Bulletins - IGWS

Permanent link for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/2022/155

Introduced in 1948, bulletins were the third series to appear as an IGWS publication and contained major statewide geological studies. This series used a 6- by 9-inch format. The last bulletin, Indiana Geological Survey Bulletin 65 titled “The Role of Carbonate Bedrock in the Formation of Indianite Halloysite Clays,” was published in 1995. All required a full formal review.

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Endellite Deposits in Gardner Mine Ridge, Lawrence County
(Indiana Geological & Water Survey, 1948) Callaghan, Eugene
Correlation of the Waldron and Mississinewa Formations
(Indiana Division of Geology, 1948) Esarey, Ralph E.; Bieberman, Doris F.
Silurian and Devonian outcrops of Indiana are divided roughly into two areas, northern and southeastern Indiana. The bedrock of the northern area is largely covered by glacial drift, whereas the bedrock of the southeastern area is well exposed. These two areas are separated by an intervening zone which is blanketed completely by glacial drift. Although accurate and detailed work has been done on the Silurian and Devonian outcrops of the state, the formations of the two areas have never been correlated. The Silurian and Devonian formations in Indiana dip off the Cincinnati and Kankakee Arches into the Michigan Basin and the Eastern Interior Basin. The formations are difficult to trace in subsurface studies, because they are composed of a series of gradational limestones, dolomites, and calcareous siltstones. The surface formations have not been recognized in the subsurface strata. Some of the subsurface beds cannot be correlated with the outcropping beds, because additional sediments deposited in the basin do not appear on the arches. The Silurian-Devonian contact lacks identifying characteristics over much of the area, and, for this reason, many subsurface reports have considered both systems as one unit. The writers believe that accurate determinations of thickening, thinning, and pinching-out of the Silurian and Devonian formations on the flanks of the arches would be of great assistance in future prospecting for oil. These two problems, the geology of the arches and the geology of the basins, go hand in hand. Additional subsurface correlation studies are needed to clarify the Silurian and Devonian stratigraphy of Indiana.
Physiography of the Lower Wabash Valley
(Indiana Geological & Water Survey, 1948) Fidlar, Marion M.
Glacial Sluiceways and Lacustrine Plains of Southern Indiana
(Indiana Division of Geology, 1950) Thornbury, William D.
Lacustrine plains of two distinct ages and origins occur in southern Indiana. One system of lakes of Illinoian age developed as marginal lakes because of the ponding of the southwest drainage by the lobe of Illinoian ice which extended into southwestern Indiana. Another and more extensive system of Wisconsin glacial lakes developed south of the Shelbyville moraine as a result of the ponding of the tributary valleys by the extensive valley trains built down the streams which acted as sluiceways for Wisconsin melt-waters. Lacustrine plains of this origin are extensively developed along the tributaries of the Wabash, Ohio, and White Rivers. The lacustrine deposits are composed of calcareous clays and silts which generally are strongly laminated. Calcareous concretions are particularly abundant in the deposits adjacent to the sluiceways. Sand dunes and loess are associated with the valley trains and lacustrine plains. The dunes are restricted to the sluiceways, but the loess mantles the uplands between the adjacent lacustrine flats.
Glacial Geology of Wabash County, Indiana
(Indiana Geological Survey, 1951) Wayne, William J.; Thornbury, William D.
