Chattanooga Shale (Hayes, 1891). Shale, siltstone, and sandstone. Shale, carbonaceous, grayish-black to black, fissile to platy, thin- to thick-laminated, locally fossiliferous and pyritic, locally contains phosphatic nodules in the upper part, locally has strong petroliferous odor (Henika, 1988); with beds and zones of medium-gray to greenish-gray, locally silty shale. Siltstone, light-gray to grayish-black, laminated to thick-bedded, locally wavy- and ripple-bedded. Sandstone, light-gray, very-fine-grained. Grayish-black to black, carbonaceous shale comprises 100 percent of the formation in western Lee County and is predominant in the formation throughout southwest Virginia. The Chattanooga Shale uncomformably overlies the Silurian Hancock Formation throughout most of Lee County and the lower Devonian Wildcat Valley Sandstone to the northeast. The Chattanooga Shale ranges in thickness from 200 feet in western Lee County (Englund, 1964) to 1870 feet in northwestern Russell County (Meissner and Miller, 1981). Roen and others (1964) and Kepferle and others (1981) discussed divisions of the Chattanooga Shale and correlation with other units. Wildcat Valley Sandstone (Miller, Harris, and Roen, 1964). Sandstone, limestone, and shale. Sandstone, locally calcareous, locally quartzose, light-gray, grayish-orange, and dark-yellowish-brown, very-fine- to coarse-grained, thin- to massive-bedded, fossiliferous, friable, locally glauconitic; with chert nodules and beds. Locally dark-reddish-brown ironstone replaces sandstone. Limestone, gray, pinkish-gray, and light-brownish-gray, coarse-grained, thick- to massive bedded, sandy, locally present. Shale, yellowish-green to gray, locally present. Where the Wildcat Valley Sandstone is present it uncomformably overlies the Silurian Hancock Formation. The Wildcat Valley Sandstone is absent throughout most of Lee County (Englund, 1964; Harris, 1965; Miller and Roen, 1973) but reaches a maximum of 60 feet in thickness to the northeast (Lower Devonian sandstone of Harris and Miller, 1963).