USGS Home
Contact USGS
Search USGS

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

Geologic units in Pendleton county, West Virginia

[Additional scientific data in this geographic area]

Kanawha Formation (Pennsylvanian) at surface, covers < 0.1 % of this area

Kanawha Formation (part of Pottsville Group) - sandstone (approx 50%), shale, siltstone, and coal. Contains several marine zones. Becomes more shaly westward in the subsurface. Extends from the top of the Homewood Sandstone to the top of the Upper Nuttall Sandstone. Includes the Stockton (Mercer), Coalburg, Winifrede, Chilton, Williamson, Cedar Grove, Alma, Peerless, Campbell Creek, Powellton, Eagle, Gilbert, and Douglas coals.

Lithology: sandstone; shale; siltstone; coal

Bluefield Formation (Mississippian) at surface, covers < 0.1 % of this area

Bluefield Formation (part of Mauch Chunk Group) - red and green shale and sandstone, with a few thin limestone lenses, such as the Reynolds.

Lithology: shale; sandstone; limestone

McKenzie Formation and Clinton Group (Silurian) at surface, covers 9 % of this area

McKenzie Formation and Clinton Group - includes the McKenzie Formation, consisting of shale with thin limestone lenses; the dark Rochester Shale; the white Keefer Sandstone; and the Rose Hill predominantly red shale, with thin sandstone interbeds, some of which are called "iron sandstones" from their reddish-brown color and hematite content.

Lithology: shale; sandstone; limestone

Juniata and Oswego Formations (Ordovician) at surface, covers 3 % of this area

Juniata and Oswego Formations - the Juniata is a thin-bedded, blocky, red sandstone and shale. In places it is underlain by the thick-bedded, gray Oswego Sandstone.

Lithology: sandstone; shale

Greenbrier Group (Mississippian) at surface, covers 3 % of this area

Greenbrier Group - marine limestone and marine and non-marine red and gray shale, and minor sandstone beds in numerous formational units.

Lithology: limestone; shale; sandstone

Hinton Formation (Mississippian) at surface, covers < 0.1 % of this area

Hinton Formation (part of Mauch Chunk Group) - red, green, and medium-gray shale and sandstone, with a few thin limestone beds, including the Avis.

Lithology: shale; sandstone; limestone

Chemung Group (Devonian) at surface, covers 9 % of this area

Chemung Group - gray to brown siltstone and sandstone with shale and conglomeratic interbeds; mainly marine and sparingly fossiliferous; boundaries gradational. Can be divided into the Voreknobs and Scherr Formations along the Allegheny Front. Parkhead Sandstone Member near base.

Lithology: siltstone; sandstone; shale; conglomerate

Hampshire Formation (Devonian) at surface, covers 0.1 % of this area

Hampshire Formation - Dusky-red to grayish-red shale, mudrock, and sandstone.

Lithology: sandstone; limestone; shale

Trenton Group (Ordovician) at surface, covers 0.8 % of this area

Trenton Group - dark, crystalline, nodular, and argillaceous limestones, with some metabentonite streaks. Includes the Nealmont, Oranda, Edinburg, and the upper part of the Chambersburg Limestones of northeastern West Virginia; also the Moccasin and Eggleston Formation of Mercer and Monroe Counties.

Lithology: limestone; bentonite

Oriskany Sandstone and Helderberg Group, undivided (Devonian) at surface, covers 0.9 % of this area

Oriskany Sandstone and Helderberg Group, undivided - Oriskany Sandstone: sometimes designated Ridgeley in eastern West Virginia. White to brown coarse- to fine-grained, partly calcareous sandstone, locally pebbly or conglomeratic, and ridge-forming. May be white, nearly pure silica, and a source of glass sand, as at Berkeley Springs, Morgan County. Helderburg Group: mostly cherty limestone, with some sandstone and shale. Contains several named stratigraphic units, including the Keyser Formation, which is partly Silurian and includes the Clifton Forge Sandstone and Big Mountain Shale Members.

