Stratigraphy and Fauna of the Louisiana Limestone of Missouri
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
If you no longer need thii publication write to the Geological Surrey in Washington (or an official mailing label to use in returning it UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR STRATIGRAPHY AND FAUNA OF THE LOUISIANA LIMESTONE OF MISSOURI GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 203 UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR Harold L. Ickes, Secretary GEOLOGICAL SURVEY W. E. Wrather, Director Professional Paper 203 STRATIGRAPHY AND FAUNA OF THE LOUISIANA LIMESTONE OF MISSOURI BY JAMES STEELE WILLIAMS Prepared in cooperation with the MISSOURI GEOLOGICAL SURVEY AND WATER RESOURCES UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE WASHINGTON : 1943 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U. S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D. C. Price 50 cent* CONTENTS Page * Page Abstract-___ _______________________________________ 1 Age and correlation—Continued. Introduction _______________________________________ 2 Reasons for assignment to Kinderhook group______' 37 Purpose and scope of the investigation..__________ 2 Correlation with other lower Mississippian form Acknowledgments. _ _____________________________ 2 ations, _ __________-___--______-----__-__--___ 38 Previous work________________________________ 3 Correlation with beds at Kinderhook and Bur Stratigraphy _ ______________________________________ 4 lington. __________-___--__-_----_____---_ 38 Geologic position of the Louisiana limestone._____ 4 Correlation with other formations in Missouri-_ 43 Relation to underlying rocks_ ____________________ 4 Correlation with formations in other States.___ 46 Relation to overlying rocks ______________________ 5 Foreign correlation________________________ 47 Extent and thickness__________________________ 6 Source of the Louisiana fauna._______________________ 48 Lithologic features._____________________________ 11 Paleogeographic interpretations_______--___-______-- 49 Topographic expression_________________________ 12 Conditions of deposition.____________________________ 52 Location of representative outcrops _______________ 13 Descriptive paleontology.____________ _______________ 54 Pike County _______________________________ 13 Procedure followed in description of species________ 54 Rails County_____________________________ 13 Description of species__________________________ 55 Marion County___________________________ 13 Protozoa. _ _ _______________________________ 55 Local sections __________________________________ 13 Rhizopoda_ _ _________--_-_-_-_-_--_---_ 55 Lincoln County____-_-_____-_____-__-_____ 13 Foraminif era_ _____________.,_ _______ 55 Pike County_______________________________ 15 Porifera_ _______________--_--_--_____-__-_- 55 Rails County_____________________________ 20 Coelenterata ______________-____-____-_--_-- 55 Marion County___________________________ 22 Anthozoa._____________________________ 55 Illinois ____________________________________ 25 Tetracoralla_ __ _ _.___--__-______-___ 55 Composition of the limestone.,______________________ 25 Alcyonaria. __________________--_--- 58 Mineral composition____________________________ 25 Subclass unknown: Suborder Tabulata_ 59 Chemical composition ___________________________ 26 Annelida_________________________________ 61 Economic uses and possibilities.______________________ 27 Echinodermata. ____________________________ 63 Lithographic stone______________________________ 27 Blastoidea_____________________ 63 Highway material__________-_____-_-______-_-_ 28 Crinoidea__ _ ___________________________ 64 Portland cement______________________________ 28 Molluscoidea__ ___-_--___-_-_-___-__--__.--_- 66 Lime for mortar________________________________ 28 Bryozoa ________--__-__--__--___--__-_- 66 Fertilizer. _____________________________________ 28 Brachiopoda_ __________________________ 67 Building stone________________________________ 28 Mollusca. _______________________________ 92 Riprap and rubble______________________________ 29 Pelecypoda _____-___-_-_-__--_-_____--- 92 Minor uses of limestone.________________________ 29 Amphineura__ _ _______________________ 100 Structure __________________________________________ 29 Gastropoda-___________________________ 101 Stratigraphic paleontology ___________________________ 29 Cephalopoda.__.-______--___-___-_-___- 104 Composition of the fauna________________________ 29 Arthropoda _______-_-_________-_--__--__-__ 109 Vertical and facies distribution of the fossils-_____ 30 Crustacea. _-____^_____-_-_______-_-_--- 109 Geographic distribution of fossils _________________ 31 Trilobita.