The Moorefield Formation, or Moorefield Shale, is a

geologic formation A geological formation, or simply formation, is a body of rock having a consistent set of physical characteristics ( lithology) that distinguishes it from adjacent bodies of rock, and which occupies a particular position in the layers of rock exp ...

in northern

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...

and eastern

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

that dates to the Meramecian Series of the middle

Mississippian Mississippian may refer to: * Mississippian (geology), a subperiod of the Carboniferous period in the geologic timescale, roughly 360 to 325 million years ago * Mississippian cultures, a network of precontact cultures across the midwest and Easte ...

. In Arkansas, this formation is generally recognized to have one member, the Ruddell Shale, in the upper Moorefield Formation.

Paleofauna

Bryozoa Bryozoa (also known as the Polyzoa, Ectoprocta or commonly as moss animals) are a phylum of simple, aquatic animal, aquatic invertebrate animals, nearly all living in sedentary Colony (biology), colonies. Typically about long, they have a spe ...
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*''

Archimedes Archimedes of Syracuse ( ; ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek Greek mathematics, mathematician, physicist, engineer, astronomer, and Invention, inventor from the ancient city of Syracuse, Sicily, Syracuse in History of Greek and Hellenis ...

'' :''A. confertus'' :''A. proutanus'' *'' Batostomella'' :''B. dubla'' :''B. parvula'' *'' Tabulipora''

Cephalopod A cephalopod is any member of the molluscan Taxonomic rank, class Cephalopoda (Greek language, Greek plural , ; "head-feet") such as a squid, octopus, cuttlefish, or nautilus. These exclusively marine animals are characterized by bilateral symm ...
s

* '' Adnatoceras'' : ''A. alaskense'' * '' Bactrites'' : ''B. caronarius'' : ''B. smithianus'' * ''

Endolobus ''Endolobus'' is an extinct genus from the nautiloid order, Nautilida. Nautiloids are a subclass of shelled cephalopods that were once diverse and numerous but are now represented by only a handful of species, including ''Nautilus''. ''Endolubu ...

'' : ''E. ornatus'' * '' Girtyoceras'' : ''G. welleri'' * '' Goniaties'' * '' Mitorthoceras''

References

* Mississippian Oklahoma Mississippian Arkansas Carboniferous southern paleotropical deposits Shale formations of the United States Limestone formations of the United States Geologic formations of Arkansas Geologic formations of Oklahoma {{Carboniferous-stub

Paleofauna

Bryozoa Bryozoa (also known as the Polyzoa, Ectoprocta or commonly as moss animals) are a phylum of simple, aquatic animal, aquatic invertebrate animals, nearly all living in sedentary Colony (biology), colonies. Typically about long, they have a spe ...ns

Cephalopod A cephalopod is any member of the molluscan Taxonomic rank, class Cephalopoda (Greek language, Greek plural , ; "head-feet") such as a squid, octopus, cuttlefish, or nautilus. These exclusively marine animals are characterized by bilateral symm ...s

See also

References

Bryozoa Bryozoa (also known as the Polyzoa, Ectoprocta or commonly as moss animals) are a phylum of simple, aquatic animal, aquatic invertebrate animals, nearly all living in sedentary Colony (biology), colonies. Typically about long, they have a spe ...
ns

Cephalopod A cephalopod is any member of the molluscan Taxonomic rank, class Cephalopoda (Greek language, Greek plural , ; "head-feet") such as a squid, octopus, cuttlefish, or nautilus. These exclusively marine animals are characterized by bilateral symm ...
s