Contributions to the Ordovician paleontology of Kentucky and nearby states
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Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio↗
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Palaeocopid and podocopid Ostracoda from the Lexington Limestone and Clays Ferry Formation (Middle and Upper Ordovician) of central Kentucky
The Middle through lower Upper Ordovician Lexington Limestone and lower part of the Clays Ferry Formation contain an abundant and diversified ostracode fauna. More than 10,000 specimens belonging to 39 genera and 53 species have been found in 73 collections made by members of the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the Kentucky Geological Survey between 1961 and 1970. Five of the genera and 17 of the species are new. New taxa include the genera Gephyropsis, Ningulella, Phelobythocypris, Quasibollia, and Uninodobolba and the following species: Americoncha dubia, Ballardina millersburgia, Brevidorsa strodescreekensis, Ceratopsis asymme , trica C. fimbriata, Ctenobolbina ventrispinifera, Cystomatochilina reticulotiara, Easchmidtella sinuidorsata, Gephyropsis trachyreticulata, Jonesella gonyloba, Laccoprimitia claysferryensis, L. cryptomorphologica, Leperditella? perplexa, Ningulella paupera, Parenthatia sadievillensis, Silenis kentuckyensis, and Uninodobolba franklinensis. In addition, a new species, Quasibollia copelandi, is described from the Middle Ordovician of Ontario. The type specimens of ostracodes previously described from these formations but not represented in the recent collections are redescribed and refigured. The genus Warthinia Spivey, 1939, is reinstated for Ordovician bolliids with two to four nodes, and the genus Ceratopsis Ulrich, 1894, is reviewed with new figures of all known North American species of the genus. Forty-four collections included enough specimens to warrant quantitative analysis. The temporal and spatial distribution of the genera were defined by using Q-mode cluster analysis based on Sorensen's quantified coefficient of association. The resulting phenogram indicated the existence of eight clusters; these clusters were characterized by calculation of constancy and fidelity measures for each of the variables. Generic diversity, compound generic diversity, and lithologic associations were scanned in an attempt to delineate the paleoecologic regime of each cluster. In general, a trend can be seen in which the higher diversity Phelobythocypris-dominated clusters are found in the muddier rocks and less diverse, highly Ceratopsisdominated clusters in the predominantly carbonate members. An exception to this generalization is found in the limestones of the Strodes Creek Member of the Lexington Limestone which has the highest ostracode diversity. However, the Strodes Creek is found entirely within the confines of the muddy Millersburg Member of the Lexington and is believed to represent a similar environment. Diversity differences in these ostracode associations are thought to be controlled mainly by substrate and kinetic energy level. We suggest that the associations may represent ecologically controlled ostracode assemblages.
Professional Paper↗
Trepostome and cystoporate bryozoans from the Lexington Limestone and the Clays Ferry Formation (Middle and Upper Ordovician) of Kentucky
The Lexington Limestone and the Clays Ferry Formation of Kentucky contain an abundant and diversified fossil invertebrate fauna. This report is concerned with the trepostome and cystoporate bryozoans that constitute a major part of that fauna. The Lexington Limestone, largely a biofragmental fossiliferous limestone, rests disconformably on the Tyrone Limestone (Middle Ordovician). The Clays Ferry Formation consists of approximately equal amounts of biofragmentallimestone and shale, and it overlies conformably, or intertongues with, the upper part of the Lexington Limestone. The Clays Ferry Formation is overlain by the Garrard Siltstone (Upper Ordovician) in central Kentucky and intertongues with the Kope Formation (Upper Ordovician) in northern Kentucky. The MiddleUpper Ordovician boundary falls within the upper part of the Lexington Limestone and laterally equivalent strata of the Clays Ferry Formation. The Lexington Limestone has been divided into 12 members, consisting of