Geology of the Black Mingo Group (Paleocene) in the Kingstree and St. Stephen areas of South Carolina

Abstract

Paleocene vertebrate remains from the areas of Kingstree and St. Stephen, South Carolina, come from the Rhems and Williamsburg formations of the Black Mingo Group. Sedimentary textures and fossils indicate that both units accumulated in shallow, nearshore marine, lagoonal, and deltaic depositional environments. Calcareous nannofossils and dinoflagellates indicate that the vertebrate-bearing portions of the Williamsburg Formation near St. Stephen belong within calcareous nannoplankton Zones NP 3-5 (Lower Bridge Member) and within calcareous nannoplankton zones NP 8-9 (Chicora Member). Paleocene vertibrate remains from Kingstree probably all come from near the base of the Rhems Formation.