The Lagunitas Formation is 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 ...

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

. The open marine, fluvio-

deltaic A river delta is a landform, archetypically triangular, created by the deposition of the sediments that are carried by the waters of a river, where the river merges with a body of slow-moving water or with a body of stagnant water. The creati ...

and

lagoon A lagoon is a shallow body of water separated from a larger body of water by a narrow landform, such as reefs, barrier islands, barrier peninsulas, or isthmuses. Lagoons are commonly divided into ''coastal lagoons'' (or ''barrier lagoons'') an ...

claystone Mudrocks are a class of fine-grained siliciclastic sedimentary rocks. The varying types of mudrocks include siltstone, claystone, mudstone and shale. Most of the particles of which the stone is composed are less than and are too small to ...

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

s and conglomerates 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

Early Miocene The Early Miocene (also known as Lower Miocene) is a sub-epoch of the Miocene epoch (geology), Epoch made up of two faunal stage, stages: the Aquitanian age, Aquitanian and Burdigalian stages. The sub-epoch lasted from 23.03 ± 0.05 annum, Ma to ...

period Period may refer to: Common uses * Period (punctuation) * Era, a length or span of time *Menstruation, commonly referred to as a "period" Arts, entertainment, and media * Period (music), a concept in musical composition * Periodic sentence (o ...

. Among others, the fossil primate '' Paralouatta marianae'', the largest primate of the Miocene New World, was found in the formation. Based on microfossils, the age has been determined as

Burdigalian The Burdigalian is, in the geologic timescale, an age (geology), age or stage (stratigraphy), stage in the early Miocene. It spans the time between 20.43 ± 0.05 annum, Ma and 15.97 ± 0.05 Ma (million years ago). Preceded by the Aquitanian (sta ...

Description

The type locality designated by Popov is a small outcrop located east of

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger, more populous island of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, the country. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is the southernmost island in ...

, on the highway linking Trinidad and Banao. The youngest lithostratigraphic unit overlain by Lagunitas is the

Oligocene The Oligocene ( ) is a geologic epoch (geology), epoch of the Paleogene Geologic time scale, Period that extends from about 33.9 million to 23 million years before the present ( to ). As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that defin ...

Las Cuevas Formation in the

type section In geology, a stratotype or type section is the physical location or outcrop of a particular reference exposure of a stratigraphic sequence or stratigraphic boundary. If the stratigraphic unit is layered, it is called a stratotype, whereas the ...

. Lagunitas is in turn overlain by the

Middle Miocene The Middle Miocene is a sub-epoch of the Miocene epoch (geology), epoch made up of two Stage (stratigraphy), stages: the Langhian and Serravallian stages. The Middle Miocene is preceded by the Early Miocene. The sub-epoch lasted from 15.97 ± 0. ...

Güines Formation and younger sediments.MacPhee et al., 2003, p.6

Regional correlation

Partial temporal and lithological equivalents of the Lagunitas Formation situated elsewhere in Cuba include the Arabos, Paso Real,

Rosario Rosario () is the largest city in the central provinces of Argentina, Argentine province of Santa Fe Province, Santa Fe. The city, located northwest of Buenos Aires on the west bank of the Paraná River, is the third-most populous city in the ...

and Magantilla Formations. In

Hispaniola Hispaniola (, also ) is an island between Geography of Cuba, Cuba and Geography of Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean. Hispaniola is the most populous island in the West Indies, and the second-largest by List of C ...

, the formation can be roughly correlated in age and lithology with the Maissade and

Yanigua Formation The Yanigua Formation is a Formation (geology), geologic formation in Dominican Republic. The lagoonal claystones and marls preserve fossils dating back to the Miocene Period (geology), period.Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

the most similar unit is the Cibao Formation.MacPhee et al., 2003, p.7

Vertebrate fossil content

* '' Hemipristis serra''Iturralde Vinent et al., 1996, p.20 * '' Imagocnus zazae''MacPhee et al., 2003, p.4 * ''

Negaprion brevirostris The lemon shark (''Negaprion brevirostris'') is a species of shark from the family Requiem shark, Carcharhinidae, known for its yellowish skin, which inspires its common name. It is classified as a Vulnerable species by the International Union for ...

''Iturralde Vinent et al., 1996, p.21 * '' Paralouatta marianae'' * ''

Sphyrna mokarran The great hammerhead (''Sphyrna mokarran'') is the largest species of hammerhead shark, belonging to the family Sphyrnidae, attaining an average length of and reaching a maximum length of . It is found in tropical and warm temperate waters world ...

'' * '' Zazamys veronicae'' * '' Metaxytherium sp.'' * '' Myliobatis sp.'' * Odontoceti indet. * Pelomedusoides indet.

References

Bibliography

* * * {{citation , last1=MacPhee , first1=R.D.E. , last2=M.A. , first2=Iturralde Vinent , last3=Gaffney , first3=E.S. , year=2003 , title=Domo de Zaza, an Early Miocene vertebrate locality in south-central Cuba, with notes on the tectonic evolution of Puerto Rico and the Mona Passage , url=http://digitallibrary.amnh.org/bitstream/handle/2246/2820//v2/dspace/ingest/pdfSource/nov/N3394.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y , journal=

American Museum Novitates ''American Museum Novitates'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal published by the American Museum of Natural History. It was established in 1921. According to the ''Journal Citation Reports'', the journal has a 2013 impact factor The impact ...

, issue=3394 , pages=1–42 , accessdate=2019-02-06 Geologic formations of Cuba Neogene Cuba Burdigalian Hemingfordian Paleontology in Cuba Shale formations Limestone formations Conglomerate formations Deltaic deposits Fluvial deposits Open marine deposits Lagoonal deposits

Formation Formation may refer to: Linguistics * Back-formation, the process of creating a new lexeme by removing or affixes * Word formation, the creation of a new word by adding affixes Mathematics and science * Cave formation or speleothem, a secondary ...

Description

Regional correlation

Vertebrate fossil content

See also

References

Bibliography