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<br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />12 <br /> <br />~ The remainder (upper 90%) of the Madison Formation consists of dense, mas- <br /> <br />.~ <br /> <br />~ sive, recrystallized carbonate rock which contains sparce, poorly preserved, <br />- <br />C: marine invertebrates such as crinoids, corals, brachiopods, bryozoa, and <br />c <br /> <br />gastropods. <br /> <br />'. <br /> <br />The most abundantly fossiliferous of the rock units of the Juniper - Cross <br />Mountain Project area is the Morgan Formation. The fossils, which are all <br />of marine invertebrate organisms, are very well preserved (some by replace- <br />ment by red jasper), and are so abundant in some limestone layers that they <br />are the main constituent of the rock. Collections made below the dam site <br /> <br />at the west end of Juniper Canyon and on the western slopes of Cross Moun- <br /> <br />tain just south of the canyon there include at least five species of brachi- <br />opods, three species of crinoids (including stem sections and calyx plates), <br />large pelecypods, myriad Fusulinid foraminifera, several species of both fan <br />and branching bryozoa, unusual globular shaped coral colonies, some of which <br />have been replaced by chert, and numerous other types of fossils, all of <br /> <br />which clearly indicate the type of life that was prevalent in this area dur- <br />ing the Pennsylvanian Period. <br /> <br />The Permian and Triassic strata in the vicinity of the project are generally <br /> <br />unfossi1iferous, except for a few amphibian tracks which occur on bedding <br />surfaces of the Weber Sandstone in Dinosaur National Monument. However, <br /> <br />this investigator did discover a rather unusual occurrence of large petri- <br />fied wood fragments (probably of the genus Araucarioxylon) within the Chinle <br /> <br />Formation where it is upturned against the Cross Mountain Fault about one- <br /> <br />fourth mile south of the mouth of Cross Mountain Canyon. Fossil wood is <br /> <br />especially useful as a paleoclimatic indicator for the area and time in <br /> <br />which the plants grew. <br /> <br />---.,---. <br />~ ' <br />