Lincoln Creek Formation

Stratigraphic range: Late Eocene-Early Miocene
35.1–22 Ma

PreꞒ

Type| Formation
Unit of| Belgian Basin
Underlies| Astoria Formation
Overlies| Skookumchuck Formation, Humptulips Formation
Thickness| 3,000 metres (9,800 ft)
Lithology
Primary| mudstone, sandstone, siltstone
Other| conglomerate, pyroclastic rock
Location
Region| Washington
Country| United States
Type section
Named for| Lincoln Creek (Chehalis River tributary)

Lincoln Creek Formation (originally known as the Lincoln Formation) is a geologic formation in the state of Washington. It is part of the Belgian Basin and preserves fossils dating to between the Late Eocene-Early Miocene, recording an almost complete sequence between the two. The formation overlies the Skookumchuck and Humptulips Formations and underlies the Astoria Formation. It preserves a marine shelf and slope environment with multiple methane seep communities containing coral, sponges, mollusks, and rare echinoderms.

## Discovery and naming

[edit]

The first locality of the Lincoln Creek formation was found, as the name suggests, at Lincoln Creek which is located within Lincoln County, Washington. Due to the outcrops being small in the area, the type locality of the formation is located in an area along the Chehalis River which consists of around 366 m of offshore marine strata. The formation was originally named the Lincoln formation by Weaver in 1912 though that name was already used for the Lincoln Porphyry, an Eocene deposit in Colorado.[1]

## Description

[edit]

The Lincoln Creek formation is a wide-spanning formation in Washington with numerous outcrops spanning from the Columbia River to Olympic Mountains; measurement of the formation suggest in spans are 3885 square kilometers.[1] The most complete sections of the formation are found throughout the rivers and streams of this expansive area. This is due to these bodies of water cutting into the formation almost perpendicularly, which also allows the nearly-continuous stratigraphic series to be exposed.[2] In these sections, the Lincoln Creek formation is around 3000 m thick.[3] The thickness of the formation increases as one goes west and north within the basin.[1]

The formation is largely made up of mudstone and siltstone with the sandstone more common in the lower strata of the formation ranging from fine to very-fine grained. Within the strata, there are also thin layers of calcareous concretions, basaltic sandstone, glauconitic sandstone, and structureless mudstone present. One notable feature of the lithology is the fact that in on the eastern edges, pyroclastic rock is present within a largely basaltic sandstone member. Along with that, small sections of limestone are present due to hydrocarbon seeps that were in the area during time of deposition.[3] The basal most 122 meters of the formation in made up of tuffaceous sandstone and sandy siltstone which overlies the Eocene Skookumchuck Formation.[1]

## Paleobiota

[edit]

### Anthozoa

[edit]

Genus  | Species  | Notes  | Image

|
|
|

Archohelia[4] | A? sp. |  |
Caryophyllia[4] | C. wynoocheensis |  |
Deltocyathus[4] | D. insperatus |  |
Dendrophyllia[4] | D. hannibali |  |
Flabellum[4] | F. hertleini |  |
F. sp. |  |
Graphularia[5] | 'G'? aff. sasai |  |
Radicipes[5] | R? sp. |  |
Stephanocyathus[4] | S. holcombensis |  |

### Annelida

[edit]

Genus  | Species  | Notes  | Image

|
|
|

Metavermilia[3] | M. gollieti |  |
Worm Tubes[6] |  | Tubes produced by worms with some being similar to those made by the genus Escarpia.  |

### Aves

[edit]

Genus  | Species  | Notes  | Image

|
|
|

Diomedavus[7] | D. knapptonensis |  |
Plotopteridae Gen. et sp. indet.[8] |  |  |

### Crustacea

[edit]

Genus  | Species  | Notes  | Image

|
|
|

Callianassa[6] | 'C' knapptonensis |  |
'C' porterensis |  |
Macrocyprinidae indet.[9] |  |  |
Pulalius[5] | P. vulgaris |  |
Xylocythere[9] | X. sp. |  |

### Echinodermata

[edit]

Genus  | Species  | Notes  | Image

|
|
|

Asteroidea indet.[6] |  |  |
Isocrinidae indet.[9] |  |  |
Spatangoida indet.[6] |  |  |

### Mollusca

[edit]

