Ocotillo Formation Explained

Ocotillo Formation
Type:	Geologic formation
Period:	Pliocene
Age:	Pliocene
Namedfor:	Ocotillo, California
Region:	Colorado Desert, California
Country:	United States
Underlies:	Palm Spring Formation
Overlies:	Brawley Formation

The Ocotillo Formation is a Pliocene fluvial-alluvial fan geologic formation in the Colorado Desert of Southern California.^[1]

It occurs in western Imperial County and eastern San Diego County.^[2]

Geology

The formation overlies the Brawley Formation and the Palm Spring Formation. In the Mecca Hills, it is younger than 765,000 years.

Fossils

It preserves fossils and petrified wood, from the Pliocene Epoch of the Neogene Period, within Anza-Borrego Desert State Park.^{[1] [3]}

See also

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

Further reading

• Book: Weber, F. Harold . 1963 . Geology and mineral resources of San Diego County, California . California Division of Mines and Geology . 33.
• Hoetker . Geoffrey M. . Gobalet . Kenneth W. . 2 August 1999 . Fossil Razorback Sucker (Pisces: Catostomidae, Xyrauchen texanus) from SoutheasternCalifornia . Copeia . 1999 . 3 . 755–759 . 1447609 . 10.2307/1447609.

Notes and References

1. https://www.nature.nps.gov/geology/paleontology/pub/fossil_conference_6/remeika.htm: National Park Service: "The FISH CREEK CANYON ICHNOFAUNA: a PLIOCENE (BLANCAN) Vertebrate Footprint Assemblage from Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, California"
2. Kirby . S. M. . Janecke . S. U. . Dorsey . R. J. . Housen . B. A. . Langenheim . V. E. . McDougall . K. A. . Steely . A. N. . January 2007 . Pleistocene Brawley and Ocotillo Formations: Evidence for Initial Strike-Slip Deformation along the San Felipe and San Jacinto Fault Zones, Southern California . The Journal of Geology . 115 . 1 . 43–62 . 509248 . 10.1086/509248 . 2007JG....115...43K. 128487198 .
3. Web site: Fossilworks: Gateway to the Paleobiology Database. ((Various Contributors to the Paleobiology Database)). 17 December 2021.