Guide to the Geology of the Mt. Vernon Area, Jefferson County
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557 IL6gui 1989-D Guide to the Geology of the Mt. Vernon Area, Jefferson County David L. Reinertsen Stephen T. Whitaker Leon R. Follmer NOV 2 2 1989 Field Trip Guide Leaflet 1989D November 4, 1989 Department of Energy and Natural Resources "« ^TBTF GEOLOfilHAI ^''W ILLINOIS STATE GEOLOGICAL SURVEY Champaign, IL 61820 Cover photo: Geological Science Field Trip participants at the Nuxall Sand Pit northeast of Mt. Vernon. Printed by authority of the State of Illinois/1989/300 OOICAL SURVEY II I INOm STATF OFOI I '''^'^>2 3 3051 /. ' Guide to the Geology of the Mt. Vernon Area, Jefferson County David L. Reinertsen Stephen T. Whitaker Leon R. Follmer GEOLOGICAL SCIENCE FIELD TRIPS are free tours conducted by the Educational Extension Unit of the Illinois State Geological Survey to acquaint the public with the geology, landscape, and mineral resources of Illinois. Each is an all-day excursion through one or more Illinois counties; frequent stops are made for explorations, explanations, and collection of rocks and fossils. People of all ages and interests are welcome. The trips are especially helpful to teachers in preparing earth science units. Grade school students are welcome, but each must be accompanied by a parent or guardian. High school science classes should be supervised by at least one adult for every 10 students. A list of available guide leaflets for earlier trips, which can be used for planning class tours and private outings, may be obtained by contacting the Illinois State Geological Survey, Natural Resources Building, 615 East Peabody Drive, Champaign, IL 61820. (217) 244-2407 or 333-7372. MOW 2 2 1989 '' ^^^^"^ ^'"""^ Field Trip Guide Leaflet 1989D November 4, 1989 GFOIOGIPI*' Department of Energy and Natural Resources ILLINOIS STATE GEOLOGICAL SURVEY Champaign, IL 61820 TABLE OF CONTENTS GEOLOGIC FRAMEWORK OF THE MT. VERNON AREA 1 Location 1 Bedrock 1 Structural and Depositional History 2 Glacial History 6 Drainage 7 Relief 7 Physiography 7 MINERAL PRODUCTION 9 GROUNDWATER 9 GUIDE TO THE ROUTE 10-38 Stop 1 13 Stop 2 17 Stop 3 24 Stop 4 32 Stop 5 32 Stop 6 37 Stop 7 38 REFERENCES 38 FIGURES 1 North-south cross section of the Illinois Basin 2 2 Generalized geologic column of Southern Illinois 3 3 Major geologic stmctures of Illinois 4 4 Location of some of the major structures in the Illinois region 5 5 Vertical cross sections of normal and reverse faults 6 6 Physiographic divisions of Illinois 8 7 Annual crude oil production in Illinois, 1905-1988 13 8 Oil fields of the Illinois Basin 14 9 Places where oil is found in Illinois 15 10 Schematic diagram of oil production unit 16 11 Classification of McLeansboro Group, Pennsylvanian System 25 12 Nuxoll Sand Pit 34 ADDITIONAL MATERIALS (ATTACHED FOLLOWING PAGE 40) Pleistocene Glaciations in Illinois Depositional History of the Pennsylvanian Rocks in Illinois Common Pennsylvanian Plant Fossils Mississippian Deposition The Typical Mississippian Chesterian Series in Southwestern Illinois MAP OF FIELD TRIP AREA Back Cover GEOLOGIC FRAMEWORK OF THE MT. VERNON AREA Location The area of the Mt. Vernon geological science field trip lies within Jefferson County, which is slightly north of the center of southern Illinois. A nerve center of the state's oil industry, this area is about 280 miles south-southwest of Chicago, nearly 80 miles southeast of St. Louis, and about 100 miles north-northeast of Cairo. Bedrock The geology of the Jefferson County area has undergone many changes through hundreds of millions of years. The ancient Precambrian basement, composed of granitic igneous and possibly metamorphic, crystalline rocks more than a billion years old, undenwent deep erosion when it was exposed at the earth's surface more than 500 million years ago. That erosion formed a landscape similar to that of parts of the present-day Missouri Ozarks. In southernmost Illinois, near what is now the Kentucky-Illinois Fluorspar Mining District, evidence from surface mapping, seismic exploration for oil, and measurements of the earth's gravitational and magnetic fields indicates that rift valleys like those in present-day east Africa formed during a period when plate tectonic movements were beginning to rip apart the early North American continent. These rift valleys, now referred to as the Rough Creek Graben and the Reelfoot Rift, filled with sands and gravels shed from the adjacent uplands and with sediments deposited in lakes that formed along the valley floors. Near the begining of the Paleozoic Era, 525 million years ago, the rifting stopped, and the hilly Precambrian landscape began to slowly sink on a broad, regional scale. This permitted the invasion of a shallow sea from the south and southwest. During the several hundred million years of the Paleozoic Era, the area that is now southern Illinois continued to sink periodically, allowing shallow seas to ebb and