St. Louis Limestone

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St. Louis Limestone
Stratigraphic range: Mississippian Sub-period
Rock anhydrite (St. Louis Limestone, Middle Mississippian; subsurface gypsum mine in Martin County, Indiana, USA) 2 (29999233781).jpg
Rock anhydrite (St. Louis Limestone; subsurface gypsum mine in Martin County, Indiana)
Type Geological formation
Unit of Blue River Group
Sub-units Dover Chert, Horse Cave Member, Sisson Member
Underlies Ste. Genevieve Limestone
Overlies Salem Formation [1]
Thicknessup to 100 feet (30 m) [2]
Lithology
Primary Limestone
Other Shale, chert [2]
Location
Region Illinois, Indiana, Tennessee, Kentucky and Missouri
Country United States
Type section
Named for St. Louis, Missouri [1]
Named byEnglemann
Year defined1847
Geological map of Mammoth Cave National Park, incl. St. Louis Limestone NPS mammoth-cave-geologic-map.jpg
Geological map of Mammoth Cave National Park, incl. St. Louis Limestone
Outcrops of the St. Louis Limestone near Frenchburg, Kentucky St. Louis Limestone (Middle Mississippian; Route 460 roadcut south of Frenchburg, Kentucky, USA) 3 (46672347301).jpg
Outcrops of the St. Louis Limestone near Frenchburg, Kentucky

The St. Louis Limestone is a large geologic formation covering a wide area of the midwest of the United States. It is named after an exposure at St. Louis, Missouri. It consists of sedimentary limestone with scattered chert beds, including the heavily chertified Lost River Chert Bed in the Horse Cave Member. It is exposed at the surface through western Kentucky and Middle Tennessee, including the city of Clarksville, Tennessee. The limestone deposit is Mississippian in age, in the Meramecian series, roughly 330-340 million years old.

Fossils commonly found in the St. Louis include the rugosan corals Lithostrotion and Lithostrotionella and the bryozoan Fenestrellina .

See also

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