NEW BIOSTROMES DISCOVERED AT THE UPPER CRETACEOUS (CAMPANIAN) STONE BRIDGE FOSSIL SITE IN CAMDEN COUNTY, NEW JERSEY

This report describes and analyzes two newly discovered biostromes, one calcareous and the other concretions leached of calcareous content, found lower in section and downstream from the historic biostrome investigated by previous studies of this Upper Cretaceous (Campanian) Stone Bridge fossil site in Cherry Hill Township, Camden County, New Jersey. The paleontology, taphonomy and ecology of the overall site is reinterpreted and addresses the newly discovered biostromes. A faunal assemblage of 129, many new to the site, was recovered with 23 exotic Paleozoic fossils, mostly corals, collected from alluvium in the stream bed. Derived from bedrock geology and paleontology, the site appears to be in the Englishtown Formation, however, lithology suggests that the site rests in the Woodbury Formation consistent with conclusions of other site investigations. The bivalve suite is dominated by Cyprimeria depressa at 61% of the class in a C. depressa-Turritellid association. Bivalve trophic mode and relative abundance suggest that the historic biostrome was originally an ecological community displaced by a light taphonomic process interpreted as a storm event. Recovering both Cucullaea and Lucina assemblages together challenges Weller’s stratigraphic water depth proposition that these assemblages do not overlap. Photographic plates of all good quality specimens are included