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

Geologic units in Houston county, Tennessee

Devonian Formations, includes Pegram Formation, Camden Formation, Harriman Formation, Flat Gap Limestone, and Ross Formation (Devonian) at surface, covers 0.1 % of this area

Devonian Formations - Characterized by marked north-south facies variations. Because of pre-Chattanooga and/or pre-Cretaceous warping and erosion, the distribution and thickness of Devonian formations is very irregular. Includes Pegram Formation - Thick-bedded, gray limestone and gray sandstone. Thickness 0 to 15 feet; Camden Formation - Light-gray novaculitic chert and tripolitic clay; and minor siliceous limestone. Thickness 0 to about 100 feet; Harriman Formation - Light-gray novaculitic chert and tripolitic clay; and minor siliceous limestone. (Harriman and Camden are differentiated paleontologically.) Thickness 0 to 50 feet; Flat Gap Limestone - Thick-bedded, coarse-grained limestone, gray with red and brown grains. Thickness 0 to 55 feet; Ross Formation - Siliceous limestone; gray and variegated shale; and medium-grained glauconitic limestone. Thickness 0 to 75 feet.

Lithology: limestone; chert; clay or mud; shale; sandstone

Fort Payne Formation (Mississippian) at surface, covers 27 % 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

Silurian Formations, including Decatur Limestone, Brownsport Group (Lobelville Formation, Bob Limestone, Beech River Formation), Wayne Group (Dixon Formation, Lego Formation, Waldron Shale, Laurel Limestone, Osgood Formation) and Brassfield Limestone (Silurian) at surface, covers 0.2 % of this area

Silurian Formations - A complete section of Silurian formations is not common because of pre-Chattanooga and/or pre- Cretaceous erosion. Where preserved, Silurian formations are remarkably uniform in thickness and are characteristically light olive-gray to greenish-gray with variable reddish-brown color in some area;. Decatur Limestone - Thick-bedded, medium- to coarse-grained limestone, gray with reddish-brown grains. Thickness 0 to 70 feet; Brownsport Group which includes 1) Lobelville Formation - Shale with thin beds of limestone. Thickness 0 to 40 feet; 2) Bob Limestone - Thick-bedded, medium-grained limestone, locally oolitic. Thickness 0 to 25 feet; and 3) Beech River Formation - Shale with thin beds of limestone. Thickness 0 to 60 feet; Wayne Group which includes: 1) Dixon Formation - Green and reddish-brown argillaceous limestone, shale, and mudstone. Thickness 0 to 40 feet; 2) Lego Limestone - Even-bedded, olive-gray limestone with scattered reddish-brown grains. Thickness 0 to 30 feet; 3) Waldron Shale - Greenish-gray fossiliferous shale. Thickness 0 to 5 feet; 4) Laurel Limestone - Even-bedded, gray limestone with scattered reddish-brown grains. Thickness 0 to 30 feet; 5) Osgood Formation - Greenish- and reddish-gray shale and argillaceous limestone. Thickness 0 to 15 feet.; and Brassfield Limestone - Thin-bedded cherty limestone, locally glauconitic. Thickness 0 to 20 feet.

Lithology: limestone; shale; mudstone

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

Ordovician Formations including Richmond Group (Mannie Shale, Fernvale Limestone), and Nashville Group (Hermitage Formation) (Ordovician) at surface, covers 0.2 % of this area

Ordovician Formations - Richmond Group (including Mannie Shale - Shale with thin beds of argillaceous limestone. Thickness 0 to 20 feet and Fernvale Limestone - Thick-bedded, coarse-grained limestone with vari-colored grains. Thickness 0 to 20 feet). and Nashville Group (including Hermitage Formation - Gray shale and thin-bedded to laminated, sandy and argillaceous limestone. Maximum exposed thickness 80 feet.)

Lithology: limestone; shale

St. Louis Limestone and Warsaw Limestone (Mississippian) at surface, covers 69 % of this area

St. Louis Limestone - Residuum of nodules and blocks of chert in sandy clay. (Originally grayish-brown, medium-bedded limestone.) Maximum preserved thickness about 50 feet. Warsaw Limestone - Residuum of porous chert blocks in sandy clay. (Originally gray, medium- to coarse-grained, thick- bedded limestone.) Thickness about 60 feet.

Lithology: clay or mud; chert