The Kope Formation is one of the three component bedrock formations of the

Maquoketa Group The Maquoketa Group is an assemblage of several geologic formations. It is Upper Ordovician in age and named for the Maquoketa River in Iowa. It exists in Missouri, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, and Indiana. It is equivalent to the all but the bas ...

that primarily consists of shale (75%) with some

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

(25%) interbedded. In general, it has a bluish-gray color that weathers light gray to yellowish-gray and it occurs in northern Kentucky, southwest Ohio, and southeast Indiana, United States.

Description

Depositional environment

The

depositional environment In geology, depositional environment or sedimentary environment describes the combination of physical, chemical, and biological processes associated with the deposition of a particular type of sediment and, therefore, the rock types that will be ...

of the Kope was shallow marine. The central North American continent was a tropical

epeiric sea An inland sea (also known as an epeiric sea or an epicontinental sea) is a continental body of water which is very large and is either completely surrounded by dry land or connected to an ocean by a river, strait, or "arm of the sea". An inland s ...

at the time. Jennette and Pryor (1993) interpret the Kope, along with the

Bellevue Bellevue means "beautiful view" in French. It may refer to: Placenames Australia * Bellevue, Western Australia * Bellevue Hill, New South Wales * Bellevue, Queensland * Bellevue, Glebe, an historic house in Sydney, New South Wales Canada ...

and

Fairview Formation The Fairview Formation is a geologic formation in Ohio. It preserves fossils dating back to the Late Ordovician The Ordovician ( ) is a geologic period and system, the second of six periods of the Paleozoic Era. The Ordovician spans 41.6 mill ...

s, as a progradational succession on a carbonate ramp. The Kope is the most distal facies of the ramp complex.

Notable outcrops

The type section of the Grand Avenue Member is a cliff to the west of Grand Avenue in

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

, Hamilton County, Ohio.Ford, J.P., 1967, Cincinnatian geology in southwest Hamilton County, Ohio:

American Association of Petroleum Geologists The American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG) is one of the world's largest professional geological societies with more than 40,000 members across 129 countries as of 2021. The AAPG works to "advance the science of geology, especially as ...

Bulletin, v. 51, no. 6, p. 918-936. The type section of the Wesselman Tongue of the Kope Formation is an east-facing embankment on an unnamed creek that is followed by Wesselman Road in

Miami Township, Hamilton County, Ohio Miami Township is one of the twelve townships of Hamilton County, Ohio, United States. The 2010 census found 15,757 people in the township, 10,728 of whom lived in the unincorporated portions of the township. Geography Located in the southwe ...

. The embankment is south of Zion Hill bridge.

Fossil content

Brachiopod Brachiopods (), phylum Brachiopoda, are a phylum of trochozoan animals that have hard "valves" (shells) on the upper and lower surfaces, unlike the left and right arrangement in bivalve molluscs. Brachiopod valves are hinged at the rear end, w ...

trilobite Trilobites (; meaning "three lobes") are extinct marine arthropods that form the class Trilobita. Trilobites form one of the earliest-known groups of arthropods. The first appearance of trilobites in the fossil record defines the base of the ...

bryozoa Bryozoa (also known as the Polyzoa, Ectoprocta or commonly as moss animals) are a phylum of simple, aquatic invertebrate animals, nearly all living in sedentary colonies. Typically about long, they have a special feeding structure called a ...

ns, rugose corals, and echinoderms (including

crinoid Crinoids are marine animals that make up the class Crinoidea. Crinoids that are attached to the sea bottom by a stalk in their adult form are commonly called sea lilies, while the unstalked forms are called feather stars or comatulids, which are ...

asteroids An asteroid is a minor planet of the inner Solar System. Sizes and shapes of asteroids vary significantly, ranging from 1-meter rocks to a dwarf planet almost 1000 km in diameter; they are rocky, metallic or icy bodies with no atmosphere. ...

