The carbonate rocks in the Coosa Valley area, Georgia [1998]

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ADMINISTRATION TECHNICAL _NSISTANCE PROJECT
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
THE CARBONATE ROCKS IN THE COOSA VALLEY AREA, GEORGIA
BY WILliAM H. McLEMORE VERNON J. HURST
Geology Department University of Georgia in Cooperation with the Coosa Valley Area Planning and Development Commission, Rome, Georgia and the Economic Development Administration United States Department of Commerce Washington, D. C. March 1970

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ADMINISTRATION TECHNICAL _NSISTANCE PROJECT
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
THE CARBONATE ROCKS IN THE COOSA VALLEY AREA, GEORGIA
BY WILLIAM H. McLEMORE
VERNON J. HURST
Geology Department University of Georgia in Cooperation with the Coosa Valley Area Planning and Development Commission, Rome, Georgia and the Economic Development Administration United States Department of Commerce Washington, D. C. March 1970
SECOND PRINTING -1998

LIMESTONE a DOLOMITE
QUARRY SITES

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CATOOSA COUNTY

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WALKER COUNTY
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SU11MARY
Carbonate rocks underlie large areas in Bartow, Catoosa, iL,nc~a, Dade, Floyd, Gordon, Murray, Polk, Walker and Whitfield Counties. ...ue carbonates belong mainly to the Cambrian Conasauga Group, the CambroOrdovician Knox Group, the Ordov1c1an Newala Limestone and Chickamauga Limestone, and the Mississippian formations.
The Conasauga Group comprises four formations. The oldest is the Pumpkin Valley Shale whose maximum thickness in Georgia is about 30 feet. The overlying Rutledge Format1on, up to 1000 feet th1ck, is predominantly gray, fine-grained, bedded dolomite 1 but contains thick sequences of limestone, particularly in the upper half of the formation, The limestones are bluish gray to black, generally fine-grained, and often banded with thin argillaceous laminae. Dark gray to black medium- or coarse-grained oolitic limestones are 1nterbedded. This unit has been quarried in two areas as "black marble u, The next overlying fo:c. ..tation is the Rogersville Shale, which attains a maximum thickness of 1000 feet. Though mainly shale, several limestone and dolomite members are included, the most important of which is the Craig Limestone member, more than 100 feet thick. Overlying the Rogersville Shale is the Maryville Limestone with a maximum thickness of 650 feet, Several quarries have been opened in this formation. The overlying formation is the Nolichunky Shale, up to 600 feet thick. The youngest Conasauga unit i~ the Maynardville Formation composed of interbedded limestone Gnd dolomite up to 350 feet thick. The Maynardville 1s su1table for quarrying at many places, but often is mantled by chert residuum from the overlying Knox Group, Total thickness of the Conasauga Group decreases northwestward in Georgia.
The Knox Group typically is exposed as a cherty residuum. The paucity of fresh rock outcrops hinders delineation of the Knox formations: Copper Ridge Dolomite (oldest), the Chepultepec Dolomite~ the Longvi:Dolomite, the Kingsport Limestone, and the uppermost Mascot Dolomite. Maximum thickness of the Knox Group in Georgia is estimated to be 4500 feet. It thins to the north and west, like the Conasauga Group. Several major quarries have operated in Knox rocks.
The Newala Limestone overlies the Knox Group and in turn is unconformably overlain by the Chickamauga Limestone or other units. Its thickness ranges from 0 to 300 feet. It consists mainly of interbedded dolomites and limestones. Dolomites predominate in the lower half of the formation, while limestones predominate in the upper half. The Newala has been utilized for crushed stone, d1mension stone and the production of portland cement.
The Chickamauga Limestone consisting of evenly bedded limestones and lesser dolomites and cherts, and occasional bentonite seams, unconformably overlies the Knox Group or the Newala Limestone. Its thickness varies
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from 1200 to 1900 feet. This formation is the offshore facies of Middle and Upper Ordovician rocks, which become more and more terrigeneous toward the east.
The Mississippian System is divisible into an eastern and a western facies. The eastern (onshore) facies is predominantly shale with some interbedded limestone and sandstone. The western (offshore) facies is mostly limestone. The Ft. Payne Chert, the second-oldest Mississippian formation (overlying the thin Maury Shale) is common to both facies. Above the Ft. Payne Chert in the western facies is the St. Louis Limestone Ste. Genevieve Limestone, Gasper Formation, Golconda Formation, Hartselle Sandstone, Bangor Limestone, and Pennington Shale. The Mississippian limestones include most of the high grade limestones in Georgia, and offer several outstanding quarry sites,
Ten quarries are active in the Coosa Valley Area. Sixty-nine additio quarry sites are described in this report. Most of the a~tive quarries ar in the Conasauga Group. The greatest potential for future quarry developm resides in the high grade Mississippian limestones.
Ten individual county maps show the distribution of the principal carbonate-bearing formations. Descriptions are given of 79 actual or potential quarry sites; a total of 199 new chemical analyses indicate the quality of the stone at these sites.
Two occurrences of marble are shown in Haralson County,
The locations of limestone and dolomite quarry sites are marked on the frontispiece,

