Honors Projects
Abstract
The Hermosa Group is a Pennsylvanian (~310 Ma) rock package found in the southwestern San Juan Mountains and the Paradox Basin. The Paradox Basin was an evaporite basin in which alternating carbonate, sandstone and siltstone layers were deposited at the margins. Within the carbonate layers, ancient phylloid algal mounds and sponge bioherms can be found. In this project I document fossil sponges and algae from a Hermosa Group locality in southwestern Colorado. I look at the environments in which the sponges lived, those being relatively deep water, above wave-base; as well as inter-sponge growth habits, where one is dominant and grows overtop of another. This information may help to model reef responses to climate change and help to explain complex stratigraphic sequences in future studies.
Major
Geology: Paleobiology
First Advisor
Margaret Yacobucci
First Advisor Department
Geology
Second Advisor
Jeffrey Snyder
Second Advisor Department
Geology
Publication Date
Spring 2014
Repository Citation
Hamilton, Joanna, "Analysis of a Sponge Bioherm from the Hermosa Group, Molas Lake Area, Colorado" (2014). Honors Projects. 116.
https://scholarworks.bgsu.edu/honorsprojects/116