The Appalachian Basin

Geologic Cross Section I–I′ Through the Appalachian Basin from the Eastern Margin of the Illinois Basin, Jefferson County, Kentucky, to the Valley and Ridge Province, Scott County, Virginia

“…), and Paleozoic sedimentary rocks along cross section I-I′ are briefly outlined and discussed in the following text. More detailed discussions are available in regional geological summaries by Colton (1970), Milici and de Witt (1988), Read (1989a,b), and Ettensohn (1992a).…”

“…This foreland basin and its sedimentary deposits are associated with the Alleghanian orogeny (Colton, 1970;Milici and de Witt, 1988;Hatcher and others, 1989). In contrast, Ettensohn, Greb, and others (2002) and Ettensohn (2009) consider the Upper Mississippian deposits to be associated with the final stages of the Acadian orogeny.…”

“…This foreland basin and its sedimentary deposits (the Catskill delta complex of Woodrow andSevon, 1985, andBoswell andothers, 1996; and the Price-Rockwell delta complex of Boswell and others, 1996) are associated with the Acadian orogeny (Colton, 1970;Milici and de Witt, 1988;Osberg and others, 1989;Faill, 1997b). The 5,000-to 7,000-ftthick Middle Devonian to Middle Mississippian siliciclastic interval of sandstone, siltstone, and gray shale shown on cross sections C-C′ (Ryder and others, 2012), D-D′ (Ryder and others, 2009), and E-E′ (Ryder, Swezey, and others, 2008) represent the more proximal part of the foreland basin deposits, whereas the 700-to 2,800-ft-thick interval of gray shale, black shale, siltstone, and minor sandstone shown on cross section I-I′ represents the distal sediments that were deposited on the craton beyond the foreland basin (Ettensohn and others, 1988).…”

“…This foreland basin and its sedimentary deposits are associated with the continent-island arc collision of the Taconic orogeny (Colton, 1970;Milici and de Witt, 1988;Drake and others, 1989;Pavlides, 1989;Faill, 1997a). The Upper Ordovician Reedsville Shale in Virginia is interpreted as shallow-marine shelf and turbidite deposits that were derived from the Taconic orogenic belt (Diecchio, 1985(Diecchio, , 1991Ettensohn, 1991;Castle, 2001), whereas the equivalent Clays Ferry Formation, Garrard Siltstone, Calloway Creek Limestone, and Ashlock Formation in Kentucky are interpreted as mainly peritidal to subtidal deposits (Ettensohn, 1991;Pope and Read, 1997).…”

“…Useful references for stratigraphic correlations and (or) nomenclature include the following: Colton (1970), Harris and Milici (1977), Le Van and Rader (1983), Patchen and others (1985), Milici and de Witt (1988), Swezey (2002), and Noger and Drahozal (2005) for the entire Paleozoic section; Read (1980), Webb (1980), Cressman (1973), Weir and others (1984), others (1993, 2006), Ryder, Crangle, and others (2008), and Harris and others (2004) for Cambrian and Ordovician rocks; Wilson and others (1981a,b), McDowell (1983), Currie and MacQuown (1984), Brett and others (1990), Dorsch and others (1994), and Meglen and Noger (1996) for Silurian rocks; Wilson and others (1981a,b), de Witt and others (1993), and Filer (2002Filer ( , 2003 for Devonian rocks; Averitt (1941), Englund (1979), Englund and Thomas (1990), Sable and Dever (1990), Chesnut (1992), Harris and Sparks (2000), Greb and others (2004, 2009), and Stamm (2004 for Mississippian and Pennsylvanian rocks. A correlation chart for all the stratigraphic units identified along cross section I-I′ is shown in figure 2.…”