Lithology: sandstone; limestone; shale

St. Paul Group (Ordovician) at surface, covers < 0.1 % of this area

St. Paul Group - includes the New Market and Row Park Limestones. Predominantly medium-gray aphanitic limestone, containing very low-silica, cream-colored member of considerable economic importance. Chert nodules and dolomite occur in the Row Park.

Lithology: limestone; chert; dolostone (dolomite)

Allegheny Formation (Pennsylvanian) at surface, covers 0.1 % of this area

Allegheny Formation - cyclic sequences of sandstone, siltstone, shale, limestone, and coal. Includes the Freeport, Kittanning and Clarion coals, also, the Princess coals of Kentucky . Extends from the top of the Upper Freeport coal to the top of the Homewood Sandstone.

Lithology: sandstone; siltstone; shale; limestone; coal

Martinsburg Formation (Ordovician) at surface, covers 5 % of this area

Martinsburg Formation - predominantly gray to dark shale, yellowish in the upper portion. Contains scattered thin limestone and sandstone interbeds, particularly in the lower portion. The upper portion constitutes the Reedsville Shale.

Lithology: shale; limestone; sandstone

Tuscarora Sandstone (Silurian) at surface, covers 3 % of this area

Tuscarora Sandstone - medium- to thick-bedded, white to gray or pinkish sandstone, fine to coarse, quartzitic, ridge-forming. Equivalent to the Clinch Sandstone of Tennessee.

Lithology: sandstone

Black River Group (Ordovician) at surface, covers 0.6 % of this area

Black River Group - predominantly gray aphanitic limestones, with many bioclastic streaks; siliceous in the lower part.

Lithology: limestone

Pocono Formation (Mississippian) at surface, covers 0.1 % of this area

Pocono Formation - Sandstone, conglomeratic sandstone, and shale with carbonaceous partings and impure coal beds.

Lithology: sandstone; shale; coal

Bluestone and Princeton Formations (Mississippian) at surface, covers < 0.1 % of this area

Bluestone and Princeton Formations (part of Mauch Chunk Group) - the Bluestone Formation is mostly red, green, and medium-gray shale and sandstone; Princeton Sandstone is underneath.

Lithology: shale; sandstone

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

Brallier Formation (Devonian) at surface, covers 8 % of this area

Brallier Formation - predominantly olive-gray to dark, thickly laminated marine shale, with considerable siltstone and thin sandstone lenses; mainly nonfossiliferous.

Lithology: shale; siltstone; sandstone

Oriskany Sandstone and Huntersville Chert (Devonian) at surface, covers 14 % of this area

Oriskany Sandstone and Huntersville Chert - Oriskany Sandstone: sometimes designated Ridgeley in eastern West Virginia. White to brown coarse- to fine-grained, partly calcareous sandstone, locally pebbly or conglomeratic, and ridge-forming. May be white, nearly pure silica, and a source of glass sand, as at Berkeley Springs, Morgan County. Huntersville Chert (part of Onesquethaw ("Onondaga") Group): ranges from a nearly pure slightly calcitic or dolomitic chert to an inter-tonguing of such chert and the Needmore Shale. Grades westward in the subsurface to a limestone, commonly considered as "Onondaga". Contains the "glauconitic" Bobs Ridge Sandstone Member. Not mappable at scale of this map. Included with Do.

Lithology: sandstone; chert; limestone

Brallier Formation and Harrell Shale, undivided (Devonian) at surface, covers < 0.1 % of this area

Brallier Formation and Harrell Shale, undivided - Brallier Formation : predominantly olive-gray to dark, thickly laminated marine shale, with considerable siltstone and thin sandstone lenses; mainly nonfossiliferous. Harrell Shale: dark gray to black thinly laminated to fissile shale. Calcareous shale and limestone lenses near the base (Tully).

Lithology: shale; siltstone; sandstone; limestone

Mauch Chunk Group (Mississippian) at surface, covers 5 % of this area

Mauch Chunk Group - red, green, and medium-gray shale and sandstone, with a few thin limestones.

Lithology: shale; sandstone; limestone

Millboro Shale (Devonian) at surface, covers 0.6 % of this area

Millboro Shale - dark grey to black shale facies of eastern West Virginia. Consists of units: Harrell Shale, Mahantango Formation and Marcellus Formation.

