The Ordovician in Pennsylvania, US
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Paleontology and geology
Warm, shallow seas covered the state during the Early and Middle Ordovician. Brachiopods, clams, snails, trilobites, and bryozoans lived on the quiet sea floor, and nautiloid cephalpods swam through the water. During the Late Ordovician, plate movement caused the North American continent to collide with a volcanic island arc that had formed to the east of what is now Pennsylvania. This mountain-building event, the Taconic Orogeny, created a mountain range along the ancient continental margin in approximately the same area that we see the Appalachians today.
Links to more on the Ordovician in Pennsylvania
Ongoing Research Projects (showing 1 of 1 listings)
Carnegie Museum: Invertebrate Paleontology Section: The Carnegie Museum of Natural History Section of Invertebrate Paleontology has more than 100 years of research, field work, educational outreach (PALS), and exhibits on Phanerozoic life. Our collections number more than three-quarters of a million specimens with some 11,000 type and figured specimens published in more than 300 professional publications. Our type and collection strengths are concentrated in the Lower and Upper Paleozoic rocks of the Appalachians, mid-continent, and western Interior Seaway.