calcarenites, calcisiltites, calcilutites, nodular limestones, and shales in various amounts, that intertongue complexly. Because of the great abundance of bryozoans this study is generally limited to bryozoans recovered from, in ascending order, the Grier Limestone Member, the Perryville Limestone Member, the Brannon Member, the Tanglewood Limestone Member, and the Millersburg Member of the Lexington Limestone and from the Clays Ferry Formation and its Point Pleasant Tongue. The trepostome and cystoporate bryozoans discussed are referred to 36 species belonging to 22 genera. The trepostome component includes 29 species belonging to 16 genera: Amplexopora, Atactoporella, Balticopora, Batostoma, Cyphotrypa, Dekayia, Eridotrypa, Hetero-_ trypa, Homotrypa, Homotrypella, Mesotrypa, Parvohallopora, Peronopora, Prasopora, Stigmatella, and Tarphophragma, a new genus. Five of the trepostome species are new: Balticopora arcuatilis, Cyphotrypa switzeriensis, Dekayia epetrima, Eridotrypa sadievillensis, and Homotrypa cressmani. The cystoporate bryozoans include 7 species belonging to 6 genera: Acanthoceramoporella, Ceramophylla, Ceramoporella, Constellaria, Crepipora, and Papillalunaria. One cystoporate species is new: Acanthoceramoporella valliensis. The trepostome and cystoporate fauna on the generic level is, with few exceptions, cosmopolitan. Five genera, Eridotrypa, Parvohallopora, Heterotrypa, Constellaria, and Peronopora, dominate the fauna, comprising about 77 percent of the thin-sectioned specimens. On the species level the fauna is endemic to the Ordovician of eastern North America and is biostratigraphically restricted to strata of late Blackriveran Stage (Middle Ordovician) to early Maysvillian Stage (middle Late Ordovician). In Kentucky the species of this fauna are restricted to strata between the base of the Lexington Limestone (Kirkfieldian Stage, Middle Ordovician) and the top of the Clays Ferry Formation and its lateral equivalent the Kope Formation (Edenian Stage, lower Upper Ordovician), with few species ranging into strata of early Maysvillian Stage (middle Late Ordovician) in adjacent areas of Indiana and Ohio. On the basis of the known geographic distribution of the various species, the fauna in Kentucky consists of an intermingling of immigrant and endemic species. The immigrant component (11 species) is generally limited to the lower half of the Lexington-Clays Ferry depositional sequence and permits the establishment of a degree of biostratigraphic equivalence with outcrop areas in Minnesota-Iowa and New York. On the species level the fauna in Kentucky is dominated by four: Constellaria teres, Heterotrypa foliacea, Parvohallopora nodulosa, and Eridotrypa mutabilis, in decreasing relative abundance. The first three species are restricted to the upper part of the Lexington Limestone and the Clays Ferry Formation. Eridotrypa mutabilis is restricted to the middle part of the Lexington Limestone and the lower half of the Clays Fer
Professional Paper↗
Leperditicopid ostracodes from Ordovician rocks of Kentucky and nearby states and characteristic features of the order Leperditicopida
Leperditicopid ostracodes from the Ordovician formations of Kentucky occur in micritic to fine-grained carbonate rocks believed to represent shallow-water facies. They are found at widely separated horizons in the Middle Ordovician High Bridge Group, the Middle and Upper Ordovician Lexington Limestone, and the Upper Ordovician Ashlock, Bull Fork, and Drakes Formations. In this sequence, the leperditicopes are represented by two genera of leperditiids, Eoleperditia Swartz, 1949 and Bivia Berdan, 1976, and six isochilinid genera, Isochilina Jones, 1858, Teichochilina Swartz, 1949, Ceratoleperditia Harris, 1960, Parabriartina n. gen., Kenodontochilina n. gen., and Saffordellina Bassler and Kellett, 1934; the type species of the hitherto poorly known genus Saffordellina, S. muralis (Ulrich and Bassler, 1923), is redescribed and refigured. In all, 18 taxa, of which 2 are in open nomenclature, are described and illustrated. In addition, the family Isochilinidae Swartz, 1949 is redefined to include genera without marginal brims and with straight ventral contact margins. The morphological characteristics of leperditicopid genera are discussed, and a table listing described genera and their diagnostic features is included.
