Document Type

Thesis

Abstract

In late 1995 and early 1996, workers at Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock, while digging a new dry dock, discovered indurated blocks, in which were the remains of a fossil whale. The largest of these blocks contained multiple, fractured ribs, the left mandible, and part of the cranium of a baleen whale. This block was found in the upper Yorktown Formation, 30 to 35 feet below present sea level. Along with the bones are the remains of many species of mollusks. Bivalves dominate the fauna in the indurated block, with the infrequent gastropod and other species also found. The fossils found with the whale bones and the condition of the Mollusca indicate that this assemblage was deposited below the depth of normal wave action, about 100 feet, due to the large majority of articulated shells. After burial, the whale bones and the surrounding fossils and sediment underwent diageneti¢ changes, including compression of the whole assemblage, fracture of the whale bones due to the compression, permineralization, and more fracturing during the excavation and transportation of the block to its present resting place underneath Zable Stadium in a storage room. The assemblage was also discovered in the outer fracture zone of the Chesapeake Bay Impact Structure. The top side of the assemblage has been documented in an earlier work. The hardness of the matrix on the top side made removing material and learning new information a difficult job. The bottom side had a more friable matrix to the touch and so it was thought it would be . easier to reach the whale fossil and better understand the block if it was turned over to expose the bottom side.

Date Awarded

2001

Department

Geology

Advisor 1

Gerald H. Johnson

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