Minturn Formation Fossils

The Minturn Formation is Pennsylvanian (Upper Atokan to Desmoinesian) in age. It has a diverse fauna, consisting mostly of marine invertebrates. Some land plants are also found. The fossils shown here were found near the towns of McCoy and Bond in Eagle County, Colorado. The best reference for the brachiopods is C. H. Stevens, 1962, Stratigraphic significance of Pennsylvanian brachiopods in the McCoy area, Colorado, Journal of Paleontology, vol. 36, pp. 617-629. The best reference for the crinoids is G. D. Webster and Karen J. Houck, 1998, Middle Pennsylvanian, late Atokan-early Desmoinesian echinoderms from an intermontane basin, the Central Colorado Trough, Journal of Paleontology, vol. 72, pp. 1054-1072. Since the fauna is similar to middle Pennsylvanian marine faunas in other parts of North America, I have found R. D. Hoare, 1961, Desmoinesian Brachiopoda and Mollusca from Southwest Missouri (Univ. Missouri Studies Vol. XXXVI) and Fossils of Ohio, 1996, (Bulletin 70, Ohio Division of Geological Survey) to be useful for identifying my specimens. The stratigraphic units to which I refer in the descriptions of indvidual specimens are defined in K. Houck, 1997, Effects of sedimentation, tectonics, and glacial-eustasy on depositional sequences, Pennsylvanian Minturn Formation, North-Central Colorado, AAPG Bulletin, vol. 81, pp. 1510-1533.

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