The Wood Canyon Formation is a geologic formation in the northern Mojave Desert of Inyo County, California and Nye County and Clark County, Nevada.
It can be seen in the Panamint Range and Funeral Mountains adjoining Death Valley, within Death Valley National Park; and in the Spring Mountains in Clark County.
The 570+ million years old formation underlies the Zabriskie Quartzite Formation, and overlies the Stirling Quartzite Formation.
It has three unnamed Members, simply known as 'Upper', 'Middle', and 'Lower', that mainly consist of limestone, conglomerate rocks and dolostone respectively, with sandstone and siltstones found within the 'Upper' and 'Lower' Members, with the latter itself further containing quartzite and shales. The 'Upper' and 'Middle' Members are Cambrian in age, including the upper rocks of the 'Lower Member', whilst the rest of the 'Lower' Member is Ediacaran in age.
The Wood Canyon Formation spans from the late Ediacaran period of the Neoproterozoic Era into the Lower Cambrian Period of the Paleozoic Era. As for the fossils and biota found within the formation, the Cambrian strata is home to olenellid trilobites and archaeocyathid sponges, whilst the Ediacaran strata contains petalonamid forms like Pteridinium and ichnotaxon traces like Helminthoidichnites.
All the organisms and trace fossils from the Cambrian sections of the formation.
All the organisms and trace fossils from the Ediacaran sections of the formation.