Professional Paper↗
Echinoderms from Middle and Upper Ordovician rocks of Kentucky
The Middle and Upper Ordovician limestones of Kentucky, especially the Lexington Limestone, have yielded a diverse silicified echinoderm fauna, including: Stylophora-Enoploura cf. E. punctata; Paracrinoidea-A mygdalocystites; Crinoidea, Inadunata-Hybocrir/us tumidus, Hybocystites problem,aticus, Carabocrinus sp., Cupulocrinus sp., Heterocrinus sp.; Cyclocystoidea-Cyclocystoides sp. A rhombiferan cystoid, A mecystis laevis, from the Edinburg Formation, Virginia, is also discussed. No new taxa are introduced.
Professional Paper↗
Some silicified strophomenacean brachiopods from the Ordovician of Kentucky, with comments on the genus Pionomena
Eight species of silicified strophomenid brachiopods from Ordovician rocks of Kentucky are described in this report. Seven species are strophomenaceans, including six from the Middle Ordovician and one, Leptaena kentuckiana n. sp., from the Upper Ordovician. Pionomena recens Neuman from the Middle Ordovician is referred to the Davidsoniacea. Three of these species also occur in the Middle Ordovician of the northern Mississippi Valley region. Rafinesquina is abundant at many localities throughout the Middle Ordovician section of Kentucky. Other silicified strophomenaceans are rare and have been recovered only from the lower part of the Middle Ordovician section of the area. Oepikinia minnesotensis has a high degree of polymorphism of outline shape, profile, and ornament. Some Middle Ordovician species heretofore placed in Strophomena are reassigned to Tetraphalerella. Furcitella and Holtedahlina are differentiated only by the presence of a prominent fold in adult valves of Holtedaklina because a bifid dorsal medial ridge occurs in species of both genera and because the transmuscle ridges of both genera are similar. The possession by Pionomena recens of a perideltidium, dentifers, dorsal medial node, and impunctate shell indicates relationship of this genus to the Davidsoniacea.
Professional Paper↗
The brachiopod genera Hebertella, Dalmanella, and Heterorthina from the Ordovician of Kentucky
The orthid brachiopod genera Hebertella, Dalmanella, and Heterorthina are abundant in Middle and Upper Ordovician strata in Kentucky. 'Nine species are described: Hebertella frankfortensis Foerste; H. parksensis Foerste; H. occidentalis (Hall); Dalmanella bassleri Foerste; D. fertilis (Ulrich); D. meeki (Miller); D. multisecta (Meek); D. sulcata Cooper; and Heterorthina macfarlani Neuman. The species designations Hebertella sinuata (Hall), H. subjugata (Hall), and H. latasulcata Foerste are placed in synonymy with H. occidentalis (Hall). The stratigraphic distribution of each species is given. Large collections of silicified specimens allowed the recognition of the considerable variability characteristic of most of the species. External morphology distinguishes species of Hebertella, whereas internal features are critical to recognition of species of Dalmanella and Heterorthina.
Professional Paper↗
Middle and Late Ordovician solitary rugose corals of the Cincinnati Arch region
Middle Ordovician (Kirkfieldian) solitary rugose corals have been reported from the Tyrone Limestone of the High Bridge Group and the Curdsville Limestone Member of the Lexington Limestone in central Kentucky. Lambeophyllum? spp. A and B are recognized in the Tyrone Limestone. Grewingkia canadensis (Billings, 1862) and Streptelasma divaricans (Nicholson, 1875b) are the only solitary Rugosa known from the Upper Ordovician in the Cincinnati Arch region of Kentucky-Indiana-Ohio. Their earliest occurrence suggests introduction during an early Richmondian transgression. The two species have similar distributions; they favored normal marine waters of intermediate depth where calcium carbonate sediments accumulated and brachiopods and bryozoans thrived. G. canadensis probably lived in stable, low-energy environments, but the corals were transported during higher energy conditions before final deposition and rapid burial. S. divaricans was epifaunal on stabilized carbonate substrates during periods of nondeposition. Energy conditions remained low, and subsequent, usually argillaceous sediments often buried these corals in growth position. G. canadensis and S. divaricans attained their greatest diameter and length, respectively, on the southwestern side of the Cincinnati Arch region. The average number of septa in G. canadensis generally increased during Richmondian time, and simpler axial regions became more predominant in both species. These trends may be related to decreasing water depth. G. canadensis and S. divaricans are confined to the Richmond Solitary Coral Province, which formed a narrow belt extending from the Nashville Dome, along the Cincinnati Arch region to northern Michigan, and through southern Ontario and Quebec. The Red River-Stony Mountain Solitary Coral Province occupied the remainder of North America during the Richmondian. Because the taxa in these provinces are different, solitary corals cannot now be used to correlate strata outside the geographically restricted Richmond Province with the North American Upper Ordovician type sections in the Cincinnati Arch region. G. canadensis and S. divaricans became extinct during regression of the epicontinental sea at the end of Richmondian time.