Most of the topographic features of Wabash County are of glacial origin or are glacial deposits eroded by postglacial streams. Shales, limestones, and dolomites, all Silurian, are exposed only along some of the deeper valleys. Four major rivers and six smaller streams in Wabash County flow in glacial sluiceways. Only the Eel and Wabash sluiceways carried large quantities of melt-water. The Eel River valley train occupies an interlobate position, and the Wabash Valley bears evidence of its roles as a sluiceway and as an outlet for glacial Lake Maumee in late Cary time. Three topographic areas comprise the upland part of Wabash County: the Tipton till plain, the Mississinewa terminal moraine, and the Packerton interlobate moraine. The buried bedrock surface of the county, as revealed by well records, suggests an old age topography which is correlated with the Lexington peneplain of Kentucky and southern Indiana. The preglacial and interglacial Teays River was the main stream across the county, and its associated "deep stage" was intrenched more than 300 feet below the upland. Where the "deep stage" is crossed by the Mississinewa moraine, the maximum thickness of drift is 410 feet. The present course of the Wabash River originated in late Tazewell time. Till of the Cary substage is heavier, blockier, and more clayey than till of the Tazewell substage, which locally contains more quartz sand. A few exposures of weathered material, the thickness of the buried leached zone beneath Cary till, and the difference in depth of leaching of the surficial Tazewell and Cary tills suggest that the Tazewell-Cary interglacial sub-age lasted 10,000 to 12,500 years. A high percentage of spruce and fir pollen in a buried muck deposit indicates a cool, humid climate during the sub-age. Economic resources within the drift consist of marl, gravel, sand, and ground water. Marl is restricted to the area of the Packerton moraine. Sand and gravel occur in the Packerton moraine, in abundance along the Eel and Mississinewa valley trains, and along the Wabash and Salamonie Valleys where they cross preglacial and interglacial valleys. Buried valleys, particularly the Teays and Eel, contain large potential supplies of ground water.
Industrial Sands of the Indiana Dunes
(Indiana Geological & Water Survey, 1952) Bieber, Charles L.; Smith, Ned Myron
Geology and Mineral Deposits of the Jasonville Quadrangle
(Indiana Geological Survey, 1952) Wier, Charles E.
The Jasonville quadrangle, located in parts of Clay, Greene, and Sullivan Counties in west central Indiana, contains approximately 58 square miles. The rocks exposed in the quadrangle comprise the Staunton, Linton, Petersburg, and Dugger formations and are Alleghenian or Des Moinesian (Pennsylvanian) in age. Three commercial coals, III, IV, and V, and two thin coals, IIIa and IVa, crop out in the area. The Upper and Lower Block coals probably underlie most of the quadrangle in irregular, small basins. Most of the streams in the Jasonville quadrangle join the Eel River, which flows in a Pleistocene sluiceway across the northeast corner of the quadrangle. Because 10 to 20 feet of Illinoian glacial till covers the uplands and Recent alluvium covers the valley floors, Pennsylvanian rocks are exposed in small, isolated outcrops. Drilling information indicates that the Pennsylvanian rocks dip southwestward 30 feet to the mile, but small, isolated domes and noses are present. Of an estimated original 440,000,000 tons of Coals III, IV, and V, more than 75,000,000 tons have been mined or rendered unminable. Probably less than 60 percent of the estimated 365,000,000 tons of coal remaining in the ground can be recovered. Gas and oil have not been produced within the quadrangle, despite rather intensive recent drilling. Small amounts of sand, gravel, sandstone, and limestone have been produced for road metal.
The Geology of Miami County, Indiana
(Indiana Geological Survey, 1955) Thornbury, William D.; Deane, Harold L.
Most of the geomorphic features of Miami County are of glacial origin or are glacial deposits that were modified by postglacial erosion. Three major and nine smaller valleys were sluiceways for glacial melt waters. The Wabash and Eel Valleys carried glacial outwash during both the Tazewell and Cary subages of the Wisconsin. As a result, thick and extensive valley trains were developed down these valleys. During part of the Cary subage the Wabash sluiceway was the outlet for Lake Maumee. Glacial deposits older than Wisconsin have not been recognized positively in Miami County. Wisconsin deposits consist of till, outwash, lake silts and clays, and undifferentiated sands of the Tazewell substage and outwash and wind-blown sands of the Cary substage. The upland area of the county has within it parts of three distinct units: parts of the Tipton till plain and the Packerton and Union City moraines. The till of the Packerton moraine is more sandy than that of the ground moraine of the Tipton till plain to the south and has associated with it extensive sand deposits of uncertain origin. Devonian limestones of Hamilton age and the Silurian Kokomo limestone, Liston Creek limestone, Mississinewa shale, and associated Niagaran bioherms constitute the exposed bedrock. An old-age topographic surface, correlated with the late Tertiary Lexington peneplain of Kentucky and southern Indiana, is buried beneath a glacial cover. Another erosional level, which probably is of the same age as the Parker strath, is developed at an altitude of 400 feet along the buried Teays and Metes, (preglacial Eel) Valleys. The “deep stage” was not recognized In Miami County. The greatest determined drift thickness is 451 feet and is at the place where the Packerton moraine crosses the Metea Valley. The average thickness of drift, however, is approximately 125 feet. Economic resources are oil and gas, limestone, sand and gravel, ground water, marl, and peat. Oil and gas are produced from rocks of Trenton (Middle Ordovician) age. Quarries formerly were operated In the Kokomo limestone and Niagaran bioherms. Sand and gravel are obtained from terraces along the Wabash, Eel, and minor sluiceways, from outwash gravels beneath Recent alluvium, from outwash that was buried beneath till, and from kames and eskers. Thick beds of gravel in buried valleys and local lenses of gravel within till provide a large potential water supply. Marl and peat have been mined from depressions in the Packerton moraine and the floodplain of the Wabash River.
