The Coldwater Beds are a

geologic formation A geological formation, or simply formation, is a body of rock having a consistent set of physical characteristics ( lithology) that distinguishes it from adjacent bodies of rock, and which occupies a particular position in the layers of rock exp ...

of the Okanagan Highlands in

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include ...

, Canada. They preserve

fossils A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...

dating back to the

Ypresian In the geologic timescale the Ypresian is the oldest age or lowest stratigraphic stage of the Eocene. It spans the time between , is preceded by the Thanetian Age (part of the Paleocene) and is followed by the Eocene Lutetian Age. The Ypresian i ...

stage of the

Eocene The Eocene ( ) Epoch is a geological epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (mya). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period in the modern Cenozoic Era. The name ''Eocene'' comes from the Ancient Greek (''ēṓs'', " ...

period, or Wasatchian in the NALMA classification.Coldwater Beds
at

Fossilworks Fossilworks is a portal which provides query, download, and analysis tools to facilitate access to the Paleobiology Database, a large relational database assembled by hundreds of paleontologists from around the world. History Fossilworks was cre ...

.org The formation comprises mudstones,

shale Shale is a fine-grained, clastic sedimentary rock formed from mud that is a mix of flakes of clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4) and tiny fragments (silt-sized particles) of other minerals, especia ...

s and

tuff Tuff is a type of rock made of volcanic ash ejected from a vent during a volcanic eruption. Following ejection and deposition, the ash is lithified into a solid rock. Rock that contains greater than 75% ash is considered tuff, while rock ...

s deposited in a

lacustrine A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much larger ...

environment Environment most often refers to: __NOTOC__ * Natural environment, all living and non-living things occurring naturally * Biophysical environment, the physical and biological factors along with their chemical interactions that affect an organism or ...

and has provided many insect fossils, as well as indeterminate birds and fossil flora.Quilchena
at

.org

Description

The Coldwater Beds were defined by Dawson (1895) based on a section along the Coldwater River in the Okanagan Highlands. The formation reaches a thickness of , and comprises mudstones,

s and

deposited in a

. U-Pb dating of thick

tephra Tephra is fragmental material produced by a volcanic eruption regardless of composition, fragment size, or emplacement mechanism. Volcanologists also refer to airborne fragments as pyroclasts. Once clasts have fallen to the ground, they re ...

, combined with Ar-Ar dates of

sanidine Sanidine is the high temperature form of potassium feldspar with a general formula K(AlSi3O8). Sanidine is found most typically in felsic volcanic rocks such as obsidian, rhyolite and trachyte. Sanidine crystallizes in the monoclinic crystal syste ...

from same bed provided an Early Eocene age. The tephra was deposited within insect-bearing

Climate

During the Early Eocene, the climate of much of northern North America was warm and wet, with mean annual temperatures (MAT) as high as , mean annual precipitation (MAP) of , mild frost-free winters (coldest month mean temperature >), and climatic conditions that supported extensive temperate forest ecosystems. The Quilchena fossil locality is dated to 51.5 ± 0.4 Ma corresponding to the

Early Eocene Climatic Optimum Early may refer to: History * The beginning or oldest part of a defined historical period, as opposed to middle or late periods, e.g.: ** Early Christianity ** Early modern Europe Places in the United States * Early, Iowa * Early, Texas * Early ...

(EECO), and is reconstructed as the warmest and wettest of the Early Eocene upland sites from the Okanagan Highlands of British Columbia and northern Washington State. Mean annual temperature (MAT) is estimated from leaf margin analysis as and . Using bioclimatic analysis of 45 nearest living relatives, a moist mesothermal climate is indicated (MAT ; cold month mean temperature (CMMT) and mean annual precipitation (MAP) of /yr. Leaf size analysis estimates MAP at /y.Mathewes, 2015, p.2

Fossils

Buprestis saxigena Scudder 1890 pl2 Fig24

Buprestis sepulta Scudder 1890 pl2 Fig26

Buprestis tertiaria Scudder 1890 pl2 Fig23

Cercyon terrigena Scudder 1890 pl2 Fig21

Nebria paleomelas Scudder 1890 pl2 Fig20

A wide variety of fossils occur in the formation, including abundant fish remains,

insect Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs ...

s, and plants, and rare occurrences of molluscs,

ostracod Ostracods, or ostracodes, are a class of the Crustacea (class Ostracoda), sometimes known as seed shrimp. Some 70,000 species (only 13,000 of which are extant) have been identified, grouped into several orders. They are small crustaceans, typic ...

s, and

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweig ...

