Bloomsburg Formation

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Bloomsburg Formation
Stratigraphic range: Gorstian - Ludfordian [1] ~425  Ma
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Bloomsburg.JPG
A hand sample of the Bloomsburg Siltstone from Port Clinton, Pennsylvania
Type sedimentary
Underlies Wills Creek Formation
Overlies Clinton Group, McKenzie Formation, Mifflintown Formation, and Shawangunk Formation
Thicknessup to 5,000 feet (1,520 m) [2]
Lithology
Primary Siltstone
Other Shale, Claystone, Sandstone, Limestone
Location
Region Appalachian Basin of eastern North America
Extent Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Virginia
Type section
Named for Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania
Named byI. C. White, 1883 [3]

The Silurian Bloomsburg Formation is a mapped bedrock unit in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York and Maryland. It is named for the town of Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, in which it was first described. The Bloomsburg marked the first occurrence of red sedimentary rocks in the Appalachian Basin.

Contents

Description

The Bloomsburg is defined as a grayish-red and greenish-gray claystone, argillaceous siltstone, shale, and very fine to fine-grained sandstone, [4] arranged in fining-upward cycles. [5] Although the Bloomsburg can sometimes be green to gray, its most dominant color is red and they are often called "The Bloomsburg Red Beds". This is significant in the Appalachian Basin since it marks the first large scale terrestrial collection of sediments in the rock record. Most of the sediments that were deposited before this time were marine, or a small scale terrestrial zone.

In New Jersey, the Bloomsburg Red Beds were previously called the "High Falls Shale" or "High Falls Formation". [6]

Depositional environment

The depositional environment of the Bloomsburg was mostly terrestrial or shallow marine deposits resulting in a molasse sequence produced by the Taconic orogeny. The red color is often evidence that the sediments were deposited in arid or oxidizing conditions. The upper parts of the Bloomsburg are thought to be a marine transition zone. [7]

Stratigraphy

Early American geologists theorized that these beds correlated with Old Red Sandstone found in Scotland., [2] but the Old Red Sandstone is Devonian in age, or much younger than the Bloomsburg.

The Bloomsburg rests conformably above the Clinton Group [4] and Shawangunk Formation, and has a complex upper contact. In eastern Pennsylvania and New Jersey, the upper part of the Bloomsburg marks the Wallbridge Unconformity. To the west, the Wills Creek Formation lies conformably atop the Bloomsburg. Further west, the McKenzie Member of the Mifflintown Formation interfingers with the Bloomsburg and eventually, the Bloomsburg pinches out into the Mifflintown. [8]

Fossils

There are numerous fossils found in the Bloomsburg, mostly in the upper parts of the formation. There are trace fossils of early land plants and brachiopod fossils in the upper marine transitional zones. [7]

Notable Exposures

Outcrop of the Bloomsburg Formation at Port Clinton Bloomsburg Formation at Port Clinton PA.jpg
Outcrop of the Bloomsburg Formation at Port Clinton

Age

Relative age dating of the Bloomsburg places it in the Upper Silurian period, being deposited between 417 and 410 (±5) million years ago.

Economic uses

The Bloomsburg formation is a source of material for the manufacture of brick and other clay products, as well as a local building stone. [10]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Old Red Sandstone</span> Assemblage of rocks in the North Atlantic region

Old Red Sandstone, abbreviated ORS, is an assemblage of rocks in the North Atlantic region largely of Devonian age. It extends in the east across Great Britain, Ireland and Norway, and in the west along the eastern seaboard of North America. It also extends northwards into Greenland and Svalbard. These areas were a part of the paleocontinent of Euramerica (Laurussia). In Britain it is a lithostratigraphic unit to which stratigraphers accord supergroup status and which is of considerable importance to early paleontology. The presence of Old in the name is to distinguish the sequence from the younger New Red Sandstone which also occurs widely throughout Britain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geology of Pennsylvania</span> Overview of the geology of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania

