Fossils From Indiana



Bedrock Geology of Indiana
Indiana is a large anticline that plunges to the northwest.  Consequently, the age and type of rocks in Indiana are governed by this large structural feature.  The youngest rocks are in the northeastern and southwestern corners of the state, and the oldest are in the southeastern corner.  The oldest rocks are primarily limestone, dolostones, and shales, whereas the youngest rocks are mostly sandstones and shales with minor amounts of limestone and coal.  The distribution of rock types is the major control on the physiographic provinces in the southcentral part of the state.
Thanks to the Indiana Geological Survey
©Indiana University, Indiana Geological Survey
http://igs.indiana.edu/geology/structure/bedrockgeology/index.cfm



This map shows the geologic units at the surface of the bedrock.  In the south-central part of the state, the bedrock is at or very near the surface.
The flanks of the southern half of the state and the entire northern half of the state are overlain by tens to hundreds of feet of unconsolidated sediments.
For more information about this map, see Bedrock Geology of Indiana.
Thanks to the Indiana Geological Survey
©Indiana University, Indiana Geological Survey



Move your mouse pointer over the map to see the names of bedrock units.
Right-click or command-click the image to zoom in for a clearer view or to print.

Coming soon...
I'll provide links below to the sites noted on the map the next time this webpage is updated.
1 Sites south of Richmond on Rt27
2 Sites near Brookville on Rt101
3 Sites north of Madison on US421
4 The Falls of Ohio in Clarsville, IN
5 Sites near Grantsburg on Rt37
6 Permian site at the Crane Naval Surface Warfare Center
7 Sites south of Bedford along Rt37
8 Sites south of Bloomington along Rt37
9 Sites north of Bloomington along Rt37
10 Turkey Run State Park





The tracks below are part of a 7-foot long trackway made 300 million years ago by an amphibian.  They were found at the Crane Naval Surface Warfare Center.  The amphibian tracks are preserved in tidally laminated siltstone.  The total set is the longest of its kind in Indiana and is among the best preserved in the world.  Note that the front feet have four toes and the back feet have five.  Between the left and right feet is a tail-drag mark.  The amphibian that made these tracks stood about six inches high and was about eighteen inches long.  At that time, amphibians were among the largest animals on land.  This amphibian was likely hunting for insects when the tracks were made.  Also found preserved are insect trails (zig-zag marks), and upright stem of a tree (Calamites), a frond from a tree fern, twigs, cone and diamond-patterned bark fragments of a tree (Lepidodendron).  Tracings and careful measurements of the foot prints and tail drag have been coupled with fossil skeletal remains found elsewhere to turn back time and produce the sculptured wooden model.
Thanks to the Indiana Geological Survey for the text above and permission to photograph and post the amphibian trackway below.
Special thanks to D. DeChurch & Dr. E. Kvale
©Indiana University, Indiana Geological Survey


Other photos taken from Indiana University, Indiana Geological Survey

1) A crinoid (Onychocrinus exculptus), Edwardsville Fm., Mississippian, Crawfordsville, IN.
2) A criniod (Scytalocrinus robustus), Edwardsville Fm., Mississippian, Crawfordsville, IN.
3) Groove casts (Borden Group, middle Mississippian, W. Brown County, IN.
4) Tadpole trails from the lower Pennsylvanian, near Shoals, IN.
5) A plate with a few criniods, middle Mississippian, IN.
6) A plate with multiple bivales (Onniella meeki) upper Ordovician, Madison, IN.
7) A plate with bryozoan (archimedes swallowvanus), upper Mississippian, southern IN.



Photos of the exposures at the road cuts along Rt 37.  Descriptions of the geodes and fossils found will be provided soon.



Photos from the Falls of Ohio State Park.  Located on the banks of the Ohio River in Clarksville, Indiana at I-65 (Exit 0) are acres of an exposed Devonian 386-million-year-old fossil bed.



