La Toca Formation

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]

La Toca Formation
Stratigraphic range: Burdigalian-Langhian (Hemingfordian)
~20–14 Ma
TypeFormation
UnderliesLa Jaiba Conglomerate, Villa Trina Formation
OverliesLos Hidalgos Formation
Lithology
PrimarySandstone, marl, conglomerate, breccia
OtherDominican amber
Location
Coordinates19.2°N 69.3°W / 19.2; -69.3
Approximate paleocoordinates19.0°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 (the Dominican Republic)

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.
Middle Miocene (15 Ma)

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 Los Hidalgos Formation and is overlain by the La Jaiba Conglomerate and in places by the Villa Trina Formation.[4] It is laterally and time-equivalent with the Altamira and Luperón Formations 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 Catapsydrax af. dissimilis, Globigerinoides trilobus, Globigerina sp., Globorotalia sp., Cibicides sp., Brizalina sp., Reophax 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 San Marcos Formation along the Camú Fault.[8] The Septentrional Fault 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 Bajabonico River shows volcaniclastic breccias with clasts originating from the Pedro García Formation. 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:

GroupFossilLocationNotes
DipteraBrachypogon (Isohelea) dominicanusEl Valle[15][16]
Forcipomyia (Lepidohelea) sp.
Forcipomyia (Lepidohelea) antilleana
Forcipomyia (Lepidohelea) chrysosuccinea
Forcipomyia (Lepidohelea) domibicolor
Miomyia
Protortalotrypeta grimaldii
Archicratyna arcana
Procolobostema roseni
Forcipomyia (Forcipomyia) sp.La Toca mine[17][18]
Procolobostema roseni
Antiquatortia histuroides[17][18][19]
Culex malariagerLa Toca mine (Poinar coll)[20][21]
Dominimyza tanyacaena
Diceratobasis worki
Feroseta prisca[20][21][22]
Polyvena horatis[20][21][23]
Enischnomyia stegosomaLa Bucara mine (Poinar coll)[24][25]
Archicratyna arcanaEl Valle locality (Poinar coll)[26][27]
HemipteraLeptopharsa evsyuniniEl Valle[15][16]
Enicocephalus omenLa Toca mine[17][18]
Enicocephalus seniculus
Enicocephalus subvitreus
Amnestus electricus
Empiploiariola inermis
Prisciba dominicanaLa Toca mine (Poinar coll)[20][21]
Apicrenus fossilis
Praecoris dominicana
Panstrongylus hispaniolae
Schizoptera dominicana
Electromyrmococcus abductusLa Toca mine (SMF coll)[28][29]
Acropyga sp.
Minyscapheus dominicanusLa Bucara mine (Poinar coll)[24][25]
Prisciba serrata
Hypselosoma dominicana
Schizoptera hispaniolae
Enicocephalus priusLa Vega group of mines (AMNH coll)[30][31]
Electrobates spinipesEl Valle locality (Poinar coll)[26][27]
ColeopteraOkamninus annaeLa Toca mine[17][18]
Caulophilus ashei
Electroborus brighti
Bicalcasura maculataLa Bucara mine (Poinar coll)[24][25]
Dominibrentus leptusRon Cauble coll[32][33]
HymenopteraPseudomyrmex antiquusLa Toca mine (Poinar coll)[20][21]
Wanderbiltiana wawasita
Technomyrmex hispaniolaeEl Valle locality (MCZ coll)[34][35]
Proceratium gibberum
Cephalotes integerrimus[34][35][36]
OrthopteraProanaxipha latocaLa Toca mine (Poinar coll)[20][21]
Anaxipha dominica
EphemeropteraBorinquena parvaLa Bucara mine (Manchester coll)[37][38]
EnopleaPalaeodiplogaster brentiphilaRon Cauble coll[32][33]
Symphypleona?Sphyrotheca sp.La Bucara mine (Manchester coll)[37][38]
PterygotaMyopsocus arthuriLa Toca mine (Poinar coll)[20][21]
Troctopsocoides gracilisLos Cacaos (INHS coll)[39][40]
ArachnidaTityus geratusLa Toca mine (Poinar coll)[20][21]
Habrotrocha sp.
Bdelloidea indet.
Dipoena dominicanaLa Toca mine (SMF coll)[28][29]
PhasmatodeaClonistria dominicanaLa Bucara mine (Poinar coll)[24][25]
FunghiCoprinites dominicanaLa Toca mine (Poinar coll)[20][21]
gollark: My long-term plan for money extraction is to obtain relevant technical skills, and then to (muahahaha) exchange goods and services for money.
gollark: You *are* mildly increasing pizza prices for everyone.
gollark: What an interesting business venture. I'm willing to provide up to 22 kilobees of venture capital funding.
gollark: Not the west, due to day-night cycles.
gollark: As they say, cryoapioforns incurse from the east.

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. 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. (in Spanish) Museo Virtual - Geositio Puerto Plata type section - SGN
  11. (in Spanish) Museo Virtual - Geositio Puerto Plata - SGN
  12. (in Spanish) Museo Virtual - Geositio Hermanas Mirabal - SGN
  13. Henwood, 1992, p.902
  14. Poinar, 2010, p.27
  15. El Valle at Fossilworks.org
  16. Golub & Popov, 2000
  17. La Toca mine (AMNH coll) at Fossilworks.org
  18. Davis & Engel, 2006
  19. Heikkilä et al., 2018
  20. La Toca mine (Poinar coll) at Fossilworks.org
  21. Nel et al., 2006
  22. Poinar, 2006
  23. Poinar & Brown, 1993
  24. La Bucara mine (Poinar coll) at Fossilworks.org
  25. Poinar, 2011
  26. El Valle locality (Poinar coll) at Fossilworks.org
  27. Mohrig & Röschmann, 2005
  28. La Toca mine (SMF coll) at Fossilworks.org
  29. Johnson et al., 2001
  30. La Vega group of mines (AMNH coll) at Fossilworks.org
  31. Grimaldi et al., 1993
  32. Ron Cauble coll at Fossilworks.org
  33. Poinar, 2009
  34. El Valle locality (MCZ coll) at Fossilworks.org
  35. Wilson, 1985
  36. De Andrade & Urbani, 1999
  37. La Bucara mine (Manchester coll) at Fossilworks.org
  38. 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
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