Wood Canyon Formation

The Wood Canyon Formation is a geologic formation in the northern Mojave Desert of Inyo County, California and Nye County and Clark County, Nevada.[1][2]

Wood Canyon Formation Stratigraphic range: Ediacaran-Cambrian
Type	Geologic formation
Underlies	Zabriskie Quartzite Formation
Overlies	Sterling Quartzite Formation
Thickness	0–2,500 feet (0–762 m)
Location
Region	Mojave Desert, California and Nevada
Country	United States

It can be seen in the Panamint Range and Funeral Mountains adjoining Death Valley, within Death Valley National Park; and in the Spring Mountains in Clark County.[1]

Geology

The 570+ million years old formation underlies the Zabriskie Quartzite Formation, and overlies the Stirling Quartzite Formation.[1][3]

It has members of quartzite, shale, sandstone, and dolomite.[1]

Fossils

It preserves scattered olenellid trilobite and archaeocyathid fossils in upper part of formation, dating back to the Ediacaran period of the Neoproterozoic Era and Lower Cambrian Period of the Paleozoic Era.[1][2][4]

See also

• List of fossiliferous stratigraphic units in California
• List of fossiliferous stratigraphic units in Nevada
• Paleontology in California
• Paleontology in Nevada

References

1. USGS.gov: "Stratigraphy and Structure Death Valley, California"; U.S. Government Printing Office; 1966.
2. Digital-desert.com: "Death Valley Geology - Wood Canyon Formation"
3. Springer.com: "Tidal Deposits in the Zabriskie Quartzite (Cambrian), Eastern California and Western Nevada"; John J. Barnes, George deVries Klein.
4. Various Contributors to the Paleobiology Database. "Fossilworks: Gateway to the Paleobiology Database". Retrieved 8 July 2014.