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

Geologic units in Marion county, Tennessee

[Additional scientific data in this geographic area]

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

Stones River Group; Ridley Limestone (Ordovician) at surface, covers 1 % of this area

Stones River Group; Ridley Limestone - Thick-bedded, brownish-gray limestone, fine-grained, with minor mottlings of magnesian limestone; slightly cherty. Thickness 90 to 150 feet.

Lithology: limestone

Monteagle Limestone (Mississippian) at surface, covers 10 % of this area

Monteagle Limestone - Fragmental and oolitic limestone, light-gray; and fine-grained, brownish-gray limestone. Thickness 180 to 350 feet.

Lithology: limestone

Rockcastle Conglomerate (Pennsylvanian) at surface, covers < 0.1 % of this area

Rockcastle Conglomerate - Conglomeratic sandstone and sandstone, gray to brown, fine- to coarse-grained. Thin coal-bearing shale locally present near middle. Thickness 150 to 220 feet.

Lithology: conglomerate; sandstone; shale; coal

Stones River Group; Pierce Limestone and Murfreesboro Limestone (Ordovician) at surface, covers 0.6 % of this area

Stones River Group; Pierce Limestone - Gray, thin-bedded limestone with shale partings. Thickness 25 feet; and Murfreesboro Limestone - Thick-bedded, dark-gray, fine-grained limestone, with mottlings of magnesian limestone; somewhat cherty in upper part. Maximum exposed thickness 70 feet.

Lithology: limestone; 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 0.6 % 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

Pennington Formation (Mississippian) at surface, covers 13 % 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

Nashville Group; Bigby-Cannon Limestone and Hermitage Formation (Ordovician) at surface, covers 0.7 % of this area

Nashville Group - Bigby-Cannon Limestone - Brownish-gray phosphatic calcarenite and light-gray to brownish-gray, cryptograined to medium- grained, even-bedded limestone. Thickness 50 to 125 feet; and Hermitage Formation - Thin-bedded to laminated, sandy and argillaceous limestone with shale; nodular shaly limestone; coquina; and phosphatic calcarenite. Thickness 50 to 100 feet.

Lithology: calcarenite; limestone; shale; coquina

St. Louis Limestone and Warsaw Limestone (Mississippian) at surface, covers 2 % 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

Gizzard Group including Warren Point Sandstone and Raccoon Mountain Formation (Pennsylvanian) at surface, covers 23 % of this area

Gizzard Group - Sandstone, conglomeratic sandstone, siltstone, shale, and minor coal. Thickness 100 to 200 feet. Includes Warren Point Sandstone - Gray to brown sandstone and minor conglomeratic sandstone. Thickness 60 to 160 feet; Raccoon Mountain Formation - Siltstone, sandstone, shale, and minor coal. Thickness 0 to 65 feet.

Lithology: sandstone; shale; siltstone; coal

Bangor Limestone and Hartselle Formation (Mississippian) at surface, covers 11 % of this area

Bangor Limestone - Dark brownish-gray limestone, thick-bedded. Thickness 100 to 250 feet; and Hartselle Formation - Thin-bedded, fine-grained sandstone and greenish-gray shale interbedded with coarse limestone. Thickness 0 to 60 feet.

Lithology: limestone; sandstone; shale

Stones River Group; Carters Limestone (Ordovician) at surface, covers 0.8 % of this area

Stones River Group; Carters Limestone - Fine-grained, yellowish-brown limestone; thin-bedded in upper part; thicker bedded and very slightly cherty with scattered mottlings of magnesian limestone in lower part. Contains thin bentonite beds. Thickness 50 to 100 feet.

Lithology: limestone; bentonite

Crab Orchard Mountains Group (Pennsylvanian) at surface, covers 27 % of this area

Crab Orchard Mountains Group - Only the lowest formation of the group, the Sewanee Conglomerate, is preserved in the area of this sheet. Sewanee is gray to brown, medium- to coarse-grained conglomeratic sandstone, with a thin zone of ferruginous quartz- and shale-pebble conglomerate at base. Maximum preserved thickness 35 feet.

Lithology: conglomerate; sandstone

Newman Limestone (Mississippian) at surface, covers < 0.1 % 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

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 1 % 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

Unnamed (upper part of Knox Group), including Newala Formation, Mascot Dolomite, Kingsport Formation, Longview Dolomite, and Chepultepec Dolomite (Ordovician) at surface, covers 7 % 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

Stones River Group; Lebanon Limestone (Ordovician) at surface, covers 0.4 % of this area

Stones River Group; Lebanon Limestone - Thin-bedded, gray limestone with calcareous shale partings. Thickness 80 to 100 feet.

Lithology: limestone; shale