The Geology of Pennsylvania consists of six distinct physiographic provinces, three of which are subdivided into different sections. Each province has its own economic advantages and geologic hazards and plays an important role in shaping everyday life in the state. From the southeast corner to the northwest corner of the state, the include: the Atlantic Plain Province province, the Piedmont Province, the New England Province, the Ridge and Valley Province, the Appalachain Province, and the Central Lowlands Province.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shawangunk Formation</span> Bedrock unit in eastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York

The Silurian Shawangunk Formation is a mapped bedrock unit in eastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York. It is named for the Shawangunk Ridge for which it is the dominant rock type. The division of the Shawangunk between the Tuscarora Formation and Clinton Group has not been conclusively determined. The shift of nomenclature currently has the divide between Hawk Mountain and Lehigh Gap.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Martinsburg Formation</span> Geologic formation in the eastern United States

The Ordovician Martinsburg Formation (Om) is a mapped bedrock unit in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia. It is named for the town of Martinsburg, West Virginia for which it was first described. It is the dominant rock formation of the Great Appalachian Valley in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Passaic Formation</span>

The Passaic Formation is a mapped bedrock unit in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York. It was previously known as the Brunswick Formation since it was first described in the vicinity of New Brunswick, New Jersey. It is now named for the city of Passaic, New Jersey, which is near where its type section was described by paleontologist Paul E. Olsen.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tuscarora Sandstone</span> Bedrock unit in Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia, and Virginia, US

The Silurian Tuscarora Formation — also known as Tuscarora Sandstone or Tuscarora Quartzite — is a mapped bedrock unit in Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia, and Virginia, US.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Juniata Formation</span>

The Ordovician Juniata Formation is a mapped bedrock unit in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Virginia, Tennessee, and Maryland. It is a relative slope-former occurring between the two prominent ridge-forming sandstone units: the Tuscarora Formation and the Bald Eagle Formation in the Appalachian Mountains.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bald Eagle Formation</span>

The Ordovician Bald Eagle Formation is a mapped bedrock unit in central Pennsylvania, USA. It is a ridge-forming unit in the Appalachian Mountains.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reedsville Formation</span> Rock formation in the USA

The Ordovician Reedsville Formation is a mapped surficial bedrock unit in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, and Tennessee, that extends into the subsurface of Ohio. This rock is a slope-former adjacent to the prominent ridge-forming Bald Eagle sandstone unit in the Appalachian Mountains. It is often abbreviated Or on geologic maps.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clinton Group</span> Lithostratigraphic unit

The Clinton Group is a mapped unit of sedimentary rock found throughout eastern North America. The interval was first defined by the geologist Lardner Vanuxem, who derived the name from the village of Clinton in Oneida County, New York where several well exposed outcrops of these strata can be found. The Clinton Group and its lateral equivalents extend throughout much of the Appalachian Foreland Basin, a major structural and depositional province extending from New York to Alabama. The term has been employed in Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia, though in many of these areas the same interval is referred to as the Rose Hill, Rockwood, or Red Mountain Formations. Historically the term "Clinton" has also been assigned to several lower Silurian stratigraphic units in Ohio and Kentucky which are now known to be significantly older than the Clinton Group as it was originally defined. Many parts of this succession are richly fossiliferous, making the Clinton Group an important record of marine life during the early Silurian. Several economically valuable rock-types are found within this interval, though it is perhaps best known as a significant source of iron ore

The Silurian McKenzie Formation is a mapped bedrock unit in Maryland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wills Creek Formation</span> Bedrock unit in the Eastern United States

Wills Creek Formation is a mapped Silurian bedrock unit in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hamilton Group</span> Geological Group in North America

The Hamilton Group is a Devonian-age geological group which is located in the Appalachian region of the United States. It is present in New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Ohio, West Virginia, northwestern Virginia and Ontario, Canada, and is mainly composed of marine shale with some sandstone.

