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

Geologic units in Lewis county, Tennessee

Ordovician [units] including Richmond Group (which includes Mannie Shale, Fernvale Limestone, Sequatchie Formation, and Arnheim Formation), the Maysville Group (which includes Leipers Formation), the Eden Group (which includes Inman Formation), and the Nashville Group (which includes Catheys Formation) (Ordovician) at surface, covers 3 % of this area

Ordovician [units] including Richmond Group (which includes Mannie Shale - Olive-gray shale. Thickness 0 to 20 feet; Fernvale Limestone - Massive, coarsely crystalline, gray limestone with varicolored grains. Thickness 0 to 50 feet; Sequatchie Formation - Olive-gray and greenish-gray shale, mudstone, and argillaceous limestone; dolomitic, laminated, and sandy. Thickness 0 to 100 feet; and Arnheim Formation Nodular, shaly, gray limestone. Thickness 0 to 20 feet; the Maysville Group (which includes Leipers Formation - Nodular, shaly limestone; fine- to coarse-grained limestone; and phosphatic calcarenite locally. Thickness 0 to 150 feet); the Eden Group (which includes the Inman Formation - Thin-bedded to laminated, fine-grained, gray limestone with shale partings. Thickness 0 to 50 feet); and the Nashville Group (which includes Catheys Formation - Nodular, shaly limestone; fine- to coarse-grained limestone; phosphatic calcarenite; and light-gray cryptograined limestone. Thickness 50 to 175 feet.)

Lithology: shale ; limestone

Tuscaloosa Formation (Cretaceous) at surface, covers 0.7 % of this area

Tuscaloosa Formation - Poorly sorted, light-gray chert gravel in a matrix of silt and sand; locally interbedded with sand and clay lenses. Thickness 0 to 140 feet.

Lithology: gravel; silt; sand; clay or mud

St. Louis Limestone and Warsaw Limestone (Mississippian) at surface, covers 20 % 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

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 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

Ordovician Formations including Richmond Group (Mannie Shale, Fernvale Limestone), and Nashville Group (Hermitage Formation) (Ordovician) at surface, covers 0.3 % 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

Fort Payne Formation (Mississippian) at surface, covers 74 % 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