Emergent Littoral Deposits in the Eastern Canary Islands

Abstract K-Ar ages ( A. Abdel-Monem, P. D. Watkins, and P. W. Gast, 1971 , American Journal of Science 271 , 490–521; this paper) and revised paleontological determinations ( J. Meco, 1977 , “Los Strombus neogenos y cuatenarios del Atlantico euroafricano”, Las Palmas, Ediciones del Excmo. Cabildo Insular de Gran Canaria) show that “Quaternary” ( R. Crofts, 1967 , Quaternaria 9, 247–260; G. Lecointre, K. J. Tinkler, and G. Richards, 1967 , Academy of Natural Science of Philadelphia Proceedings 119 , 325–344) littoral deposits on Lanzarote and Fuerteventura are early Pliocene and late Pleistocene. Early and middle Pleistocene strand lines are not represented. Early Pliocene littoral and marine deposits contain a characteristic fossil assemblage: Strombus coronatus, Nerita emiliana, Gryphaea virleti, Patella cf. intermedia , and Rothpletzia rudista . Differences in elevation record differential post-Pliocene uplift of the coastal platforms on which they lie. Late Pleistocene beach deposits at low elevations belong to two groups, an older with Strombus bubonius and a younger without. Differences in elevation of early Pliocene littoral deposits are reflected by differences in elevation of late Pleistocene beach deposits nearby.

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