The Devonian Mahantango Formation is a mapped bedrock unit in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Maryland. It is named for the North branch of the Mahantango Creek in Perry and Juniata counties in Pennsylvania. It is a member of the Hamilton Group, along with the underlying the Marcellus Formation Shale. South of Tuscarora Mountain in south central Pennsylvania, the lower members of this unit were also mapped as the Montebello Formation. Details of the type section and of stratigraphic nomenclature for this unit as used by the U.S. Geological Survey are available on-line at the National Geologic Map Database.

The Mississippian Mauch Chunk Formation is a mapped bedrock unit in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and West Virginia. It is named for the township of Mauch Chunk, now known as borough of Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania and for nearby Mauch Chunk Ridge where the formation crops out.


The Triassic Stockton Formation is a mapped bedrock unit in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York. It is named after Stockton, New Jersey, where it was first described. It is laterally equivalent to the New Oxford Formation in the Gettysburg Basin of Pennsylvania and Maryland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Keyser Formation</span>

The Late Silurian to Early Devonian Keyser Formation is a mapped limestone bedrock unit in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tonoloway Formation</span>

The Late Silurian Tonoloway Formation is a mapped limestone bedrock unit in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia. The Tonoloway is roughly equivalent to the Salina group that is found to the north and west.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Foreknobs Formation</span> Geological formation in the United States

The Devonian Foreknobs Formation is a mapped bedrock unit in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Turkey Hill (Pennsylvania)</span> Hill in Pennsylvania, United States

Turkey Hill is a hill in Columbia County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. It has an elevation of 942 feet (287 m) above sea level. The hill has a flat plateau at the top, but steep slopes on its northern, western, and southern sides. The western and southern parts of the hill have some residential development, while the northern side is mostly forested. The views it provides of the surrounding area have been described as "striking" and "breathtaking".

References

  1. Paleozoic Sedimentary Successions of the Virginia Valley & Ridge and Plateau
  2. 1 2 Wood, G.H., Trexler, J.P., Kehn, T.M., (1964). Geology of the West-Central Part of the Southern Anthracite Field and Adjoining Areas, Pennsylvania. United States Geological Survey, C-46.
  3. White, I.C., 1883, The geology of the Susquehanna River region in the six Counties of Wyoming, Lackawanna, Luzerne, Columbia, Montour, and Northumberland: Pennsylvania Geological Survey Report of Progress, 2nd series, v. G7, 464 p.
  4. 1 2 Jackson, Margaret S.; Hanley, Peter M. & Sak, Peter B. (2007). "Preliminary Bedrock Geologic Map of the Middle Portion of the Susquehanna River Valley, Cumberland, Dauphin, And Perry Counties, Pennsylvania" (PDF). Open File Report OFBM-07-05.0. Pennsylvania Geological Survey. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 9, 2011. Retrieved 2008-01-26.
  5. Berg, T.M., Edmunds, W.E., Geyer, A.R. and others, compilers, (1980). Geologic Map of Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania Geologic Survey, Map 1, scale 1:250,000.
  6. Bloomsburg Red Beds
  7. 1 2 Hoskins, D.M., (1961). Stratigraphy and paleontology of the Bloomsburg Formation of Pennsylvania and adjacent states: G36. Pennsylvania Geologic Survey, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
  8. Berg, T.M., et al., (1983). Stratigraphic Correlation Chart of Pennsylvania: G75, Pennsylvania Geologic Survey, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
  9. Faill, R.T., Glover, A.D., and Way, J.H., 1989, Geology and mineral resources of the Blandburg, Tipton, Altoona, and Bellwood quadrangles, Blair, Cambria, Clearfield and Centre Counties, Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania Geological Survey Topographic and Geologic Atlas, 4th series, 86, 209 p., scale 1:24,000 and 1:48,000
  10. Doden, Arnold G. & Gold, David P. (2008). "Bedrock Geologic Map of The Mc Alevys Fort Quadrangle, Huntingdon, Centre, and Mifflin Counties, Pennsylvania" (PDF). Pennsylvania Geological Survey. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 9, 2011.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)

See also