Genus  | Species  | Notes  | Image

|
|
|

Acharax[6] | A. sp. |  |
Acila [10] | A. nehalemensis |  |
Acteon[6] | A. sp. |  |
Archivesica[10] | A. knapptonensis |  |
Aturia[6] | A. angustata |  |
Bathybembix[9] | B. sp. |  |
Benthomangelia [10] | B. sp. |  |
Buccinidae indet.[6] |  |  |
Cadulus[9] | C. sp. |  |
Cancellaria[6] | C? sp. |  |
Cocculinidae indet.[9] |  |  |
Conchocele[6] | C. bisecta |  |
Craspedochiton[11] | C. eernissei |  |
Cryptonatica[10] | C. cf. pittsburgensis |  |
Cylichna[6] | C. sp. |  |
Dentalium [10] | D. cf. laneensis |  |
D. porterensis |  |
Depressigyra[6] | D? statura |  |
Ennucula[6] | E. sp. |  |
Exilia[9] | E. sp |  |
Fulgoraria[6] | F. ellenmoreae |  |
Gemmula | G? sp. |  |
Granula[6] | G? sp. |  |
Halystina [10] | H. sp. |  |
Idas[9] | I. sp. |  |
Ischnochiton[11] | I. goederti |  |
Leptochiton[6] | L. alveolus |  |
Lepidochitona[11] | L. lioplax |  |
L. washingtonensis |  |
Lepidopleurus[11] | L. propecajetanus |  |
Leptogyra[9] | sp. |  |
Limopsis [11] | L. nitens |  |
Liracassis[6] | L. sp. |  |
Lucinoma[6] | L. sp. |  |
Margaritidae indet.[6] |  |  |
Modiolidae indet.[6] |  |  |
Muricidae indet.[6] |  |  |
Natica[6] | N. sp. |  |
N? weaveri  |  |
Nipponothracia[10] | N. sp. |  |
Nucula[10] | N. vokesi |  |
Nuculana[6] | 'N' sp. aff. 'N' grasslei |  |
Oenopota [10] | O. sp. |  |
Parasyrinx [10] | P. sp. |  |
Pleurotemella[6] | P? sp. |  |
Propeamussium [10] | P. sp. |  |
Ptychosyrinx [10] | P. sp. |  |
Provanna[6] | P. antiqua |  |
Ringicula [10] | R. pinguis |  |
Scaphander[6][10] | S. impunctatus |  |
S. sp. |  |
Scaphandridae indet.[6] |  |  |
Skeneidae indet.[9] |  |  |
Solariella[6] | S? sp. |  |
Squiresica[12] | S. knapptonensis |  |
Tectonatica [10] | T. sp |  |
Tindaria[10] | T. sp |  |
Trophonopsis[6] | T? sp. |  |
Vesicomya[6] | V. sp. |  |
Xyloredo[9] | X. sp. |  |

### Mammalia

[edit]

Genus  | Species  | Notes  | Image

|
|
|

Mysticeti indet.[13] |  | Multiple teeth have been found at the formation with Osedax borings preserved.  |

### Osteichthyes

[edit]

Genus  | Species  | Notes  | Image

|
|
|

Aglyptorhynchus[14] | A. sp |  |
Diaphus[6] | D? sp. |  |
Nezumia[15] | N. armentrouti |  |
Oxygoniolepidus[15] | O. washingtonensis |  |

### Porifera

[edit]

Genus  | Species  | Notes  | Image

|
|
|

Eurete[6] | E. goederti? |  |
Farrea[6] | F? sp. |  |
Hexactinella[6] | H? conica |  |
H? tubula |  |
Hexactinellidae indet.[6] |  |  |

## Paleoenvironment

[edit]

