A Conodont Biostratigraphic and Color Alteration Index Dataset for New England: Maine, Vermont, Massachusetts, and parts of eastern New York, USA

For decades, researchers have recognized the functionality of using conodont elements in biostratigraphic investigations. A growing need now exists, however, for a digital dataset of fossil data. The New England conodont dataset is the region's first publicly accessible digital collection of previously published U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) conodont paleontological data and Color Alteration Index (CAI) values. The dataset includes published results from rock samples analyzed by the USGS; it does not contain results from state agencies or academic institutions, or industry. The dataset aids in the regional correlation of geologic units and the resolution of stratigraphic inconsistencies across the state borders of NY, VT, MA, and CT. Resolution of inconsistencies is in support of the 1:500,000-scale geologic map compilation of New England. CAI values aid in determining the thermal maturity of host rocks, the thermal stability of hydrocarbons and superposed metamorphic temperatures.

The first version of the dataset includes conodont sample collections sourced from the USGS National Geologic Map Database’s (NGMDB) biostratigraphic archive, USGS Reports on Referred Fossils, and recent published studies; subsequent versions of the dataset may include backscatter electron images of representative conodonts from each major biozone, and recent data from samples collected in Massachusetts and Connecticut. Geologic mapping at 1:24,000 scale in the southern Lake Champlain Valley highlights the importance of such an dataset, showing that some formations are locally missing (e.g. Fort Ann Limestone and Day Point Formation) but are observed regionally elsewhere, thus providing evidence for the existence of several unconformities. The utility of conodont biostratigraphy is also demonstrated by the mapping of the Knox/Beekmantown unconformity, wherein conodonts from adjacent outcrops revealed correlations that are supported by the lithologies of various formations. The primary goal of the New England conodont dataset is to serve as a prototype archive for conodont biostratigraphic data and CAI values for the Appalachians and as a resource for resolving regional stratigraphic inconsistencies.