About 30 ft. of gray shell marl is exposed along Florida Highway 80, 1 mi. south of Belle Glade and 3 mi. east of South Bay, Palm Beach County, Florida. The fauna from these deposits includes at least 115 species of Mollusca and 36 species of Foraminiferida. Twenty-six extinct molluscan species (20 pelecypods and 6 gastropods) were recovered; 4 fresh-water gastropods were recognized. The molluscan and foraminiferal faunas were identified and counted, and paleoecological data were compiled.

The Foraminiferida are benthonic forms characteristic of nearshore marine environments. The association of genera compares with modern assemblages from the nearshore turbulent zone or coastal lagoon. The species of Mollusca identified range from freshwater forms (in rare occurrence) through shallow-water marginal-marine to normal-marine forms. However, approximately 40% of the molluscan fauna is composed of Chione cancellata (275 specimens), Anomia simplex (147 specimens), and Macrocallista maculata (110 specimens). The abundance of these shoal-water species suggests an environment with a water depth of less than 10 fm. in an open-sound or open-lagoon margin with a mud bottom. The age of the Belle Glade deposits is interpreted to be Plio-Pleistocene.

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