The Paleomagnetism and Magnetic Polarity Stratigraphy of the Mammal-Bearing Section of Anza Borrego State Park, California

Abstract

We sampled 150 sites in fine-grained Plio-Pleistocene sediments of the Palm Springs and Imperial Formations. Sampling was confined to 3000 m of stratigraphically continuous section containing abundant vertebrate fossil remains of the Vallecito Creek, Arroyo Seco, and Layer Cake local faunas of the Irvingtonian and Blancan Land Mammal Ages. The magnetic stability of these sediments was sufficient to delineate the magnetic stratigraphy, which ranges from below the Cochiti event at the base, to the Matuyama reversed magnetic epoch at the top of the section. Eight faunal events are placed relative to the magnetic polarity sequence. They are cf. Pliohippus extinction, Geomys appearance, cf. Equus appearance, Tremarctos appearance, Hypolagus extinction, cf. Odocoileus appearance, Smilodon and ? Euceratherium appearance. The latter two faunal events characterize Irvingtonian Land Mammal Age. The transition from the Blancan to Irvingtonian Land Mammal Age occurs in the lower Matuyama magnetic epoch close to the Pliocene-Pleistocene boundary. The appearance of European migrants during the lower Matuyama magnetic epoch indicates that the Bering land bridge was exposed for animal migration between Europe and North America at this time.