Chagrin Shale | |
---|---|
Stratigraphic range: Famennian | |
Type | Formation |
Unit of | Ohio Shale |
Underlies | Cleveland Shale, Cussewago Sandstone |
Overlies | Huron Member |
Lithology | |
Primary | Shale |
Location | |
Region | Ohio |
Country | United States |
Type section | |
Named for | Chagrin River |
Named by | Charles S. Prosser |
The Chagrin Shale is a shale geologic formation in the eastern United States that is approximately 365 million years old. The Chagrin Shale is a gray shale that begins thin and deep underground in north-central Ohio. As it proceeds east, the formation thickens, rises to the surface, and contains greater amounts of siltstone.
The Chagrin Shale was identified in 1873 and named for the Chagrin River in 1903. John Strong Newberry, director of the Ohio State Geological Survey, first identified the formation in 1873. [1] He called it the Erie Shale, but it was discovered that the name "Erie Shale" was preoccupied (already in use). [2] Ohio State University professor of geology Charles S. Prosser further described the formation in 1903, and proposed the name "Chagrin Shale" because the shale presented such excellent outcroppings near the Chagrin River. [1] Dr. Prosser's suggested nomenclature was adopted. [3] Details of the type locality and of stratigraphic nomenclature of the Chagrin Shale, as used by the U.S. Geological Survey, are available on-line at the National Geologic Map Database. [4]
The Chagrin Shale is a gray [5] or greenish-gray [6] argillaceous shale [5] consisting of gray siltstone, silty gray shale, soft gray clay shale, and (uncommonly) grayish-black shale. [7] The primary minerals in the shale are chlorite, illite, kaolinite, and quartz. [6] Thin to massive beds [8] of siltstone and sandstone are common. [6] The amount of siltstone increases from west to east, at times forming beds up to 50 feet (15 m) thick. [7] Thin layers of ironstone and marcasite, as well as concentrations of marcasite, occur throughout the shale. [6]
The Chagrin Shale is classified as a weak to medium-strong rock, with a compressive strength anywhere from 5,000 pounds per square inch (34,000 kPa) to 15,000 pounds per square inch (100,000 kPa). The strength of the rock is much lower near soil/rock interface (where there is stress relief), and if there is weathering. [5]
The Chagrin Shale is found in north-central and northeastern Ohio, and in northwestern Pennsylvania. [7] The Chagrin Shale reaches a maximum thickness of 1,200 feet (370 m) in eastern Ohio. [7] In Ohio, the Chagrin Shale is thin in the west, [2] [3] and thickens as it proceeds east. [7]
The Chagrin Shale also extends south into West Virginia. [9] The unit is also present in Kentucky, where it is mapped as the Chagrin Shale tongue of the Ohio Shale. [10]
In Ohio, the Chagrin Shale underlies the Cleveland Shale [2] and overlies the Huron Shale. [3]
It is a member of the Ohio Shale. [2] [2] [3] [7] The Chagrin Shale grades into and between the Cleveland and Huron Shales. [2] [2]
The fossils found in the Chagrin Shale include the coelacanth fish Chagrinia , plants, and trace fossils including the ichnogenus Chagrinichnites . [11]
The fossils in the Chagrin Shale indicate that the unit is of the Late Devonian period. More precisely, the Chagrin Shale is of the Famennian stage, [2] which is approximately 365 million years old. [12]
The Chagrin Shale is interpreted as having accumulated in a shallow marine, offshore to nearshore environment of normal salinity and less than 45 meters water depth. [13]
Hydrogen sulfide and (more frequently) methane gas are found in the Chagrin Shale. On some occasions, these pockets of gas have proven quite large, and when reached by drills have vented for several weeks. Water infiltration of the formation on a sustained or large scale is rarely seen. [5]
The Acadian orogeny is a long-lasting mountain building event which began in the Middle Devonian, reaching a climax in the Late Devonian. It was active for approximately 50 million years, beginning roughly around 375 million years ago (Ma), with deformational, plutonic, and metamorphic events extending into the early Mississippian. The Acadian orogeny is the third of the four orogenies that formed the Appalachian Mountains and subsequent basin. The preceding orogenies consisted of the Grenville and Taconic orogenies, which followed a rift/drift stage in the Neoproterozoic. The Acadian orogeny involved the collision of a series of Avalonian continental fragments with the Laurasian continent. Geographically, the Acadian orogeny extended from the Canadian Maritime provinces migrating in a southwesterly direction toward Alabama. However, the northern Appalachian region, from New England northeastward into Gaspé region of Canada, was the most greatly affected region by the collision.
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.
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.
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 Marcellus Formation or the Marcellus Shale is a Middle Devonian age unit of sedimentary rock found in eastern North America. Named for a distinctive outcrop near the village of Marcellus, New York, in the United States, it extends throughout much of the Appalachian Basin.
The Lock Haven Formation is a Devonian mapped bedrock unit in Pennsylvania, in the Appalachian Mountains of the United States.
The Bedford Shale is a shale geologic formation in the states of Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, West Virginia, and Virginia in the United States.
The Exshaw Formation is a stratigraphic unit in the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin. It takes the name from the hamlet of Exshaw, Alberta in the Canadian Rockies, and was first described from outcrops on the banks of Jura Creek north of Exshaw by P.S. Warren in 1937. The formation is of Late Devonian to Early Mississippian age as determined by conodont biostratigraphy, and it straddles the Devonian-Carboniferous boundary.
The New Albany Shale is an organic-rich geologic formation of Devonian and Mississippian age in the Illinois Basin of the United States. It is a major source of hydrocarbons.
The Devonian Scherr Formation is a mapped bedrock unit in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia.
The Devonian Foreknobs Formation is a mapped bedrock unit in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia.
Berea Sandstone, also known as Berea Grit, is a sandstone formation in the U.S. states of Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Kentucky. It is named after Berea, Ohio. The sandstone has been used as a building stone and is a source of oil and gas.
The Glenshaw Formation is a mapped sedimentary bedrock unit in Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia, and Ohio, of Pennsylvanian age. It is the lower of two formations in the Conemaugh Group, the upper being the Casselman Formation. The boundary between these two units is the top of the marine Ames Limestone. The Conemaugh Group overlies the Upper Freeport coal bed of the Allegheny Formation and underlies the Pittsburgh coal seam of the Monongahela Group.
The Devonian Harrell Formation is a mapped bedrock unit in Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia, and Virginia.
The Waverly Group is a geologic group in Michigan and Ohio. It preserves fossils dating back to the Carboniferous period.
The Oriskany Sandstone is a Middle Devonian age unit of sedimentary rock found in eastern North America. The type locality of the unit is located at Oriskany Falls in New York. The Oriskany Sandstone extends throughout much of the Appalachian Basin.
The Cleveland Shale, also referred to as the Cleveland Member, is a shale geologic formation in the eastern United States.
The Sonyea Group is a geologic group in the northern part of the Appalachian Basin. It preserves fossils dating back to the Devonian period.
The Milwaukee Formation is a fossil-bearing geological formation of Middle Devonian age in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin. It stands out for the exceptional diversity of its fossil biota. Included are many kinds of marine protists, invertebrates, and fishes, as well as early trees and giant fungi.