Our featured presentation this month will be Cole Farnam. Cole is a PhD student who is soon to defend his work. His program will be, New discoveries of a late Hirnantian fauna out of the Whippoorwill Formation of Ohio and Indiana.
Cole elaborates: Previous reports on the Ordovician-Silurian Boundary succession of Indiana and Ohio did not recognize Hirnantian strata. It was assumed that any record of Hirnantian time was completely removed at the widespread Cherokee Unconformity. However, a combination of new discoveries, presented here, and previously reported lines of evidence indicate that Hirnantian strata are locally preserved in southern Ohio and Indiana above the Cherokee Unconformity. Recognition of the Hirnantian Isotopic Carbon Excursion in the Whippoorwill Formation together with biostratigraphic controls show that the unit was deposited during the late Hirnantian. Additionally, the presence of the globally recognized Edgewood-Cathay Fauna within the Whippoorwill Formation further supports a late Hirnantian age. Previously, only small collections of the Edgewood-Cathay Fauna have been documented in the greater Cincinnati region. Here we report on two regions, Adams County Ohio, and Decatur County Indiana, where the Whippoorwill Formation has been found to be abundantly fossiliferous with a classic assemblage of the Edgewood-Cathay Fauna. Collections from Decatur County, Indiana show a classic obrution lagerstätten deposit within the Whippoorwill Formation which preserves a fauna consisting of rugose corals, brachiopods, mollusks, several types of echinoderms as well as other taxa. Ultimately, this study gives a rare, unprecedented look at a late Hirnantian, shallow water, low-latitude community immediately following one of the largest mass extinctions in Earth history, which is placed within the context of the underlying, well-studied late Katian (Cincinnatian) record of the region.
Cole Farnam graduated with a bachelor's degree in geology from SUNY Geneseo in 2018. That same year he came to the University of Cincinnati to work with Dr. Carl Brett. As his primary fields of interest are stratigraphy and paleontology, Cole could not have picked a better place to pursue a graduate degree. Initial plans for his dissertation involved research on the Ordovician/Silurian boundary of southern Ontario and western New York. After a successful first year of research and a single field season in Ontario and New York, plans had to change. Due to COVID travel restrictions, Cole decided to switch gears and focus on the Ordovician/Silurian boundary of the greater Cincinnati region. In the following years, exciting discoveries involving newly recognized Hirnantian strata became the bulk of his dissertation.
TIME: 8 pm
DATE: Friday, April 26, 2024
PLACE:
Room 201 Braunstein Hall
University of Cincinnati Clifton Campus
SIMULCAST: via Zoom
- Link sent no later than April 24
Here are some directions to our meeting room.
We are still asking that members attending our meetings in person wear a mask. Most people have complied but we still see people ignoring our request. Remember that masks are primarily to protect others from you, not you from others. Even if you think you are immune for whatever reason, we still strongly suggest that you wear a mask to protect others. Some of our members who attend these meetings are in high risk groups (including me) so please be courteous and sensitive to their situation. Vaccination is also highly recommended. If you forgot your mask we have a limited number of free ones at the front of the room.
The Beginners Class will be conducted from 7:15 PM to 8:00 PM on April 26th. It will be held before the general meeting in room 300 in Braunstein Hall on the UC campus. That's one floor up from the main meeting. The class will be inperson only, no remote Zoom. This month Professor Carl Brett will lead a toour to the Geology Department to show progress on the new displays. Rendezvous at 7:00 PM in room 300 to start the tour.
Dry Dredgers members are known for many things: knowledge of paleontology, willingness to share that knowledge with others, and looking for new areas to explore. Some of us have discovered some unique locations and, through kindness and respect, have been allowed to visit these sites.
One such place is a quarry in Indiana. As this is a private business AND a working quarry, permission to visit there has been granted on occasion, albeit with strict rules while there. This month, we have opportunity to go there on Saturday, April 27th. There are restrictions, so please read carefully.
This is NOT a place for young children; however, high school students – accompanied by an adult – will be permitted. ALL visitors MUST wear steel-toed shoes, hard hats, and reflective vests. Anyone using hammers MUST use rock/masonry hammers designed for that purpose (no claw hammers, etc.) and MUST wear safety goggles. For those of us who have been to quarry sites before, these items are not new; for others, these requirements are necessary safety items to reduce the risk of injury. We can only accept 20 people, so this trip is members-only.
Editor's Note: The driving instructions to this site was sent out in the March 2024 Bulletin via email to Dues-paying members. If you are not a dues-paying member, but would like to be, here is how to join - Dry Dredger Membership Registration
More interesting and informative information, along with color illustrations is available in the full E-Bulletin that was emailed to dues-paying members. It is also found in the members-only area of the website.
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