The stratigraphy and structure of the Cambrian and Ordovician chert-bearing carbonates of the Wallkill River Valley: The stratigraphic nature of the chert and their archaeological potential
Item
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Title
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The stratigraphy and structure of the Cambrian and Ordovician chert-bearing carbonates of the Wallkill River Valley: The stratigraphic nature of the chert and their archaeological potential
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Identifier
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d_2009_2013:3191b7d0ca66:11135
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Creator
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LaPorta, Philip Charles, Jr.,
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Contributor
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Hannes K. Brueckner
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Date
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2009
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Geology | Archaeology | Sedimentary geology
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Abstract
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The Kittatinny Supergroup in northwestern New Jersey/southeastern New York was correlated to age-equivalent rocks in the Pennsylvania salient (Drake, 1965; Markewicz and Dalton, 1977). Along-strike variations in facies and thickness, from the Pennsylvania salient to the New York recess (Thomas, 1977), are responsible for inconsistencies in stratigraphic assignment between the two depositional settings. Stratigraphic inconsistencies also fostered differing interpretations of the structural history of the area (Gray, 1959; Zen, 1967; Drake, 1969, 1970; Herman and Monteverde, 1989; Herman et al., 1997).;Stratigraphic measurement (1:98 scale) and geologic mapping (1:24,000 scale) conducted for this study recorded diagnostic chert horizons utilizable as mapping aids, in conjunction with previously undocumented faunal assemblages. Therefore, the Kittatinny stratigraphy was redefined; specifically, three new formations and eight new members were created that more accurately illustrated the genetic relationships between adjacent, but different, tectonic depocenters (the Pennsylvania salient vs. the New York recess). The stratigraphic re-organization, and re-mapping of the Hamburg quadrangle, supported balanced and restored cross sections that clarified the structural evolution of the study area. Finally, the detailed stratigraphic work allowed for sea-level curve construction for this part of the Cambrian-Ordovician passive margin. Bed-by-bed correlation of the chert stratigraphy with sea-level curves suggested that cherts were deposited on unconformities marking regressions on this part of the passive margin.;Inter-disciplinary applications of the revised stratigraphy, and the structural features of the Cambrian-Ordovician rocks, permitted the discovery of greater than 600 prehistoric bedrock chert quarry complexes in the study area. Geologic controls dictate the spatial distribution of the quarries, the success and/or failure of indigenous peoples in mining this ore and the types of tools that were created once mining yielded a utilizable product. A typical quarry plan has been observed in the study area, where quarries have a similar layout based on measureable geological constraints. A new chain-of-operation has been introduced, again based on the geological constraints of mined ore. Previously in lithic studies, tool manufacture began with a blank (Callahan, 1979; Crabtree, 1972). This study redefines stool-tool manufacture as beginning with a microlithon package, a geologically constrained template that controls stone-tool design.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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2009_2013.csv
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degree
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Ph.D.