The Turlock Lake Formation is an

Early Pleistocene The Early Pleistocene is an unofficial sub-epoch in the international geologic timescale in chronostratigraphy, being the earliest division of the Pleistocene Epoch within the ongoing Quaternary Period. It is currently estimated to span the time ...

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 ...

in the

Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada () is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primarily ...

foothills in

Sacramento County, California Sacramento County () is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,585,055. Its county seat is Sacramento, which has been the state capital of California since 1854. Sacramento County is the ...

. Cities in/over the formation's area include

Citrus Heights Citrus Heights is a city in Sacramento County, California. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 87,583, up from 83,301 at the 2010 U.S. Census. History Citrus Heights voters approved the measure to incorporate the City on Nov ...

, Carmichael, and Roseville. The Turlock Lake Formation is a fan deposit of dominantly granitic alluvium covering the westward extension of the North Merced Pediment and Gravels formation, and directly overlying the

Mehrten Formation The Mehrten Formation is a geologic formation in California. It preserves fossils dating back to the Neogene period. See also * List of fossiliferous stratigraphic units in California * Paleontology in California Paleontology in California re ...

. California Division of Mines and Geology.ca..gov: "The GEOLOGY, GEOMORPHOLOGY, and SOILS of the SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY in the VICINITY of the MERCED RIVER, CALIFORNIA."
by RODNEY J. ARKLEY Lecturer and Specialist in the Agricultural Experiment Station, Department of Soils and Plant Nutrition, University of California, Berkeley, California. It preserves Early Pleistocene

Quaternary The Quaternary ( ) is the current and most recent of the three periods of the Cenozoic Era in the geologic time scale of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS). It follows the Neogene Period and spans from 2.58 million years ...

period

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 in ...

References

* Pleistocene California Geology of Sacramento County, California Calabrian (stage) Sierra Nevada (United States) Citrus Heights, California Carmichael, California Roseville, California Geologic formations of California {{California-geologic-formation-stub