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Mineral Resources > Online Spatial Data > Geology > by state > Tennessee Geology

Geologic units in Campbell county, Tennessee

[Additional scientific data in this geographic area]

Unnamed (upper part of Knox Group), including Newala Formation, Mascot Dolomite, Kingsport Formation, Longview Dolomite, and Chepultepec Dolomite (Ordovician) at surface, covers 5 % of this area

(Onc) Unnamed (upper part of the Knox Group), including the (On) Newala Formation; (Oma) Mascot Dolomite - Light-gray, fine-grained, well-bedded cherty dolomite; mottled (red and green) dolomite characteristic; interbeds of bluish-gray limestone in upper part; chert-matrix quartz sandstone at base. Erosional unconformity at top. Thickness 350 to 800 feet; (Ok) Kingsport Formation - Gray, fine-grained, sparingly cherty dolomite with basal dense, gray limestone sequence. Thickness about 250 feet. and (Olc) Unnamed (middle part of the Knox Group), including (Olv) Longview Dolomite - Siliceous, gray, fine-grained, medium-bedded dolomite; interbeds of gray limestone in upper part. Thickness about 300 feet; (Oc) Chepultepec Dolomite - Light-gray, fine-grained, well-bedded dolomite, moderately cherty; fine-grained limestone locally in upper part; quartz sandstone beds at base. Average thickness about 800 feet.

Lithology: dolostone (dolomite); limestone; sandstone

Copper Ridge Dolomite (Cambrian) at surface, covers 16 % of this area

Copper Ridge Dolomite - Coarse, dark-gray, knotty dolomite, asphaltic in places, with much gray, medium-grained, well- bedded dolomite; abundant chert; cryptozoans typical. Thickness about 1,000 feet.

Lithology: dolostone (dolomite); chert

Breathitt Formation, lower part (Pennsylvanian) at surface, covers 0.3 % of this area

Breathitt Formation, lower part; lower part which includes Livingston Conglomerate Member of Lee Formation in eastern Rockcastle County

Lithology: shale; siltstone; sandstone; coal; conglomerate

Crooked Fork Group (Pennsylvanian) at surface, covers 5 % of this area

Crooked Fork Group - Shale, sandstone, siltstone, and thin coal beds; from top down group includes Poplar Creek coal, Wartburg Sandstone, Glenmary Shale, Coalfield Sandstone, Burnt Mill Shale, Crossville Sandstone, and Dorton Shale. Thickness 200 to 450 feet.

Lithology: sandstone; shale; siltstone; coal

Sequatchie Formation (Ordovician) at surface, covers 0.5 % of this area

Sequatchie Formation - Maroon and gray shaly limestone, mottled greenish; with interbeds of calcareous, olive to maroon shale and siltstone. Average thickness about 200 feet.

Lithology: limestone; shale; siltstone

Chickamauga Group, includes Upper part of Chickamauga Group (Reedsville Shale, and Unnamed limestone unit) and Middle and Lower part of Chickamauga Group (Moccasin Formation, Bays Formation, Ottosee Shale, Holston Formation, Lenoir Limestone, Athens Shale, and Sevier Shale) (Ordovician) at surface, covers 5 % of this area

Chickamauga Group - In the northwest part of the Valley and Ridge a predominantly limestone sequence about 2,000 feet thick. Becomes progressively more clastic and thicker to the southeast, including Upper part of Chickamauga Group (Reedsville Shale- Greenish-gray calcareous shale. Thickness 0 to 400 feet, and Unnamed Limestone Unit - Medium-grained, fossiliferous, gray limestone, shaly in part. Thickness as much as 600 feet ) and.Middle and lower parts of Chickamauga Group (Omlc)

Lithology: limestone; shale; siltstone; sandstone

Redoak Mountain Formation (Pennsylvanian) at surface, covers 5 % of this area

Redoak Mountain Formation - Shale, sandstone, siltstone, and several important coals; from Pewee coal to Windrock coal. Thickness 340 to 420 feet.

Lithology: shale; sandstone; siltstone; coal

Vowell Mountain Formation (Pennsylvanian) at surface, covers 2 % of this area

Vowell Mountain Formation - Shale, sandstone, siltstone, and coal; from Frozen Head Sandstone Member to Pewee coal. Thickness 300 to 375 feet.

