Event Title
Reconstruction of Depositional Environments Based on Sedimentary Structures and Biofacies in the Ordovician Kope Formation, Kentucky
Presentation Type
Poster/Portfolio
Presenter Major(s)
Geology, Environmental Studies (Minor)
Mentor Information
Patricia Videtich
Department
Geology
Location
Kirkhof Center KC59
Start Date
10-4-2013 12:00 PM
End Date
10-4-2013 1:00 PM
Keywords
Environment, Physical Science
Abstract
The Ordovician Kope Formation in northern Kentucky consists of fossiliferous limestone and shale. The Kope Formation is underlain by the Point Pleasant Formation and overlain by the Fairview Formation. The shale and interbedded limestones in the Kope contain brachiopods, bryozoans, crinoids, trilobites, and mollusks. Sedimentary structures include gutter casts, submarine cemented hard grounds, reworked concretions, and event beds such as distinctive faunal assemblages, taphonomic features, and trace fossils. Using the interbedded limestone and shale layers and event beds other researchers have inferred a progradational succession in what was once part of a tropical, epeiric sea. Skeletals within the Kope suggest specific depositional environments within this epeiric sea. Reconstruction of these depositional environments will be done by point counts of thin sections to quantify the skeletals, and inferences deduced from structures contained within the formation.
Reconstruction of Depositional Environments Based on Sedimentary Structures and Biofacies in the Ordovician Kope Formation, Kentucky
Kirkhof Center KC59
The Ordovician Kope Formation in northern Kentucky consists of fossiliferous limestone and shale. The Kope Formation is underlain by the Point Pleasant Formation and overlain by the Fairview Formation. The shale and interbedded limestones in the Kope contain brachiopods, bryozoans, crinoids, trilobites, and mollusks. Sedimentary structures include gutter casts, submarine cemented hard grounds, reworked concretions, and event beds such as distinctive faunal assemblages, taphonomic features, and trace fossils. Using the interbedded limestone and shale layers and event beds other researchers have inferred a progradational succession in what was once part of a tropical, epeiric sea. Skeletals within the Kope suggest specific depositional environments within this epeiric sea. Reconstruction of these depositional environments will be done by point counts of thin sections to quantify the skeletals, and inferences deduced from structures contained within the formation.