Jackfork Sandstone

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Jackfork Sandstone
Stratigraphic range: Pennsylvanian
Quartz-rhqtz-83b.jpg
Quartz from the Jackfork Sandstone
Type Formation
Underlies Johns Valley Shale
Overlies Stanley Shale
Thickness3,500 to 6,000 feet
Lithology
PrimarySandstone
OtherShale, conglomerate
Location
Region Ouachita Mountains
Country United States
Type section
Named forJackfork Mountain, Pittsburg and Pushmataha Counties, Oklahoma [1]
Named byJ. A. Taff, 1902

The Jackfork Sandstone, also referred to as the Jackfork Group, is a geologic formation associated with the Ouachita Fold and Thrust Belt exposed in western Arkansas and southeastern Oklahoma. [2] It is named for Jackfork Mountain in Pittsburg and Pushmataha counties, Oklahoma. [2] [3]

The Jackfork Sandstone is a thin- to massive-bedded, fine- to coarse-grained, brown, tan, or gray quartzitic sandstone with subordinate brown, silty sandstone and dark gray shale. [2] It outcrops from Pulaski County, Arkansas in the east to Atoka County, Oklahoma in the west, a distance of over 200 miles. It is highly weather-resistant, resulting in a continuous chain of prominent ridges, including Rich Mountain, the second highest natural point in the Ouachita Mountains.

Paleoflora

A. parksii [4]
A. stanleyensis [4]
C. inopinatus [4]
C. menae [4]
C. miseri [4]
L. subclypeatum [4]
L. peniculus [4]
N. antecedens [4]
R. costatulus [4]
R. choctavense [4]
T. gillhami [4]
T. vallisjohanni [4]

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The McAlester Formation is a Pennsylvanian geologic formation in the Ouachita Mountains of Arkansas and Oklahoma. Early descriptions of this unit considered it to be part of the Coal Measures, part of the Upper or Western Coal Bearing Division, the Spadra Stage and part of the Sebastian Stage, and part of the Cavaniol Group. In 1899, J.A. Taff introduced the McAlester Formation name in his study of the Ouachita Mountains of Oklahoma. The name was introduced into Arkansas in 1907 as the McAlester Group, where it consisted of the formations known as the Spadra Shale, the Fort Smith Formation, and the Paris Shale. These formations was redefined and replaced in 1960, when the McAlester Shale replaced the Spadra Shale and the lower Fort Smith Formation. The McAlester Formation is informally recognized with three sub-units in Arkansas: the Lower and Upper Hartshorne coal beds, and the McAlester coal bed. Taff assigned the type locality near the town of McAlester in Pittsburg County, Oklahoma, however he did not state whether the town is the origin of the name. Taff did not designate a stratotype and, as of 2017, a reference section for the McAlester Formation has not been designated.

The Savanna Sandstone or Savanna Formation is a Pennsylvanian geologic formation in the Ouachita Mountains of Arkansas and Oklahoma. Early descriptions of this unit have considered it to be part of the Coal Measures, part of the Upper or Western Coal Bearing Division, part of the Sebastian Stage, and part of the Cavaniol Group. In 1899, J.A. Taff introduced the Savanna Formation name in his study of the Ouachita Mountains of Oklahoma. The name was introduced into Arkansas in 1907, although in 1950, the interval was renamed the Boggy Formation, while the name "Savanna Formation" replaced the underlying interval consisting of the upper Fort Smith Formation and the lower Paris Shale. The Savanna Formation is informally recognized with two named sub-units in Arkansas: the Charleston and Paris coal beds. Taff assigned the type area to the towns of McAlester and Savanna in Pittsburg County, Oklahoma, however he did not state whether the town of Savanna is the origin of the name. Taff did not designate a stratotype, however, a reference section was designated in 1995 in Pittsburg County, Oklahoma.

References

  1. Taff, J.A. (1902). "Description of the Atoka quadrangle". U.S. Geological Survey Geological Atlas of the United States. 79: 4.
  2. 1 2 3 "Stratigraphic Summary of the Arkansas River Valley and Ouachita Mountains". Arkansas Geological Survey. Archived from the original on 2018-05-29. Retrieved 2017-12-15.
  3. Joseph A. Taff (1902). "Description of the Atoka Quadrangle" (PDF). Folios of the Geologic Atlas. 79: 4. doi:10.3133/GF79. Wikidata   Q63225784.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 White, David (1937). "Fossil plants from the Stanley Shale and Jackfork Sandstone in southeastern Oklahoma and western Arkansas" (PDF). U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper. 186-C: 43–66.