USGS Home
Contact USGS
Search USGS

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

Geologic units in Preston county, West Virginia

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

Hampshire Formation - Interbedded red shale, red mudstone, and red to brown cross-bedded siltstone and sandstone; some thin green shale; greenish-gray sandstone and shale toward top; fragmentary plant fossils; thickness 1,400 to 2,000 feet in west, increases to 3,800 feet in east.

Lithology: shale; sandstone; mudstone; siltstone

Chemung Group (Devonian) at surface, covers 12 % 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

Greenbrier Group (Mississippian) at surface, covers 2 % 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

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

Greenbrier Formation - Upper part red calcareous shale and sandstone interbedded with greenish-gray and reddish-gray argillaceous limestone; Loyalhanna Limestone Member: Gray to red, cross-bedded, arenaceous calcarenite; total thickness 200 to 300 feet.

Lithology: limestone; sandstone; shale; calcarenite

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

Glenshaw Formation - Cyclic sequences of shale, sandstone, red beds, and thin limestone and coal; includes four marine limestone or shale horizons; red beds are involved in landslides; base is at top of Upper Freeport coal.

Lithology: shale; sandstone; limestone; clastic; coal

"Chemung" Formation, Parkhead Sandstone, Brallier Formation, and Harrell Shale (Devonian) at surface, covers < 0.1 % of this area

"Chemung" Formation - Predominantly marine beds characterized by gray to olive-green graywacke, siltstone, and shale; thickened ranges from 2,000 to 3,000 feet; Parkhead Sandstone - Gray to olive-green sandy shale, conglomeratic sandstone and graywacke; present in Washington County, identification uncertain in west; thickness averages 400 feet; Brallier Fomation - (Woodmont Shale of earlier reports). Medium to dark gray, laminated shale and siltstone; weathers to light olive-gray; grain size coarsens upward; thickness about 2,000 feet in west, about 1,7000 feet in east; and Harrell Shale - Dark gray laminated shale; absent in east where Brallier lies directly on Mahantango, Tully Limestone lies near base in west, in subsurface of Garrett County; total thickness in west 140 to 300 feet.

Lithology: shale; siltstone; sandstone; graywacke; limestone

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

Mauch Chunk Formation - Grayish-red shale, siltstone, sandstone, and some conglomerate; some local nonred zones. Includes Loyalhanna Member (crossbedded, sandy limestone) at base in south-central and southwestern Pennsylvania; also includes Greenbrier Limestone Member, and Wymps Gap and Deer Valley Limestones, which are tongues of the Greenbrier. Along Allegheny Front from Blair County to Sullivan County, Loyalhanna Member is greenish-gray, calcareous, crossbedded sandstone.

Lithology: shale; siltstone; sandstone; conglomerate; limestone

Pocono Group, including the Purslane Sandstone and Rockwell Formation (Mississippian) at surface, covers < 0.1 % of this area

Pocono Group - Gray, white, tan, and brown, thin- to thick-bedded, cross-bedded sandstone, locally conglomeratic; interbedded gray and reddish-brown shale, mudstone, and siltstone; fragmentary plant fossils. Undifferentiated in Garrett and western Allegeny Counties. Includes Purslane Sandstone - White, thick-bedded, coarse-grained sandstone and conglomerate with thin coal beds and red shales. Eastern Allegany and Washington Counties. And also inlcudes Rockwell Formation - Coarse-grained arkosic sandstone, fine-grained conglomerate, and buff shale; dark shale with thin coal beds near base. Eastern Allegany and Washington Counties.

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

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

Conemaugh Formation - Includes the rocks between the base of the Pittsburgh coal and the top of the Upper Freeport coal; consists of two unnamed members which are separated by the Barton coal; both members are gray and brown claystone, shale, siltstone and sandstone, with several coal beds; lower member also contains redbeds and fossiliferous marine shales; thickness 825 to 925 feet.

Lithology: claystone; shale; siltstone; sandstone; coal

Allegheny Formation (Pennsylvanian) at surface, covers 24 % 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

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

Allegheny Formation - Interbedded sandstone, siltstone, claystone, shale, and coal beds; Upper Freeport coal at top; where present, Brookville coal defines base; thickness 275 feet in northeast, increases to 325 feet in south and west. And Pottsville Formation - Interbedded sandstone, siltstone, claystone, shale, and coal beds; conglomeratic orthoquartzite and protoquartzite at base; thickness 60 feet in northeast, increases to 440 feet in southwest

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

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

Allegheny Formation - Cyclic sequences of sandstone, shale, limestone, clay, and coal; includes valuable clay deposits and Vanport Limestone; commercially valuable Freeport, Kittanning, and Brookville-Clarion coals present; base is at bottom of Brookville-Clarion coal.

Lithology: sandstone; shale; limestone; clay or mud; coal

Burgoon Sandstone (Mississippian) at surface, covers < 0.1 % of this area

Burgoon Sandstone - Buff, medium-grained, crossbedded sandstone; includes shale and coal; in places, contains conglomerate at base; contains plant fossils; equivalent to Pocono Formation of Ridge and Valley province.

Lithology: sandstone; conglomerate; shale; coal

Hampshire Formation (Devonian) at surface, covers 8 % 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

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

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

Lithology: shale; sandstone; limestone

Monongahela Group (Pennsylvanian) at surface, covers 0.2 % 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 36 % 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

Pocono Group (Mississippian) at surface, covers 5 % 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

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

Mauch Chunk Formation - Red and green shale, reddish-purple mudstone, and red, green, brown, and gray thin-bedded and cross-bedded sandstones; thickness 500 feet in west, increases to about 800 feet in east.

Lithology: shale; mudstone; sandstone

Pottsville Group (Pennsylvanian) at surface, covers 10 % 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

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

Pottsville Formation - Predominantly gray sandstone and conglomerate; also contains thin beds of shale, claystone, limestone, and coal; includes Olean and Sharon conglomerates of northwestern Pennsylvania; thin marine limestones present in Beaver, Lawrence, and Mercer Counties; minable coals and commercially valuable high-alumina clays present locally.

Lithology: sandstone; conglomerate; shale; siltstone; claystone; limestone; coal