Early Paleozoic Fossil Site in Jangseong, Taebaek

The Ordovician fossil site in Jangseong, Taebaek belongs to the Jigunsan Formation within the Joseon Supergroup of the Ordovician period of the Paleozoic era, some 500 to 440 million years old. It is a site where a great variety of fossils are found, centred on the trilobites that mark it as an early Paleozoic stratum, together with brachiopods, cephalopods and gastropods. The Cambrian period of the Paleozoic era can be divided into some thirty phases on the basis of the survival period of the trilobite, the first arthropod to appear on Earth. Study of the trilobite fossils recovered here showed that the Korean Peninsula, now situated near latitude 38° north, lay close to the equator some 500 million years ago. The Ordovician fossil site in Jangseong, Taebaek, is an important fossil site for understanding both the history of the Paleozoic Earth and the natural history of the Korean Peninsula, and so has great academic value. (The name was changed from ‘Early Paleozoic Fossil Site in Jangseong, Taebaek’ to ‘Ordovician Fossil Site in Jangseong, Taebaek’, announced on 26 July 2021.)

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Taebaek, Gangwon

Designation

Natural Monument · 천연기념물