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Erie

Lewis

Oneida

Steuben

Herkimer

Delaware

Otsego

Oswego

AlleganyCattaraugus

Sullivan

Cayuga

Tioga Broome

Ontario

Chautauqua

WayneMonroe

Chenango

Madison

Jefferson

Onondaga

Yates

Niagara

WyomingLivingston Cortland

Genesee

Tompkins

Orleans

Chemung

Schuyler

Hamilton

Seneca

Fulton

Ulster

Montgomery

Orange

St Lawrence

Fossilized Brachiopods within the Onondaga LimestoneExamining the spatial distribution of the Brachiopod order Orthida within the Onondaga Limestone Formation Michael Powers

Shippensburg UniversityCapstone GIS ProjectFall 2016

The stud y of g e olog y hasnum e rous applications. Thisinclud e s the stud y of past lifeon Plane t Ea rth. Extinctorg anism s trappe d andpr e se rve d in the fossil re cordoffe r a g lim pse of pr e historiccond itions on Ea rth, as w e ll asthe chang e s Ea rth hase xpe r ie nce d throug h g e olog ictim e . O ne a r e a of inte r e stw ould be the O nond a g aLim e stone Form ation.The O nond a g a Lim e stone is ag e olog ic form ation locate d inCe ntral Ne w York state .Positione d be low the

Ma rce llus Shale (know n for itsrich natural g as d e posits), thisMid d le -De vonian a g e rock unitcontains an abund ance of fossils.O ne of the m ost abund ant fossiltype s in this unit is theBrachiopod O r d e r O rthid a. Thisord e r has m any d iff e r e nt spe cie sthat a re alive tod ay, and a fe wthat also thrive d d uring theDe vonian. The pr e se nce of the seorg a nism s ind icate s thed e positional e nvironm e nt inw hich the y cam e to re st. Bylocating som e of the colle ctionpoints of the se fossils, w e canansw e r the que stion, “W hat is

the spatial d istribution ofBrachiopod a O rthid a in theO nond a g a Lim e stoneForm ation?” Answ e ring thisque stion w ill assist w ithund e rstand ing the g e olog icaland g e og ra phic history ofCe ntral Ne w York, as w e ll ashow the te ctonic chang e sove r g e olog ic tim e .

In ord e r to answ e r this spatiallybase d que stion, spatial d ata m ustbe acquire d . Fossil colle ction pointsw ould be be ne ficial. The se pointsw e r e locations w e r e ind ivid ualshave colle cte d fossils and haveuploa d e d spe cific inform ation aboutthat fossil. In our case , only fossilsthat w e r e Mid d le De vonian in a g ea nd w e r e m e m be rs of the O rthid aord e r. Be cause the O nond a g a lie sd e e p und e r g round , the r e a r e noe xisting surficial g e olog y shape file sof the form ation. This m ust bed e r ive d throug h w e ll log s, provid e dby the Ne w York State Muse um . Thed e pth to the form ation w ill be

d e te rm ine d by e xam ining the APIvalue s. Lim e stone g ive s off low e ra m ounts of g a m m a ra d iationcom pa r e d to othe r rocks. The top andbottom of the form ation is e asy tod isting uish be cause the O nond a g a sitsatop the Esopus Shale and is cappe dby the Ma rce llus Shale . Due to thehig h am ounts of hyd roca rbons, shalehas the la r g e st API value s in rock (Se eLe ft Banne r). The bound a ry be tw e e nthe tw o type s of g e olog ic units shouldbe re lative ly e asy to d isting uish. Anum be r of w e ll log points w ill be use dto cre ate an isoline of the g e olog icunit. A w e ll log cross se ction w ill beuse d as a re f e r e nce for quality

assurance of the d e r ive d subsurfaceform ation (Fig ure 1). A Dig italEle vation Mod e l w ill be colle cte d asw e ll. Be cause the O nond a g a cove rsa la r g e d istance , m ultiple DEM’sshould be colle cte d and a d d e d intoa m osaic d atase t. The DEM d atase tw ill be use d to find the actuale le vation of e ach of the w e ll log s.Using the fie ld calculator, the d e pthto the O nond a g a can be calculate dfor e ach w e ll log point.

