Print this pageAbstract: Early Pennsylvanian Depositional Systems in Northeastern Kentucky--Their Relation to Local Structure
The Early Pennsylvanian in northeast Kentucky was marked by the initiation of the massive clastic deposition which dominates the Pennsylvanian and Permian of the Appalachian basin. Investigation of these sedimentary rocks has led to a new insight as to their occurrence and origin.
Five distinct facies, defined on the basis of composition, grain size, sedimentary structures, biota, and trace fossils, have been identified. The facies are represented as: (1) black, silty shale with abundant organic matter; (2) fine-grained, trough cross-bedded, quartzose sandstone; (3) horizontally laminated, bioturbated, silty sandstone; (4) fine-grained, horizontally thin-bedded sandstone with trace fossils common; and (5) coarse-grained, planar, and trough cross-bedded, quartzose sandstone.
The facies are in a generally coarsening upward sequence which directly overlies Mississippian carbonate rocks of the Newman Formation or siltstones and shales of the Borden Formation. The orientation of the facies and the relation of paleocurrent data to that of adjacent Lower Pennsylvanian sedimentary rocks indicate structural control from a topographic high on the west. In addition, the nature of the basal contact suggests that this structure may have been active in Middle or Late Mississippian time.
The systems appear to be related to the Lower Pennsylvanian conglomerates and sandstones of southeastern Ohio and are separate from the massive Lee Formation sandstones and conglomerates farther south and east.
AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90975©1976 GCAGS- GC Section SEPM Annual Meeting Shreveport, Louisiana