Professional Paper↗
Middle and Upper Ordovician symmetrical univalved mollusks (Monoplacophora and Bellerophontina) of the Cincinnati Arch region
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Professional Paper↗
Middle and Upper Ordovician nautiloid cephalopods of the Cincinnati Arch region of Kentucky, Indiana, and Ohio
This chapter of 'Contributions to the Ordovician paleontology of Kentucky and nearby states' deals with the stratigraphic distribution, paleoecology, biogeography, and systematic paleontology of 50 species of nautiloid cephalopods from the Midcontinent. The species are placed in 30 genera. Most of the specimens are silicified and from Middle Ordovician rocks of Kentucky. The study is augmented by unsilicified material from the Upper Ordovician Cincinnatian Provincial Series from the tri-state area of Kentucky, Indiana, and Ohio.
Professional Paper↗
Upper Cenozoic deposits of the central Delmarva Peninsula, Maryland and Delaware
The surface and shallow subsurface sediments of the lower Delmarva Peninsula include beds ranging in age from Miocene to Holocene. The oldest beds appear to be typical shelf deposits of the Chesapeake Group (Calvert-Choptank age). These marine units are overlain by deltaic deposits, which range from fluviatile facies in the north (Pensauken Formation) to marginal marine and marine beds in the south ('Yorktown(?) and Cohansey(?)' Formations as used by Rasmussen and Slaughter in 1955). This large deltaic mass underlies most of the Delmarva Peninsula. Fossil age determinations supplemented by some radiometric dates indicate the delta to be largely late Miocene in age. The nonmarine facies of the delta, the Pensauken Formation, previously was considered to be Pleistocene in age. The late Miocene delta and possibly the Yorktown Formation (lower to middle Pliocene) are overlain by a feldspathic sand, the Beaverdam, which is at least in part marginal marine. Microflora recovered from this formation include species no longer indigenous to the Delmarva region ('exotics'). On the basis of existing information, microfloral assemblages containing 'exotics' are pre-Pleistocene in age. The Beaverdam therefore is pre-Pleistocene in age, probably late Pliocene. A highly dissected and weathered unit, the Walston Silt, caps the uplands of the central Delmarva Peninsula, where it overlies the Beaverdam. The Walston has a microflora containing 'exotics' and therefore is considered to be the youngest Tertiary unit (uppermost Pliocene) in this area. Sediments forming a barrier-back-barrier sequence fringe most of the southern Maryland-Delaware part of the Delmarva Peninsula and are found at altitudes of as much as 15 m (50 ft) above sea level. This sequence, the Omar Formation, is Sangamon in age and has been dated radiometrically as 60,000 to about 100,000 years old. The microflora in these beds contains no 'exotics,' and the assemblage suggests a warm-temperate environment. The Omar represents the highest stand of the Quaternary seas in the Delmarva region. The Ironshire and Kent Island Formations overlie or cut into the Omar Formation and are probably late Sangamon and middle Wisconsin, respectively, in age. Near Ocean City, the Ironshire forms a seaward-facing scarp with a toe nearly 4.5 m (15 ft) above sea level. A warm-temperate microfloral assemblage from the fluviatile-estuarine facies of the Ironshire Formation in the Delaware Bay region suggests that the formation is interglacial, probably late Sangamon in age. The Ironshire and Omar Formations are overlain unconformably by the Sinepuxent Formation. The top of this marine unit is slightly above present sea level and has been dated by radiocarbon as about 30,000 years old or middle Wisconsin. The microflora from this formation is a cold to cool-temperate assemblage (high proportion of spruce pollen). The outer fringes of the Delmarva Peninsula are being overlapped by deposits of a Holocene marine transgression.
