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Late Miocene mollusks from the Queen Charlotte Islands, British Columbia, Canada

Journal of Research of the U.S. Geological Survey
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Abstract

A fauna of bivalve mollusks, scattered gastropods, and an echinoid from exposures of the Skonun Formation in the northeastern part of Graham Island is indicative of an early late Miocene age and correlation with the provincial Wishkahan Stage. The molluscan assemblages are from the upper 600 of the 1800-m-thick marine and nonmarine formation, which appears to be entirely of late Miocene age. The Skonun Formation is the strandline fa.cies of marginal marine and nonmarine deposits of the northwestern part of the Queen Charlotte basin, a Nieogene embayment paralleling the modern mainland coast. The molluscan fauna and associated lignite beds are known from a few widely scattered outcrops; they are indicative of alternating marine and nonmarine to brackish-water environments in the upper part of the formation. The Skonun fauna occurs near the northern boundary of the Pacific Northwest Neogene molluscan province. It is the only marine Neogene molluscan fauna known from the British Columbia coast. The fauna has strong taxonomic ties with the fauna of the Empire Formation of southwestern Oregon and has several species in common with the upper Miocene of the Lituya district, southeastern Alaska, implying that these three faunas are coeval.

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Publication type Article
Publication Subtype Journal Article
Title Late Miocene mollusks from the Queen Charlotte Islands, British Columbia, Canada
Series title Journal of Research of the U.S. Geological Survey
Volume 6
Issue 5
Year Published 1978
Language English
Publisher U.S. Geological Survey
Publisher location Arlington, VA
Description 13 p.
First page 677
Last page 689
Country Canada
Other Geospatial Queen Charlotte Islands, Graham Island
Online Only (Y/N) N
Additional Online Files (Y/N) N
Google Analytic Metrics Metrics page
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