Shell bed of the Hanover Shale Member of the Java Formation in western New York (Devonian of the United States)

Where: Wyoming County, New York (42.7° N, 78.5° W: paleocoordinates 32.3° S, 26.5° W)

• coordinate estimated from map

• local area-level geographic resolution

When: Hanover Shale Member (Java Formation), Early/Lower Famennian (376.1 - 370.6 Ma)

• Brachiopod bed about 1.4 m above Frasnian-Famennian boundary. Aged based on conodonts present. Lower Palmatolepis triangularis Zone, lowermost Famennian.

• bed-level stratigraphic resolution

Environment/lithology: marine; shelly/skeletal, gray siltstone and gray, green mudstone

• "The rhythmic bedding, ripple marks, scour surface, shell concentration, and current alignment of brachiopod valves suggest deposition in a turbidity flow..."[implication of rest of text is that this is associated with a prograding delta]
• "The Hanover Shale consists of green-gray pyritic silty mudstone, interbedded with thin black mudshale beds, siltstones, and nodular carbonate beds, that grade eastward into silts and sands of the Wiscoy Member...

•The brachiopod bed is a 5-8 cm thick medium gray siltstone that consists of three fining upward intervals. Brachiopods are ... concentrated in a single 1.0-1.5 cm interval in the middle of the bed, developed in a coarser and more pyritic zone over clay-rich and bioturbated laminae. The pyrite and shell-rich interval overlies a low relief scour surface, indicating a concentration of coarser and denser material during higher energy conditions. the shell-bearing bed [has] low amplitude ripple marks [with] a 6-7 cm wavelength with ripple crests oriented NNE-SSW..."

Primary reference: J. Day and D. J. Over. 2002. Post-extinction survivor fauna from the lowermost Famennian of eastern North America. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 47(2):189-202 [M. Foote/M. Foote/M. Foote]more details

Purpose of describing collection: biostratigraphic analysis

PaleoDB collection 35384: authorized by Michael Foote, entered by Michael Foote on 09.12.2003

Creative Commons license: CC BY (attribution)

Taxonomic list

• Also present but not listed by authors are crinoids, ostracodes, bryozoans, and fishes.
Show authors, comments, and common names
Conodonta
 Conodontophorida - Icriodontidae
Icriodus alternatus, Icriodus sp.
Icriodus alternatus conodont
I. alternatus alternatus and I. a. helmsi
Icriodus sp. Branson and Mehl 1938 conodont
 Ozarkodinida - Palmatolepidae
Palmatolepis triangularis, Palmatolepis sp.
Palmatolepis triangularis conodont
P. triangularis triangularis
Palmatolepis sp. Müller 1956 conodont
 Ozarkodinida - Polygnathidae
Polygnathus sp.
Polygnathus sp. Hinde 1879 conodont
Strophomenata
 Productida - Sentosiidae
Praewaagenoconcha speciosa
Praewaagenoconcha speciosa
five numbered specimens and "60-80 unnumbered specimens"
 Productida - Chonetidae
Retichonetes aff. obscurus
Retichonetes aff. obscurus Cooper and Dutro 1982
six numbered specimens and "approximately 2,000 unnumbered" shells
Rhynchonellata
 Spiriferida - Cyrtospiriferidae
Cyrtospirifer hornellensis
 Spiriferida - Ambocoeliidae
Ambocoelia cf. gregaria
 Spiriferida - Mucrospiriferidae
Tylothyris mesacostalis
Tylothyris mesacostalis Hall 1867
one figured spedcimen and "approximately 180 additional unnumbered specimens"
 Rhynchonellida -
Rhynchonellida indet.
 Rhynchonellida - Trigonirhynchiidae
? Ripidiorhynchus sp.
 Rhynchonellida - Pugnacidae
? Chapinella sp.
? Chapinella sp. Savage et al. 1978
plus "numerous unnumbered valve fragments"
 Orthida - Schizophoriidae
Schizophoria (Schizophoria) sp.
 Orthida - Rhipidomellidae
Thiemella leonensis
Lingulata
 Lingulida - Disciniidae
Orbiculoidea sp.
Orbiculoidea sp. d'Orbigny 1847
 Lingulida - Lingulidae
Barroisella cf. campbelli
Barroisella cf. campbelli
estimate based on ratio of Retichonetes to Barroisella in complete survey of one slab; 184 specimens were measured to produce a rose diagram