USGS Home
Contact USGS
Search USGS

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

Geologic units in Hancock county, Tennessee

[Additional scientific data in this geographic area]

Nolichucky Shale, and Maryville, Rogersville, and Rutledge Formations, and Pumpkin Valley Shale (Cambrian) at surface, covers 10 % 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

Rockwood Formation and Clinch Sandstone (Silurian) at surface, covers 5 % 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; and Clinch Sandstone - Clean, white, well-sorted sandstone; locally gray siltstone and shale. Combined Rockwood and Clinch thicknesses about 700 feet.

Lithology: sandstone; shale; siltstone

Nolichucky Shale (Cambrian) at surface, covers 0.5 % of this area

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.

Lithology: shale; limestone; siltstone

Pennington Formation (Mississippian) at surface, covers 6 % 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

Chattanooga Shale (Mississippian and Devonian) at surface, covers 4 % 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 6 % 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

Middle and Lower parts of Chickamauga Group, including Moccassin Formation, Bays Formation, Sevier Shale, Ottosee Shale, Holston Formation, Lenoir Limestone, and Athens Shale (Ordovician) at surface, covers 3 % of this area

Middle and Lower Parts of Chickamauga Group - A sequence of about 1,400 feet of limestone in the northwest part of Valley and Ridge, which thickens and becomes more clastic to the southeast and is divided into the formations shown at right. Maximum thickness about 7,000 feet. Includes Moccasin Formation - Maroon calcareous shale, siltstone, and limestone; thin metabentonite layers in upper part; mud cracks, ripple marks common. Thickness 800 to 1,000 feet;. (Ob) Bays Formation - Maroon, well-jointed claystone and siltstone, commonly mottled greenish, evenly bedded; light- gray sandstone beds and metabentonite in upper part. Maximum thickness 1,000 feet; (Osv) Sevier Shale - Calcareous, bluish-gray shale, weathers yellowish-brown; with thin, gray limestone layers; sandstone, siltstone, and locally conglomerate to the east. Thickness 2,000 to 7,000 feet; (Oo) Ottosee Shale - Bluish-gray calcareous shale, weathers yellow; with reef lenses of coarsely crystalline reddish fossiliferous limestone ("marble"). Thickness about 1,000 feet; (Oh) Holston Formation - Pink, gray, and red coarsely crystalline limestone (Holston Marble); in many areas upper part is sandy, crossbedded ferruginous limestone and brown to greenish calcareous shale. Thickness 200 to 600 feet; (Ol) Lenoir Limestone - Nodular, argillaceous, gray limestone; in places basal sedimentary breccia, conglomerate, quartz sand; Mosheim Limestone Member (dense, light- to medium-gray limestone) near base. Thickness 25 to 500 feet; (Oa) Athens Shale - Medium- to dark-gray, calcareous, graptolitic shale; calcareous gray sandstone, siltstone, and locally fine-pebble quartz conglomerate; nodules of shaly limestone near base. Maximum thickness 1,500 feet.

Lithology: shale; limestone; sandstone; siltstone; claystone; bentonite; conglomerate

Hardy Creek Limestone through Dot Limestone (Ordovician) at surface, covers 0.2 % of this area

Hardy Creek Limestone through Dot Limestone - Limestone, in part cherty; and calcareous shale. Includes Hardy Creek, Ben Hur, Woodway, Hurricane Bridge, Martin Creek, Rob Camp, Poteet, and Dot Limestones.

Lithology: limestone; shale; chert

Chepultepec and Copper Ridge Formations (Cambrian-Ordovician) at surface, covers 0.2 % of this area

Chepultepec and Copper Ridge Formations - Dolomite, minor limestone, chert, and calcareous sandstone.

Lithology: dolostone (dolomite); limestone; chert; sandstone

Upper and Middle Ordovician Formations Undivided (Ordovician) at surface, covers < 0.1 % of this area

Upper and Middle Ordovician Formations Undivided - Includes: Oun, Ous, Ou, Om, Okpl, Oeln, Oml, Ols.

Lithology: shale; sandstone; mudstone; limestone; siltstone; graywacke; chert

Maynardville Limestone (Cambrian) at surface, covers 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)

Moccasin or Bays Formation through Blackford Formation (Ordovician) at surface, covers < 0.1 % of this area

Moccasin or Bays Formation through Blackford Formation - Dusky-red shale and mudstone; sandstone; limestone, in part cherty; and calcareous shale.

Lithology: shale; mudstone; sandstone; limestone; chert

Rome Formation (Cambrian) at surface, covers 15 % 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

Copper Ridge Dolomite (Cambrian) at surface, covers 7 % 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

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

Pumpkin Valley Shale (Cambrian) at surface, covers 0.3 % of this area

Pumpkin Valley Shale - Dull-brown to maroon shale with numerous interbeds of thin, blocky, and sandy siltstone. Thickness 100 to 600 feet.

Lithology: shale; siltstone

Hancock, Rose Hill, and Clinch Formations (Silurian) at surface, covers < 0.1 % of this area

Hancock, Rose Hill, and Clinch Formations - Limestone and dolomite; dusky-red and green shale and sandstone; and sandstone, shale and conglomerate.

