| Chipola Formation | |
|---|---|
| Stratigraphic range:Late Oligocene-Early Miocene | |
 Fossils from the Chipola Formation | |
| Type | Geological formation |
| Unit of | Alum Bluff Group |
| Underlies | Shoal River Formation |
| Lithology | |
| Primary | dolomite,phosphate,clay,sand |
| Location | |
| Region | Florida Panhandle |
| Country |  United States |
| Type section | |
| Named for | Chipola River |
TheChipola Formation is aLate Oligocene toEarly Miocenegeologic formation in theFlorida Panhandle and member of theAlum Bluff Group.
Period:Neogene
Epoch:Early Miocene toMiddle Miocene
Faunal stage:Aqitanian ~18.9 to 18.3mya, calculates to a period of0.6 million years
The Chipola Formation is found along theChipola River.
The Chipola Formation is composed ofclays,sands and shell beds. These vary from fossil bearing sandy clays to sands, clays, andcarbonate beds absent of fossil content withglauconite and phosphatemica which is common. The coloration is from cream to olive gray with mottled reddish brown in the weathered sections. The sands are soft and very fine to coarse with sporadicgravel while carbonate lenses are quite hard.Permeability of the sediments are generally low and are part of the intermediate confining unit/aquifer system.[1]
The Chipola Formation of the Early Miocene contains one of the most diverse, high-abundanceecosystems ofmollusks ever described.[citation needed] It containedherbivorous andcarnivorous mollusks at 30–50% as well asfilter feeders at 7%. The formation was clearly analgae ordetritus-based ecosystem not heavily dependent onphytoplankton.[2] Small land-mammal fauna from an overlying unit supports the older age for the Chipola Formation at 18.9–18.3 Ma. (H. Kline et al.).
TheChoctaw Sea which gave rise to the Chipola Subsea.