Beekmantown Group, Lower Part

Beekmantown Group, Lower Part (Clarke and Schuchert, 1899) - Very thin to thick-bedded, interbedded dolomite and minor limestone. Upper beds are light-olive-gray to dark-gray, fine- to medium-grained, thin- to thick-bedded dolomite. Middle part is olivegray-, light-brown-, or dark-yellowish-orange- weathering, dark-gray, aphanitic to fine-grained, laminated to medium-bedded dolomite and light-gray to light-bluish-gray-weathering, medium-dark- to dark-gray, fine-grained, thin- to medium-bedded limestone, that is characterized by mottling with reticulate dolomite and light-olive-gray to grayish-orange, dolomitic shale laminae surrounding limestone lenses. Limestone grades laterally and down section into medium- gray, fine-grained dolomite. Lower beds consist of medium-light- to dark-gray, aphanitic to coarse-grained, laminated to medium-bedded, locally slightly fetid dolomite having thin black chert beds, quartz-sand laminae, and oolites. Lenses of light-gray, very coarse to coarse-grained dolomite and floating quartz sand grains and quartz-sand stringers at base of sequence. Lower contact placed at top of distinctive medium-gray quartzite. Contains conodonts of Cordylodus proavus to Rossodus manitouensis zones of North American Midcontinent province as used by Sweet and Bergstrom (1986). Unit Obl forms Stonehenge Formation of Drake and Lyttle (1985) and Drake and others (1985), upper and middle beds are included in Epler Formation, and lower beds are in Rickenbach Dolomite of Markewicz and Dalton (1977). Unit is about 183 m (600 ft) thick.