Modern-day methane or cold seep environment

The Lincoln Creek formation represents a continuous marine shelf and shelf slope environment with turbidity currents present.[3] Methane seep deposits have been found within the formation with the microfossils suggesting that these seeps would have been in depths between 400 and 800 m.[6] Within these cold, deep water methane seeps multiple species of coral have been described but notably none of these genera are found in modern day methane seep communities. It has been suggested that ,like other animals found at the deposit, these coral could have gotten nutrients from the nearby seeps, though this isn't something seen in living corals.[4] A large number of other invertebrate groups have been found with bivalves and tubeworms making up a large amount of the fauna.[2] Based on the number of taxa found in the formation, these communities would have been highly abundant though lacked a large amount of diversity.[16] Though the microfauna suggests a depth of potentially over 1000 m, the mollusk fauna only suggests that the deposition would have been much shallower, ranging from 100 to 350 m.[17] Evidence of both whale and wood falls have been found at the formation with taxa present in these events today.[9][13]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c d The Lincoln Creek Formation, Grays Harbor basin, southwestern Washington (Report). US Geological Survey. 1967. doi:10.3133/b1244i.
2. ^ a b Goedert, James L.; Peckmann, Jörn; Reitner, Joachim (November 2000). <0992:wtiaac>2.0.co;2 "Worm Tubes in an Allochthonous Cold-Seep Carbonate From Lower Oligocene Rocks of Western Washington". Journal of Paleontology. 74 (6): 992–999\. doi:10.1666/0022-3360(2000)074<0992:wtiaac>2.0.co;2. ISSN 0022-3360.
3. ^ a b c d Kočí, Tomáš; Goedert, James L.; Jäger, Manfred (2023-10-03). "A new serpulid species (Polychaeta) from the late Eocene lower part of the Lincoln Creek Formation in western Washington State (USA)". Historical Biology. 35 (10): 1845–1854\. Bibcode:2023HBio...35.1845K. doi:10.1080/08912963.2022.2122824. ISSN 0891-2963.
4. ^ a b c d e f g Goedert, James L.; Peckmann, Jörn (2005), "Corals from deep-water methane-seep deposits in Paleogene strata of Western Oregon and Washington, U.S.A.", Cold-Water Corals and Ecosystems, Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer Berlin Heidelberg, pp. 27–40, doi:10.1007/3-540-27673-4_2, ISBN 978-3-540-24136-2, retrieved 2025-03-20
5. ^ a b c Goedert, James L.; Guthrie, Lloyd S.; Kiel, Steffen (2022-03-03). "Octocorals (Alcyonacea and Pennatulacea) from Paleogene deep-water strata in western Washington State, USA". Journal of Paleontology. 96 (3): 539–551\. Bibcode:2022JPal...96..539G. doi:10.1017/jpa.2022.5. ISSN 0022-3360.
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj Peckmann, J.; Goedert, J. L.; Thiel, V.; Michaelis, W.; Reitner, J. (August 2002). "A comprehensive approach to the study of methane-seep deposits from the Lincoln Creek Formation, western Washington State, USA". Sedimentology. 49 (4): 855–873\. Bibcode:2002Sedim..49..855P. doi:10.1046/j.1365-3091.2002.00474.x. ISSN 0037-0746.
7. ^ Mayr, Gerald; Goedert, James L. (July 2017). "Oligocene and Miocene albatross fossils from Washington State (USA) and the evolutionary history of North Pacific Diomedeidae". The Auk. 134 (3): 659–671\. doi:10.1642/auk-17-32.1. ISSN 0004-8038.
8. ^ Mayr, Gerald; Goedert, James L.; Richter, Adrian (2025-03-20). "Nearly complete late Eocene skull from the North Pacific elucidates the cranial morphology and affinities of the penguin-like Plotopteridae". The Science of Nature. 112 (2): 27. doi:10.1007/s00114-025-01977-1. ISSN 1432-1904. PMC 11926016.
9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Kiel, S.; Goedert, J. L. (2006-12-01). "A Wood-Fall Association From Late Eocene Deep-Water Sediments of Washington State, USA". PALAIOS. 21 (6): 548–556\. Bibcode:2006Palai..21..548K. doi:10.2110/palo.2005.p05-086r. ISSN 0883-1351.
10. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Kiel, Steffen (September 2010). "On the potential generality of depth-related ecologic structure in cold-seep communities: Evidence from Cenozoic and Mesozoic examples". Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 295 (1–2): 245–257\. Bibcode:2010PPP...295..245K. doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2010.05.042. ISSN 0031-0182.1–2&rft.pages=245-257&rft.date=2010-09&rft.issn=0031-0182&rft_id=info:doi/10.1016/j.palaeo.2010.05.042&rft_id=info:bibcode/2010PPP...295..245K&rft.aulast=Kiel&rft.aufirst=Steffen&rft_id=https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2010.05.042&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikipedia.org:Lincoln+Creek+Formation" class="Z3988">
11. ^ a b c d e Dell'Angelo, Bruno; Bonfitto, Antonio; Taviani, Marco (September 2011). "Chitons (Polyplacophora) from Paleogene Strata in Western Washington State, U.S.A.". Journal of Paleontology. 85 (5): 936–954\. Bibcode:2011JPal...85..936D. doi:10.1666/10-114.1. ISSN 0022-3360.
12. ^ Hybertsen, Frida; Kiel, Steffen; Goedert, James (2022). "A new genus of chemosymbiotic vesicomyid bivalves from the Oligocene of western North America". Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. 67. doi:10.4202/app.00992.2022. ISSN 0567-7920.
13. ^ a b Kiel, Steffen; Kahl, Wolf-Achim; Goedert, James L. (2012-12-07). "Traces of the bone-eating annelid Osedax in Oligocene whale teeth and fish bones". Paläontologische Zeitschrift. 87 (1): 161–167\. doi:10.1007/s12542-012-0158-9. ISSN 0031-0220.
14. ^ Fierstine, Harry L. (2005-06-27). "A newAglyptorhynchus(Perciformes: Scombroidei) from the Lincoln Creek Formation (late Oligocene, Washington, U.S.A.)". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 25 (2): 288–299\. doi:10.1671/0272-4634(2005)025[0288:anapsf]2.0.co;2. ISSN 0272-4634.
15. ^ a b Stringer, Gary L; and Welton, Bruce J (2025-03-04). "The enigmatic occurrence, size distribution, and significance of a new macrourid species, Nezumia armentrouti, based on otoliths from the Lincoln Creek Formation (upper Oligocene Section), Washington State, USA". Historical Biology. 37 (3): 488–504\. Bibcode:2025HBio...37..488S. doi:10.1080/08912963.2024.2310199. ISSN 0891-2963.
16. ^ Thiel, Volker; Peckmann, Jörn; Richnow, Hans Hermann; Luth, Ulf; Reitner, Joachim; Michaelis, Walter (February 2001). "Molecular signals for anaerobic methane oxidation in Black Sea seep carbonates and a microbial mat". Marine Chemistry. 73 (2): 97–112\. Bibcode:2001MarCh..73...97T. doi:10.1016/s0304-4203(00)00099-2. ISSN 0304-4203.
17. ^ Goedert, James L.; Squires, Richard L (1993). "First Oligocene records of Calyptogena (Bivalvia: Vesicomyidae)". Veliger-Berkeley. 36 (1): 73–77.