# Modelo Formation
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{{Short description|Miocene geologic formation in southern California, United States}}
{{Infobox rockunit
| name = Modelo Formation
| image =
| caption =
| type = [Formation](/source/Formation_(stratigraphy))
| age = [Late Miocene](/source/Late_Miocene), {{fossil range|13|5.5}}
| period = Miocene
| prilithology = [Shale](/source/Shale)
| otherlithology =
| namedfor =
| namedby =
| region = [Los Angeles County](/source/Los_Angeles_County%2C_California) and [Ventura County](/source/Ventura_County%2C_California), [California](/source/California)
| country = [United States](/source/United_States)
| coordinates =
| unitof =[Los Angeles Basin](/source/Los_Angeles_Basin)
| subunits =
| underlies =[Pico Formation](/source/Pico_Formation)
| overlies =[Rincon Shale](/source/Rincon_Shale)
| thickness ={{convert|600|m|ft}}
| extent =[Simi Hills](/source/Simi_Hills), [Santa Susana Mountains](/source/Santa_Susana_Mountains)
| area =
| map =
| map_caption =
}}
The '''Modelo Formation''' is a [Miocene](/source/Miocene) [geologic formation](/source/Formation_(geology)) in the [Simi Hills](/source/Simi_Hills) and western [Santa Susana Mountains](/source/Santa_Susana_Mountains) of southern [California](/source/California), including under parts of [Los Angeles](/source/Los_Angeles).
It preserves [fossils](/source/fossils) dating back to the [Late Miocene](/source/Late_Miocene) of the [Neogene](/source/Neogene) [period](/source/Period_(geology)), among them a high number of fossil representatives of modern [pelagic](/source/Pelagic_fish) and [deep-sea fish](/source/deep-sea_fish) taxa (as well as some with [benthic](/source/Demersal_fish) affinities), in addition to some [seabirds](/source/Seabird) and [cetaceans](/source/Cetacea). As suggested from this fauna, the sediments of the formation were likely deposited in a deepwater marine habitat at middle to upper [bathyal](/source/Bathypelagic_zone) depths within an [abyssal fan](/source/abyssal_fan), with geological changes along the [San Andreas fault](/source/San_Andreas_Fault) causing a rapid [uplift](/source/Tectonic_uplift) during the latest Miocene, bringing these former deepwater sediments to the surface.[{{Cite journal |last1=Rumelhart |first1=Peter E. |last2=Ingersoll |first2=Raymond V. |date=1997 |title=Provenance of the upper Miocene Modelo Formation and subsidence analysis of the Los Angeles basin, southern California: Implications for paleotectonic and paleogeographic reconstructions |url=https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsabulletin/article/109/7/885-899/183276 |journal=Geological Society of America Bulletin |volume=109 |issue=7 |pages=885–899 |doi=10.1130/0016-7606(1997)109<0885:POTUMM>2.3.CO;2|bibcode=1997GSAB..109..885R |url-access=subscription }}] It is likely partially contemporaneous with the [Monterey Formation](/source/Monterey_Formation) in some areas, such as the Ventura Basin.[{{Cite journal |last1=Gilbert |first1=J. Clark |last2=Jobe |first2=Zane R. |date=2023-08-29 |title=Submarine-Channel Element Architecture Demonstrates Facies Heterogeneity in Both Strike and Dip Views: Miocene Modelo Formation, Lake Piru, California, USA |url=https://thesedimentaryrecord.scholasticahq.com/article/84246-submarine-channel-element-architecture-demonstrates-facies-heterogeneity-in-both-strike-and-dip-views-miocene-modelo-formation-lake-piru-california |journal=The Sedimentary Record |language=en |volume=21 |issue=1 |doi=10.2110/001c.84246|doi-access=free }}]
Volcanic ash beds are known from the formation; these, along with fossil microorganisms, indicate that the formation was deposited between 13 and 5.5 million years ago.[{{Citation |last1=Knott |first1=Jeffrey R. |title=Tephrochronology of the Miocene Monterey and Modelo Formations, California |date=2022-09-26 |work=Understanding the Monterey Formation and Similar Biosiliceous Units across Space and Time |pages=187–214 |editor-last=Aiello |editor-first=Ivano W. |url=https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsa/books/edited-volume/2354/chapter/134302887/Tephrochronology-of-the-Miocene-Monterey-and |access-date=2024-09-23 |publisher=Geological Society of America |language=en |doi=10.1130/2022.2556(08) |isbn=978-0-8137-2556-7 |last2=Sarna-Wojcicki |first2=Andrei M. |last3=Barron |first3=John A. |last4=Wan |first4=Elmira |last5=Heizler |first5=Lynn |last6=Martinez |first6=Priscilla |editor2-last=Barron |editor2-first=John A. |editor3-last=Ravelo |editor3-first=A. Christina}}]
== Paleobiota ==
Based on the [Paleobiology Database](/source/Paleobiology_Database) and Fierstine ''et al'' (2012). Much of the fauna is shared with the [Monterey Formation](/source/Monterey_Formation), though some distinct taxa are also known:[{{Cite web |last=Czaplewski |first=John J. |title=PBDB Navigator |url=https://paleobiodb.org/navigator/ |access-date=2024-09-23 |website=[Paleobiology Database](/source/Paleobiology_Database) |language=en}}][{{Cite book |last=California Academy of Sciences |url=https://archive.org/details/occasionalpaper00calif/occasionalpaper00calif/mode/2up |title=Occasional papers of the California Academy of Sciences |date=1890 |publisher=San Francisco : California Academy of Sciences |others=California Academy of Sciences}}]
=== Bony fish ===
Based on Fierstine ''et al'' (2012). Many of these taxa were described by [David Starr Jordan](/source/David_Starr_Jordan) from specimens excavated during the construction of the [Sepulveda Boulevard](/source/Sepulveda_Boulevard) Tunnel through the [Santa Monica Mountains](/source/Santa_Monica_Mountains).[{{Cite journal |last=Denton |first=John S. S. |date=2013 |title=Lanternfish (Teleostei, Myctophiformes, Myctophidae) body fossils from the Modelo Formation (upper Miocene) of Los Angeles County, California |url=http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02724634.2013.751919 |journal=Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology |language=en |volume=33 |issue=4 |pages=786–793 |doi=10.1080/02724634.2013.751919 |bibcode=2013JVPal..33..786D |issn=0272-4634|url-access=subscription }}]
|frameless
|-
|''[Chalcidichthys](/source/Chalcidichthys)''
|''C. malacopterygius''
|
|
|Articulated skeletons
|A manefish.
