Castle Hayne Limestone facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Castle Hayne Limestone Stratigraphic range: Eocene
Type	Formation
Sub-units	New Hanover Member, Comfort Member, Spring Garden Member
Lithology
Primary	limestone
Other	marl
Location
Region	North Carolina
Country	United States
Type section
Named for	Castle Hayne, North Carolina

The Castle Hayne Limestone (also called the Castle Hayne Formation) is a geologic formation in North Carolina. It consists of cobble to pebble sized clasts, usually rounded, coated with phosphate and glauconite in a limestone matrix. The Castle Hayne Limestone is known for containing fossils dating back to the Paleogene period. It preserves many of North Carolina's renowned Eocene fossils. It is named after the locality of Castle Hayne in New Hanover county, though the formation itself stretches over several counties.

Description

The Castle Hayne Formation is divided into three submembers: the New Hanover member, the Comfort Member, and the Spring Garden Member. The New Hanover member is the oldest member and is characterizes by cobbles and pebbles, fine sand, glauconite, and phosphate in a fine limestone matrix. The most common fossils are shark and ray teeth. Index fossils place this member in the middle Eocene. The Comfort member lies above the New Hanover member. It contains bryozoa and sea urchin fossils and beds of glauconite and phosphate pebbles that mark breaks in deposition. The Comfort member was deposited in the late middle Eocene and is overlain by the Spring Garden member. The Spring Garden member is a siliceous rock cemented with calcite and containing detrital phosphate. Mollusc bivalves account for up to 75% of the composition in some areas and molds of molluscs shells filled with silica are common. Index fossils indicate this member was also deposited in the late middle Eocene.

Fossils

Invertebrates

Molluscs

Genera	Species	Notes	Images
Chione	C. sp
Crassatella	C. wilcoxi C. sp	A crassatellid bivalve.
Ensis	E. sp
Flemingostrea	F. sp
Giganostrea	G. trigonalis	An extinct group of oyster.
Glyptoactis	G. sp
Panopea	P. sp	A close relative of the modern geoduck.
Pecten	P. membranosus	An extinct bivalve that belonged to the same genus as most modern scallops.
Pholadomya	P. sp
Plicatula	P. filamentosa
Venericardia	V. sp

Cephalopods

Genera	Species	Notes	Images
Anomalosaepia	A. vernei A. mariettani A. alleni A. andreane A. sp	An extinct group of cuttlefish that was also found in Egypt and belonged to the family Anomalosaepiidae.
Aturia	A. alabamensis	Belongs in its own family: the Aturiidae.
Beloptera	B. sp	Another extinct group of cuttlefish that was found in several localities in Europe.
Conchorhynchus	C. furrus	Has not been classified into any specific cephalopod group yet.
Eutrephoceras	E. carolinensis	First originated during the Cretaceous period.	E. dorbignyanum, a related species.
Rhyncolites	R. sp R. minimus R. aturensis	An extinct group of nautiloid that has not yet been classified into any specific family.

Vertebrates Fossils

Mammals

Cetaceans

Genus	Species	Notes	Images
Zygorhiza	Z. kochii	A close relative of the well-known archaeocete Dorudon.
Basilotritus	B. wardi	A basilosaurid that was originally classified under Eocetus.

Sirenians

Genus	Species	Notes	Images
Protosiren	P. sp	A prehistoric manatee relative that is also known from Eurasia.

Cingulates

Genus	Species	Notes	Images
Holmesina	H. sp	A pampathere that resembled a giant armadillo. It arrived to North America after migrating from South America.

Reptiles

Squamates

Genus	Species	Notes	Images
Palaeophis	P. grandis	An extinct species of giant marine snake from the family Paleophiidae.

Turtles

Genus	Species	Notes	Images
Cheloniidae indet		Known by plate, shell, and plastron fragments.

Crocodilians

Genus	Species	Notes	Images
Crocodylia indet		Known by vertebra.