﻿GEOLOGY AND PALEONTOLOGY OF THE CANAL ZONE. 585 



According to Hill * this epoch is roprcscntcd in Jamaica by an 

 ©rosion unconformity that intervenes between the Montpolier white 

 limestone and the Bowdon marl. The or])itoids and nummulites 

 of Jamaica are greatly in need of critical study. It is entirely 

 probable that part of Hill's Montpelier limestone is of middle Ohgo- 

 cono (Rupelian) age. 



UPPER OLTGOCENE. 



It is my opinion, as expressed on a previous page (555), that the 

 upper part of the Culebra formation and the Empcrador lime- 

 stone are the correlatives of the European Aquitanian, and on page 

 571 I have given my reasons for preferring to refer the Aquitanian 

 to the upper Oligocene rather than to the basal Miocene. The ref- 

 erence of the upper part of the Culebra formation, in which Lepido- 

 cyclina canellei R. Douville and Lemoine and L. cJiaperi R. Douville 

 and Lemoine occur, to the upper Oligocene is old, for it was first pub- 

 lished by H. Douville in 1898.- Later ^ he refers the beds in which 

 L. canellei is found to the upper Aquitanian, which he considers lower 

 Miocene. M. Douville apparently is confused as regards the strati- 

 graphic relations of L. cJiaperi, for the section, station C019<^-/, 

 page 538, shows that it occurs stratigraphically above L. canellei, 

 station 6019a, page 538, in Gaillard Cut. 



As has been said, I correlate that part of the Culebra formation 

 in which Lepidocyclina canellei, L. chaperi, L. vaughani, Ilelero- 

 steginoides panamensis, Nummuliies panamensis, Orhiioliies ameri- 

 cana, and the corals listed on page 208, with the upper half of the 

 Chattahoochee formation of Georgia and Florida and a part of the 

 Tampa formation of Florida, and I consider it the American corre- 

 lative of the European Aquitanian-Chattian. 



The Empcrador limestone is paleontologically very closely related 

 to the underlying top of the Culebra formation. In fact, except in 

 the Canal Zone, where they are separable because of lithologic 

 differences, it seems to me doubtful if the horizons represented by 

 them can be positively identified. 



As a part of my discussion of the fossil corals it was necessary for 

 mo to discuss the geographic distribution of coralliferous deposits of 

 this age in America. Besides those in Panama, marine deposits of 

 the same age also occur in Anguilla, probably in Porto Rico, in 

 Cuba, Florida, and Georgia, and H. Douville's researches on the 

 Foraminifera of Trinidad show their presence on that island. It is 

 probable that they are also present in Martinique, Santo Domingo, 

 and eastern Mexico, but precise data are lacking. 



> Hill, R. T., The geology and physical geography of Jamaica, Mus. Comp. Zool. Bull., vol. 34, p. 143, 

 1899. 



» DouvilM, H., Sur I'ftge des couches traversdes par le Canal de Panama, Soc. Gdol. France Bull., vol, 

 26, pp. 5S7-fi00, 1898. 



« Douvillt^, II., Les couches h. orbitoides de I'isthme de Panama, Idem., sfence du 20 d(5cembre 191^' 

 pp. 129-131, 1916. 



