Cincinnati Group
Geologic group in Kentucky and Ohio, United States
The Cincinnati Group is a geologic group in Kentucky, Ohio and Indiana. It is Upper Ordovician in age. This geologic group is made up of member formations: Drakes Formation, Whitewater Formation, Liberty Formation, Arnheim Formation, Grant Lake Limestone, Miamitown Shale, Fairview Formation, and Kope Formation. There are also several members of the respective formations. Most of these formations are highly fossiliferous.
01Stratigraphy
Drakes Formation
The Drakes Formation is a geologic formation in Kentucky. It preserves fossils dating back to the Ordovician period.
The Drakes Formation was named by Weir for outcrops near the East Fork of Drakes Creek in the Paint Lick quadrangle, southwestern east-central Kentucky. This formation ranges from 20 ft to 150 ft thick, thinning northward. It includes four members, Saluda Dolomite Member, Preachersville Member, Rowland Member and Bardstown Member. These formations are made up of interbedded limestone and shale with units of dolomite ranging from a few inches to a few feet think.
Whitewater Formation
The Whitewater Formation is a geologic formation in Ohio and Indiana. It preserves fossils dating back to the Ordovician Period.
The Whitewater was first named by J. M. Nickles in 1903. He described exposures of limestone and interbedded calcareous shale along the Whitewater River at Richmond, Wayne County, Indiana.
An excellent exposure of the Whitewater Formation is a roadcut located on Route 27 south of Richmond, Indiana, at 39.7877 N, -84.9014 W. It is typically called "Richmond South" in field guides and other publications.
Liberty Formation
The Liberty Formation is a geologic formation in Ohio and Indiana. It preserves fossils dating back to the Ordovician Period.
Waynesville Formation
The Waynesville Formation is a geologic formation in Ohio and Indiana. It preserves fossils from the Late Ordovician Period.
02Paleofauna
The Cincinnati Group Has produced many fossil animals. The stratigraphy of the Cincinnati Group is complex and the different constituents unit(Elkhorn,Liberty,Saluda,and Whitewater Formations) Are interpreted as being a complex and coeval system of laterally equivalent environments.
Cephalopoda
| Genus | Species | Material | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Narthecoceras | N.dunni | Shells | A large 3 m Orthoconic nautiloid. |
| Endoceras | E.proteiforme | Shells | A gigantic orthoconic nautiloid,at least 4.6 m. |
| Lambeoceras | L.richmondese | Shells | A moderately large nautiloid 1 m shell length. |
| Treptoceras | T.sp. | Shells | A small 20 cm nautiloid. |
| Nautiloid indet. | Indet | Shells | Numerous indeterminate nautiloids. |
Arthropoda
| Genus | Species | Material | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Isotelus | I.maximus | Numerous specimens | Giant 50 cm trilobite. |
| Megalograptus | M.ohioensis | Holotype specimen | Large 80 cm eurypterid. |
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Cincinnati Group”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- Cincinnetina meeki (Miller, 1875) slab 2.jpg by Wilson44691, CC0
- Syneresis Cracks Drakes Formation Adams Co OH Ordovician.jpg by Wilson44691, CC0
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