Lithology: shale; sandstone; siltstone; coal

Graves Gap Formation (Pennsylvanian) at surface, covers 7 % of this area

Graves Gap Formation - Shale, sandstone, siltstone, and coal; from Windrock coal to top of Pioneer Sandstone. Thickness 200 to 350 feet.

Lithology: shale; sandstone; siltstone; coal

Cross Mountain Formation (Pennsylvanian) at surface, covers 1 % of this area

Cross Mountain Formation - Mostly shale, interbedded with sandstone, siltstone, and thin coal beds; base at top of Frozen Head Sandstone. Maximum preserved thickness 270 feet.

Lithology: shale; sandstone; siltstone; coal

Newman Limestone (Mississippian) at surface, covers 1 % of this area

Newman Limestone - Gray limestone sequence near Cumberland Plateau and on Whiteoak Mountain. Shaly limestone, shale, siltstone, and sandstone on Chilhowee Mountain. Thickness about 700 feet.

Lithology: limestone; shale; siltstone; sandstone

Conasauga Group, including Maynardville Limestone, Nolichucky Shale, the Maryville, Rogersville, and Rutledge Formations, Pumpkin Valley Shale, Rome Formation, and Shady Dolomite (Cambrian) at surface, covers 1 % of this area

Conasauga Group - Mostly shale northwest of a line connecting Etowah and Bearden (Knoxville); to the east it consists of the six formations at right [Cmn, Maynardville Limestone. Ccl including Cn, Nolichucky Shale, Cmr Maryville, Rogersville, and Rutledge Formations, and Pumpkin Valley Shale; Cr, Rome Formation, and Cs, Shady Dolomite. Thickness about 2,000 feet.

Lithology: shale; limestone; dolostone (dolomite); sandstone; siltstone

Newala Formation, including Mascot Dolomite and Kingsport Formation (Ordovician) at surface, covers 0.8 % of this area

(On) Newala Formation, including (Oma) Mascot Dolomite - Light-gray, fine-grained, well-bedded cherty dolomite; mottled (red and green) dolomite characteristic; interbeds of bluish-gray limestone in upper part; chert-matrix quartz sandstone at base. Erosional unconformity at top. Thickness 350 to 800 feet; and (Ok) Kingsport Formation - Gray, fine-grained, sparingly cherty dolomite with basal dense, gray limestone sequence. Thickness about 250 feet.

Lithology: dolostone (dolomite); limestone; sandstone

Lee Formation (Mississippian to Pennsylvanian ) at surface, covers < 0.1 % of this area

Lee Formation

Lithology: conglomerate; sandstone; siltstone; shale; coal

Slatestone Formation (Pennsylvanian) at surface, covers 23 % of this area

Slatestone Formation - Shale, sandstone, siltstone, and several important coals; from Jellico coal to Poplar Creek coal. Thickness 500 to 650 feet.

Lithology: shale; sandstone; siltstone; coal

Nolichucky Shale, and Maryville, Rogersville, and Rutledge Formations, and Pumpkin Valley Shale (Cambrian) at surface, covers 0.4 % of this area

(Cn) Nolichucky Shale - Pastel-colored (pink, greenish, olive), flaky clay shale; gray, commonly oolitic, shaly limestone lenses; locally stromatolitic limestone layers; thin, blocky siltstone near middle. Thickness 500 feet in the east to 900 feet in the west.; (Cmr) Maryville, Rogersville, and Rutledge Formations - Maryvile and Rutledge are gray limestone, in part oolitic, with gray dolomite locally. Rogersville is green clay shale. Thickness 400 to 1,000 feet. Pumpkin Valley Shale - Dull-brown to maroon shale with numerous interbeds of thin, blocky, sandy siltstone. Thickness 100 to 600 feet.

Lithology: shale; limestone; dolostone (dolomite); siltstone

Indian Bluff Formation (Pennsylvanian) at surface, covers 9 % of this area

Indian Bluff Formation - Shale, sandstone, siltstone, and thin coal beds; from Pioneer Sandstone Member to Jellico coal. Thickness 150 to 250 feet.

Lithology: shale; sandstone; siltstone; coal

Rockwood Formation (Silurian) at surface, covers 0.6 % of this area

Rockwood Formation - Brown to maroon shale, thin gray siltstone and sandstone, and thin lenticular layers of oolitic and fossiliferous red hematite. Thickness 200 to 800 feet.