, and

edrioasteroid Edrioasteroidea is an extinct class of echinoderms. The living animal would have resembled a pentamerously symmetrical disc or cushion. They were obligate encrusters and attached themselves to inorganic or biologic hard substrates (frequently har ...

s) are all present in the Kope. Due to their mid-continent depositional environment, the fossils are almost free of

deformation Deformation can refer to: * Deformation (engineering), changes in an object's shape or form due to the application of a force or forces. ** Deformation (physics), such changes considered and analyzed as displacements of continuum bodies. * Defor ...

caused by tectonic activity common in the

Appalachian Mountains The Appalachian Mountains, often called the Appalachians, (french: Appalaches), are a system of mountains in eastern to northeastern North America. The Appalachians first formed roughly 480 million years ago during the Ordovician Period. They ...

. The brachiopods '' Dalmanella'' sp., '' Hebertella'' sp., '' Leptaena'' sp., '' Petrocrania'' sp., '' Philhedra'' sp., '' Platystrophia'' sp., '' Pseudolingula'' sp., ''

Rafinesquina ''Rafinesquina'' is an extinct genus of large brachiopod that existed from the Darriwilian to the Ludlow epoch. The genus was named in honor of polymath Constantine Samuel Rafinesque. Description ''Rafinesquina's'' members were epifauna, epif ...

'' sp., '' Sowerbyella'' sp., ''

Strophomena ''Strophomena'' is a genus of brachiopods belonging to the order Strophomenida family Strophomenidae, named by Rafinesque in 1824. They were stationary epifaunal suspension feeders. These brachiopods (often known as lamp shells) lived from t ...

'' sp., '' Trematis'' sp., and '' Zygospira'' sp. have been recorded from the Cincinnatian Series, which includes the Kope Formation. The trilobites such as '' Triarthrus eatoni'', '' Cryptolithus tessellatus'', and '' Proetidella parviusculus'' have been identified in the Kope, and the Ohio State Fossil, '' Isotelus maximus'', can most likely be found in it. The bryozoans '' Ceramophylla'' sp., '' Eridotrypa mutabilis'', '' Peronopera vera'', '' Batostoma jamesi'', '' Dekayia aspera'', '' Heterotrypa ulrichi'', '' Parvohallopora'' sp., and '' Amplexopora septosa'' have been found in the Kope. Among echinoderms, the crinoids '' Cincinnaticrinus varibrachialis'', '' Ectenocrinus'' sp., and '' Iocrinus'' sp. are present in the Kope. Edrioasteroids and asteroids (starfish), generally rare, are common in overlying formations, and may be present in the Kope.''Fossils of Ohio'', p. 245-246

Age

Relative age dating of the Kope places it in the Late

Ordovician The Ordovician ( ) is a geologic period and system, the second of six periods of the Paleozoic Era. The Ordovician spans 41.6 million years from the end of the Cambrian Period million years ago (Mya) to the start of the Silurian Period Mya. T ...

period.

References

Bibliography

''Fossils of Ohio''
Bulletin 70,

Ohio Department of Natural Resources The Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) is the Ohio state government agency charged with ensuring "a balance between wise use and protection of our natural resources for the benefit of all." ODNR regulates the oil and gas industry, the m ...

, Division of Geological Survey, Edited by Rodney M. Feldmann and Merrianne Hackathorn, 577 p., 232 plates (some in color), drawings, maps, and tables, 1996. {{Chronostratigraphy of Ohio Geologic formations of Indiana Geologic formations of Kentucky Geologic formations of Ohio Upper Ordovician Series Ordovician System of North America Ordovician Ohio Ordovician Kentucky Ordovician Indiana Ordovician south paleopolar deposits Ordovician southern paleotemperate deposits Limestone formations of the United States Shallow marine deposits Fossiliferous stratigraphic units of North America Paleontology in Indiana Paleontology in Kentucky Paleontology in Ohio Katian