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

Geologic units in Sullivan county, Tennessee

[Additional scientific data in this geographic area]

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

Honaker Dolomite (Cambrian) at surface, covers 9 % of this area

Honaker Dolomite - Dark-gray, medium-bedded dolomite with minor dark limestone beds; locally cherty; cryptozoans abundant in places. Thickness about 1,500 feet.

Lithology: dolostone (dolomite); limestone

Cove Creek Limestone and Fido Sandstone (Mississippian) at surface, covers < 0.1 % of this area

Cove Creek Limestone and Fido Sandstone - Limestone and calcareous sandstone.

Lithology: limestone; sandstone

Martinsburg Shale, including Reedsville Shale and Unnamed Limestone Unit (Ordovician) at surface, covers < 0.1 % 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

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

Conococheague Formation - Limestone, dolomite, and calcareous sandstone.

Lithology: limestone; dolostone (dolomite); sandstone

Pennington Group (Mississippian) at surface, covers < 0.1 % of this area

Pennington Group - Shale, sandstone, dusky-red mudstone, conglomerate, siltstone, and limestone.

Lithology: shale; sandstone; mudstone; conglomerate; siltstone; limestone

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

Pumpkin Valley Shale (Cambrian) at surface, covers < 0.1 % 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

Hampton Formation (Cambrian) at surface, covers 2 % of this area

Hampton Formation - Dark greenish-gray, silty and sandy, micaceous shale; numerous layers of medium-grained, feldspathic, thinly bedded sandstone. Thickness 500 to 2,000 feet.

Lithology: shale; sandstone

Copper Ridge Dolomite (Cambrian) at surface, covers 0.5 % 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

Bays Formation (Ordovician) at surface, covers 0.9 % of this area

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.

Lithology: claystone; siltstone; sandstone; bentonite

Newala Formation, including Mascot Dolomite and Kingsport Formation (Ordovician) at surface, covers 1 % 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

Chepultepec Dolomite (Ordovician) at surface, covers 0.9 % of this area

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

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 < 0.1 % 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

Nolichucky and Honaker Formations (Cambrian) at surface, covers < 0.1 % of this area

Nolichucky and Honaker Formations - Dolomitic shale; dolomite and minor chert.

Lithology: shale; dolostone (dolomite); chert

Erwin Formation (Cambrian) at surface, covers 0.4 % of this area

Erwin Formation - White, vitreous quartzite, massive, with interbeds of dark-green silty and sandy shale, minor siltstone, and very fine-grained sandstone. Thickness 1,000 to 1,500 feet.

Lithology: quartzite; shale; siltstone; 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

Conococheague Formation (Cambrian-Ordovician) at surface, covers < 0.1 % of this area

Conococheague Formation - Limestone, dolomite, and calcareous sandstone.

Lithology: limestone; dolostone (dolomite); sandstone

Maryville, Rogersville, and Rutledge Formations (Cambrian) at surface, covers 0.3 % 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)

Pennington Formation (Mississippian) at surface, covers < 0.1 % 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

Jonesboro Limestone (Ordovician) at surface, covers < 0.1 % of this area

Jonesboro Limestone - Dark bluish-gray, ribboned (silt and dolomite) limestone; numerous interbeds of dark-gray dolomite; quartz sandstone at base. Erosional unconformity at top. Thickness about 2,000 feet.

Lithology: limestone; dolostone (dolomite); sandstone

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

Elbrook Formation - Dolomite, shale, and minor limestone.

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

Erwin and Hampton Formations (Cambrian) at surface, covers < 0.1 % of this area

Erwin and Hampton Formations - Sandstone, quartzite, and shale.

Lithology: sandstone; quartzite; shale

Sevier Shale (Ordovician) at surface, covers 37 % of this area

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.

Lithology: shale; limestone; sandstone; siltstone; conglomerate

Knobs Formation, Paperville Shale, Lenoir and Mosheim Limestone (Ordovician) at surface, covers < 0.1 % of this area

Knobs Formation, Paperville Shale, Lenoir and Mosheim Limestone - Sandstone, conglomerate, siltstone; black, fissile shale; and limestone, in part cherty.

Lithology: sandstone; conglomerate; siltstone; black shale; limestone; chert

Beekmantown Group (Ordovician) at surface, covers < 0.1 % of this area

Beekmantown Group - Dolomite, limestone, and chert. Includes Pinesburg Station Dolomite, Rockdale Run Formation, Beekmantown Formation, Stonehenge Limestone, and Chepultepec Formation.

Lithology: dolostone (dolomite); limestone; chert

Nolichucky Shale, and Maryville, Rogersville, and Rutledge Formations, and Pumpkin Valley Shale (Cambrian) at surface, covers 0.6 % 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

Longview Dolomite (Ordovician) at surface, covers 0.5 % of this area

Longview Dolomite - Siliceous, gray, fine-grained, medium-bedded dolomite; interbeds of gray limestone in upper part. Thickness about 300 feet.

Lithology: dolostone (dolomite); limestone

Unicoi Formation (Cambrian) at surface, covers 3 % of this area

Unicoi Formation - Sequence of gray feldspathic sandstone, arkose, conglomerate, graywacke, siltstone and shale; greenish amygdaloidal basalt flows near middle and base. Thickness 2,000 to 5,000 feet.

Lithology: sandstone; arkose; conglomerate; graywacke; siltstone; shale; basalt

Rome Formation (Cambrian) at surface, covers 0.2 % 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

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

Unicoi Formation - Sandstone and quartzite with phyllite, tuffaceous phyllite, conglomerate, and minor basalt.

Lithology: sandstone; quartzite; phyllite; conglomerate; basalt

Maynardville Limestone (Cambrian) at surface, covers 0.1 % 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)

Knox Group, including Newala Formation, Mascot Dolomite, Kingsport Formation, Longview Dolomite, Chepultepec Dolomite, and Copper Ridge Dolomite (Ordovician to Cambrian) at surface, covers 36 % of this area

Knox Group - Siliceous dolomite and magnesian limestone sequence. Thickness 2,500 to 3,000 feet.

Lithology: dolostone (dolomite); limestone

Maynardville Limestone, Nolichucky Shale, and Honaker Dolomite (Cambrian) at surface, covers 6 % of this area

Maynardville Limestone - Thick-bedded, bluish-gray, ribboned (silt and dolomite) nodular limestone; light-gray, fine-grained, laminated to thinly bedded, noncherty dolomite in upper part. Thickness 150 to 400 feet; 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 100 feet in the east to 900 feet in the west; Honaker Dolomite - Dark-gray, medium-bedded dolomite with minor dark limestone beds; locally cherty; cryptozoans abundant in places. Thickness about 1,500 feet.

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

Conococheague Limestone (Ordovician) at surface, covers < 0.1 % of this area

Conococheague Limestone - Well-bedded, ribboned (silt and dolomite), dark-gray limestone; interbeds of fine-grained, light- to dark-gray dolomite; sparingly cherty; cryptozoans typical. Thickness about 1,500 feet.

Lithology: limestone; dolostone (dolomite)