Jeffersonville Limestone

Last updated
Jeffersonville Limestone
Stratigraphic range: Devonian
Rugose2.jpg
Large rugose coral (above hammer) in the Jeffersonville Limestone at the Falls of the Ohio
Typesedimentary
Unit of Muscatatuck Group
Sub-unitsDutch Creek Sandstone Member, Geneva Dolomite Member, Vernon Fork Member [1]
Underlies North Vernon Formation and Sellersburg Limestone
Overlies Clear Creek Chert and Louisville Limestone
Thickness20 feet (6.1 m) at Louisville, KY, [2] 0 to 200 feet (0 to 61 m) in southwest Indiana [1]
Lithology
Primary limestone
Location
Region Cincinnati Arch
CountryUnited States
ExtentIndiana, Kentucky
Type section
Named for Jeffersonville, Indiana
Named byEdward M. Kindle, 1899 [3]

The Devonian Jeffersonville Limestone is a mapped bedrock unit in Indiana and Kentucky. It is highly fossiliferous. The Vernon Fork Member contains Volcanic ash associated with the Tioga Bentonites.

Contents

Description

The Jeffersonville is a coarse grained, dark gray, thick bedded, fossiliferous limestone. [2]

R. D. Perkins (1963) divided the Jeffersonville into five zones based on petrology and fossil content, [4] and these are summarized below (in stratigraphic order):

Fossils

The Jeffersonville Limestone is well known for its fossils, including the well-exposed corals, many in life positions, at Falls of the Ohio.

Edward Kindle described many species from the Falls of the Ohio in 1899: [3]

Campbell and Wickwire (1955) listed the following species in the Jeffersonville from outcrops in the vicinity of Hanover, Indiana: [6]

Other trilobites include the following: Arctinurus sp., Anchiopsis anchiops, Anchiopsis tuberculatus, "Calymene" platys, Coronura aspectans, C. myrmecophorus, C. helena, Crassiproteus clareus, C. crassimarginatus, C. macrocephalus, Greenops kindlei, Odontocephalus bifidus, O. magnus, Odontochile pleuroptyx, Phacops nasutus, Phacops pipa, Trypaulites calypso [7] [8] [9]

Ostracods were documented by Kesling and Peterson in 1958. [10] Genera identified include: Abditoloculina, Adelphobolbina, Ctenoloculina, Flaccivelum, Hollina, Hollinella, and Subligaculum.

The Blastoids Codaster alternatus and Codaster pyramidatus, among others, were identified by Cline and Heuer in 1950 at Falls of the Ohio. [11]

Notable exposures

Type locality is at Falls of the Ohio State Park near Louisville, Kentucky.

Age

Relative age dating places the Jeffersonville in the lower to middle Devonian. Devera and Fraunfelter identified it as Emsian-Eifelian based on coral and foraminifera. [1]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Falls of the Ohio National Wildlife Conservation Area</span> Bi-state area on the Ohio River near Louisville, Kentucky

The Falls of the Ohio National Wildlife Conservation Area is a national, bi-state area on the Ohio River near Louisville, Kentucky in the United States, administered by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in partnership with Indiana Department of Natural Resources. Federal status was awarded in 1981. The falls were designated a National Natural Landmark in 1966.

<i>Gravicalymene</i>

Gravicalymene Shirley, 1936, is a genus of trilobites belonging to the order Phacopida, suborder Calymenina and family Calymenidae. Species included in this genus have previously been allocated to Calymene Brongniart 1822,Flexicalymene Shirley, 1936. and Sthenarocalymene Siveter 1977.

Anchiopsis is a genus of trilobite in the order Phacopida, which existed in what is now New York, U.S.A. It was described by Delo in 1935, and the type species is Anchiopsis anchiops, which was originally described as Calymene anchiops by Green in 1832.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kope Formation</span>

The Kope Formation is one of the three component bedrock formations of the Maquoketa Group that primarily consists of shale (75%) with some limestone (25%) interbedded. In general, it has a bluish-gray color that weathers light gray to yellowish-gray and it occurs in northern Kentucky, southwest Ohio, and southeast Indiana, United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Columbus Limestone</span>

The Columbus Limestone is a mapped bedrock unit consisting primarily of fossiliferous limestone, and it occurs in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia in the United States, and in Ontario, Canada.

<i>Favosites</i> Fossil genus of corals recognised on the densely packed, polygon cells.