Lithology: shale; black shale

Hampshire Formation (Devonian) at surface, covers 11 % of this area

Hampshire Formation - non-marine shales and fine micaceous sandstones, mostly red to brownish-gray, including siltstone, sandstone and conglomerate. Generally distinguishable from the underlying Chemung by non-marine character and red color.

Lithology: shale; sandstone; siltstone; conglomerate

Mahantango Formation (Devonian) at surface, covers 2 % of this area

Mahantango Formation (part of Millboro Shale) - thickly laminated marine shale, siltstone, very fine sandstone, and some limestone, with an occasional coral reef or biostrome. Contains the Clearville and Chaneysville Siltstone Members of Pennsylvania.

Lithology: shale; sandstone; siltstone; limestone; coral

Tonoloway, Wills Creek, and Williamsport Formations (Silurian) at surface, covers 8 % of this area

Tonoloway, Wills Creek, and Williamsport Formations - includes the thin-bedded platy argillaceous limestones of the Tonoloway, the thin-bedded shale with fossiliferous limestones of the Wills Creek, the Bloomsburg red clastic facies, and the greenish-brown to white Williamsport Sandstone. The Wills Creek contains anhydrite and rock salt, the latter supplying brine from deep wells along the Ohio River.

Lithology: limestone; shale; sandstone; clastic; chemical

New River Formation (Pennsylvanian) at surface, covers < 0.1 % of this area

New River Formation (part of Pottsville Group) - predominantly sandstone, with some shale, siltstone, and coal. Grades to nearly all sandstone in the subsurface. Extends from the top of the Upper Nuttall Sandstone to the top of the Flattop Mountain Sandstone. Includes the Iaeger, Sewell, Welch, Raleigh, Beckley, Fire Creek, and Pocahontas Nos. 8 and 9 coals.

Lithology: sandstone; shale; siltstone; coal

Harrell Shale (Devonian) at surface, covers 0.9 % of this area

Harrell Shale (part of Millboro Shale) - dark gray to black thinly laminated to fissile shale. Calcareous shale and limestone lenses near the base (Tully).

Lithology: shale; limestone

Pottsville Group (Pennsylvanian) at surface, covers 0.4 % of this area

Pottsville Group - includes the Kanawha, New River, and Pocahontas Formations. Predominantly sandstones, some of which are conglomeratic, with thin shales and coals. Undivided in northern West Virginia.

Lithology: sandstone; shale; coal

Helderberg Group (Devonian) at surface, covers 4 % of this area

Helderberg Group - mostly cherty limestone, with some sandstone and shale. Contains several named stratigraphic units, including the Keyser Formation, which is partly Silurian and includes the Clifton Forge Sandstone and Big Mountain Shale Members.

Lithology: limestone; sandstone; shale

Marcellus Formation and Needmore Shale, undivided (Devonian) at surface, covers 6 % of this area

Marcellus Formation and Needmore Shale, undivided - Marcellus Formation (part of Millboro Shale): predominantly gray-black to black thinly laminated non-calcareous pyritic shale. Contains one or more thin-bedded limestones, including the Purcell Member of Pennsylvania. Needmore Shale (part of Onesquethaw ("Onondaga") Group): predominantly dark grey or green, calcitic, mostly non-fissile shale. Gives strong "kick" on gamma ray logs. Tioga Bentonite near the top. Includes the black Beaver Dam Shale Member. Grades westward into the Huntersville Chert. Not mappable at scale of this map. Included with Dmn.

Lithology: shale; black shale; limestone; bentonite

Chemung Formation (redefined as Foreknobs Formation) (Devonian) at surface, covers < 0.1 % of this area

Chemung Formation - Shale and sandstone with a few thin, quartz-pebble conglomerates and red-beds.

Lithology: shale; sandstone; conglomerate

Pocono Group (Mississippian) at surface, covers 3 % of this area

Pocono Group - predominantly hard gray massive sandstones, with some shale. In the Eastern Panhandle, has been divided into the Hedges, Purslane, and Rockwell Formations.

Lithology: sandstone; shale