GEOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -In Virginia, fossils are found mainly in the Coastal Plain, Valley and Ridge, and Appalachian Plateau provinces. Most Virginia fossils are of marine organisms. This indicates that large areas of the state have been periodically covered by seawater.

Detailed explanation-2: -Pelecypods. Pelecypods, also called bivalves, are soft-bodied animals that secrete a hard shell with two sides, such as an oyster or clam. Pelecypods are abundant in the Cenozoic sedimentary deposits of Virginia’s Coastal Plain. Virginia’s state fossil is the bivalve Chesapecten jeffersonius, pictured here.

Detailed explanation-3: -Virginia is rich in fossils, but can only claim the remnants of one dinosaur so far: the Tanytrachelos, a small insect-eater which dates back 225 million years. Prehistoric fossils from insects and whales, along with ancient mammoths and mastodons, also come from the region.

Detailed explanation-4: -The most common fossils are marine organisms, those that lived in the oceans, because oceans cover over 70% of the earth and provide a more suitable environment for fossil preservation than most environments on land.