Favosites is an extinct genus of tabulate coral characterized by polygonal closely packed corallites. The walls between corallites are pierced by pores known as mural pores which allowed transfer of nutrients between polyps. Favosites, like many corals, thrived in warm sunlit seas, feeding by filtering microscopic plankton with their stinging tentacles and often forming part of reef complexes. The genus had a worldwide distribution from the Late Ordovician to Late Permian.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Borden Formation</span> Mississippian period geologic formation in Appalachia and Midwest United States

The Mississippian Borden Formation is a mapped bedrock unit in Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, West Virginia, and Tennessee. It has many members, which has led some geologists to consider it a group rather than a formation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fayetteville Shale</span>

The Fayetteville Shale is a geologic formation of Mississippian age composed of tight shale within the Arkoma Basin of Arkansas and Oklahoma. It is named for the city of Fayetteville, Arkansas, and requires hydraulic fracturing to release the natural gas contained within.

Fossils of many types of water-dwelling animals from the Devonian period are found in deposits in the U.S. state of Michigan. Among the more commonly occurring specimens are bryozoans, corals, crinoids, and brachiopods. Also found, but not so commonly, are armored fish called placoderms, snails, sharks, stromatolites, trilobites and blastoids.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paleontology in Michigan</span>

Paleontology in Michigan refers to paleontological research occurring within or conducted by people from the U.S. state of Michigan. During the Precambrian, the Upper Peninsula was home to filamentous algae. The remains it left behind are among the oldest known fossils in the world. During the early part of the Paleozoic Michigan was covered by a shallow tropical sea which was home to a rich invertebrate fauna including brachiopods, corals, crinoids, and trilobites. Primitive armored fishes and sharks were also present. Swamps covered the state during the Carboniferous. There are little to no sedimentary deposits in the state for an interval spanning from the Permian to the end of the Neogene. Deposition resumed as glaciers transformed the state's landscape during the Pleistocene. Michigan was home to large mammals like mammoths and mastodons at that time. The Holocene American mastodon, Mammut americanum, is the Michigan state fossil. The Petoskey stone, which is made of fossil coral, is the state stone of Michigan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paleontology in Ohio</span>

Paleontology in Ohio refers to paleontological research occurring within or conducted by people from the U.S. state of Ohio. Ohio is well known for having a great quantity and diversity of fossils preserved in its rocks. The state's fossil record begins early in the Paleozoic era, during the Cambrian period. Ohio was generally covered by seawater from that time on through the rest of the early Paleozoic. Local invertebrates included brachiopods, cephalopods, coral, graptolites, and trilobites. Vertebrates included bony fishes and sharks. The first land plants in the state grew during the Devonian. During the Carboniferous, Ohio became a more terrestrial environment with an increased diversity of plants that formed expansive swampy deltas. Amphibians and reptiles began to inhabit the state at this time, and remained present into the ensuing Permian. A gap in the local rock record spans from this point until the start of the Pleistocene. During the Ice Age, Ohio was home to giant beavers, humans, mammoths, and mastodons. Paleo-Indians collected fossils that were later incorporated into their mounds. Ohio has been the birthplace of many world famous paleontologists, like Charles Schuchert. Many significant fossils curated by museums in Europe and the United States were found in Ohio. Major local fossil discoveries include the 1965 discovery of more than 50,000 Devonian fish fossils in Cuyahoga County. The Ordovician trilobite Isotelus maximus is the Ohio state invertebrate fossil.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paleontology in Kentucky</span>

Paleontology in Kentucky refers to paleontological research occurring within or conducted by people from the U.S. state of Kentucky.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paleontology in Indiana</span>

Paleontology in Indiana refers to paleontological research occurring within or conducted by people from the U.S. state of Indiana. Indiana's fossil record stretches all the way back to the Precambrian, when the state was inhabited by microbes. More complex organisms came to inhabit the state during the early Paleozoic era. At that time the state was covered by a warm shallow sea that would come to be inhabited by creatures like brachiopods, bryozoans, cephalopods, crinoids, and trilobites. During the Silurian period the state was home to significant reef systems. Indiana became a more terrestrial environment during the Carboniferous, as an expansive river system formed richly vegetated deltas where amphibians lived. There is a gap in the local rock record from the Permian through the Mesozoic. Likewise, little is known about the early to middle Cenozoic era. During the Ice Age however, the state was subject to glacial activity, and home to creatures like short-faced bears, camels, mammoths, and mastodons. After humans came to inhabit the state, Native Americans interpreted the fossil proboscidean remains preserved near Devil's Lake as the bones of water monsters. After the advent of formal scientific investigation one paleontological survey determined that the state was home to nearly 150 different kinds of prehistoric plants.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paleontology in Wisconsin</span>

Paleontology in Wisconsin refers to paleontological research occurring within or conducted by people from the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The state has fossils from the Precambrian, much of the Paleozoic, some a parts of the Mesozoic and the later part of the Cenozoic. Most of the Paleozoic rocks are marine in origin. Because of the thick blanket of Pleistocene glacial sediment that covers the rock strata in most of the state, Wisconsin’s fossil record is relatively sparse. In spite of this, certain Wisconsin paleontological occurrences provide exceptional insights concerning the history and diversity of life on Earth.

