Geology and Coal Deposits of the Brazil Quadrangles, Indiana

Abstract

The Brazil Quadrangles are located in west-central Indiana and comprise an area of approximately 116 square miles. The rocks that crop out in the area belong to the Mansfield, Brazil, Staunton and Linton Formations of the Pennsylvanian System. Glacial drift of Kansan, Illinoisan and Wisconsinan age blankets the area, and Recent deposits of sand, silt and mud cover the flood plains of the present streams.

Five unnamed thin coals and four unnamed marine zones in the Staunton Formation are described for the first time. The Perth Limestone Member in the upper part of the Brazil Formation and the Shady Lane Coal, a coal bed that occurs some 30 to 40 feet below the top of the Mansfield Formation, are herein described and formally named.

Coal reserves of the major commercially mined coals, the Lower Block, Upper Block and Minshall of the Brazil Formation and Coal III of the Staunton Formation, are calculated according to the standard methods employed by the United States Geological Survey. Of the original 476,786,000 short tons of coal present in the area 401,403,000 short tons remain.