Lithology: shale; siltstone; sandstone

Alluvial deposits (Quaternary) at surface, covers 0.3 % of this area

Alluvial Deposits - Sand, silt, clay, and gravel. In flood plain of Mississippi River more than 100 feet thick; in smaller streams generally less than 20 feet thick.

Lithology: sand; silt; clay or mud; gravel

Chattanooga Shale (Mississippian and Devonian) at surface, covers 0.2 % of this area

Chattanooga Shale - Black carbonaceous shale, fissile. Thickness 20 to 30 feet in most areas; thickens abruptly to about 100 feet near east edge of sheet. (Mapped with Mfp on West-Central sheet)

Lithology: black shale

Unnamed (middle part of Knox Group), including Longview Dolomite and Chepultepec Dolomite (Ordovician) at surface, covers 1 % of this area

(Olc) Unnamed (middle part of Knox Group) including (Olv) Longview Dolomite - Siliceous, gray, fine-grained, medium-bedded dolomite; interbeds of gray limestone in upper part. Thickness about 300 feet.; and (Oc) Chepultepec Dolomite - Light-gray, fine-grained, well-bedded dolomite, moderately cherty; fine-grained limestone locally in upper part; quartz sandstone beds at base. Average thickness about 800 feet.

Lithology: dolostone (dolomite); limestone; sandstone

Pennington Formation, Newman Limestone, Fort Payne Chert, Grainger Formation, Sunbury Shale, Berea Sandstone, and Bedford Shale, undivided; Pennington Formation locally includes sandstone tongue of Lee Formation (Devonian to Pennsylvanian) at surface, covers < 0.1 % of this area

Pennington Formation, Newman Limestone, Fort Payne Chert, Grainger Formation, Sunbury Shale, Berea Sandstone, and Bedford Shale, undivided; Pennington Formation locally includes sandstone tongue of Lee Formation

Lithology: limestone; sandstone; siltstone; shale; conglomerate; chert; dolostone (dolomite); black shale

Pennington Formation (Mississippian) at surface, covers 1 % of this area

Pennington Formation - Highly variegated clay shale, distinctive; contains siltstone and locally gray, fine-grained sandstone. Thickness 400 to 700 feet.

Lithology: shale; siltstone; sandstone

Fort Payne Formation (Mississippian) at surface, covers 1 % of this area

Fort Payne Formation - Bedded chert, calcareous and dolomitic, somewhat crinoidal; and minor shale. Thin green shale (Maury) at base. Average thickness about 200 feet.

Lithology: chert; shale

Crab Orchard Mounatins and Gizzard Group (Pennsylvanian) at surface, covers 12 % of this area

Crab Orchard Mountains and Gizzard Groups - Sandstone, conglomerate, siltstone, shale, and thin coal beds. From top down Crab Orchard Mountains group includes Rockcastle Conglomerate, Vadever Formation, Newton Sandstone, Whitwell Shale, and Sewanee Conglomerate; Gizzard Group includes Signal Point Shale, Warren Point Sandstone, and Raccoon Mountain Formation. Thickness about 1,200 to 1,400 feet.

Lithology: sandstone; conglomerate; shale; siltstone; coal

Breathitt Formation, middle part (Pennsylvanian) at surface, covers < 0.1 % of this area

Breathitt Formation, middle part

Lithology: sandstone; shale; siltstone; coal; limestone

Maynardville Limestone (Cambrian) at surface, covers 0.2 % of this area

Maynardville Limestone - Thick-bedded, bluish-gray, ribboned (silt and dolomite), nodular limestone; light-gray, fine- grained, laminated to thin-bedded, noncherty dolomite in upper part. Thickness 150 to 400 feet.

Lithology: limestone; dolostone (dolomite)

Alluvium (Pleistocene to Holocene) at surface, covers 0.1 % of this area

Alluvium; includes glacial deposits along the Ohio River and its tributaries west of Cannelton locks

Lithology: sand; silt; glacial drift

Rome Formation (Cambrian) at surface, covers < 0.1 % of this area

Rome Formation - Variegated (red, green, yellow) shale and siltstone with beds of gray, fine-grained sandstone. Maximum exposed thickness 1,500 feet.

Lithology: shale; siltstone; sandstone