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is prevalent in the
Cincinnati Arch in Kentucky, Indiana, and Ohio. Roadcuts such as Maysville provide a unique opportunity for fossil hunters to view well preserved fossils in relatively open stratigraphy layers. Many of the fossils found are often loose and scattered among the rock, with some being
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This formation comprises many different fossils mostly found in abundant large slabs of limestone. These different fossils include a large amount of brachiopods smaller in size than the brachiopods found in the
Bellevue Formation as well as many brachiopod fragments. There is a large amount of small
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The Kope
Formation is the easiest to access at the Maysville roadcut and can be climbed readily with proper hiking equipment. Common fossils found in this formation include trilobites, which are often more abundant than at the Fairview and Bellevue formations. Trilobites are found in both rolled and
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The
Fairview Formation is located in between the Kope and Bellevue formations, making it younger than Kope and older than Bellevue. The age of the Fairview Formation is about 455-450 million years ago. In order to access this formation, a trail is accessed on the south end of the roadcut. Visitors
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The
Bellevue Formation is the uppermost rock bed layer and is the youngest layer of the Ordovician period, dating to around 455-450 million years ago. This formation is the least accessible of the three formations at Maysville, requiring a steep hike up a trail located near the south end of the
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Roadcuts such as
Maysville roadcut have attracted those interested in collecting fossils, ranging from professionals at universities to amateurs in the area. Part of Maysville fossil collecting is fossil identification. Fossil identification books for Ohio and the Cincinnati area can serve as a
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Brachiopods can be found in both small or broken fragments and whole specimens. Crinoid stems are abundant both as stacked fragments within a rock or individual discs lying within the sediment. Fossilized gastropods and bryozoans are abundant. Crinoid stems, gastropods, and bryozoans are found
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The Kope
Formation is the lowest layer at the Maysville roadcut. It is the oldest formation present from the late Ordovician period at Maysville and dates to approximately 460-450 million years ago. The formation has a blue-gray color that is mostly shale with some limestone.
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The formation contains an abundance of rock slabs, some of which have large cephalopods in them. Cephalopods are very abundant and are larger in size than those found in the Kope
Formation, because of the increase in food availability for these predators following the late
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are found. There are many small crinoid stems because of the deposits that came from the shallow water in the most recent years of the
Ordovician. The base of the formation contains a large collection of echinoderms. Crinoids are a part of the
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Much of North
America was underwater during the Ordovician period, therefore the Bellevue formation was formed from shallow water deposits consisting mostly of shale. Within the layers of shale, brachiopod fragments are prevalent, and commonly
84:. The abundance of each rock type differs amongst the three formations. Shale dominates in the Bellevue Formation. Limestone is most prevalent in Fairview Formation. A mix of limestone and shale is found in the Kope Formation.
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The plethora of fossils in the area has drawn the attention of amateur and professional fossil hunters. This location in particular is home to the amateur fossil collecting and geologist association, the Dry Dredgers.
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scattered throughout the Kope. Few loose cephalopods and many small cephalopods settled in large slabs of rock are also present. Cephalopods are most commonly found near the bottom of the formation. Many
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phylum. There are larger fragments of bryozoa as well as vinlandostrophia in comparison to the Fairview and Kope formations, which can be found in the lower and base portions of the formation.
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and environmental conditions at the time of each formation. The Ordovician was a time when the land in northeastern Kentucky was covered by a warm, shallow sea. The
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will find the majority of these fossils in the lower part of the Fairview formation as the upper part is difficult to access and potentially dangerous.
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Fossilized brachiopods found in the Kope Formation. Various sizes and shapes are present. Specimens in image were collected in the middle of the formation.
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44:. The cut was human-made in the 1950s and consists of rock that is roughly 450 million years old. Maysville provides an opportunity to observe the
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are found within this layer, but the Fairview formation contains a greater amount of trace fossils. Many fossils are buried in large slabs of
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Cincinnati Fossils : An Elementary Guide to the Ordivician Rocks and Fossils of the Cincinnati, Ohio Region, 1992, ISBN 978-1882151004
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trilobites. An abundance of trilobites can be collected at the north end of the Kope Formation, closer to the top of the formation.
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roadcut. The top of Bellevue along with parts of the base are difficult to access and potentially dangerous.
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trilobite is pictured (left). Multiple fragments of possibly different trilobites are also pictured (right).
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A slab of sea hash from the Bellevue formation. Within the sea hash many crinoid discs can be observed.
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in ascending order. They are broken up into different layers that can be identified by different
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Fossilized crinoid stem from Fairview Formation. Image displays stem, arms, and pinnules.
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439:"The Systematics of a New Upper Ordovician Edrioasteroid Pavement from Northern Kentucky"
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A large fragment of a crinoid stem, collected from the bottom of the Bellevue Formation.
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Fragment of a fossilized cephalopod collected near the bottom of the Kope Formation.
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Fossils of Ohio, State of Ohio Div. of Geological Survey, 1996, ISBN 978-0931079054
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found in larger chunks or slabs of rock. They can be found whole or fragmented.
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Fossilized trilobites found in the Kope Formation. A fragment of a prone
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Overview of the Maysville roadcut showing all three formations present.
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372:"The Origin and Initial Rise of Pelagic Cephalopods in the Ordovician"
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prone positions. The Kope Formation mostly contains whole rolled
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Part of a fossilized crinoid stem from the Fairview Formation.
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fossils that can be found at the Maysville roadcut, including
319:"Upper Ordovician formations in the Maysville area, Kentucky"
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and fossils present. The formations are made up primarily of
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Kröger, Björn; Servais, Thomas; Zhang, Yunbai (2009-09-30).
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The roadcut is made up of three different formations: the
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32:. Maysville is located in
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109:brachiopods
97:cephalopods
56:Description
552:Categories
525:83°47′48″W
522:38°40′30″N
481:2022-06-02
299:References
269:echinoderm
117:ecosystems
105:gastropods
93:trilobites
50:formations
26:Ordovician
471:128883601
463:0022-3360
406:1932-6203
113:bryozoans
82:limestone
74:sediments
28:rock and
475:Archived
424:19789709
376:PLOS ONE
321:. 1966.
231:mollusks
227:Cambrian
189:Isotelus
166:Isotelus
101:crinoids
70:Bellevue
66:Fairview
22:Kentucky
415:2749442
384:Bibcode
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459:ISSN
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