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Mineral Resources > Online Spatial Data > Geology > by state > West Virginia Geology

Geologic units in Mason county, West Virginia

Dunkard Group (Permian/Pennsylvanian) at surface, covers 34 % of this area

Dunkard Group - non-marine cyclic sequences of sandstone, siltstone, red and gray shale, limestone, and coal. Contains the Greene, Washington and Waynesburg Formations. Extends from the top of the exposed bed rock section to the top of the Waynesburg coal. Includes the Washington coals and limestones. Palynological evidence favors a Pennsylvanian age, at least for the lower portion.

Lithology: sandstone; siltstone; shale; limestone; coal

Conemaugh Group (Pennsylvanian) at surface, covers < 0.1 % of this area

Conemaugh Group - Shale, siltstone, and mudstone: Shale, black, gray, green and red; clayey to silty; locally contains marine fossils in lower half of unit; calcareous in part. Siltstone, gray, green and red, locally variegated; clayed to sandy; thin bedded to nonbedded. Mudstone, black, gray, green, red, and yellow, variegated in part; clayey to silty; locally calcareous; commonly nonbedded. Sandstone, green-gray weathers to shades of yellow-brown; mostly very fine to medium grained, locally conglomeratic; thin to massive to cross bedded; locally calcareous. Limestone and coal; thin and discontinuous. Limestone, black, gray and green; micritic to coarse grained; thin bedded to concretionary with marine fossils common in lower half of interval; thin to medium bedded, nonmarine limestone common in upper half of unit. Coal, thin, bituminous, impure; very locally thick enough for economic development. Lateral and vertical lithic variability and gradation common. Unit as much as 500 feet thick.

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

Monongahela Group (Pennsylvanian) at surface, covers 45 % of this area

Monongahela Group - non-marine cyclic sequences of sandstone, siltstone, red and gray shale, limestone, and coal. Contains the Uniontown and Pittsburgh Formations. Extends from the top of the Waynesburg coal to the base of the Pittsburgh coal. Includes the Waynesburg, Uniontown, Sewickley, Redstone and Pittsburgh coals. Thickness is 170 feet in Mineral and Grant Counties.

Lithology: sandstone; siltstone; shale; limestone; coal

Conemaugh Group (Pennsylvanian) at surface, covers 1 % of this area

Conemaugh Group - cyclic sequences of red and gray shale, siltstone, and sandstone, with thin limestones and coals. Mostly non-marine. May be divided into Casselman and Glenshaw Formations. Extends from the base of the Pittsburgh coal to the top of the Upper Freeport coal. Includes the Elk Lick, Bakerstown, and Mahoning coals, and the Ames and Brush Creek Limestones.

Lithology: shale; siltstone; sandstone; limestone; coal

Monongahela Group (Pennsylvanian) at surface, covers < 0.1 % of this area

Monongahela Group - Shale, siltstone, and mudstone; black, red, gray and green to variegated red and yellow in the southeastern areas of Ohio; clayey to sandy; nonbedded to thin bedded; locally calcareous. Sandstone, greenish-gray weathers to shades of yellow-brown, silty to locally conglomeratic; thin to massive to cross bedded; locally calcareous. Limestone, gray, micritic, clayey to silty, thin to medium bedded; generally more common in middle and lower portions of unit. Coal, banded, bituminous, thin to as much as 8 feet thick in central and northern areas, thinner to absent in southeastern Ohio. Lateral and vertical lithic variability and gradation common. Unit as much as 350 feet thick.

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

Quaternary Alluvium (Quaternary) at surface, covers 20 % of this area

Quaternary Alluvium - alluvial deposits of sand, gravel, silt, and clay.

Lithology: alluvium