The Silurian in Maryland, US

Paleontology and geology

After a period of uplift and mountain building (the Taconic Orogeny) during the Ordovician, erosion and subsidence of the edge of the North American continent brought the return of a shallow sea to much of Maryland. Brachiopods flourished on the limy sea floor, as did trilobites and echinoderms. Palaeaspis, an early fish, swam in the waters above.