Flora

Fossil plants were first reported from the Coldwater Beds at the Quilchena site and nearby by Penhallow (1908) with an expanded taxonomic list given by Mathewes ''et al'' (2016). ;Pteridophytes *''

Azolla ''Azolla'' (mosquito fern, duckweed fern, fairy moss, water fern) is a genus of seven species of aquatic ferns in the family Salviniaceae. They are extremely reduced in form and specialized, looking nothing like other typical ferns but more res ...

'' ;Ginkgophytes *''

Ginkgo ''Ginkgo'' is a genus of non-flowering seed plants. The scientific name is also used as the English name. The order to which it belongs, Ginkgoales, first appeared in the Permian, 270 million years ago, and is now the only living genus withi ...

'' ;Pinophytes *''

Abies Firs (''Abies'') are a genus of 48–56 species of evergreen coniferous trees in the family Pinaceae. They are found on mountains throughout much of North and Central America, Europe, Asia, and North Africa. The genus is most closely related to ...

'' * cf ''Amentotaxus'' *'' Calocedrus'' *''

Chamaecyparis ''Chamaecyparis'', common names cypress or false cypress (to distinguish it from related cypresses), is a genus of conifers in the cypress family Cupressaceae, native to eastern Asia ( Japan and Taiwan) and to the western and eastern margins of ...

'' *'' Glyptostrobus'' *'' Keteleeria'' *''

Metasequoia ''Metasequoia'', or dawn redwoods, is a genus of fast-growing deciduous trees, one of three species of conifers known as redwoods. The living species ''Metasequoia glyptostroboides'' is native to Lichuan county in Hubei province, China. Altho ...

'' *''

Picea A spruce is a tree of the genus ''Picea'' (), a genus of about 35 species of coniferous evergreen trees in the family Pinaceae, found in the northern temperate and boreal (taiga) regions of the Earth. ''Picea'' is the sole genus in the subfam ...

'' *''

Pinus A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanical Garden a ...

'' *''

Pseudolarix ''Pseudolarix'' is a genus of coniferous trees in the pine family Pinaceae containing three species, the extant '' Pseudolarix amabilis'' and the extinct species ''Pseudolarix japonica'' and ''Pseudolarix wehrii''. ''Pseudolarix'' species are c ...

'' *'' Sequoia'' *''

Taxodium ''Taxodium'' is a genus of one to three species (depending on taxonomic opinion) of extremely flood-tolerant conifers in the cypress family, Cupressaceae. The generic name is derived from the Latin word ''taxus'', meaning "yew", and the Greek ...

'' *''

Thuja ''Thuja'' ( ) is a genus of coniferous tree or shrub in the Cupressaceae (cypress family). There are five species in the genus, two native to North America and three native to eastern Asia. The genus is monophyletic and sister to '' Thujopsis'' ...

'' *''

Tsuga ''Tsuga'' (, from Japanese (), the name of ''Tsuga sieboldii'') is a genus of conifers in the subfamily Abietoideae of Pinaceae, the pine family. The common name hemlock is derived from a perceived similarity in the smell of its crushed foliage ...

'' ;Angiosperms *''

Acer Acer may refer to: * ''Acer'' (plant), the genus of trees and shrubs commonly known as maples * Acer Inc., a computer company in Taiwan ** Acer Laboratories Incorporated, a subsidiary company of Acer, Inc., that designs and manufactures integrate ...