flood across it. At times, however, the seas withdrew, and the sediments they had deposited were subjected to weathering and erosion. As a result, there are some gaps in the sedimentary record. By the end of the Paleozoic Era about 250 million years ago, at least 15,000 feet of sedimentary strata had accumulated (figs. 1 and 2). These strata range from about 523 million years old, the Cambrian Period of the Paleozoic Era, to 288 million years old, the Pennsylvanian Period. Based on evidence from outcrops and drill holes elsewhere in Illinois, younger rocks of latest Pennsylvanian and perhaps Permian (the youngest Paleozic rocks) or even younger age may once have been deposited in this area. However, during the 245 million years between the close of the Paleozoic Era and the onslaught of glaciation 1 to 2 million years ago, ample time passed for the erosion of perhaps thousands of feet of strata. All traces have been erased of any post-Pennsylvanian rocks that may have been present. Indirect evidence based on the rank of coal deposits and the generation of petroleum from source rocks indicates that perhaps as much as a mile and a half of latest Pennsylvanian and younger rocks once covered southern Illinois. In Jefferson County today. Paleozoic sedimentary strata reach total thicknesses of more than 9,000 feet in the northwest and about 12,300 feet in the southeast. Rocks of the Ordovician, Devonian, Mississippian, and Pennsylvanian Periods have been successfully tapped for their petroleum resources in Jefferson County. In Jefferson County, the bedrock strata of Pennsylvanian age that occur immediately beneath the cover of glacial till consist of sandstone, siltstone, shale, limestone, coal, and underclay 1 Chicago Rockford 100 Mi Figure 1. Stylized north-south cross section shows the structure of the Illinois Basin. The thickness of the sedimentary rocks has been greatly exaggerated to show detail, and the younger, unconsolidated surface deposits have been eliminated. The oldest rocks are Precambrian (Pre-C) granites. They form a depression that is filled with layers of sedimentary rocks of various ages: Cambrian (C), Ordovician (O), Silurian (S), Devonian (D), Mississippian (M), Pennsylvanlan (P), Cretaceous (K), and Tertiary (T). Scale is approximate. that were deposited in shallow seas and swamps between about 320 and 288 million years ago. Some of these rocks are exposed in scattered road- and stream-cuts. Oil fields that produce from Pennsylvanian-age sandstones have been developed in the northwestern part of the county. The total thickness of Pennsylvanlan strata increases from slightly less than 1200 feet in northwestern Jefferson County to approximately 2000 feet in the southeastern corner. A description of these rocks and how they fonned may be found at the back of this guide leaflet in Depositional History of the Pennsylvanlan Rocks. Structural and Depositional History Near the close of the Mississippian Period (320 million years ago), gentle arching of the bedrock in eastern Illinois initiated the development of the La Salle Anticlinal Belt (fig. 3). An anticline is a geologic term for a buried hill or dome in which the rock layers have been bent into an arch. The La Salle Anticlinal Belt is a complex structure with smaller stmctures such as domes, anticlines, and synclines superimposed on the broad upwarp of the belt. This gradual arching continued through Pennsylvanlan time. Because the youngest Pennsylvanlan strata are absent from the area of the anticlinal belt because of nondeposition or erosion, we cannot know just when movement along the belt ceased—perhaps by the end of the Pennsylvanlan or a little later, near the close of the Paleozoic Era during the Permian Period. , THICKNESS ABOUr 2000 FT THICKNESS ABOUT 1300 FT THICKNESS: ABOUT 4000 FT THICKNESS ABOUT 8000 FT GROVE CHURCH ST LOUIS Westfield KINKAID Mortinsville SALEM . • DEGONIA ^™». /Q-'^ z: ULLIN • PALESTINE T FT PAYNE BORDEN (Osage) m/''7: • Cole. Sonora Ul^^A T~rrT~r77 WALTERS8URG /I/ /d A • V?/^/, A / A / ^i /A/ VIENNA TAR SPRINGS a 7 A ' . - , ^^-^_. ] • Corper I I I l~~n— CHOUTEAU /-" 7 //VA , NEW ALBANY y^T7 GLEN DEAN • Hordm Wrlrr. "T LINGLE CARBONOflLE /;/;/,/ • HIbbord /A/' i/ Includes Anvil HARDINSBURG • Hoing Roch. Cubo, • GRAND TOWER U Dudley, , Genevo Dyhstro, Joke Cr HANEY [ij. Dutch Creek (Golconda lime) Jomesto*n, CLEAR CREEK zzz: Pleosonlview. sh ) Siqgins FRAILEYStGol I si or U Big Clifty, Jockson BACKBONE GRASSY KNOB SPOON BEECH CREEK IncI Belloir 500. (Borlow, bosol Gol ) BAILEY Bndgeporl, FRANCONIA CYPRESS " ^fe^' BfOwnmg.Cloy- MOCCASIN SPRINGS , :y>:<;6 Weiler, Kirkwood, pool, L.Dudley, Silunon.Niogoron "^^^^^ Isobel, Kickopoo, Corlyle, Belloir 900, ^ (reef ond nonreet) Petro, Robinson, Lindley EAU CLAIRE 2nd or L.Siggins, ST CLAIR Wilson RIDENHOWER(U P C 1 KANKAKEE/SEXTON g^?^ CREEK Somple (P Or. Sd, E.I II I EDGEWOOD ABBOTT BETHEL (Point CrSd .Will ) MAQUOKETA IncI Belloir 600. OOWNEYS BLUFF Burlschi. Cosey, (L. PC.