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Mammal and Plant Localities of the Fort Union, Willwood, and Iktman Formations, Southern Bighorn Basin* Wyoming

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Mammal and Plant Localities of the Fort Union, Willwood, and Iktman Formations, Southern Bighorn Basin* Wyoming Distribution and Stratigraphip Correlation of Upper:UB_ • Ju Paleocene and Lower Eocene Fossil Mammal and Plant Localities of the Fort Union, Willwood, and Iktman Formations, Southern Bighorn Basin* Wyoming U,S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESS IONAL PAPER 1540 Cover. A member of the American Museum of Natural History 1896 expedition enter­ ing the badlands of the Willwood Formation on Dorsey Creek, Wyoming, near what is now U.S. Geological Survey fossil vertebrate locality D1691 (Wardel Reservoir quadran­ gle). View to the southwest. Photograph by Walter Granger, courtesy of the Department of Library Services, American Museum of Natural History, New York, negative no. 35957. DISTRIBUTION AND STRATIGRAPHIC CORRELATION OF UPPER PALEOCENE AND LOWER EOCENE FOSSIL MAMMAL AND PLANT LOCALITIES OF THE FORT UNION, WILLWOOD, AND TATMAN FORMATIONS, SOUTHERN BIGHORN BASIN, WYOMING Upper part of the Will wood Formation on East Ridge, Middle Fork of Fifteenmile Creek, southern Bighorn Basin, Wyoming. The Kirwin intrusive complex of the Absaroka Range is in the background. View to the west. Distribution and Stratigraphic Correlation of Upper Paleocene and Lower Eocene Fossil Mammal and Plant Localities of the Fort Union, Willwood, and Tatman Formations, Southern Bighorn Basin, Wyoming By Thomas M. Down, Kenneth D. Rose, Elwyn L. Simons, and Scott L. Wing U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 1540 UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE, WASHINGTON : 1994 U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR BRUCE BABBITT, Secretary U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY Robert M. Hirsch, Acting Director For sale by U.S. Geological Survey, Map Distribution Box 25286, MS 306, Federal Center Denver, CO 80225 Any use of trade, product, or firm names in this publication is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Distribution and straligraphic correlation of Upper Paleocene and Lower Eocene fossil mammal and plant localities of the Fort Union, Willwood, and Tatman Formations, Southern Bighorn Basin, Wyoming / by Thomas M. Bown ... [et al.]. p. cm. — (U.S. Geological Survey professional paper ; 1540) Includes bibliographical references. Supt.ofDocs.no.: I 19-16: 1540 1. Mammals, Fossil—Wyoming. 2. Plants, Fossil— Wyoming. 3. Paleobiogeography—Wyoming. 4. Paleontology, Straligraphic. 5. Paleontology—Wyoming. 6. Paleontology—Paleocene. 7. Paleontology— Eocene. 8. Bighorn Basin (Monl. and Wyo.) I. Series. QE881.D57 1993 93-21628 569'.09787—dc20 CIP CONTENTS Abstract................................................................................................................................. 1 Introduction........................................................................................................................... 1 Fossil Vertebrate Localities.................................................................................................. 9 Geographic Localities................................................................................................. 9 Stratigraphic Localities............................................................................................... 9 Sedimentologic Localities.......................................................................................... 15 Average and Noteworthy Localities........................................................................... 17 Fauna! Composition.................................................................................................... 17 Stratigraphic Sections........................................................................................................... 19 Meyer-Radinsky Section (1965)................................................................................. 19 Neasham-Vondra Section (1966-69)......................................................................... 19 Sand Creek-No Water Creek (Bown) Sections (1974-75)......................................... 27 Schankler-Wing Section (1976-78)........................................................................... 35 Fifteenmile Creek (Bown) Sections (1980-92).......................................................... 37 General Considerations......................................................................................... 37 Fort Union-Willwood Contact...................................................................... 37 Cut-and-Fill Sequences................................................................................. 38 Pedofacies Section Measurement................................................................. 40 Unresolved Aggradational Biostratigraphy.................................................. 41 Section Correlations.................................................................................................... 42 Correlation with the Schankler-Wing Section............................................................ 43 Correlation with the Clarks Fork Basin Sections ....................................................... 47 Fossil Plant Localities........................................................................................................... 54 Paleobotanical Sampling............................................................................................ 54 Depositional Settings of Plant Fossils........................................................................ 59 Exceptional Localities................................................................................................ 60 References Cited................................................................................................................... 60 PLATES [Plates are in pocket] 1. Fossil vertebrate and plant localities and lines of measured sections of the Willwood Formation, south-central Bighorn Basin, Wyoming. 2. Fossil vertebrate localities and lines of measured sections of the Willwood Formation, southeast Bighorn Basin. FIGURES 1. Map showing location of study area in the Bighorn Basin of northwest Wyoming ............................................... 2 2-10. Photographs showing: 2. Surface localities for fossil vertebrates, Willwood Formation....................................................................... 10 3. Quarry sites for fossil vertebrates, Willwood Formation ............................................................................... 11 4. Operations at Rose quarry, Willwood Formation........................................................................................... 12 5. Sediment-washing operations at Teakettle Hill, Willwood Formation........................................................... 13 6. Calcified boles of fossil trees, Fort Union and Willwood Formations........................................................... 14 7. Mandible of Coryphodon (Mammalia, Pantodonta) in place, Willwood Formation ..................................... 15 8. Stratigraphic fossil vertebrate localities, Willwood Formation...................................................................... 16 9. Sedimentologic fossil vertebrate locality, Willwood Formation.................................................................... 18 10. Depositional and erosional cuts, Willwood Formation.................................................................................. 39 VI CONTENTS 11. Diagrams showing effects of erosional scours on temporal correlations, Willwood Formation................................ 41 12. Block diagram showing pedofacies model, Willwood Formation ............................................................................. 42 13. Diagram showing constraints of avulsion mechanism on Willwood Formation biostratigraphy.............................. 43 14. Plot of area of second lower molar in omomyid primates, Willwood Formation, unrevised section........................ 53 15. Plot of area of second lower molar in omomyid primates, Willwood Formation, revised section............................ 54 16. Diagram showing relative correlation of Willwood sedimentary rocks and time between the study area and Clarks Fork area of the northern Bighorn Basin ........................................................................................................ 55 17. Photograph showing lenticular carbonaceous shale unit, lower part of Willwood Formation................................... 57 18. Photograph showing tabular carbonaceous shale unit, upper part of Willwood Formation....................................... 57 19. Photograph showing quarry site for fossil plants, lower part of Willwood Formation.............................................. 58 TABLES 1. Provisional list of fossil mammals from the Willwood Formation of the south-central and southeastern Bighorn Basin............................................................................................................................................................. 4 2. U.S. Geological Survey (Denver) fossil vertebrate localities in the Fort Union and Willwood Formations of the central and southern Bighorn Basin................................................................................................................. 68 3. Yale University Peabody Museum fossil vertebrate localities in the Fort Union and Willwood Formations of the central and southern Bighorn Basin................................................................................................................. 88 4. Duke University Primate Center fossil vertebrate localities in the Willwood Formation of the central and southern
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