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Tamiami Formation
Stratigraphic range: Late Miocene-Late Pliocene
~13.06–2.6Ma
Cerithium dalli SR 02-224 02.jpg
Fossil (Cerithium dalli) from the Tamiami Formation
Type Geological formation
Sub-units Buckingham Limestone Member, Ochopee Limestone Member, Bonita Springs Marl Member, Golden Gate Reef Member, Pinecrest Sand Member
Overlies Hawthorn Group (see text)
Thickness 50–100 ft (15–30 m)
Lithology
Primary Sandstone, claystone, limestone
Other Phosphate
Location
Region Southwest Florida
Country  United States
Extent Charlotte-Monroe Counties
Type section
Named for Tamiami Trail (highway)

The Tamiami Formation is a Late Miocene to Pliocene geologic formation in the southwest Florida peninsula.

Age

Period: Neogene
Epoch: Late Miocene to Pliocene
Faunal stage: Clarendonian through Blancan ~13.06–2.588 mya, calculates to a period of 10.472 million years

Location

Tamiami Formation map
Location of Taniami Formation in Florida.

The Tamiami Formation appears in the counties of Charlotte, Lee, Hendry, Collier and Monroe. It is widespread in Florida and part of the intermediate confining aquifer system. The Tamiami formation overlies the Hawthorn at every locality where the Hawthorn has been penetrated and is overlain unconformably by the Caloosahatchee marl of the Pliocene in Charlotte County.

Composition

The Tamiami Formation contains a wide range of mixed carbonate-siliciclastic lithologies and associated faunas. It occurs at or near the land surface in the southern peninsula with numerous named and unnamed members recognized within the Tamiami Formation. Its unevenness indicates that the upper part has been subjected to erosion.

Lithologies

The Tamiami Formation includes:

  • light gray to tan, unconsolidated, fine to coarse grained sand with fossils
  • light gray to green, poorly consolidated, fossil bearing sandy clay to clayey sand
  • light gray, poorly consolidated, very fine to medium grained, calcareous, fossil bearing sand
  • white to light gray, poorly consolidated, sandy, fossil bearing limestone
  • white to light gray, moderately to well hardened, sandy, fossiliferous limestone

Phosphate is present in limited quantities throughout the Tamiami in sand and gravel.

Sub-units

  • Bonita Springs Marl Member
  • Golden Gate Reef Member
  • Ochopee Limestone Member
  • Pinecrest Sand Member

Fossils

Fossils appear in casts and molds, as well as original material.

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