Fairmead landfilla late irvingtonian locality in madera county, california

Under the direction of Dr. Dundas, California State University, Fresno implements the paleontological mitigation program for Fairmead Landfill under a long-term contract between Madera County and the California State University Fresno Foundation. In addition to paleontological monitoring, fossil preparation, and collections management, an active research program is underway to document the fossil biota and geologic setting of the site.

Project personnel:

Robert G. Dundas, Ph.D., Project Director & Principal Investigator
Fraka Harmsen, Ph.D., Sedimentologist
John Wakabayashi, Ph.D., Registered California Professional Geologist
James C. Chatters, Ph.D., Principal Paleontologist
Niranjala Kottachchi, M.S., Field Supervisor
Jeff Anglen, M.S., Paleontological Monitor / Fossil Preparator
Yesenia Ibarra, B.S., Paleontology Lab Supervisor / Fossil Preparator
Danny Tovar, B.A., Fossil Preparator
Robin Trayler, B.A., Bulk sediment processing / Fossil Preparator
Joe Canchola, B.S., Fossil Preparator / microfossil picking
Carly Fenton, B.S., Fossil Preparator
Christopher Del Castillo, Fossil Preparator
Blake Bufford, Paleontological Monitor
Vengie Balli, Administrative Assistant

Research

History

In May 1993, while excavating for a new five acre expansion cell at the Madera County Fairmead Landfill, north of Madera, California and just southwest of the junction of state highways 99 and 152, a Madera Disposal Systems crew encountered vertebrate fossils. Because the land is public property owned by Madera County, the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requires that scientifically significant fossils be protected. Shortly after the initial discovery and at the invitation of the Madera County engineering department, J. Howard Hutchison and Robert Dundas of the University of California Museum of Paleontology (UCMP) at Berkeley travelled to Fairmead Landfill to assess the find and recommend an appropriate course of action in order that Madera County adhere to state regulations. The UCMP recommended that fossils be salvagaed and preserved as they are uncovered by landfill excavation activities. Paleontological monitoring has been ongoing ever since.

Geology

All three mid to late Pleistocene formations of the eastern San Joaquin Valley occur at Fairmead Landfill; Turlock Lake Formation, Riverbank Formation and Modesto Formation. At the site, fossils occur in the upper unit of the Turlock Lake Formation.

Paleontology

The Fairmead Landfill locality preserves a diverse late Irvingtonian biota. Vertebrates include pond turtle, desert tortoise, colubrid snakes, salamander, frog, waterfowl, and twenty-seven mammalian species. Invertebrates include a snail and a bivalve. Plant macrofossils are represented by molds of cocklebur. Fossil preservation occurred under a range of taphonomic conditions.

Fossil discovery center

An educational partnership between Madera County and the San Joaquin Valley Paleontology Foundation

Building of a 5,700 square foot exhibit facility is underway to showcase the Fairmead Landfill biota and other aspects of the area's natural history. The center is located across from the southeast corner of Fairmead Landfill at the new Fairmead Interchange off of State Route 99 north of Madera.