'' * cf. ''Aesculus'' *†''

Alnus parvifolia ''Alnus parvifolia'' is an extinct species of flowering plant in the family Betulaceae related to the modern birches. The species is known from fossil leaves and possible fruits found in early Eocene sites of northern Washington state, United S ...

'' *†''

Betula leopoldae ''Betula leopoldae'' is an extinct species of birch in the family Betulaceae. The species is known from fossil leaves, catkins, and inflorescences found in the early Eocene deposits of northern Washington state, United States, and similar aged ...

'' *

Bignoniaceae Bignoniaceae is a family of flowering plants in the order Lamiales commonly known as the bignonias or trumpetvines.Vernon H. Heywood, Richard K. Brummitt, Ole Seberg, and Alastair Culham. ''Flowering Plant Families of the World''. Firefly Books: ...

*†'' Castaneophyllum'' *†''

Comptonia columbiana upType illustration from Dawson 1890 up "''Myrica (Comptonia) cuspidata)''" illustration from Dawson 1890 ''Comptonia columbiana'' is an extinct species of sweet fern in the flowering plant family Myricaceae. The species is known from fossil le ...

'' *'' Cornus'' *'' Corylopsis'' *'' Dipteronia'' * cf. ''Disanthus'' *†'' Eucommia montana'' *†'' Eucommia rolandii'' * cf. ''Exbucklandia'' *'' Fagus'' *†''

Florissantia quilchenensis ''Florissantia'' is an extinct genus of flowering plants in the Malvaceae subfamily Sterculioideae known from western North America and far eastern Asia. Flower, fruit, and pollen compression fossils have been found in formations ranging between ...

'' *'' Fraxinus'' *''

Hovenia ''Hovenia'' is a small genus of deciduous trees or shrubs in the family Rhamnaceae. They occur naturally from India to Japan. The Japanese, or Oriental raisin tree, ''Hovenia dulcis'', is the best known species, as it is often planted in gardens ...

'' *†'' Joffrea''/'' Nyssidium'' *'' Nyssa'' *''

Pieris Pieris may refer to: Organisms * ''Pieris'' (plant), the andromeda or fetterbush, a plant genus in the family Ericaceae * ''Pieris'' (butterfly), the garden whites, a butterfly genus in the family Pieridae * ''Pieris'', a synonym of the genus ...

'' *†'' Plafkeria'' * cf. ''Pterocarya'' *''

Rhus Sumac ( or ), also spelled sumach, is any of about 35 species of flowering plants in the genus ''Rhus'' and related genera in the cashew family (Anacardiaceae). Sumacs grow in subtropical and temperate regions throughout the world, including Ea ...

'' * cf. ''Sambucus'' *''

Sassafras ''Sassafras'' is a genus of three extant and one extinct species of deciduous trees in the family Lauraceae, native to eastern North America and eastern Asia.Wolfe, Jack A. & Wehr, Wesley C. 1987. The sassafras is an ornamental tree. "Middle E ...

'' *'' Ternstroemia'' * cf. ''Gordonia'' *''

Tilia ''Tilia'' is a genus of about 30 species of trees or bushes, native throughout most of the temperate Northern Hemisphere. The tree is known as linden for the European species, and basswood for North American species. In Britain and Ireland they ...

'' *'' Trochodendron'' *†'' Ulmus okanaganensis''

Pollen taxa

;Ginkgophytes *''

'' ;Pinophytes *''

'' *''

'' * cf ''Sciadopitys'' *''

'' ;Angiosperms *''

Alnus Alders are trees comprising the genus ''Alnus'' in the birch family Betulaceae. The genus comprises about 35 species of monoecious trees and shrubs, a few reaching a large size, distributed throughout the north temperate zone with a few spec ...

'' *''

Carya Hickory is a common name for trees composing the genus ''Carya'', which includes around 18 species. Five or six species are native to China, Indochina, and India (Assam), as many as twelve are native to the United States, four are found in Mexi ...

