Geology Field Trip Yields Fossil Surprise: Possible New Trilobite Species

It was a simple question. Something you'd expect a young student to ask during an undergraduate field trip in geology. "Dr. Brett? Is this anything special?"

The question came from geology undergraduate Justin Allen while sorting through rocks which had tumbled down a massive road cut in Ft. Thomas, Kentucky landing in a roadside ditch.

UC Geology Professor Carlton Brett knew immediately that Allen had definitely found something special - a beautifully preserved trilobite fossil known as Isotelus. However, Brett is still waiting to find out whether the fossil represents a brand new species.

Allen left the fossil behind when he left UC. The specimen will be examined by a trilobite expert at the Royal Ontario Museum, and the official verdict will be rendered later this year. But Brett suspects it's a new species, and he's already prepared to name it in Allen's honor. "It's traditional to honor the generosity of collectors that way," he explained.

This month, Brett returned to the scene of the find with a group of prospective geology graduate students. It was the start of a half-day field trip to explore the enormous richness of the fossils in the Tristate area. From Ft. Thomas to Maysville, the group was able to stop at many of the 80 road cuts along Kentucky's AA Highway. This road cut along Kentucky Route 445 in Ft. Thomas reveals roughly 500 million years.

"The highway cut is a treasure trove for geologists," said Brett. While gesturing upward at the road cut in Fort Thomas, he noted that the young scientists were looking at about half a million year's worth of geologic time.

"It's a beautiful place to study cyclicity. You can see a rhythmic bundling of limestones and shales. We just might be seeing the record of a series of roughtly 20,000 year cycles stacking together to make 100,000 year cycles."

The changes recorded in the many rock layers appear to indicate changes in climate, changes in sea level, and tectonic processes such as mountain-building and massive earthquakes.

The prospective graduate students came from as far away as Oregon, Arizona State, New York and the prestigious University of Pennsylvania to see what UC geology had to offer. Their trip was just one part of UC's first Graduate Recruitment Weekend which brought in more than 100 top scholars from around the country.