A great example of the Whitewater Formation on US 27, 6 miles south from I-70, near the top of the Cincinnatian Series.  Common fossils at this outcrop include the following:
(references in parentheses are to the plate and figure numbers in the Davis Cincinnati Fossils book):
http://www.wooster.edu/geology/Geo250/paleoFT3.html


BRACHIOPODS

Hebertella occidentalis (IV, 2-4, V, 24-25)
Platystrophia acutilirata (V, 1-5)
Platystrophia clarksvillensis (VII, 7-10)
Platystrophia cypha (VII, 11-14)
Holtedahlina sulcata (VIII, 25-26)
Rafinesquina sp. (I, 1-4)
Strophomena planumbona (VIII, 8-11)
Hiscobeccus capax (V, 7-9)
Rhynchotrema dentatum (V, 19-23)

BRYOZOA

Ramose (branching) bryozoans (see IV, 14-16)
Massive bryozoans		 CEPHALOPODS

Orthoconic nautiloids (see I, 24-25 & VI, 8)

GASTROPODS

Holopea sp. (II, 32)
Loxoplocus sp. (I, 18-19)

BIVALVES

Ambonychia sp. (I, 11)
Ischyrodonta sp. (VIII, 12)
Caritodens demissa (I, 12 & V, 30)
Cyrtodontula umbonata (VIII, 13)
Anomalodonta gigantea (V, 31)		 CNIDARIANS

Protarea richmondensis (VI, 22-23)
Grewingkia canadensis (V, 6)

TRILOBITES

Flexicalymene meeki (I, 22-23)
Isotelus sp. (I, 20-21)

OTHERS

Oncolites (algal balls) in the upper portion.



A great example of the Liberty Formation on US 27, 28 miles south from I-70.  These rocks contains at least five faunal assemblages, making them among the most fossiliferous limestones and shales in the world.  You will note that the fossils change dramatically as you travel up section.  Common fossils at this outcrop include the following:
(references in parentheses are to the plate and figure numbers in the Davis Cincinnati Fossils book):
http://www.wooster.edu/geology/Geo250/paleoFT3.html


BRACHIOPODS

Glyptorthis insculpta (VIII, 1-4)
Hebertella occidentalis (IV, 2-4, V, 24-25)
Platystrophia moritura (VIII, 14-17)
Platystrophia acutilirata (V, 1-5)
Platystrophia clarksvillensis (VII, 7-10)
Platystrophia cypha (VII, 11-14)
Plaesiomys subquadrata (VIII, 5-7)
Onniella meeki (V, 32-35)
Leptaena richmondensis (V, 26-29)
Holtedahlina sulcata (VIII, 25-26)
Rafinesquina sp. (I, 1-4)
Strophomena planumbona (VIII, 8-11)
Strophomena vetusta (VIII, 23-24)
Sowerbyella rugosa (II, 14-16)
Hiscobeccus capax (V, 7-9)
Rhynchotrema dentatum (V, 19-23)
Zygospira modesta (I, 5 & III, 4)		 BRYOZOA

Batostomella gracilis (IV, 12-13 & VI, 19-20)
Ramose (branching) bryozoans (see IV, 14-16)

CEPHALOPODS

Orthoconic nautiloids (see I, 24-25 & VI, 8)

GASTROPODS

Loxoplocus bowdeni (I, 18-19)

BIVALVES

Ambonychia sp. (I, 11)		 CNIDARIANS

Protaraea richmondensis (VI, 22-23)
Grewingkia canadensis (V, 6)

TRILOBITES

Flexicalymene meeki (I, 22-23)
Isotelus sp. (I, 20-21)

OTHERS

Tetradium approximatum (VIII, 18-20)



Another great example of the Upper Ordovician (Maysvillian - Cincinnatian stages) U.S. 421 north of Madison.  Types of fossils: brachiopods, bryozoans, cephalopods, conodonts, corals, crinoids, edrioasteroids, gastropods, monoplacophorans, pelecypods, scolecodont teeth, stromatoporoids, starfish, trace fossils, trilobites.
http://www.fallsoftheohio.org/collecting.html


Henry and John head out to the Southeast corner of Utah in 2006 and view four footprint sites
Henry heads out to the Rancho La Brea Tar Pits (Page Museum)
Fossils from Outside the US
Coming soon...
Henry's Tool Shed
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