William Harold Fritz (August 24, 1928 – June 9, 2009) was a geologist who worked for the

Geological Survey of Canada The Geological Survey of Canada (GSC; , CGC) is a Canadian federal government agency responsible for performing geological surveys of the country developing Canada's natural resources and protecting the environment. A branch of the Earth Science ...

. He is known for his work in

stratigraphy Stratigraphy is a branch of geology concerned with the study of rock layers (strata) and layering (stratification). It is primarily used in the study of sedimentary and layered volcanic rocks. Stratigraphy has three related subfields: lithost ...

and on olenelloid trilobites.

Biography

Fritz was born in

Cathlamet, Washington Cathlamet is a town located along the Washington State Route 4, Ocean Beach Highway in Wahkiakum County, Washington, Wahkiakum County, Washington (state), Washington, United States, where it is the county seat. The population was 560 at the 2020 ...

, where his father practised medicine for over 50 years. He graduated from Wahkiakum High School in 1946. After Air Force service during the Korean War, he completed his PhD in geology at the University of Washington in 1960. He first worked for the Shell Oil Company in Alaska, then in 1964 he moved to Canada taking up a position as a research geologist with the Geological Survey. After retiring he and his wife Judie carried out geological work in

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...

. They had one son, Peter.

Geological work

Fritz's work focussed mostly on the

Cambrian The Cambrian ( ) is the first geological period of the Paleozoic Era, and the Phanerozoic Eon. The Cambrian lasted 51.95 million years from the end of the preceding Ediacaran period 538.8 Ma (million years ago) to the beginning of the Ordov ...

period. In 1966 and 1967 he, along with Judie and Peter as well as other geologists, spent two summers working on the

Burgess Shale The Burgess Shale is a fossil-bearing deposit exposed in the Canadian Rockies of British Columbia, Canada. It is famous for the exceptional preservation of the soft parts of its fossils. At old (middle Cambrian), it is one of the earliest fos ...

in the

Canadian Rockies The Canadian Rockies () or Canadian Rocky Mountains, comprising both the Alberta Rockies and the British Columbian Rockies, is the Canadian segment of the North American Rocky Mountains. It is the easternmost part of the Canadian Cordillera, w ...

, discovered by Walcott in 1909. They found many soft-bodied fossils in the layers described by Walcott, expanding the existing collection, and also explored other sites in the area. Other early work, including that for his PhD, was carried out in the

Great Basin The Great Basin () is the largest area of contiguous endorheic watersheds, those with no outlets to the ocean, in North America. It spans nearly all of Nevada, much of Utah, and portions of California, Idaho, Oregon, Wyoming, and Baja Californi ...

, in

.Fritz (1968) There was not much information available about the area of study, so much structural and stratigraphic surveying had to be done, as well as the analysis of the fossil material, largely trilobites. The work led to the identification of a number of new species of trilobites, of lower and middle Cambrian age, as well as two new genera Most of Fritz's work was in the

Canadian Cordillera The Pacific Cordillera, also known as the Western Cordillera or simply The Cordillera, is a top-level physiographic region of Canada, referring mainly to the extensive cordillera system in Western and Northwestern Canada that constitutes the northe ...

, particularly in the

Mackenzie Mountains The Mackenzie Mountains are a Canadian mountain range forming part of the Yukon–Northwest Territories boundary between the Liard and Peel rivers. The range is named in honour of Canada's second prime minister, Alexander Mackenzie. Nahanni ...

. His interest in trilobites continued, and in 1972 he published a major taxonomic paper which identified three biostratigraphic zones in the lower Cambrian based on the characteristic trilobites they contain.Fritz (1972) These zones, Falotaspis, Nevadella and Bonnia-Olenellus are still in use. Fritz published many stratigraphic sections in north-western Canada, and several further taxonomic papers on trilobites Fritz (1973)Fritz (1991)Fritz (1992)Fritz (1993) Fritz was a member of the Precambrian-Cambrian Boundary Working Group. As well as work in Canada this involved visits to China and to Siberia. After his retirement he returned to his old surveying area of the Great Basin, and continued to search for trilobites, with considerable success.

New trilobite genera erected

Index species for each genus indicated in brackets Achlysopsis (liokata) Albertelloides (mischi) Bonnima (semidiscoidea) Bradyfallotaspis (fusa)

Cirquella ''Cirquella'' is an extinct genus from a well-known class of fossil marine arthropods, the trilobites. It lived during the Atdabanian stage, in the former continent Laurentia. Description Only the thin and lightly calcified headshields (or ce ...

(nummularia)

Ekwipagetia Yukoniidae S. Zhang, 1980 'nom. transl''. et ''emend''. Jell, ''in'' Whittington ''et al''., 1997 ''ex'' Yukoniinae S. Zhang in W. Zhang, Lu ''et al''., 1980is a small family of trilobites, belonging to the Eodiscina. Type genus and species ...

(plicofimbria) Gabriellus (lanceatus) Geraldinella (corneiliana)

Holmiella ''Holmiella'' is a genus of fungi in the order Patellariales. The genus name of ''Holmiella'' is in honour of Kerstin Holm (b.1924), a Swedish botanist (Mycology) who was married to architect Lennart Holm (1921 - 2012) and worked at Uppsala U ...

(preancora) Illtydaspis (quartetensis)

Keeleaspis ''Keeleaspis'' is an extinct genus from a well-known class of fossil marine arthropods, the trilobites. It lived during the late Atdabanian stage, which lasted from 530 to 524 million years ago during the early part of the Cambrian Period Th ...

(gratia)

Mummaspis ''Mummaspis'' is an extinct genus from a well-known class of fossil marine arthropods, the trilobites, with five known species. It lived during the early part of the Botomian stage, which lasted from approximately 524 to 518.5 million years ago. T ...

(occidens)

Nehanniaspis ''Nehanniaspis'' is an extinct genus from a well-known class of fossil marine arthropods, the trilobites. ''Nehanniaspis'' lived during the late Atdabanian stage, which lasted during the early part of the Cambrian Period The Cambrian ( ) is ...

(prima)

Palmettaspis ''Palmettaspis'' is an extinct genus of trilobite in the order Redlichiida Redlichiida is an order of trilobites, a group of extinct marine arthropods. Species assigned to the order Redlichiida are among the first trilobites to appear in t ...

Fritz (1995) (consorta) Parafallotaspis (grata)

Sekwiaspis ''Sekwiaspis'' is an extinct genus from a well-known class of fossil marine arthropods, the trilobites. It lived during the late Atdabanian stage, which lasted from 530 to 524 million years ago during the early part of the Cambrian Period Th ...

(artifrons)

Variopelta ''Variopelta'' is an extinct genus from a well-known class of fossil marine arthropods, the trilobites. It lived during the Botomian stage, which lasted from approximately 524 to 518.5 million years ago. This faunal stage was part of the Cambrian ...

(laevis)

Yukonides Yukoniidae S. Zhang, 1980 'nom. transl''. et ''emend''. Jell, ''in'' Whittington ''et al''., 1997 ''ex'' Yukoniinae S. Zhang in W. Zhang, Lu ''et al''., 1980is a small family of trilobites, belonging to the Eodiscina. Type genus and species ...

(lacrinus)

References

Selected bibliography

* * * * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fritz, William Harold 1928 births 2009 deaths Canadian geologists Geological Survey of Canada personnel University of Washington alumni