Wise Formation (VAPAw;0)

State	Virginia
Name	Wise Formation
Geologic age	Pennsylvanian
Original map label	@w
Comments	Appalachian Plateaus and Valley and Ridge From expanded explanation (ref. VA002): Wise Formation (Campbell, 1893) . Sandstone, siltstone, shale, limestone, coal, and underclay. Sandstone, lithic, feldspathic, micaceous, argillaceous, carbonaceous locally, light- to medium-gray to moderate- and pale-yellow- brown, fine- to coarse-grained, locally pebbly, thin- to thick-bedded, cross-bedded to even-bedded, locally massive, well-cemented; contains fragments of shale, siltstone, and carbonized plant fossils locally. Siltstone and shale, light olive- gray, medium- to dark-gray and grayish-black, contains siderite ironstone in very-thin beds and nodules, carbonized plant fossils; invertebrate fossils in dark-gray to black shale and micrograined limestone in the upper part of formation (Miller, 1969; Miller and Roen, 1973; Nolde, Henderson, and Miller,1988; Nolde, Whitlock, and Lovett, 1988a). Limestone, medium- to dark-gray, micrograined, in very-thin lenses and beds in shale and siltstone in two to three zones in lower part of formation (Taylor, 1989; Whitlock, Lovett, and Diffenbach, 1988). Coal interbedded with shale, siltstone, and sandstone. Underclay, light-gray, root casts, beneath coal; as much as 5 feet thick under the Williamson coal bed in Buchanan County (Henika, 1989b). A dark-gray to brownish-gray, flint clay in the Phillips (Fire Clay; No.7) coal bed in northern Lee County (Miller and Roen, 1973) and western Wise County is a volcanic ash deposit (Seiders, 1965) that covers parts of Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia; it has been dated at an age of 311 - 312 million years (Lyons and others, 1992; Rice and others, 1990). Base of formation at bottom of Dorchester coal bed. Thickness 2150 to 2268 feet.
Primary rock type	sandstone
Secondary rock type	siltstone
Other rock types	shale; coal
Lithologic constituents
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	Buchanan - Dickenson - Lee - Russell - Wise - Norton