High-Silica Sand Potentialities of the Ohio River Formation
(Indiana Geological & Water Survey, 1956) Pinsak, Arthur P.
Subsurface Statigraphy of the Salem Limestone and Associated Formations in Indiana
(Indiana Geological & Water Survey, 1957) Pinsak, Arthur P.
A Middle Pennsylvanian Foraminiferal Fauna from Dubois County, Indiana
(Indiana Geological Survey, 1957) St. Jean, Joseph, Jr.
This report describes 23 species belonging to 14 genera of lower middle Pennsylvanian Foraminifera from a single outcrop in Dubois County, Ind. Three new species of Endothyra and one of Endothyranella are described. Seven species belong to the family Fusulinidae; the other species are the small Foraminifera. A consideration of the biologic and lithologic constituents of the outcrop indicates that the fauna is cosmopolitan and is from shallow water. The large number of young specimens indicates that the fauna probably was protected from predators and from adverse physical conditions. Most of the specimens are phyloneanic (small simple forms which lack complexities of ornamentation and structure). The Foraminifera correlate especially well with formations of early Des Moines age in Illinois, Texas, and Oklahoma. Species range from lower to upper Pennsylvanian in age. Thin sections of every species were made to show that in every species the wall is calcareous and in many species is composed of a thin, dense, tectumlike outer layer and a thicker, transversely fibrous or alveolarlike inner layer. The granular appearance which some students of Foraminifera have termed arenaceous is not arenaceous or agglutinated, but is caused by recrystallization. of the original wall during the processes of fossilization. Wall structure, phylogeny, and techniques in sectioning small Upper Paleozoic Foraminifera are discussed. Special attention is given to Endothyra bowmani Phillips, the genotype of Endothyra; Plectogyra Zeller is placed in synonomy with Endothyra.
Miospore Analysis of the Pottsville Coals of Indiana
(Indiana Geological & Water Survey, 1958) Guennel, Gottfried Kurt
Miospore Analysis of the Pottsville Coals of Indiana
(Indiana Geological Survey, 1958) Guennel, Gottfried K.
Ninety-eight samples were collected for this study at 85 localities in 12 Indiana Counties. Percentage relationships of miospore genera and relative abundances of species were determined for these samples and can be used successfully in correlating coal beds within the Pottsville series (Pennsylvanian System). Two formations, the Mansfield and the Brazil, constitute the Pottsville Series in Indiana. Miospore analysis revealed seven distinct spore assemblages for samples of coals from the Mansfield Formation and indicates the need for further detailed study of these coals. Samples from the Brazil Formation displayed eight distinct assemblages. These spore patterns are useful for dividing the Brazil Formation into eight zones and indicate that the formation may have more coal seams than geologists have previously thought.
The Meramec-Chester and Intra-Chester Boundaries and Associated Strata in Indiana
(Indiana Geological & Water Survey, 1958) Perry, Thomas Gregory; Smith, Ned Myron
Cambrian and Ordovician Stratigraphy and Oil and Gas Possibilities in Indiana
(Indiana Geological Survey, 1958) Gutstadt, Allan M.
