Question

The fossil beds at the Falls of the Ohio, located between Louisville, Kentucky and Clarksville, Indiana, are world-renowned. There are 212 species of corals known found in these fossil beds. Consider the environmental conditions under which most coral lives. Which scenario MOST LIKELY describes the ancient environment of the Falls?
Responses
A dry, hot, and near the equatordry, hot, and near the equator
B temperate, northern latitudes, underwatertemperate, northern latitudes, underwater
C tropical, near the equator, and underwatertropical, near the equator, and underwater
D tropical, at the boundary of two tectonic platestropical, at the boundary of two tectonic plates

Answer 1

C — tropical, near the equator, and underwater.

Corals thrive in warm, shallow, clear, sunlit marine waters (tropical settings) because of their symbiotic algae and need for light. Finding many coral species in the Falls fossil beds indicates that area was once a shallow tropical sea near the equator.