GEOLOGY of the W M T E RANGLE POPE COUNTY, ILLINOI
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GEOLOGY OF THE WmTE RANGLE POPE COUNTY, ILLINOI C. Pius Weibel .W. John Nelson Lynne B. Oliver .Steven P. Esling Department of Energy and Natural Resources ILLINOIS STATE GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 98 1993 Southern Illinois University at Carbondale BULLETIN 98 1993 ILLINOIS STATE GEOLOGICAL SURVEY Morris W. Leighton, Chief 615 East Peabody Drive Champaign, IL 61820-6964 Cover photo Pounds Sandstone Member of the Caseyvllle Formation southwest of Rock in Pope County (photo by C. Pius Weibel) Printed by authority of the State of Illinois/1993/1200 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ABSTRACT 1 INTRODUCTION Location Physiography Geologic Setting Previous Studies Method of Shrdy BEDROCK STRATIGRAPHY Mississippian System Undifferentiated Pope Group Golconda Formation Hardinsburg Sandstone Glen Dean Limestone Tar Springs Sandstone Vienna Limestone Waltersburg Formation Menard Limestone Palestine Sandstone Clore Forma tion Degonia Formation Kinkaid Limestone Mississippian-Pennsylvanian Unconformity Pennsylvanian System Caseyville Formation Wayside" Member Battery Rock Sandstone Member "Drury" Member Pounds Sandstone Member Tradewater Formation Lower shale and sandstone member Middle sandstone member Upper shaley member SURFICIAL GEOLOGY Introduction Methodology Field Methods Laboratory Methods Construction of the Stack-Unit Map Stratigraphy Lithostratigraphic Units: Upland Formations Oak formation Roxana Silt Peoria Silt Peyton Formation Lithostratigraphic Units: Valley Formations Equality Forma tion Cahokia Alluvium Pedostratigraphic Units Sangarnon Soil Farmdale Soil Buncombe Soil Resources Land Use Waste Disposal General Construction Seismic Risk STRUCTURAL GEOLOGY Lusk Creek Fault Zone Raum Fault Zone Hobbs Creek Fault Zone Flick Branch Fault Other Faults History and Origin of Faulting ECONOMIC GEOLOGY Fluorspar Limestone Sandstone Clay Petroleum Coal REFERENCES FIGURES Cooperative Geological Mapping Program (COGEOMAP), January 1993 Cultural features and drainages of the Waltersburg Quadrangle Map showing major structural features and the Illinois-Kentucky Fluorspar District in the vicinity of the Waltersburg Quadrangle Graphic column of Abner Field No. 1Well Graphic column of U.S. Government No. 1Well Graphic column of Truebger No. 3 Well Graphic column of COGEOMAP W-3 Well Basal chert bed of Degonia Forma tion Graphic column of Goreville Limestone Member of Kinkaid Limestone from an abandoned quarry Graphic column of U.S. Forest Service Eddyville guard station well Field sketch of deformed shale and thin bedded sandstone in "Wayside" member of Caseyville Formation Graphic column of COGEOMAP W-1 Well Graphic column of COGEOMAP W-2 Well Graphic column of "Drury" member of Caseyville Formation Pounds Sandstone Member of Caseyville Formation Graphic columns of measured sections in the Tradewater Formation within the Dixon Springs Graben Stratigraphic classification of the Quaternary deposits in the Waltersburg Quadrangle General locations of borings Vertical distribution of clay minerals and particle sizes for borhgs W2, W7, W3, W16, and W17 Cross section showing the distribution of the Quaternary ~tsin Flat Lick Valley Vertical distribution of clay minerals and particle sizes for borings W10, W12, and W9 Cross sections of Lusk Creek Fault Zone Cross sections of Raum Fault Zone Field sketch of deformed Tradewater strata in a stream bank Interpretive sketch of deformed Pounds Sandstone and Tradewater strata Origin of upthrown and downthrown slices in Lusk Creek Fault Zone Interpretive structural history of the Waltersburg Quadrangle 1 Location of wells used for bedrock study 7 2 Relation between modern soil series and Quaternary map units 23 3 Locations of borings 24 4 Chemical analyses of of channel sample of Tunnel Hill(?) Coal 38 The U.S. Geollogicd Survey (USGS), under the Cooperative Geological Mag- ping Program (COGEOMAP), provided significant support for the research reported in this publication. Annual grants from 1985 through 1991 provided partial funding for the project, Geologic Mapping Along the Southern Clo- sure of the Illinois Basin. The geologic mapping of sixteen 7.5-minute quad- rangles and the publication of quadrangle maps (1:24,OUO scale) and the accompanying reports were the objectives of this project. Joseph A. Devera (ISGS) mapped a part of the bedrock in the northwest comer of the quadrangle. Russel Peppers (ISGS) analyzed the palynology of the coals and provided biostratigraphic data. James W. Baxter (ISGS), Russell J. Jacobson OSGS), and Charles M. Rice (USGS) carefully critiqued the geo- logic map. Heinz H. Damberger, as project leader of COGEOMAP, provided continuous encouragement and advice. Finally, we are grateful to the