Professional Paper↗
The Parsonsburg Sand in the central Delmarva Peninsula, Maryland and Delaware
The Parsonsburg Sand, a surface sand largely of Wisconsin age, caps terraces east of some of the major streams and mantles broad areas on the uplands of the central Delmarva Peninsula, Maryland and Delaware. The main body of the formation east and south of Salisbury, Md., ranges from 1.25 to 6.00 m (4-20 ft) in thickness and is a medium-grained moderately feldspathic sand containing a relatively mature heavy-mineral suite. The sand is either stratified or massive, and in some areas contains peaty sand and silt-clay, typically at or near the base of the formation. The organic matter ranges in radiocarbon age from about 30,000 to about 13,000 years B.P. and contains microfloral assemblages suggesting that at the time the sand was deposited the climate was cooler and drier that it is at present. The region may have been a pine-birch barrens in which were small ponds, spruce bogs, and abundant shrubs. The distribution of the sand at or near the position of high stands of the Sangamon sea suggests that the Parsonsburg Sand was derived from sandy shore and nearshore deposits of Sangamon age. Deposition was in part eolian and in part fluvial and lacustrine, probably in small streams and ponds between sand dunes.
Professional Paper↗
Sand dunes on the central Delmarva Peninsula, Maryland and Delaware
Inconspicuous ancient sand dunes are present in parts of the central Delmarva Peninsula, Maryland and Delaware. Many dunes are roughly V-shaped, built by northwest winds, especially on the east sides of some of the large rivers. On the uplands, the form and spacing of the dunes are variable. A surficial blanket composed mainly of medium and fine-grained sand-the Parsonsburg Sand-forms both the ancient dunes and the broad plains between the dunes. The sand that forms the dunes is massive and intensely burrowed in the upper part; traces of horizontal or slightly inclined bedding appear near the base. Quartz is the dominant mineral constituent of the sand. Microline is abundant in the very fine to fine sand fraction. The heavy-mineral assemblages (high zircon, tourmaline, rutile) are more mature than in most of the possible source rocks. The most abundant minerals in the clay-sized fraction are dioctahedral vermiculite, kaolinite, illite, montmorillonite, and gibbsite. The first four minerals are common in deposits of late Wisconsin and Holocene age. The gibbsite may be detrital, coming from weathered rocks of Tertiary age. The soil profile in the dune sand is weakly to moderately developed. At or near the base of the Parsonsburg Sand are peaty beds that range in age from about 30,000 to about 13,000 radiocarbon years B.P. Microfloral assemblages in the peaty beds suggest that the dunes on the uplands formed in a spruce parkland during the late Wisconsin glacial maximum. The river dunes may also be of late Wisconsin age, but could be Holocene.
