Stratigraphy and Depositional Environments of the Kanawha Formation (Middle Pennsylvanian) Along I-77, Charleston to Mossy, West Virginia

MARTINO, RONALD L., Marshall University, Huntington, WV

The Kanawha Formation accounts for about 60% of the coal currently produced in West Virginia. Outcrops at 30 locations along or near I-77 between Charleston and Mossy were measured and divided into component sedimentary facies. Distinguishing criteria include lithology, sedimentary structures, body and trace fossils, paleocurrents, and facies geometry. Deposystem analysis indicates that river-dominated deltas were common at some locations along the coastal zone but the interdeltaic tidal flats and estuarine channels were also important, particularly following abandonment of distributaries or

during rising sea level. In many cases, channels were apparently cut mainly by fluvial discharge, but that tidal influence was significant during channel filling. Evidence for tidal influence includes paleocurrent data, rhythmic tectures and structures, and associated biogenic structures.

At least nine marine zones are present between and including the Eagle Shale and Kahawha Black Flint. The base of these marine units commonly contains evidence for coastal ravinement. Ravinement surfaces truncate intertidal facies and coastal plain coals. A new marine unit has been identified in the Charleston area 15 m above the Winifrede Shale.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #91005 © 1991 Eastern Section Meeting, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, September 8-10, 1991 (2009)