Development of the Nomenclature of Ordovician Stratigraphy in Virginia

Abstract

This paper is a bare outline of the development of the Ordovician nomenclature in Virginia. The emphasis has been on the nomenclature as such and paleontologic relations which are so important to the stratigrapher have only received passing mention. The Ordovician nomenclature has had a long history in Virginia and new developments are continually made. The major development over the years has been to divide the larger formational units into smaller ones as paleontology and more detailed field work have allowed it. With increasingly detailed work has come better correlations over regional areas. Virginia has developed as a key spot in the overall picture of the relation of the New York type of sections to the long defined Tennessee formations. This paper has been liberally footnoted and numerous papers are listed in the bibliography to which one may go for the original sources of the stratigraphic nomenclature listed herein. This paper is offered in the hope that it will prove useful for a fuller study of the development of the Ordovician nomenclature in Virginia which will make use of the paleontologic literature on the subject. [From Preface]