Sylvania Sandstone of Northwestern Ohio

Detroit River group in the Michigan basin

“…The Filer sandstone lentil of the Amherstburg formation has been described in some detail by Enyert (1949 The Sylvania sandstone member of the Amherstburg formation has been described by Grabau and Sherzer (1910), Carman (1936), and Enyert (1949). Enyert studied both outcrop and subsurface sections; the others confined their investigations to the outcrop.…”

“…An eolian origin of the Sylvania sandstone member of the Amherstburg formation was postulated by Carman (1936) suggested a reworking of eolian sands by marine waters. But with these exceptions the tendency heretofore has been to consider the sand of the Sylvania as having accumulated by current action like modern beach and barrier sands, or like the famous oil-bearing "shoestring" sands of Kansas and Oklahoma.…”

“…Carman (1936) believes that the Sylvania was deposited in a transgressing sea so that the sandstone extends across age boundaries within the Detroit River group and is therefore of variable age.…”

“…This absence of a sharp contact can be observed in both quarry exposures and in well samples. Carman (1936) called attention to the upward gradation of the Sylvania in 1936.…”

An alternative hypothesis for sink development above salt cavities in the Detroit area

“…The small amount of cement consists of dolomitic material or calcite, deposited secondarily by percolating water. Descriptions of the body of the Sylvania Sandstone by various investigators (for example, Grabau and Sherzer, 1910;Reavely and Winder, 1961;Carman, 1936) revealed the Sylvania Sandstone cohesion as being highly variable from one location to another. At Point Hennepin, the material varies from coherent to loosely coherent.…”