William Harold Fritz (born Aug. 24, 1928, died June 9, 2009) was a geologist who worked for the

Geological Survey of Canada The Geological Survey of Canada (GSC; french: Commission géologique du Canada (CGC)) is a Canadian federal government agency responsible for performing geological surveys of the country, developing Canada's natural resources and protecting the en ...

. He is known for his work in

stratigraphy Stratigraphy is a branch of geology concerned with the study of rock (geology), rock layers (Stratum, strata) and layering (stratification). It is primarily used in the study of sedimentary rock, sedimentary and layered volcanic rocks. Stratigrap ...

and on olenelloid trilobites.

Biography

Fritz was born in

Cathlamet, Washington Cathlamet is a town located along the Ocean Beach Highway in Wahkiakum County, Washington, United States, where it is the county seat. The population was 532 at the 2010 census, though it has an additional rural population outside of the town ...

, where his father practised medicine for over 50 years. He graduated from Wahkiakum High School in 1946. After Air Force service during the Korean War, he completed his PhD in Geology at the University of Washington in 1960. He first worked for the Shell Oil Company in Alaska, then in 1964 he moved to Canada taking up a position as a research geologist with the Geological Survey. After retiring he and his wife Judie carried out geological work in

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

. They had one son, Peter.

Geological Work

Fritz's work focussed mostly on the

Cambrian The Cambrian Period ( ; sometimes symbolized C with bar, Ꞓ) was the first geological period of the Paleozoic Era, and of the Phanerozoic Eon. The Cambrian lasted 53.4 million years from the end of the preceding Ediacaran Period 538.8 million ...

period. In 1966 and 1967 he, along with Judie and Peter as well as other geologists, spent two summers working on the

Burgess Shale The Burgess Shale is a fossil-bearing deposit exposed in the Canadian Rockies of British Columbia, Canada. It is famous for the exceptional preservation of the soft parts of its fossils. At old (middle Cambrian), it is one of the earliest foss ...

in the

Canadian Rockies The Canadian Rockies (french: Rocheuses canadiennes) or Canadian Rocky Mountains, comprising both the Alberta Rockies and the British Columbian Rockies, is the Canadian segment of the North American Rocky Mountains. It is the easternmost part ...

, discovered by Walcott in 1909. They found many soft-bodied fossils in the layers described by Walcott, expanding the existing collection, and also explored other sites in the area. Other early work, including that for his PhD, was carried out in the

Great Basin The Great Basin is the largest area of contiguous endorheic basin, endorheic watersheds, those with no outlets, in North America. It spans nearly all of Nevada, much of Utah, and portions of California, Idaho, Oregon, Wyoming, and Baja California ...

, in

.Fritz (1968) There was not much information available about the area of study, so much structural and stratigraphic surveying had to be done, as well as the analysis of the fossil material, largely trilobites. The work led to the identification of a number of new species of trilobites, of lower and middle Cambrian age, as well as two new genera Most of Fritz's work was in the

Canadian Cordillera The Pacific Cordillera, also known as the Western Cordillera or simply The Cordillera, is a top-level physiographic region of Canada, referring mainly to the extensive cordillera system in Western and Northwestern Canada that constitutes the north ...

, particularly in the

Mackenzie Mountains The Mackenzie Mountains are a Canadian mountain range forming part of the Yukon-Northwest Territories boundary between the Liard and Peel rivers. The range is named in honour of Canada's second prime minister, Alexander Mackenzie. Nahanni Nat ...

. His interest in trilobites continued, and in 1972 he published a major taxonomic paper which identified three biostratigraphic zones in the lower Cambrian based on the characteristic trilobites they contain.Fritz (1972) These zones, Falotaspis, Nevadella and Bonnia-Olenellus are still in use. Fritz published many stratigraphic sections in north-western Canada, and several further taxonomic papers on trilobites Fritz (1973)Fritz (1991)Fritz (1992)Fritz (1993) Fritz was a member of the Precambrian-Cambrian Boundary Working Group. As well as work in Canada this involved visits to China and to Siberia. After his retirement he returned to his old surveying area of the Great Basin, and continued to search for trilobites, with considerable success.

New Trilobite Genera erected by Fritz

Index species for each genus indicated in brackets Achlysopsis (liokata) Albertelloides (mischi) Bonnima (semidiscoidea)

Bradyfallotaspis ''Bradyfallotaspis'' is an extinct genus from a well-known class of fossil marine arthropods, the trilobites. It lived during the late Atdabanian stage, during the early part of the Cambrian Period The Cambrian Period ( ; sometimes symbolize ...

(fusa)

Cirquella ''Cirquella'' is an extinct genus from a well-known class of fossil marine arthropods, the trilobites. It lived during the Atdabanian stage, in the former continent Laurentia. Description Only the thin and lightly calcified headshields (or cep ...

(nummularia)

Ekwipagetia Yukoniidae S. Zhang, 1980 'nom. transl''. et ''emend''. Jell, ''in'' Whittington ''et al''., 1997 ''ex'' Yukoniinae S. Zhang in W. Zhang, Lu ''et al''., 1980is a small family of trilobites, belonging to the Eodiscina. Type Genus and species ...

(plicofimbria) Gabriellus (lanceatus)

Geraldinella ''Geraldinella'' is an extinct genus from a well-known class of fossil marine arthropods, the trilobites. It lived during the late Atdabanian stage, which lasted from 530 to 524 million years ago during the early part of the Cambrian Period T ...

(corneiliana)

Holmiella ''Holmiella'' is a genus of fungi in the order Patellariales. The genus name of ''Holmiella'' is in honour of Kerstin Holm (b.1924), a Swedish botanist (Mycology) who was married to architect Lennart Holm (1921 - 2012) and worked at Uppsala U ...

(preancora) Illtydaspis (quartetensis)

Keeleaspis ''Keeleaspis'' is an extinct genus from a well-known class of fossil marine arthropods, the trilobites. It lived during the late Atdabanian Cambrian Stage 3 is the still unnamed third stage of the Cambrian. It succeeds Cambrian Stage 2 and pre ...

(gratia) Mummaspis (occidens) Nehanniaspis (prima) PalmettaspisFritz (1995) (consorta) Parafallotaspis (grata)

Sekwiaspis ''Sekwiaspis'' is an extinct genus from a well-known class of fossil marine arthropods, the trilobites. It lived during the late Atdabanian Cambrian Stage 3 is the still unnamed third stage of the Cambrian. It succeeds Cambrian Stage 2 and pre ...

(artifrons)

Variopelta ''Variopelta'' is an extinct genus from a well-known class of fossil marine arthropods, the trilobite Trilobites (; meaning "three lobes") are extinct marine arthropods that form the class Trilobita. Trilobites form one of the earliest-kno ...

(laevis) Yukonides (lacrinus)

References

Selected Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fritz, William Harold 1928 births 2009 deaths Canadian geologists Geological Survey of Canada personnel University of Washington alumni