GRa-1, Grier Cave (Paleocene of the United States)

Where: Randolph County, Georgia (31.9° N, 84.8° W: paleocoordinates 34.4° N, 64.8° W)

• coordinate based on nearby landmark

• small collection-level geographic resolution

When: Clayton Formation, Danian (66.0 - 61.6 Ma)

• Clayton spans most of Danian, including nanofossil zones NP1, NP2, and NP3; foram zones P1a and P1c (absence of P1b attributed to ecological factors rather than a hiatus, by Schulte & Speijer, 2009).

• group of beds-level stratigraphic resolution

Environment/lithology: marine; lithology not reported

• Clayton primarily represents littoral (foreshore) and inner and middle neritic (offshore transition zone). The majority of the thickness likely represents offshore transition, with some shoreface settings, but with no stratigraphic or lithologic information this collection cannot be assigned an environment.
• Much of the formation is composed of calcareous sandstones, but also marls and sandy packstones.

Size class: mesofossils

Primary reference: L. D. Toulmin. 1977. Stratigraphic Distribution of Paleocene and Eocene Fossils in the Eastern Gulf Coast Region. Geological Survey of Alabama, Monograph 13(1):1-602 [M. Patzkowsky/K. Layou/P. Mannion]more details

Purpose of describing collection: biostratigraphic analysis

PaleoDB collection 2832: authorized by Mark Patzkowsky, entered by Karen Layou on 21.07.1999

Creative Commons license: CC BY (attribution)

Taxonomic list

Show authors, comments, and common names
Echinoidea
 Cassiduloida -
Gitolampas georgiensis
 Spatangoida - Schizasteridae
Linthia sp.
Linthia sp. Desor 1853 heart urchin
Gastropoda
 Sorbeoconcha - Naticidae
Natica sp.
Natica sp. Scopoli 1777 moon snail
 Cerithioidea - Turritellidae
"Turritella alabamiensis" = Mesalia alabamiensis
"Turritella alabamiensis" = Mesalia alabamiensis De Gregorio 1890 turret shell
Bivalvia
 Arcida - Cucullaeidae
Cucullaea sp.
Cucullaea sp. Lamarck 1801 clam
 Ostreida - Ostreidae
Ostrea sp., Ostrea crenulimarginata
Ostrea sp. Linnaeus 1758 oyster
originally entered as "Ostrea spp."
Ostrea crenulimarginata Gabb 1860 oyster
 Carditida - Carditidae
"Venericardia smithii" = Venericardia (Venericor) smithii
"Venericardia smithii" = Venericardia (Venericor) smithii Aldrich 1894 clam
 Carditida - Crassatellidae
cf. Crassatella ioannes
cf. Crassatella ioannes clam
originally entered as "Crassatella cf. C. ioannes"
Cephalopoda
 Nautilida - Hercoglossidae
Hercoglossa ulrichi
Hercoglossa ulrichi White 1882 nautiloid
Rhynchonellata
 Terebratulida - Cancellothyrididae
Terebratulina brundidgensis