|frameless|155x155px
|-
|''[Chauliodus](/source/Viperfish)''
|''[C. eximius](/source/Chauliodus_eximus)''
|
|
|Articulated skeletons
|A [viperfish](/source/viperfish).
|frameless
|-
|?''[Clupea](/source/Clupea)''
|?''[C. tiejei](/source/Clupea_tiejei)''
|
|
|Articulated skeleton
|A [herring](/source/herring), classification in ''Clupea'' uncertain.
|frameless
|-
|''[Cyclothone](/source/Cyclothone)''
|''[C. solitudinis](/source/Cyclothone_solitudinis)''
|
|Lower
|Articulated skeleton
|A [bristlemouth](/source/Gonostomatidae).
|frameless
|-
| rowspan="2" |''[Decapterus](/source/Decapterus)''
|''[D. hopkinsi](/source/Decapterus_hopkinsi)''
|
|
| rowspan="2" |Articulated skeleton
| rowspan="2" |A [mackerel scad](/source/Decapterus).
| rowspan="2" |frameless
|-
|''D.'' sp.
|
|
|-
|''[Diaphus](/source/Diaphus)''
|''[D. bolini](/source/Diaphus_bolini)''
|
|
|Articulated skeletons
|A lanternfish.
|frameless
|-
| rowspan="2" |''[Eclipes](/source/Eclipes)''
|''E. santamonicae''
|
|
| rowspan="2" |Articulated skeletons
| rowspan="2" |A [cod](/source/Gadidae).
|
|-
|''E. veternus''
|
|
|
|-
|''[Etringus](/source/Etringus)''
|''E. scintillans''
|
|
|Articulated skeletons, isolated scales
|A herring, possibly a [round herring](/source/Dussumieriidae).
|
|-
| rowspan="2" |''[Ganolytes](/source/Ganolytes)''
|''G. aratus''
|
|
| rowspan="2" |Articulated skeletons, isolated scales
| rowspan="2" |A herring.
|
|-
|''G. cameo''
|
|
|
|-
|''[Hipposyngnathus](/source/Hipposyngnathus)''
|''H. imporcitor''
|
|Upper
|Articulated skeletons
|A [pipefish](/source/pipefish).
|frameless
|-
|''[Plectrites](/source/Plectrites)''
|''P. classeni''
|
|
|Articulated skeletons
|A [seabream](/source/Sparidae).
|
|-
|''[Quaesita](/source/Quaesita)''
|''Q. quisquilia''
|
|
|Articulated skeletons
|A deep-sea smelt.
|
|-
| rowspan="2" |''[Lampanyctus](/source/Lampanyctus)''
|''[L. petrolifer](/source/Lampanyctus_petrolifer)''
|
|
| rowspan="2" |Articulated skeletons
| rowspan="2" |A lanternfish, ''L. petrolifer'' potentially in an undescribed genus.
| rowspan="2" |frameless
|-
|''L.'' sp.
|
|
|-
|''[Laytonia](/source/Laytonia)''
|''L. californica''
|
|
|Articulated skeleton
|A [halosaur](/source/halosaur).
|frameless|187x187px
|-
| rowspan="3" |''[Lompoquia](/source/Lompoquia)''
|''L. culveri''
|
|
| rowspan="3" |Articulated skeleton
| rowspan="3" |A [drumfish](/source/Sciaenidae).
| rowspan="3" |frameless
|-
|''L. retropes''
|
|
|-
|''L.'' sp.
|
|
|-
|[Molidae](/source/Molidae) indet.
|
|
|
|
|An [ocean sunfish](/source/Molidae).
|
|-
|''[Myctophum](/source/Myctophum)''
|''M.'' sp.
|
|
|Articulated skeletons
|A lanternfish.