Maysville roadcut

rdf:langString Maysville roadcut

rdf:langString The Maysville roadcut, located in northeastern Kentucky, features Upper Ordovician rock and fossils. Maysville is located in Mason County, Kentucky and contains a large roadcut along the U.S. Route 68 highway. The Maysville roadcut lies on the Clyde T. Barbour Parkway. The roadcut was human-made in the 1950s and consists of rock from the Ordovician period that is roughly 450 million years old. Maysville provides an opportunity to observe the stratigraphy of the formations present of the Ordovician time period. The roadcut is made up of three different formations: the Kope, Fairview, and Bellevue in ascending order. They are broken up into different layers that can be identified by different sediments and fossils present. The Maysville roadcut formations are made up primarily of shale and limestone. 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. There are a wide variety of invertebrate fossils that can be found at the Maysville roadcut, including trilobites, cephalopods, crinoids, gastropods, brachiopods, bryozoans. The abundance and presence of fossil types differs depending on the formation viewed. This is due to the differences in ecosystems and environmental conditions at the time of each formation. The Ordovician was a time when the land we know today was covered by a hot, shallow sea. The Cincinnati Arch, where Maysville can be found, was at about twenty three degrees south of the equator. 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 resource. Furthermore, the is an amateur fossil collecting and geology group located in Cincinnati, Ohio. Their website also provides information for fossil identification.