PALEOECOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT OF THE PENNSYLVANIAN COLONY CREEK SHALE, TEXAS

The Pennsylvanian deposits of Central Texas represent a dynamic time where mountains are rising to the East and South, providing fresh sediment to a restricting epieric seaway. What was an open marine waterway becomes a series of bays, estuaries, and deltas, whose shallow warm waters are home to a variety of species, including crinoids, fenestrate bryozoans, brachiopods, and gastropods. The Colony Creek Shale, a member of the Canyon Group, is believed to be representative of these dynamics. Reportedly rich in fossil fragments, little work has been done on this unit. Of the work performed, the majority focused on depth analyses for petroleum extraction, and not on the paleoecologic implications. The purpose of this project is to begin in amending this oversight.