The Columbus Limestone is a mapped bedrock unit consisting primarily of fossiliferous limestone. It occurs in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia in the United States, and in Ontario, Canada.

Columbus Limestone
Stratigraphic range: Devonian
Etched section of hand sample of Columbus Limestone from Kelleys Island
TypeSedimentary
Unit ofOnondaga Group
Sub-unitsBellepoint, Marblehead, Tioga Ash Bed, Venice, Delhi, Klondike, East Liberty
UnderliesBass Islands Formation, Delaware Formation, and Ohio Shale
OverliesLucas Formation
Thickness0 to 105 feet[1]
Lithology
PrimaryLimestone
OtherSandstone
Location
RegionCincinnati Arch of North America
ExtentOhio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Ontario
Type section
Named forColumbus, Ohio
Named byMathur, 1859
Side view of a stromatoporoid in the Columbus Limestone at Kelleys Island.

Description

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Depositional environment

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The depositional environment was most likely shallow marine.

Stratigraphy

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The Columbus conformably overlies the Lucas Dolomite in northeastern Ohio, and unconformably overlies other dolomite elsewhere. It unconformably underlies the Ohio Shale in northwestern Ohio and the Delaware Limestone in eastern Ohio.[2]

Its members include: Bellepoint, Marblehead, Tioga Ash Bed, Venice, Delhi, Klondike, and East Liberty.

Notable Exposures

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Fossils

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The Columbus Limestone contains brachiopods, trilobites, bryozoans, mollusks, corals, stromatoporoids and echinoderms (including crinoids).

Due to their mid-continent depositional environment, the fossils are almost free of deformation caused by tectonic activity common in the Appalachian Mountains.

Corals

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Tabulata
Taxon Species Notes
Syringopora S. tabulata [4]
Favosites F. hemispherica minuta
Emmonsia E. polymorpha
Thamnoptychia T. alternans
Pleurodictyum Indeterminate
Coenites C. dublinensis
Rugosa
Taxon Species Notes
Prismatophyllum P. rugosum [4]
Hexagonaria H. anna
Eridophyllum E. seriale
Synaptophyllum S. simcoense
Amplexus A. yandelli
Zaphrenthis Z. perovalis
Heterophrentis H. nitida
Cystiphylloides C. americanum
Odontophyllum O. convergens
Siphonophrentis S. gigantea
Hadrophyllum H. dorbignyi [5][6]

Cephalopods

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Taxon Species Notes
Werneroceras W. staufferi Goniatite[7]
Tornoceras T. eberlei
Goldringia G. cyclops [5][8]

Other Invertebrates

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Taxon Species Notes
Spirifer S. macrothyris Brachiopod[5]
Brevispirifer B. gregarius
Laevidentalhum L. martinei Gastropod[5]
Nucleocrinus N. verneulli Crinoid[5]

Fish

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Taxon Species Notes
Drepanaspidae Indeterminate From the East Liberty Member ("East Liberty bone bed")[6]
Cephalaspidae
Gyracanthus?
Plectrodus
Acanthodii
Machaeracanthus M. major
"Acanthoides" A. dublinensis
Coccosteus C. spatulatus
Ptyctodus
Rhynchodus
Palaeomylus
Cladoselachidae
Phoebodus
Onychodus O. sigmoides

Relative age dating of the Columbus Limestone places it in the Early to Middle Devonian period.

Economic Uses

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The Columbus has been mined for aggregate. Its Calcium carbonate content is 90% or higher.[9]

References

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  1. ^ Columbus Limestone, Mineral Resources On-Line Spatial Data, United States Geological Survey https://mrdata.usgs.gov/geology/state/sgmc-unit.php?unit=OHDc%3B0
  2. ^ Ohio Division of Geological Survey, 1990 (rev. 2000, 2004), Generalized Column of Bedrock Units in Ohio; Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Division of Geological Survey, 1p. http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/Portals/10/pdf/stratcol.pdf Archived 2010-02-03 at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ Ehlers, G. M., and Stumm, E. C., 1951, Middle Devonian Columbus limestone near Ingersoll, Ontario, Canada, AAPG Bulletin; v. 35; no. 8; p. 1879-1888. August.
  4. ^ a b Feldman, R.M.; Hackathorn (1996). Fossils of Ohio. Ohio Division of Geological Survey Bulletin 70. pp. 577 [1].
  5. ^ a b c d e "Biostratigraphic Analysis of Columbus Limestone". 2012-03-03. Archived from the original on 2012-03-03. Retrieved 2024-03-23.
  6. ^ a b Wells, J.W., 1944, Middle Devonian bone beds of Ohio: Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 55, no. 3, p. 273-302.
  7. ^ Sweet, W. C., and Miller, A. K., 1956, Goniatites from the Middle Devonian Columbus Limestone of Ohio, Journal of Paleontology, vol. 30, No. 4, p 811-817. July.
  8. ^ Flower, Rousseau H. (1945). "Classification of Devonian Nautiloids". The American Midland Naturalist. 33 (3): 675–724. doi:10.2307/2421185. ISSN 0003-0031. JSTOR 2421185.
  9. ^ GeoFacts No. 25, Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Division of Geological Survey "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-06-06. Retrieved 2010-01-31.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

See also

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