Type of Submission
Poster
Keywords
Rugose Horn Coral, population, Richmondian, Ordovician, Whitewater Formation, statistical description
Abstract
The Whitewater Formation, part of the upper Ordovician period, is predominately a fossiliferous wavy limestone unit interbedded with fossiliferous shales (State of Ohio, 2012). These shales contain a variety of marine invertebrates including various species of brachiopods, bryozoans, trilobites and an abundance of rugose horn corals. The purpose of this project was to collect and describe a population of rugose corals from several outcrops exposed in Camden, OH. These outcrops are exposed along OH-127 and OH-725 as road cuts. Over 500 corals were collected, sorted for complete specimens, and numerically categorized into a dataset. Each coral was linked to its specific description of features by number in this manner. Thirty-four specimens were collected from the OH-725 road cut while recording their orientations indicated by trend and plunge. Both datasets were then examined specimen by specimen for a variety of features including inside length, outside length, diameter, boring locations, quantity of borings by a scale in increments of 15 individual borings, encrusted bryozoan locations, additional encrusted coral locations and quantities, attached brachiopod locations and quantities, curvature, and other notable features such as significant deformation or growth lines. The results of this project include a powerful dataset linked to a numbered collection, statistical descriptions of a population of rugose horn corals based on aforementioned features, and photographic representations of several notable features described within the collection of horn corals.
Campus Venue
Stevens Student Center Lobby
Location
Cedarville, OH
Start Date
4-3-2019 11:00 AM
End Date
4-3-2019 2:00 PM
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
A Description of a Population of Rugose Horn Corals in the Whitewater Formation (Richmondian, Ordovician) Camden, OH
Cedarville, OH
The Whitewater Formation, part of the upper Ordovician period, is predominately a fossiliferous wavy limestone unit interbedded with fossiliferous shales (State of Ohio, 2012). These shales contain a variety of marine invertebrates including various species of brachiopods, bryozoans, trilobites and an abundance of rugose horn corals. The purpose of this project was to collect and describe a population of rugose corals from several outcrops exposed in Camden, OH. These outcrops are exposed along OH-127 and OH-725 as road cuts. Over 500 corals were collected, sorted for complete specimens, and numerically categorized into a dataset. Each coral was linked to its specific description of features by number in this manner. Thirty-four specimens were collected from the OH-725 road cut while recording their orientations indicated by trend and plunge. Both datasets were then examined specimen by specimen for a variety of features including inside length, outside length, diameter, boring locations, quantity of borings by a scale in increments of 15 individual borings, encrusted bryozoan locations, additional encrusted coral locations and quantities, attached brachiopod locations and quantities, curvature, and other notable features such as significant deformation or growth lines. The results of this project include a powerful dataset linked to a numbered collection, statistical descriptions of a population of rugose horn corals based on aforementioned features, and photographic representations of several notable features described within the collection of horn corals.
