USGS Home
Contact USGS
Search USGS

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

Geologic units in Maury county, Tennessee

Fort Payne Formation (Mississippian) at surface, covers 17 % 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 5 % 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

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 1 % 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

Nashville Group; Bigby-Cannon Limestone and Hermitage Formation (Ordovician) at surface, covers 36 % 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

Alluvial deposits (Quaternary) at surface, covers 1 % 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

St. Louis Limestone and Warsaw Limestone (Mississippian) at surface, covers < 0.1 % 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

Stones River Group; Carters Limestone (Ordovician) at surface, covers 11 % 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

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 19 % 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

Stones River Group; Lebanon Limestone (Ordovician) at surface, covers 8 % of this area

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

Lithology: limestone; shale