| A paleontology enthusiast gazes up to the great mudmound/bioherm in the vicinity of Beatty, Nevada. The world-famous mudmound is the pale-gray, pod-shaped body along the skyline. In dimensions, the mudmound, which lies at the base (oldest layers) of the middle Ordovician Antelope Valley Limestone, is 270 feet thick by 1,000 feet long. Darker strata below the mudmound/bioherm belong to the lower Ordovician Ninemile Formation. |