'' *†'' Liliacidites'' *''

Liquidambar ''Liquidambar'', commonly called sweetgum (star gum in the UK), gum, redgum, satin-walnut, or American storax, is the only genus in the flowering plant family Altingiaceae and has 15 species. They were formerly often treated in Hamamelidaceae. ...

'' *†'' Pistillipollenites mcgregorii'' * cf. ''Platanus'' *'' Pterocarya'' *†'' Sabal ?florisanti'' *''

'' *''

Ulmus Elms are deciduous and semi-deciduous trees comprising the flowering plant genus ''Ulmus'' in the plant family Ulmaceae. They are distributed over most of the Northern Hemisphere, inhabiting the temperate and tropical-montane regions of No ...

Molluscs

Mark Wilson (1987) noted, without taxonomic identification, that unidentified small bivalves are a component of the Quilchena invertebrate paleofauna.

Insects

The insect fossils studied by Wilson (1987) showed Bibionidae dominating the paleoentemofauna, at 28% of all specimens examined at that time. An additional 13% of the fossils were other dipterans while up to 41% of all insects still had attached wings. The invertebrates trace fossils included two undescribed species of Trichoptera larval cases and burrowing or tracks in the sediment. ;Blattaria * Diplopterinae indet. ;Coleoptera * '' cf. Amara sp.'' * †''

Buprestis saxigena ''Buprestis'' is a genus of beetles in the tribe Buprestini, the jewel beetles. As of 2011 there were 78 described species distributed across most of the world's biogeographic realms except parts of Africa and Antarctica. Species include: ...

'' * †''

Buprestis sepulta ''Buprestis'' is a genus of beetles in the tribe Buprestini, the jewel beetles. As of 2011 there were 78 described species distributed across most of the world's biogeographic realms except parts of Africa and Antarctica. Species include: ...

'' * †''

Buprestis tertiaria ''Buprestis'' is a genus of beetles in the tribe Buprestini, the jewel beetles. As of 2011 there were 78 described species distributed across most of the world's biogeographic realms except parts of Africa and Antarctica. Species include: ...

'' * Carabidae indet. * †'' Cercyon? terrigena'' * Curculionidae indet. * cf. Erotylidae indet. * †''

Nebria paleomelas ''Nebria'' is a genus of ground beetles native to the Palearctic, the Near East and North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope f ...

'' * Omaliinae indet. * Pachymerina sp. * Scarabaeoidea indet. ;Dermaptera * Forficulina indet. ;Diptera * ''

Plecia angustipennis ''Plecia'' is a genus of March flies (Bibionidae) comprising many species, both extant and fossilised. Species Extant species *'' P. acutirostris'' *'' P. adiastola'' *'' P. affinidecora'' *'' P. americana'' *'' P. amplipennis'' *'' P ...

'' * ''

Plecia canadensis ''Plecia canadensis'' is an extinct species of ''Plecia'' in the fly family Bibionidae. The species is solely known from Early Eocene sediments exposed in central southern British Columbia. The species is one of twenty bibionid species described ...

'' * ''

Plecia pictipennis ''Plecia'' is a genus of March flies (Bibionidae) comprising many species, both extant and fossilised. Species Extant species *'' P. acutirostris'' *'' P. adiastola'' *'' P. affinidecora'' *'' P. americana'' *'' P. amplipennis'' *'' P ...

'' * Mycetophilidae indet. * Pipunculidae indet. * Pipunculinae indet. * Pleciinae indet. * Syrphidae indet. * Tipulidae indet. ;Hemiptera * '' Telmatrechus defunctus'' * Aphididae indet. * Cercopoidea indet. * Cicadellidae indet. * Cydnidae indet. * Gerridae indet. * Megymeninae indet. * cf. Pentatomidae indet. ;Hymenoptera * '' Eosphecium naumanni'' * '' Halictus? savenyei'' * Braconidae indet. * Formicidae indet. * Ichneumonidae indet. * Tenthredinidae indet. * Trigonalidae indet. * Vespidae indet. ;Mecoptera * '' Eorpa jurgeni'' * '' Eorpa sp.'' * '' Panorpoidea sp.'' ;Neuroptera * '' Polystoechotites sp.'' * '' Palaeopsychops dodgeorum'' * ''

Palaeopsychops douglasae ''Palaeopsychops'' is an extinct genus of lacewing in the moth lacewings family Ithonidae. The genus is known from Early Eocene fossils found in Europe, and North America and is composed of ten species. The ten species can be informally separat ...

