earth science

Verulam Formation

Verulam Formation is a earth science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Verulam Formation rather than just read about it. In short: The Verulam Formation is a geologic formation and Lagerstätte in Ontario, Canada. It preserves fossils dating back to the Katian stage of the Ordovician period, or Shermanian to Chatfieldian in the regional stratigraphy.

Key takeaways

Verulam Formation belongs to earth science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Verulam Formation to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Verulam Formation from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Verulam Formation is a geologic formation and Lagerstätte in Ontario, Canada. It preserves fossils dating back to the Katian stage of the Ordovician period, or Shermanian to Chatfieldian in the regional stratigraphy.

Description The Verulam Formation belongs to the Simcoe Group in South-central Ontario and to the Trenton Group in Southwestern Ontario. Within the Simcoe Group, it overlies the Bobcaygeon Formation. Both the Bobcaygeon and Verulam Formations are composed of bioclastic wackestones, grainstones, and packstones interbedded with calcareous shales and siltstones. The Verulam contains more shale than the underlying Bobcaygeon Formation. Several hardgrounds have been documented in detail from the upper Bobcaygeon and lower Verulam. The paleoenvironments in which the Bobcaygeon and Verulam Formations were deposited have been interpreted as a proximal carbonate shelf that ranged in depth and proximity from shoal to shallow shelf in the Bobcaygeon and from deep shelf to shoal or shallow shelf in the Verulam Formation.

Fossil content The Verulam Formation and the underlying Bobcaygeon Formation have provided many fossils. Both formations form the Brechin Lagerstätte, a Lagerstätte of excellent preservation of numerous exceptionally preserved crinoid specimens with arms, stems, and attachment structures intact. Also ostracods, trilobites, bivalves, gastropods, cephalopods and other fossils were found in the formation.

See also List of fossiliferous stratigraphic units in Ontario Arnheim Formation, contemporaneous fossiliferous formation of Ohio San Benito Formation, contemporaneous fossiliferous formation of Bolivia Late Ordovician glaciation Ordovician meteor event Taconic orogeny

References

Bibliography Cole, Selina R.; Wright, D.F.; Ausich, W. I.; Koniecki, J. M. (2020), "Paleocommunity composition, relative abundance, and new camerate crinoids from the Brechin Lagerstätte (Upper Ordovician)", Journal of Paleontology, 94 (6): 1103–1123, Bibcode:2020JPal...94.1103C, doi:10.1017/jpa.2020.32 Wright, D.F.; Cole, S.R.; Ausich, W.I. (2019), "Biodiversity, systematics, and new taxa of cladid crinoids from the Ordovician Brechin Lagerstätte", Journal of Paleontology, x (2): 1, Bibcode:2020JPal...94..334W, doi:10.1017/jpa.2019.81 Cole, S.R.; Ausich, W.I.; Wright, D.F.; Koniecki, J.M. (2018), "An echinoderm Lagerstätte from the Upper Ordovician (Katian), Ontario: taxonomic re-evaluation and description of new dicyclic camerate crinoids", Journal of Paleontology, x (3): 1–18, Bibcode:2018JPal...92..488C, doi:10.1017/jpa.2017.151 Sproat, C.D.; Jin, J. (2013), "Evolution of the Late Ordovician plaesiomyid brachiopod lineage in Laurentia", Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, 50 (8): 872–894, Bibcode:2013CaJES..50..872S, doi:10.1139/cjes-2013-0022 Sumrall, C.D.; Gahn, F.J. (2006), "Morphological and systematic reinterpretation of two enigmatic edrioasteroids (Echinodermata) from Canada", Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, 43 (4): 497–507, Bibcode:2006CaJES..43..497S, doi:10.1139/e05-114 Peters, S.E (2003), Evenness, richness and the Cambrian-Paleozoic faunal transition in North America: an assemblage-level perspective, University of Chicago, pp. 1–279 Waddington, J.B (1980), "A soft substrate community with edrioasteroids, from the Verulam Formations (Middle Ordovician) at Gamebridge, Ontario", Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, 17 (5): 674–679, Bibcode:1980CaJES..17..674W, doi:10.1139/e80-064 Liberty, B.A (1969), "Palaeozoic geology of the Lake Simcoe Area, Ontario", Geological Survey of Canada Memoirs, 355: 1–201 Wilson, A.E (1951), "Gastropoda and Conularida of the Ottawa Formation of the Ottawa - St. Lawrence Lowland", Geological Survey of Canada Bulletin, 17: 1–149 Wilson, A.E (1946), "Echinodermata of the Ottawa Formation of the Ottawa-St. Lawrence lowland", Geological Survey of Canada Bulletin, 4: 1–61

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Verulam Formation

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Verulam Formation claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In earth science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Verulam Formation before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Verulam Formation ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Verulam Formation

In research: Verulam Formation appears in earth science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Verulam Formation in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Verulam Formation is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Deep marine deposits, Fossiliferous stratigraphic units of North America, Geologic formations of Ontario, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Verulam Formation outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Verulam Formation in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Verulam Formation means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Verulam Formation out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Verulam Formation in simple terms?

Why does Verulam Formation matter?

Because it connects several earth science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Verulam Formation?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Verulam Formation.