Peace River Formation (Florida)
The Peace River Formation is a Late Oligocene to Early Miocene geologic formation in the west-central Florida peninsula.
Age
Period: NeogeneEpoch: Miocene to Pliocene
Faunal stage: Arikareean through Hemphillian, ~23.03–4.9 mya, calculates to a period of ~
Location
The Peace River Formation appears as an outcropping or is beneath a thin overburden from Hillsborough County to Charlotte County on the southern part of the Ocala Platform. extending into the Okeechobee Basin. It is widespread in Florida and part of the intermediate confining aquifer system.Lithology
The formation is composed of sands, clays and carbonates which are interbedded. The sands are light gray to olive gray and poorly consolidated. They are clay-like with some dolomite with a very fine to medium grained phosphate component. Carbonates are usually light gray to yellowish dolomite found in outcroppings. The dolomites are soft to hard with variably sandy, clay-like, phosphate components with opaline chert often found. The phosphate content is high enough to warrant mining.Three sequences of sediment deposition were defined in 1998. Five lithofacies were identified in 2000.
- Diatomaceous mudstone
- Terrigenous mudstone
- Clay-rich quartz sand
- Quartz sand
- Pelecypod-rich quartz sand or sandstone
Fossils
- Mollusks occur as reworked casts, molds, and limited original shell material.
- Vertebrate fossils
- Shark's teeth
- Silicified corals and wood