Fossil colle ction d ata re quir e d theuse of the Pale obiolog y DatabaseMap Navig ator. Using the filte rs"Mid d le De vonian" na d "O rthid a",point d ata for the colle ction ofm ultiple spe cie s of O rthid aBrachiopod w e r e proje cte d in thed ata vie w e r. The final fossilcolle ction points w e r e d ow nloa d e df rom the Pale obiolog y Database .The se points w e r e the n proje cte donto the NAD 83 State Plane Ne wYork Ce ntral Spatia l R e f e r e nceSyste m . Se ve ra l National Ele vationDatase ts w e r e acquir e d throug h theUSGS National Map Vie w e r. The seDEM's w e r e re f e r e nce d to the sam e

spatial re f e r e nce syste m and the na d d e d to a m osaic d atase t w ithin theg e od atabase . In ord e r to d e te rm inethe d if f e r e nce be tw e e n fossilscolle cte d on the surface and fossilscolle cte d throug h rock core s, the Ne wYork Surficial Ge olog y shape file w asre f e r e nce d and a d d e d to the m apd ocum e nt. From that file , all theMid d le De vonian Lim e stone (the sam ea g e and type as our form ation ofinte r e st) w as e xporte d as its ow nlaye r. To d isplay the surface outcrops,the DEM and the Mid d le De vonianLim e stone laye rs w e r e a d d e d toArcsce ne . By e xa g g e r ating the ve rticallaye rs and d ra ping the Mid d le

De vonian Lim e stone laye rs ove r theDe m , som e outcrops w e r evisualize d (Fig ure 3). Displaying thesubsurface g e olog y of theform ation re quir e d the use ofm ultiple g e ophysical w e ll log s.Using the know le d g e that the r e w illbe a d r astic d iff e r e nce in g a m m ara d iation be tw e e n hyd roca rbonshale and our lim e stone form ation,the d e pth to the O nond a g a for e achw e ll log w as calculate d into an e xce lshe e t.

Using this e xce l spre a d she e t,a ve ctor point fe ature classw as cre ate d . By using theMulti-value s to Points tool,the e le vation d ata conne cte dto the DEM m osaic d atase tw as a d d e d as a ne w fie ld fore ach of the w e ll log points.Be cause this w as the e le vationfor the top of the w e ll casing ,the actual e le vation to theO nond a g a ha d to becalculate d throug h the Fie ldCalculator. The d e pth to theform ation (found fromorig ina l w e ll log ) w assubtracte d from the e le vation

fie ld . This provid e d the finalactual e le vation at m e an se ale ve l.

Base d on the re sults of thislab, w e can m ake a num be r ofobse rvations. First, w e can se ethat the O nond a g a is prim a rilybe ne ath the Ea rth’s surface ,w ith only a fe w line s ofoutcrops in ce ntral Ne w York.This m e ans that fossilcolle ction is prim a rily d one inthe se a r e as, obviously not inthe subsurface se ction. Anysubsurface fossil colle ctionsw e r e m a d e throug h the use ofg e ophysical boring s ande xam ining rock core s.

Throug h the se w e can se e howour e xtinct org anism of inte r e stis d istribute d in the subsurfaceform ation. Base d on the d ataprovid e d , w e cannot state thatthe subsurface O nond a g aForm ation d oe s not contain ahig h d e nsity of O rthid a fossils.More e xploratory boring s m ustbe d rille d in ord e r to have am ore concre te answ e r r e g a r d ingthe spatial d istribution of fossils.Looking at the surface of ce ntralNe w York, outcrops cre ate df rom m e and e r ing rive rs have

provid e d a location fore xce lle nt and sim ple fossilcolle ction. This allow s forpale ontolog ical stud ie s to g ound e r w ay.

The National Map Vie w e r.2016. NED 1/3 Arc Se cond .Unite d State s Ge olog icSurve y. Last acce sse d onlineon Nove m be r 29, 2016 athttps://nationalm ap.g ov/O il and Gas W e ll Data. 2016.w e llDO S. Ne w YorkDe pa rtm e nt of Environm e ntal

Conse rvation. Last acce sse donline on De ce m be r 8, 2016 at

Legend# subsurface_fossils (41)

!U well_logs (8)

Surface_FossilsSurface_Fossils (320)Onondaga_Subsurface (1)Middle_Devonian_Limestone (27)

Introduction Objectives

Methods and Data

References, Acknowledgements, and Sources Cited

Summary and Conclusions

Methods and Data Continued

Fig ure 1: W e ll Log and g e olog ic cross-se ction of the ce ntral Ne w York State R e g ion. This im a g e w as use d as a quality assurance tool to e nsure that d e pths calculate d w e r e w ithin a re asonable accuracy

Text

Fig ure 1:Ca rtog ra phic Mod e l use d to d e r ive subsurface m od e l

Fig ur e 3:Arcsce ne d isplay of surface outcroplocations

Fig ure 4: Exam ple w e ll log use d in d e r iving form ationd e pth. The d e pth in thispa rticula r log is 1420 ft.

Text

Fig ure 5:Displaying all know n w e llboring s in Ne w York