Professional Paper↗
Upper Cenozoic sediments of the lower Delaware Valley and the northern Delmarva Peninsula, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Maryland
The 'yellow gravels' referred to by R. D. Salisbury in 1898 and the 'Trenton gravel,' as defined by H. C. Lewis in 1880, were investigated along the inner edge of the New Jersey Coastal Plain in southern New Jersey and in the northern Delmarva Peninsula. The highest level deposits, the Beacon Hill gravel, are found on only the highest hills in the New Jersey Coastal Plain. Their distribution suggests deposition from north to south across the plain. After deposition of the Beacon Hill, probably in middle or late Miocene time, a narrow valley was formed paralleling the inner edge of the New Jersey Coastal Plain between Raritan Bay and Camden. South of Camden, the valley broadened, covering much of southern New Jersey. The deposits in this valley are largely the Bridgeton Formation as we have redefined it. A second narrow valley was entrenched through the Bridgeton between Trenton and Salem, N.J. This valley broadens and covers much of the northern Delmarva Peninsula west of the Delaware River. The fill in the valley is largely the Pensauken Formation, as we have redefined it in our report. Collectively, the Beacon Hill, the Bridgeton, and the Pensauken were originally the 'yellow gravels' of Salisbury. These deposits are all fluviatile in origin and were largely formed as a series of step like downcutting channels. The Delaware Valley between Trenton and the lower Delaware Bay region is occupied by the 'Trenton gravel,' which is below the average level of the 'yellow gravels.' Two units recognized throughout the area and informally named the Spring Lake beds and the Van Sciver Lake beds are lithologically distinct from the 'yellow gravel' formations. The lithologies of the Spring Lake beds and the Van Sciver Lake beds are much more heterogeneous than those of the older formations. These two units, particularly, contain much greater amounts of silt and clay, often in thick beds. The depositional environments associated with the two units include fluviatile, estuarine, and marginal marine. Both these units are interpreted to be late Pleistocene (Sangamonian) in age.
Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania↗
Uranium-series dating of mollusks and corals, and age of Pleistocene deposits, Chesapeake Bay area, Virginia and Maryland
Geologic mapping in conjunction with uranium-series dating of fossil mollusks and corals suggests that the low-lying ( < 17 m in altitude) terrace deposits in the central and southern Chesapeake Bay area include two main depositional sequences, each of which represents a high stand of the sea in late Pleistocene time. The older depositional sequence includes the Accomack and Omar beds of the Delmarva area, the fossiliferous deposits along the lower Rappahannock River, and the Norfolk Formation deposits west of the Suffolk scarp. These beds have yielded a single reliable coral age estimate of 184,000?20,000 years B.P., suggesting an early late Pleistocene age. The younger sequence, including the type beds of the Norfolk Formation and equivalent strata east of the Suffolk scarp, has yielded several coral ages ranging from about 62,000 to 86,000 years B.P. (including ages from our samples and previously reported age estimates); thus, it is clearly late Pleistocene in age. Groupings of ages obtained from our quahog analyses also suggest two transgressive sequences; however, the estimated quahog ages are consistently younger than ages based on coral samples from the same and equivalent stratigraphic units. Stratigraphic, paleoclimatic, and geomorphic data suggest that the estimated uranium-series age of 71,000?7,000 years B.P. for the type beds of the Norfolk, obtained by averaging our coral dates, may be too young by as much as several tens of thousands of years. A postulated equivalency of the type Norfolk beds, upper Pleistocene deposits near Charleston, S.C. (apparent uranium-series age = 95,000?5,000 years), and deposits in the Caribbean area thought to represent the highest sea stand during the last interglacial period (apparent age, 125,000?10,000 years) implies diagenetic modification of coralline material possibly in part because of regional differences in depositional and postdepositional environments.
Professional Paper↗
Postdepositional alteration of surface and near-surface minerals in selected coastal plain formations of the Middle Atlantic States
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Professional Paper↗
Stratigraphic and geomorphic framework of uppermost Cenozoic deposits in the southern Delmarva Peninsula, Virginia and Maryland
No abstract available.
Maryland, Virginia↗
Effects of permafrost on stream channel behavior in Arctic Alaska
Sites with drainage areas ranging from 88 to 12,200 sq km were monitored on five streams in northern Alaska during the breakup in 1976 to determine (1) the effects of frozen bed and bank material on channel behavior, and (2) the importance of the annual breakup flood in forming the channels of arctic streams. The thawing and concomitant erosion of channels varied with changes in bed-material size, channel pattern, drainage area, and climate. The response of channels to breakup flooding ranged from total permafrost control of channel processes, including both bed scour and lateral erosion, to only brief restriction of channel behavior early in the rise of the flooding. The watershed characteristic that appears to explain much of this variation is size of drainage area. (Woodard-USGS)
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