Moccasin or Bays Formation through Blackford Formation (VAOls;0)

State	Virginia
Name	Moccasin or Bays Formation through Blackford Formation
Geologic age	Ordovician
Original map label	Ols
Comments	Appalachian Plateaus and Valley and Ridge (Mocassin Formation, Bays Formation, with unnamed Unit C, Unit B, Unit A from expanded explanation) (Karen Hostettler): From expanded explanation (Ref. VA002): Moccasin Formation, Bays Formation, Unit C, Unit B, and Unit A. Moccasin Formation (Campbell, 1894). Mudstone, shale, imestone, and sandstone. Mudstone and shale, dusky-red to dark-reddish-brown, calcareous, ripple-marks, and mud cracks common. Limestone, light-olive-gray, weathers very-light gray, aphanic with "birds-eyes", locally fossiliferous. The limestone generally is the middle member of the Moccasin southwest of Giles County. In eastern Giles County and northeastward a thin medium-grained, gray sandstone occurs near the base of the Moccasin. The thickness ranges from 0 in northern Alleghany County to about 600 feet in Scott County . Bays Formation (Keith, 1895). Siltstone, sandstone, mudstone, and limestone. Siltstone, grayish-red, olive- to light-olive-gray, locally calcareous, sandy in part. Sandstone, light-gray to yellowish-gray, fine- to very-coarse-grained, locally conglomeratic, calcareous. Mudstone, grayish-red, olive- to light-olive-gray, mudcracks common. Limestone, grayish-red to light-olive-gray, aphanic. Five distinct K-bentonites reported by Hergenroder (1966). Contacts are conformable except perhaps in Botetourt, Roanoke, and Montgomery counties. Thickness ranges from 105 feet north of Wytheville to 890 feet near Daleville in Botetourt County. From Scott and Washington counties to Highland County and northwest of the Pulaski and North Mountain faults, a multitude of stratigraphic names have been applied to the rocks between the Bays or Moccasin (above) and the Beekmantown or Knox (below). The lack of detailed geologic mapping, except in Scott and Giles counties, the restricted area of the two major stratigraphic studies (Cooper and Prouty, 1943; Kay, 1956), and the general disagreement as to mappability and correlation of units makes it impossible to apply specific stratigraphic nomenclature at this time. Therefore, the rocks are described as three packages of lithologies (from youngest to oldest): Unit C, Unit B, and Unit A. Unit C. Limestone, medium- to dark-gray, aphanic to fine-grained with thin, medium- to coarse-grained beds, argillaceous, nodular to planar-bedded, locally very fossiliferous. The following names have been applied to Unit C: Witten, Bowen, Wardell, Gratton, Benbolt, Chatham Hill, Wassum, Rich Valley, Athens, Ottesee, Liberty Hall, Fetzer, and Giesler. Unit B. Limestone, light- to dark-gray, aphanic to coarsegrained, black and gray chert nodules, carbonate mound buildups. This unit is characterized by grainstone with interbedded micrite and chert. The overlying Unit C is very argillaceous and lacks chert. The following names have been applied to Unit B: Wardell, Gratton, Benbolt, Lincolnshire, Big Valley, McGlone, McGraw, Five Oaks, Peery, Ward Cove, Rockdell, Rye Cove, Effna, Whitesburg, Holston, Pearisburg, and Tumbez. Unit A. Dolostone, light- to medium-gray, fine-grained, locally conglomeratic, cherty. Limestone, medium- to dark gray, fine-grained, locally cherty. Shale, light-gray to dusky red. A basal chert-dolomite conglomerate with clasts as much as cobble size is locally present on the unconformity surface. The following names have been applied to Unit A: Blackford, Elway, Tumbez, Lurich (lower part), and "basal clastics".
Primary rock type	shale
Secondary rock type	mudstone
Other rock types	sandstone; limestone; chert
Lithologic constituents	Major Sedimentary > Clastic > Mudstone > Shale Minor Sedimentary > Carbonate > Limestone Sedimentary > Clastic > Sandstone Sedimentary > Clastic > Mudstone Incidental Sedimentary > Chemical > Chert
Map references	Digital Representation of the 1993 Geologic Map of Virginia", 2003, CD ROM (ISO-9660) contains image file, expanded explanation in pdf, and ESRI shapefiles, viewing software not included. This is a digital version of "Geologic Map of Virginia" published in 1993. Available from: https://www.dmme.virginia.gov/commerce/ [https://www.dmme.virginia.gov/commerce/]
Unit references	Virginia Division of Mineral Resources, 1993, Geologic Map of Virginia: Virginia Division of Mineral Resources, scale 1:500,000 Digital Representation of the 1993 Geologic Map of Virginia - expanded explanation: 2003, Commonwealth of Virginia, Department of Mines, Minerals, and Energy, Divsion of Mineral Resources, Publication 147, 85 pp Digital Representation of the 1993 Geologic Map of Virginia", 2003, CD ROM (ISO-9660) contains image file, expanded explanation in pdf, and ESRI shapefiles, viewing software not included. This is a digital version of "Geologic Map of Virginia" published in 1993. Available from: https://www.dmme.virginia.gov/commerce/ [https://www.dmme.virginia.gov/commerce/]
Geographic coverage	Alleghany - Bath - Bland - Botetourt - Craig - Giles - Highland - Montgomery - Pulaski - Roanoke - Russell - Scott - Smyth - Tazewell - Washington - Wythe - Radford - Roanoke - Salem