<i>Paraspirifer</i>

Paraspirifer is a genus of large brachiopods that lived during the late Lower and Middle Devonian in what now are Germany, Spain, Morocco and the United States.

The Traverse Group is a geologic group in Michigan, Indiana and Ohio comprising middle Devonian limestones with calcareous shale components. Its marine fossils notably include Michigan's state stone, the Petoskey stone, among other corals and records of ancient marine life. A range of trilobites has also been found in the Traverse Group.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Four Mile Dam Formation</span> Geological feature in Michigan USA

The Four Mile Dam Formation, also called the Four Mile Dam Limestone, is a geologic formation in Michigan. It preserves fossils dating back to the middle Devonian period.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ludlowville Formation</span>

The Ludlowville Formation is a geologic formation in New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania. It dates to the Devonian period.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Milwaukee Formation</span>

The Milwaukee Formation is a fossil-bearing geological formation of Middle Devonian age in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin. It stands out for the exceptional diversity of its fossil biota. Included are many kinds of marine protists, invertebrates, and fishes, as well as early trees and giant fungi.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Floresta Formation</span> Geological formation in the Colombian Andes

The Floresta Formation is a geological formation of the Altiplano Cundiboyacense in the Eastern Ranges of the Colombian Andes. The sequence of siltstones, shales, coquinas and sandstone beds dates to the Devonian period; Late Emsian, Eifelian and Early Givetian epochs, and has a maximum thickness of 600 metres (2,000 ft). The unit is highly fossiliferous; brachiopods, bryozoans, gastropods, trilobites, corals and bivalves have been found in the Floresta Formation. Some fragments of Placoderm fish fossils were found in the Floresta Formation, while the overlying Cuche Formation is much richer in fish biodiversity.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Devera, J.A., and Fraunfelter, G.H., 1988, Middle Devonian paleogeography and tectonic relationships east of the Ozark dome, southeastern Missouri, southwestern Illinois and parts of southwestern Indiana and western Kentucky, IN McMillan, N.J., Embry, A.F., and Glass, D.J., eds., Devonian of the World; proceedings of the 2nd international symposium on the Devonian System; Volume II, Sedimentation: Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists Memoir, 14, p. 179-196.
  2. 1 2 Butts, Charles, 1915, Geology and mineral resources of Jefferson County, Kentucky: Kentucky Geological Survey [Report], 4th series, v. 3, pt. 2, 270 p.
  3. 1 2 Kindle, E.M., 1899, The Devonian and lower Carboniferous faunas of southern Indiana and central Kentucky: Bulletins of American Paleontology, no. 12, 112 p.
  4. Ronald D. Perkins, 1963, Petrology of the Jeffersonville Limestone (Middle Devonian) of Southeastern Indiana: Geological Society of America Bulletin (1963), 74(11):1335-1354 abstract
  5. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-10-21. Retrieved 2011-06-29.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  6. Formations of Ordovician, Silurian, and Devonian Rocks in the vicinity of Hanover, Indiana. Compiled by Guy Campbell and Grant T. Wickwire, 1955 full text
  7. Trilobites at the Falls of the Ohio, Indiana Department of Natural Resources, Division of State Parks and Reservoirs, Interpretive Services (brochure)
  8. Delo, David M., 1940. Phacopid Trilobites of North America. Geological Society of America, Special Paper 29.
  9. Stumm, E. C., 1954. Lower Middle Devonian Phacopid Trilobites from Michigan, Southwestern Ontario, and the Ohio Valley. Contributions from the Museum of Paleontology, Ann Arbor, MI. Vol. XI, pp. 201-221.
  10. Robert V. Kesling and Rex M. Peterson, 1958, Middle Devonian Hollinid Ostracods from the Falls of the Ohio: Micropaleontology. Vol. 4, No. 2 (April 1958), pp. 129-148
  11. L. M. Cline and Edward Heuer, 1950, The Codaster alternatus-Codaster pyramidatus Group of Blastoids from the Mid-Devonian of North America: Journal of Paleontology Vol. 24, No. 2 (March 1950), pp. 154-173