'' * ''

Wesmaelius mathewesi ''Wesmaelius mathewesi'' is an extinct species of lacewing in the neuropteran family Hemerobiidae known from an Eocene fossil found in North America History and classification ''W. mathewesi'' is known from the solitary holotype specimen, number ...

'' ;Orthoptera * Prophalangopsidae indet. ;Trichoptera * Phryganeidae indet. * Trichoptera indet.

Fish

*'' Amia sp.'' scales *'' Amyzon brevipinne''

Birds

* Aves indet. feathers

Mammals

* Insectivorous mammalian indet. tooth

Correlations

The formation has been correlated with the

Eocene Okanagan Highlands The Eocene Okanagan Highlands or Eocene Okanogan Highlands are a series of Early Eocene geological formations which span a transect of British Columbia, Canada, and Washington state, United States. Known for a highly diverse and detailed plant an ...

floras including the

Allenby Formation The Allenby formation is a sedimentary rock formation in British Columbia which was deposited during the Ypresian stage of the Early Eocene. It consists of conglomerates, sandstones with interbedded shales and coal. The shales contain an abund ...

Kamloops Group Kamloops ( ) is a city in south-central British Columbia, Canada, at the confluence of the South flowing North Thompson River and the West flowing Thompson River, east of Kamloops Lake. It is located in the Thompson-Nicola Regional District, w ...

Horsefly shale Horse-flies or horseflies are true flies in the family Tabanidae in the insect order Diptera. They are often large and agile in flight, and only the female horseflies bite animals, including humans, to obtain blood. They prefer to fly in sun ...

s, and Driftwood Canyon site of

, along with the

Klondike Mountain Formation The Klondike Mountain Formation is an Early Eocene (Ypresian) geological formation located in the northeast central area of Washington state. The formation, named for the type location designated in 1962, Klondike Mountain north of Republic, Wash ...

of Washington State. Additionally its correlated with the

Margaret Formation The Margaret Formation is a geologic formation of the Eureka Sound Group in the Sverdrup Basin in Northwest Territories and Nunavut, Canada. The unit belonging to the Eureka Sound Group which crops out at Ellesmere Island preserves fossils dating ...

Ellesmere Island Ellesmere Island ( iu, script=Latn, Umingmak Nuna, lit=land of muskoxen; french: île d'Ellesmere) is Canada's northernmost and third largest island, and the tenth largest in the world. It comprises an area of , slightly smaller than Great Bri ...

Nunavut Nunavut ( , ; iu, ᓄᓇᕗᑦ , ; ) is the largest and northernmost territory of Canada. It was separated officially from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999, via the '' Nunavut Act'' and the '' Nunavut Land Claims Agreement Act'' ...

, the

Chickaloon Formation The Chickaloon Formation is a geologic formation in Alaska. It preserves fossils dating back to the Paleogene The Paleogene ( ; British English, also spelled Palaeogene or Palæogene; informally Lower Tertiary or Early Tertiary) is a geologic ...

of Alaska, Wishbone, Chuckanut and Iceberg Bay Formations, all of similar age. The flora of the Coldwater Beds has been correlated to the Chu Chua Formation of southeastern British Columbia. The formation also correlates with the Springbrook, Kettle River and O'Brien Creek Formations in Washington, United States.

References

{{reflist, 3 Ypresian North America Paleontology in British Columbia Coldwater Beds

Description

Climate

Fossils

Flora

Pollen taxa

Molluscs

Insects

Fish

Birds

Mammals

Correlations

See also

References