Cambrian and Ordovician rocks throughout most of Indiana are subdivided in ascending order as follows: lower part of the St. Croixan series, consisting of the Mt. Simon sandstone and the Eau Claire formation, upper part of the St. Croixan series and the Canadian series consisting of the Knox dolomite; the Chazyan series consisting of the St. Peter sandstone and the Joachim dolomite; the Mohawkian series consisting of the Black River limestone and the Trenton limestone; and the Cincinnatian series consisting of the Eden group (undifferentiated) and the Maysville-Richmond group (undifferentiated). The Mt. Simon sandstone, the Eau Claire formation and the lower part of the Knox dolomite may be facies that represent contemporaneous environments, respectively, of beach or littoral deposition, near-shore deposition, and offshore deposition. The St. Peter sandstone, was deposited unconformably on the eroded surface of the Knox and was succeeded by carbonate deposition until late Ordovician time. The Cincinnatian series represents shallow-water deposition where the physical and biological environments alternated rapidly between clear water and optimum conditions for life and muddy water and unfavorable conditions for life. The Mt. Simon sandstone and the Eau Claire formation are virtually untested for oil and gas, although the Mt. Simon has ideal reservoir characteristics of the "blanket-sand" type, and the Eau Claire exhibits rapid local changes in porosity which might serve to localize accumulations of oil or gas. The Knox dolomite contains highly permeable zones, and many shows of gas have been reported, although commercial production is lacking. The St. Peter sandstone has been considered a good prospect for oil or gas, but remarkably few shows of either have been reported. Any oil or gas found in the Black River most likely will be in local dolomitized lenses. Additional Trenton production might be found in northern Indiana, where the formation consists of dolomite, and possibly in southern Indiana, where the formation contains interbedded shale. Only a few shows have been reported from Cincinnatian rocks, and possibilities are not attractive because of the lack of good reservoir rocks.
Cement Raw Materials in Indiana
(Indiana Geological Survey, 1958-12) McGregor, Duncan J.
Limestone that is chemically suitable and easily accessible for cement manufacture can be found at many places in Indiana in the Mississippian limestones and to a more limited extent in the Devonian limestones. Clay, shale, and gypsum, also used in manufacturing cement, are readily available close to limestone reserves. Five areas in Indiana are most favorable for establishing cement plants: Bloomington-Spencer-Gosport, Paoli-Mitchell-Bedford, Greencastle, central Clark County, and southern Harrison County; a sixth area, east of Logansport, also may have limestone suitable for cement manufacture. Five of these areas are close to railroad lines and fuel supplies; the southern Harrison County area is favorably situated for barge transportation on the Ohio River. Reserves of mineral raw materials in 5 of the areas probably are sufficient to supply a cement plant for 50 years. Surface study does not permit an accurate appraisal of the Logansport area, but it probably also has sufficient reserves.
Minerals of Indiana
(Indiana Geological Survey, 1960) Erd, Richard C.; Greenberg, Seymour S.
Undisturbed Paleozoic sediments form the bedrock surface of Indiana. The most common minerals in these sediments are calcite, clay minerals, dolomite, glauconite, goethite, gypsum, hematite, limonite (hydrous iron oxides), quartz, and siderite. Found less abundantly are anhydrite, apatite, aragonite, barite, celestite, copiapite, epsomite, fluorite, marcasite, melanterite, millerite, pyrite, pyrrhotite, smythite, sphalerite, strontianite, sulfur, and wad. These minerals occur in veins and cavities; along bedding, joint, and fracture surfaces and stylolite seams; and in geodes in limestones. Reported and observed locations and modes of occurrence are presented for each of the minerals except most clay and minerals. The more unusual minerals that occur in glacial materials of Indiana, native copper, diamond, galena, native gold, and native silver, are described in full. A literature study was the basis for a brief discussion of the history of Indiana minerals. The present report questions the reported occurrences in Indiana of native bismuth, graphite, malachite, moissanite, nitromagnesite, and stibnite.
Pleistocene Formations in Indiana
(Indiana Department of Conservation Geological Survey, 1960) Wayne, William J.