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

Knox Group (Cambrian-Ordovician) at surface, covers < 0.1 % of this area

Knox Group - dolostone, limestone, sandstone. Includes the Mascot Dolomite, Kingsport Dolomite, Chepultepec Dolomite, Copper Ridge Dolomite. (Includes: Ob, Omk, Occo, Cco, Occc.)

Lithology: dolostone (dolomite); limestone; chert; sandstone

Nolichucky and Maryville Formations, Rogersville Shale, and Rutledge Formation (Cambrian) at surface, covers < 0.1 % of this area

Nolichucky and Maryville Formations, Rogersville Shale, and Rutledge Formation - Calcareous shale, limestone, and dolomite.

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

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 13 % 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

Martinsburg Shale, including Reedsville Shale and Unnamed Limestone Unit (Ordovician) at surface, covers 2 % of this area

Martinsburg Shale - Bluish-gray, calcareous clay shale, weathers yellowish-brown; with thin beds of nodular gray, fossiliferous limestone; thin layers of metabentonite near base. Thickness about 1,000 feet. Incluldes Reedsville Shale - Greenish-gray calcareous shale. Thickness 200 to 400 feet. and Unnamed Limestone Unit - Medium-grained, fossiliferous, gray limestone, shaly in part. Thickness as much as 600 feet.

Lithology: shale; limestone; bentonite

Mascot and Kingsport Dolomites (Ordovician) at surface, covers < 0.1 % of this area

Mascot and Kingsport Dolomites - Dolomite, chert, and minor limestone.

Lithology: dolostone (dolomite); chert; limestone

Sequatchie Formation, Reedsville Shale, Trenton Limestone, Eggleston Formation (Ordovician) at surface, covers < 0.1 % of this area

Sequatchie Formation, Reedsville Shale, Trenton Limestone, Eggleston Formation - Shale, siltstone, limestone, and sandstone.

Lithology: shale; siltstone; limestone; sandstone

Grainger Formation (Mississippian) at surface, covers 2 % of this area

Grainger Formation - Gray to green shale with siltstone and fine-grained glauconitic sandstone; in some areas quartz-pebble conglomerate. Thickness about 1,200 feet.

Lithology: shale; siltstone; sandstone; conglomerate

Sneedville Limestone (Devonian to Silurian) at surface, covers 0.6 % of this area

Sneedville Limestone - Gray silty limestone and dolomite, minor shale, and fine-grained, greenish-gray sandstone; fossils locally abundant. Thickness 100 to 300 feet.

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

Silurian Formations Undivided (Silurian) at surface, covers < 0.1 % of this area

Silurian Formations Undivided - Some landslides with intact stratigraphic units in Giles County area. Includes: Dsu, Skrt, Sm. (Shrc?)

Lithology: sandstone; shale; limestone; arenite; conglomerate

Mississippian Formations Undivided (Mississippian) at surface, covers < 0.1 % of this area

Mississippian Formations Undivided - Includes Pennington Group, Bluefield Formation, Greenbrier Limestone, Maccrady Shale and Price Formation; Includes Newman Limestone, Fort Payne Chert, and Grainger Formation in western Lee County

Lithology: shale; limestone; sandstone; siltstone; dolostone (dolomite); conglomerate; mudstone; arenite; coal; evaporite; chert

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

Rome Formation - Dusky-red and green shale and siltstone, dolomite, and limestone.

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

Maryville, Rogersville, and Rutledge Formations (Cambrian) at surface, covers 0.7 % of this area

Maryville, Rogersville, and Rutledge Formations - Maryville and Rutledge are gray limestone, in part oolitic, with gray dolomite locally. Rogersville is green clay shale. Thickness 400 to 1,000 feet.

Lithology: limestone; shale; dolostone (dolomite)

Juniata Formation (Ordovician) at surface, covers 1 % of this area

Juniata Formation - Maroon, claystone, siltstone, and shale; uniformly bedded; some faint greenish mottling; less calcareous than Sequatchie Formation. Thickness about 300 feet.

Lithology: claystone; siltstone; shale

Newman Limestone (Mississippian) at surface, covers 5 % 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

Juniata, Reedsville, Trenton, and Eggleston Formations (Ordovician) at surface, covers < 0.1 % of this area

Juniata, Reedsville, Trenton, and Eggleston Formations - Dusky-red shale and mudstone and sandstone; shale and limestone. Note: one area in southeastern Bland County has landslides with intact stratigraphic units.

Lithology: shale; mudstone; sandstone; limestone

Clinch Sandstone (Silurian) at surface, covers < 0.1 % of this area

Clinch Sandstone - Clean, white, well-sorted sandstone; locally gray siltstone and shale. Average thickness about 600 feet.

Lithology: sandstone; siltstone; shale

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 7 % 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 4 % 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

Chattanooga Shale and Wildcat Valley Sandstone (Devonian-Mississippian) at surface, covers < 0.1 % of this area

Chattanooga Shale and Wildcat Valley Sandstone - Black, fissile shale and siltstone; calcareous sandstone

Lithology: black shale; siltstone; sandstone