AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF PROFESSIONAL GEOLOGIST (KENTUCKY SECTION) PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FIELD TRIP SILURIAN, DEVONIAN, AND MISSISSIPPIAN HYDROCARBON-RICH HORIZONS IN NORTHEASTERN KENTUCKY: PERSPECTIVES IN THE FIELD Saturday April 18, 2015 Field Trip Leaders Frank Ettensohn Charlie Mason Tom Lierman Modified and Compiled by Richard Smath, Charlie Mason, Frank Ettensohn, Tom Lierman, and Margaret Smath (Stops 1-4, modified and from the 1992 Geological Society of America Meeting with permission from the State of Ohio, Department of Natural Resources, Division of Geological Survey Contents Introduction .................................................................................................................................................1 Stop 1: Herron Hill ......................................................................................................................................4 Crab Orchard Shale (Middle Silurian) ........................................................................................4 Bisher Dolostone (Middle Silurian) .............................................................................................4 Upper Olentangy Shale (Upper Devonian)..............................................................................10 Ohio Shale (Upper Devonian) ....................................................................................................10 Huron Member ................................................................................................................10 Stop 2: Webster Cemetery ........................................................................................................................11 Stop 3: Evans Chapel ................................................................................................................................13 Cowbell Member ..........................................................................................................................13 Nancy Member .............................................................................................................................13 Farmers Member ..........................................................................................................................13 Henley Bed of the Farmers Member .........................................................................................15 Sunbury Shale ...............................................................................................................................16 Berea Sandstone ...........................................................................................................................16 Bedford Shale ................................................................................................................................18 Stop 4: Kinniconick Creek ........................................................................................................................18 Introduction ..................................................................................................................................18 Stratigraphic and Sedimentologic Framework ........................................................................19 Eastern Platform ...........................................................................................................................19 Western Basin ...............................................................................................................................20 Discussion .....................................................................................................................................23 Storm-Dominated Shelf Margin Near Garrison ......................................................................25 Stop 5: Type Section, Three Lick Bed .....................................................................................................32 Stop 6: Silurian-Devonian Contact and Lower Black-Shale Section, Northeastern Kentucky ......34 Stop 6A ..........................................................................................................................................34 Stop 6B (Optional) ........................................................................................................................38 Stop 7: Upper Part of the Black-Shale Sequence and Lower Borden Formation .............................40 Unit 1, Cleveland Shale Member (Ohio Shale) ........................................................................40 Unit 2 (Bedford Shale) .................................................................................................................45 Unit 3 (Sunbury Shale) ................................................................................................................47 Unit 4, Henley Bed, Farmers Member (Borden Formation) ..................................................50 Unit 5, Farmers Member (Borden Formation) .........................................................................51 Unit 5, Farmers/Nancy Transition (Borden Formation) ........................................................54 Unit 6, Nancy Member (Borden Formation) ............................................................................54 Interpretation ................................................................................................................................54 Stop 8: Granitic Dropstone Embedded in the Uppermost Cleveland Shale Member of the Ohio Shale .....................................................................................................................................56 Statistics .........................................................................................................................................56 Granite Boulder ...............................................................................................................56 Size and Shape .................................................................................................................56 Size ....................................................................................................................................56 Thickness ..........................................................................................................................56 Density ..............................................................................................................................56 Estimated Weight ............................................................................................................56 Lithology ..........................................................................................................................56 Mineralogy .......................................................................................................................56 Petrology ..........................................................................................................................56 Contents (Continued) Age ....................................................................................................................................56 Interpretation ...................................................................................................................57 Kentucky Dropstone “Ices” the Case for Late Devonian Alpine Glaciation in the Central Appalachians ..................................................................................................................59 Abstract ............................................................................................................................59 Introduction .....................................................................................................................59 Appalachian Diamictites ................................................................................................61 Kentucky Dropstones? ...................................................................................................64 The 500-km Connection .................................................................................................64 Implications .....................................................................................................................65 Glaciation ............................................................................................................65 Black-Shale Sedimentation ...............................................................................65 Tectonics ..............................................................................................................66 Conclusions ......................................................................................................................66 References Cited ........................................................................................................................................67 Figures 1. Field trip stops along and near I-64 in northeastern Kentucky ...............................................2 2. The geologic section along the field trip route with the relative stratigraphic positions of the sections viewed at each stop .............................................................................................3 3. Interior Low Plateaus Province, in which most of the trip takes place, and parts of adjacent provinces, showing major geologic and geographic features .................................5 4. Schematic cross section through the east flank of the Cincinnati Arch from the Lexing- ton area westward to the Grayson area in Kentucky ...............................................................6