RICHMOND, INDIANA–Meet Coleman Fitch (’15) standing on the iconic outcrop of the Whitewater Formation (Upper Ordovician) on Route 27 about a mile south of Richmond (C/W-148; N 39.78722°, W 84.90166° — which has a nice Google Maps street view). This was his first day of fieldwork for his study of the complex relationship between borings and encrusters on brachiopods and mollusks. Note that Coleman has manfully taken off one glove for fossil collection. Despite the sun, we were freezing for science. Later in the day we collected from a warmer exposure of the Liberty Formation (Locality C/W-149) on IN-101 (N 39.48134°, W84.94843°).
Our collecting was very successful today. We found numerous examples of “half-borings” on trepostome bryozoan attachment surfaces, and many other curious fossils showing an interplay of early diagenesis (especially aragonite dissolution and calcite precipitation) and biotic processes.
Above is an example of the fun and complex fossils at the Whitewater locality. What processes do you think this specimen represents?
Tomorrow I meet William Harrison (’15) in northern Kentucky to search for bored bryozoans and bioclaustrations. It promises to be much warmer down there!