private landowners who allowed us to enter their property to examine outcrops and especially to those who allowed us to drill the stratigraphic tests. Bedrock outcrops of the Waltersburg Four northeast-trending parallel the fault zones, occur between these 7.5-Minute Quadrangle in Pope fault zones transect the quadrangle. WOfault planes. County, southeastern Illinois, con- These post-Pennsylvanian faults are The principal mineral. resources sist mainly of upper Mississippian part of a regional northeast-trending in the quadrangle are sandstone for (Chesterian) and lower Pennsyl- fault system in the west part of the construction and limestone for con- vanian (Morrowan to early Atokan) Illinois-Kentucky Fluorspar District. struction and agriculture. Small strata. The Chesterian strata consist The Lusk Creek Fault Zone bounds shallow deposits of fluorspar and as- of fine grained clastic rocks and the northwest side of the Dixon sociated minerals have been mined limestones of the upper Pope Group Springs Graben, and the Hobbs locally, suggesting that unknown and include the Golconda Forma- Creek Fault Zone bounds the south- deeper resources may occur along tion up to the Kinkaid Limestone. east side. The Raum Fault Zone par- faults in the quadrangle. The The Pennsylvanian strata consist of allels the Lusk Creek and Hobbs amount of coal resources is small; the sandstonedominated Caseyville Creek Fault Zones and bisects the coal beds are too thin and discon- and Tradewater Formations. Upper Dixon Springs Graben. The Flick tinuous to exploit economically, al- Valmeyeran limestones occur within Branch Fault (new name) occurs though a few small coal mines have thin fault slices. A petroleum explo- southeast of the Hobbs Creek Fault operated in the past. Three explora- ration well reached the Devonian Zone. The geologic structure of the tion wells for oil and gas have been Lingle Limestone, the oldest known quadrangle is the result of several drilled and all were abandoned. Res- bedrock in the Waltersburg Quad- episodes of deformation. Rifting dur- ervoir characteristics of buried, pre- rangle. The well also drilled through ing the Cambrian Period resulted in upper Mississippian strata are the New Albany Shale, several normal faulting along the Lusk unknown within the quadrangle. lower (Kinderhookian) and middle Creek Fault. Additional normal fault- Laterally extensive aqtlifers and (Valmeyeran)Mississippian forma- ing may have occurred during the economic deposits of sand and tions, and the lowermost Pope Early Pennsylvanian. A post-at oh gravel aggregate are not present Group. compressional episode resulted in re- among the surficial materials. The Extensive Pleistocene (Illinoian verse faulting along the Lusk Creek geology of the area is unsuitable for and Wisconsinan) deposits cover and Raum Fault Zones (which landfills unless measures are taken much of the bedrock. The uplands merge at depth). Final deformation to prevent migration of leachate. are covered by bedrock residuum was an extensional episode, during Properly designed construction pro- (Oak formation) and loess (Roxana which normal faulting occurred jects can be sited throughout most of and Peoria Silts): the slopes by collu- along the same fault planes or along the quadrangle. The study area lies vium (Peyton Formation), and the adjacent fault planes. Narrow slices in a zone of high seismicity; struc- valleys by lacustrine (Equality For- of rock, which are older or younger tures built in valley bottoms are mation) and alluvial deposits (Ca- than the strata on adjacent sides of more at risk than structures having hokia Alluvium). foundations in bedrock. This study was conducted as part of larly of the Caseyville Formation. and E 1/2 SE, Section 11, T12S, R6E. the ongoing Cooperative Geologic Streams eroding the Pennsylvanian Upland exposures of Mississippian Mapping Program (COGEOMAP), and thick Mississippian sandstones strata are generally above 500 feet which is jointly supported by the have formed narrow valleys or can- rnsl; exposures of Pennsylvanian United States Geological Survey yons, whereas those eroding Missis- strata are generally above 600 feet (USGS) and the Illinois State Geo- sippian limestones, shales, and msl. Bottomlands are generally be- logical Survey (ISGS). This report is thin sandstones have formed broad, tween 350 and 400 feet msl. The low- a companion to the Waltersburg Geo- open valleys. Thicker Mississippian est elevation is less than 320 feet rnsl logic Quadrangle of Weibel et al. limestones are locally characterized in the southeast corner of the quad- (1992) and is one of a series of ISGS by a karst topography and drainage rangle along Eusk Creek. Total relief maps and reports on the geology of system. is 460 feet, although local relief is southern Illinois (fig. 1). This geo- The highest elevations in the typically