The system of stratigraphic classification used in North America for all sedimentary rock units except nonmarine deposits of the Pleistocene Series established groups, formations, and smaller units based on objectively determined characteristics of the rocks and not on geomorphology or subjective features, such as geologic time. Not all students of the nonmarine Pleistocene have kept these two kinds of units distinct from each other. The Pleistocene sediments of Indiana and the surrounding States are continental in origin rather than marine, and thus they show far less lithologic homogeneity than sediments and rocks of marine origin. Nevertheless, these Pleistocene sediments can and should be grouped into logical and usable formational units by means of lithologic characteristics. A classification based on lithologic characteristics omits units that are wholly geomorphic, such as terraces, but it does not change many time-lithic units that are now shown on most surficial geologic maps. Instead, these units are given names as formations or members or are regarded as facies. Three of the six formations proposed in this study of Pleistocene sediments in Indiana, the Jessup, Trafalgar, and Lagro Formations, are composed dominantly of glacially deposited mudstone or till. These formations have upper and lower contacts that coincide with unconformities within the Pleistocene. Other unconformities permit the separation of the Jessup and Trafalgar Formations into members, named here the Cloverdale, Butlerville, Center Grove, and Cartersburg Till Members. These unconformities generally are marked by key beds, such as paleosols and thin fossiliferous beds. The remaining three units, the Prospect, Atherton, and Martinsville Formations, consist of several related lithofacies, through most of which significant unconformities are difficult or impossible to trace. This method of classification permits local names to be designated for lithostratigraphic units in the Pleistocene Series that are useful in field studies in Indiana. These units are particularly valuable for use in problems that frequently arise in correlating rocks within a finely divided time sequence. By means of a classification system for Pleistocene sediments, existing terminology of glaciations can be referred to readily and can be correlated as a kind of geologic-time stratigraphy. Fossil mollusks are found in two of the facies of the Atherton Formation and in thin beds of silt between barren mudstones in the Jessup and Trafalgar Formations. Largely because of environmental changes, the assemblages differ from unit to unit in vertical succession, but differences are slight. Three range zones based on forms of Succinea are named, in descending order, the S. vermeta, S. gelida, and S. gelida var. Range Zones. In addition, the fossiliferous parts of the key beds that separate formations and members are termed the lower, middle, and upper Hendersonia occulta beds and the Vertigo alpestris oughtoni bed.
Stratigraphy of the Ohio River Formation
(Indiana Geological & Water Survey, 1960) Wayne, William John
Fenestrate Bryozoans from the Glen Dean Limestone (Middle Chester) of Southern Indiana
(Indiana Geological Survey, 1960) Utgaard, John; Perry, Thomas G.
Fenestrate bryozoans are particularly abundant in shale and argillaceous limestone beds in the upper part of the Glen Dean Limestone (middle Chester) of late Mississippian age In south-central Indiana. Several hundred specimens were obtained from two excellent collecting localities in Perry County and from one exposure in northwestern Crawford County. The collected specimens are assigned to the genera Fenestella Lonsdale, Lyroporella Simpson, and Polypora McCoy of the Family Fenestellidae King and to the genus Septopora Prout, a member of the Family Acanthocladiidae Zittel. Fenesteila is the most abundantly represented genus in our collections and includes five species, Fenestella burlingtonensis Ulrich, F. cestriensis Ulrich, F. exigua Ulrich, F. matheri Condra & Elias, and F. tenax Ulrich. Polypora is the next most abundant genus and is represented in the fauna by three species, Polypora corticosa Ulrich, P. multispinosa McFarlan, and P. nodolinearis McFarlan. Frequency-distribution diagrams showing number of branches and fenestrules in a 10-millimeter distance and number of zooecia and nodes in a 5millimeter distance have been prepared for each described species except Septopora cestriensis Prout; only one specimen of this species displays the obverse side of the frond. Such diagrams permit clearer differentiation of closely allied species in which ranges of one or more structural characters may overlap, and these diagrams present a more accurate understanding of each species. The Glen Dean fenestrate bryozoan fauna, exclusive of Archimedes Owen, which is not treated in this study, includes 11 species. Although fenestrate bryozoan faunas have been described in considerable detail from Glen Dean beds in Illinois and Kentucky, these faunal elements of the Glen Dean of Indiana hitherto have not received significant attention.

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