—_____ — - — — ___- — -— 109 Register of collecting localities______________ 31 Eucrustacea. _______________________ 114 Distribution table_________________________ 31 Ostracoda_ _ _______-___-___-_- 114 Age and correlation_________________________________ 34 Vertebrata_ _________________-___-____--_--- 114 General discussion ______________________________ 34 Arthrodira_ _______!!___-_____-__-__--_-- 114 Reasons for the assignment to the Carboniferous. _ _ 34 Elasmobranchii_ _ _____________________ 114 Stratigraphic evidence for early Carboniferous Conodonts- _.____________-__-_-_--____- 115 age______ —— ____ —— _•_______.,_ ———— __ 35 Bibliography. _-____________--________----_--_------ 115 Faunal evidence for Carboniferous age________ 36 ______________________________._______-_-_— 129 ILLUSTRATIONS Page PLATE 1. A, Louisiana limestone at Louisiana, Mo. ;B, Lower contact of Louisiana limestone at Clarksville, Mo.; C, Lower contact of Louisiana limestone at Louisiana, Mo_____--___________ _____________________________________ 12 2. A, Irregular contact between Louisiana limestone and overlying Hannibal shale, about 1 mile north of Hannival, Mo.; B, Contact between same formations at Lovers Leap, Hannibal, Mo.; C, Dolomitic beds in the upner part of the Louisiana limestone at Lovers Leap___-______________.._________-__-____-__------_------__-- 12 3. A, Hand specimen of Louisiana limestone from the lower 5 feet of the Louisiana in the section exposed at Bufalo Hill, 1 mile south of Louisiana, Mo.; B, Hand specimen of relatively hard dolomitic parting between limestone beds of the Louisiana limestone from the lower 5 feet of the Louisiana in the section exposed at Buffalo Hill; C, Hand specimen of yellow-brown calcareous mudstone at base of Louisiana limestone at Louisiana, Mo____ 28 4. A, B, Photomicrographs (different magnifications) of thin sections of the typical fiiie-grained Louisiana lime stone shown in plate 3, A; C, Photomicrograph of thin section of dolomitic parting shown in plate 3, B; D, Photomicrograph of thin section of lithographic limestone from Solenhofen, Bavaria_____-------_-__------ 28 5. Ancient land masses and basins of deposition in Missouri and adjacent areas_____________-___•__-._________-_ 52 6-9. Fauna of the Louisiana limestone of Missouri.___. _____________-___________---_-_______-----__--_--__---, 119 FIGUKB 1. Sketch showing relations between the Louisiana limestone and overlying Glen Park formation at Hamburg, Ill__ 5 2. Sketch showing relations between the dolomitic beds in the upper part of the Louisiana limestone and the o^er- lying Hannibal shale along east face of Lovers Leap at Hannibal, Mo__________________________________ 6 3. Sketch showing relations between the Louisiana limestone and overlying dolomitic limestone beds tentatively referred to the Hannibal shale, locality 552, Marion County, Mo_______________._____-__-_---__----_--_- 6 4. Another sketch from locality 552 showing relations between same beds as shown in figure 3____-_--____-_"____- 6 5. Index map showing areal distribution of the Louisiana limestone at the surface in Missouri______- ___________ . 7 6. Isopach map showing thickness, in feet, and shape of the Louisiana limestone body__________________________ 9 7. Generalized composite columnar section of the Louisiana limestone_______________________________________ 12 8. Index map of Marion, Rails, Pike, and Lincoln Counties, Mo., and of Adams, Pike, and Calhoun Counties, 111., showing location of stratigraphic sections and of main structural features described in this report.________ 14 9. Diagrammatic representation of part of a section of "Orthocerasl" n. sp. A., showing shape of deposit within the camerae---_-_--_---_____-_______________-____._______-_____________--_____-_________-___--___,. * _ _ 107 IV STRATIGRAPHY AND FAUNA OF THE LOUISIANA LIMESTONE OF MISSOURI By JAMES STEELE WILLIAMS ABSTRACT The Louisiana limestone (the Lithographic limestone of early beds. They are very rare in the dolomite beds. There seems Missouri reports) is one of the oldest Carboniferous formations little indication of pronounced ecological preferences betyreen in the upper Mississippi River Valley. Although now generally the classes or genera in the relations of their occurrence to differ thought to be of Carboniferous age, it was for some years thought ent types of sediments, except that the pelecypods and the to be of Devonian age, and at the present time some investigators Conularias seem to have lived best under ecological conditions consider it more likely to be Devonian than Carboniferous. represented in part by a muddy substratum. Several species of The Louisiana limestone occurs at the surface only in north pelecypods and of Conularia are restricted ,to the yellow-brown eastern Missouri and in the central part of western Illinois. limy mudstone. Subsurface data show that it'does not extend underground far The age assignment and correlations of ijhe Louisiana lime beyond the area in which it crops