five percent and minor metamorphic rock fragments. The matrix which comprises about a quarter of the volume is micritic.

The formation is in this area poor in microfossils, although foraminifera of , Globigerinoides trilobus, Globigerina sp., Globorotalia sp., Cibicides sp., , , ?Cassidulina sp. and Pirgo sp. have been found in the succession.[6]

Turbidite deposition moved to the northeast during the Miocene.[7]

Tectonics and depositional environment[]

The turbidites of La Toca Formation were deposited at the base of slope

La Toca Formation is in places inverted and put in contact with the along the .[8] The bounds the formation to the south.[9]

Individual outcrops[]

The formation crops out in the provinces Puerto Plata and Hermanas Mirabal.[10][11][12]

Puerto Plata

In Puerto Plata Province, two sections of La Toca Formation are visible. The type section along the shows volcaniclastic breccias with clasts originating from the . The breccias are poorly stratified and contain angular clasts of vesicular basalts and andesites, polymictic conglomerates of various provenance and chlorite-rich feldspathic arenites. This sequence is overlain by bluish-grey marls and black silty shales with conglomeratic intercalactions.[10]

A second outcrop in Puerto Plata shows a less typical debris flow setting, with a varied sedimentological character.[11]

Hermanas Mirabal

The section of La Toca Formation in Hermanas Mirabal Province displays a thick series of matrix supported conglomerates. The clasts of these massively bedded conglomerates are characterized by two main lithology types; tuff and limestone. The limestone clasts are dark grey and white, where the light colored limestones contain carbonate platform fauna including corals. The clasts are well-rounded and medium-sized. The succession increases upwards in bedding thickness where limestone clasts become more dominant, larger in size and more angular. The total visible thickness of the succession is approximately 100 metres (330 ft).[12]

The sequence of conglomerates and provenance of the clasts point to sedimentation in a deltaic to shallow marine environment, where the clasts were transported by fluvial systems in the hinterland.[12]

Paleontological significance[]

Electromyrmococcus abductus carried by Acropyga glaesaria
La Toca mine of La Toca Formation
Cephalotes integerrimus from El Valle locality of La Toca Formation
See also: Dominican amber

La Toca Formation is one of the formations of the Dominican Republic where Dominican amber is found. The amber is known for the many types of insects and other arthropods it contains and even mammalian hair, a leptodactylid frog and a gilled mushroom have been discovered in the Dominican amber.[13] Decades of study have led to an increased understanding of the invertebrate terrestrial fauna of the subtropical Early Miocene. Several genera have been described on the basis of these inclusions in resin from the fossil Hymenaea protera tree and the many fossils found in the amber provided a unique insight in the paleobiology of the Caribbean of the time. Of the 82 genera of spiders in Dominican amber, one third are extinct and about thirty percent are congeneric with extant taxa.[14]

Fossil content[]

The following fossils have been found in the formation:

Group Fossil Location Notes
Diptera El Valle [15][16]
La Toca mine [17][18]
[17][18][19]
La Toca mine (Poinar coll) [20][21]
Feroseta prisca [20][21][22]
Polyvena horatis [20][21][23]
Enischnomyia stegosoma La Bucara mine (Poinar coll) [24][25]
El Valle locality (Poinar coll) [26][27]
Hemiptera El Valle [15][16]
La Toca mine [17][18]
La Toca mine (Poinar coll) [20][21]
Electromyrmococcus abductus La Toca mine (SMF coll) [28][29]
Acropyga sp.
La Bucara mine (Poinar coll) [24][25]
La Vega group of mines (AMNH coll) [30][31]
El Valle locality (Poinar coll) [26][27]
Coleoptera La Toca mine [17][18]
La Bucara mine (Poinar coll) [24][25]
Ron Cauble coll [32][33]
Hymenoptera La Toca mine (Poinar coll) [20][21]
El Valle locality (MCZ coll) [34][35]
Cephalotes integerrimus [34][35][36]
Orthoptera La Toca mine (Poinar coll) [20][21]
Ephemeroptera La Bucara mine (Manchester coll) [37][38]
Enoplea Ron Cauble coll [32][33]
Symphypleona ?Sphyrotheca sp. La Bucara mine (Manchester coll) [37][38]
Pterygota La Toca mine (Poinar coll) [20][21]
Los Cacaos (INHS coll) [39][40]
Arachnida La Toca mine (Poinar coll) [20][21]
Habrotrocha sp.
Bdelloidea indet.
La Toca mine (SMF coll) [28][29]
Phasmatodea La Bucara mine (Poinar coll) [24][25]
Funghi Coprinites dominicana La Toca mine (Poinar coll) [20][21]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ La Toca Formation at Fossilworks.org
  2. ^ Hoja de Esperanza - 6074-IV, 2010, p.20
  3. ^ Díaz de Neira, 2017, p.663
  4. ^ Hoja de Puerto Plata - 6075-II, 2010, p.105
  5. ^ Hoja de Esperanza - 6074-IV, 2010, p.18
  6. ^ Jump up to: a b Hoja de Esperanza - 6074-IV, 2010, pp.37-39
  7. ^ Hoja de Esperanza - 6074-IV, 2010, p.99
  8. ^ Hoja de Puerto Plata - 6075-II, 2010, p.100
  9. ^ Díaz de Neira, 2017, p.662
  10. ^ Jump up to: a b (in Spanish) Museo Virtual - Geositio Puerto Plata type section - SGN
  11. ^ Jump up to: a b (in Spanish) Museo Virtual - Geositio Puerto Plata - SGN
  12. ^ Jump up to: a b c (in Spanish) Museo Virtual - Geositio Hermanas Mirabal - SGN
  13. ^ Henwood, 1992, p.902
  14. ^ Poinar, 2010, p.27
  15. ^ Jump up to: a b El Valle at Fossilworks.org
  16. ^ Jump up to: a b Golub & Popov, 2000
  17. ^ Jump up to: a b c d La Toca mine (AMNH coll) at Fossilworks.org
  18. ^ Jump up to: a b c d Davis & Engel, 2006
  19. ^ Heikkilä et al., 2018
  20. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i La Toca mine (Poinar coll) at Fossilworks.org
  21. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i Nel et al., 2006
  22. ^ Poinar, 2006
  23. ^ Poinar & Brown, 1993
  24. ^ Jump up to: a b c d La Bucara mine (Poinar coll) at Fossilworks.org
  25. ^ Jump up to: a b c d Poinar, 2011
  26. ^ Jump up to: a b El Valle locality (Poinar coll) at Fossilworks.org
  27. ^ Jump up to: a b Mohrig & Röschmann, 2005
  28. ^ Jump up to: a b La Toca mine (SMF coll) at Fossilworks.org
  29. ^ Jump up to: a b Johnson et al., 2001
  30. ^ La Vega group of mines (AMNH coll) at Fossilworks.org
  31. ^ Grimaldi et al., 1993
  32. ^ Jump up to: a b Ron Cauble coll at Fossilworks.org
  33. ^ Jump up to: a b Poinar, 2009
  34. ^ Jump up to: a b El Valle locality (MCZ coll) at Fossilworks.org
  35. ^ Jump up to: a b Wilson, 1985
  36. ^ De Andrade & Urbani, 1999
  37. ^ Jump up to: a b La Bucara mine (Manchester coll) at Fossilworks.org
  38. ^ Jump up to: a b Penney et al., 2012
  39. ^ Los Cacaos (INHS coll) at Fossilworks.org
  40. ^ Mockford & García Aldrete, 2014

Bibliography[]

General geology
Dominican amber

Maps[]

Further reading[]

Retrieved from ""