CONTENTS
SUMMARY INTRODUC':'."'ION
Crushed and Broken Ston8 ------------------------------------------------------------- 1 Deiinitions ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 3 Mining and Milling---------------------------------------------------------------- 3
Dimension Stone ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 4 Mining and Milling ---------------------------------------------------------------- 5 Potential for Dime!!Sion Stone Industry ------------------------------------------------ 5
Lime and Refr'lctory Lime ------------------------------------------------------------- 5 PREVIOUS GEOLOGIC WORK ------------------------------------------------------------- 7 FIELD WORK FOR THIS REPORT---------------------------------------------------------- 7 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ------------------------------------------------------------------ 7 CARBONATE ROCK RESOURCES OF TilE COOSA VALLEY AREA------------------------------ 7
Distribution -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7 Description of the Carbonate-rich Fom~ations ---- -------- ----------------------- ---------- 10
Conasauga Group------------------------------------------------------------------- 10 Introduction--------------------------------------------------------------------- 10 Conasauga outcrops and physiography ----------------------------------------------- 10 Description--------------------------------------------------------------------- 10 Pumpkin Valley Shale --------------------------------------------------------- 12 Rutledge Formation ----------------------------------------------------------- 12 Rogersville Shale ------------------------------------------------------------- 12 Maryville Limestone ----------------------------------------------------------- 13 Nolichunky Shale ------------------------------------------------------------- 13 Maynardville Formation-------------------------------------------------------- 14
Knox Group------------------------------------------------------------------------ 15 New ala Limestone ------------------------------------------------------------------ 17 Chickamauga Limestone ------------------------------------------------------------- 18 Mississippian System ---------------------------------------------------------------- 18
Physiography -------------------------------------------------------------------- 18 Description---------------------------------------------------------------------- 21
Maury Shale ------------------------------------------------------------------ 21 Fort Pg:;r::e Chert--------------------------------------------------------------- 21 St. Louis Limestone (Tuscumbia Limestone)--------------------------------------- 23 St. Genevieve Limestone and Gasper Formation (Monteagle Limestone) --------------- 23 Golconda Formation and Hartselle Sandstone -------------------------------------- 24 Bangor Limestone (restricted)---------------------------------------------------- 25 Pennington Shale -------------------------------------------------------------- 25 Floyd Shale ------------------------------------------------------------------- 27 CARBONATE ROCK RESOURCES OF BARTOW COUNTY-------------------------------------- 28
Introduction -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 28 Conasauga Group ------------------------------------------------------------------- 28 Knox Group------------------------------------------------------------------------ 28 Newala Limestone ------------------------------------------------------------------ 30
Description of Individual Properties ------------------------------------------------------ 30 Sophia Prospect, Locality #1 --------------------------------------------------------- 30 M. E. Paint.:r Quarry, Locality #2 ---------------------------------------------------- 30 Gum Spring Prospect, Locality #3 ----------------------------------------------------- '31 Marquette Cement Company Quarry, Locality #4 --------------------------------------- 31 Clifford Lime and Stone Company Quarry, Locality #5 ----------------------------------- 32
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Page Howard Hydraulic Cement Company Mine, Locality #6 ------------------------------- 32 ], H. Perry Quarry, Locality #7 ---------------------------------------------------- 33 Charles F. Jarrett Quarry, Locality #8 ----------------------------------------------- 33 David Vaughn Prospect, Locality #9 ---------------------- - -------------------------- 33 Stockbridge Stone Company Quarry (Shinall Quarry), Locality #10 ----------------------- 34 Ladd Lime and Cement Company Quarry, Locality #11 --------------------------------- 34 CARBONATE ROCK RESOURCES OF CATOOSA COUNTY----------------------------------- 36 Inttoduction--------------------------------------------------------- --------------- 36 ConasaugaGroup------------- -------------------------- -------------------------- 36 KnoxGroup---------------------------------------------------------------------- 36 New ala Limestone ---------------------------------------------------------------- 36 Chickamauga Limestone--------------------------------- -------------------------- 38 Mississippian System -------------------------------------------------------------- 38
Geology of the Cherokee Ridge Area--------------------------------------------------- S9
Geology of Northern Rabbit Valley----------------------------------------------------- 41 Geology of the Graysville Are a - - - ----- --------- - - - ----- --- - ------- -------------- -- - - - -- 43 Description of Individual Properties------------------------------------------------------ 43
Fax Campbell Quarry, Locality #12 --------------------------------------------------- 43 Fry Quarry, Locality #13 ----------------------------------------------------------- 47 Cedar Bluff Prospect, Locality #14 --------------------------------------------------- 49 Clark Quarry, Locality #15 --------------------------------------------------------- 50 William Kittle Quarry, Locality #16 ------------------------------------------------- SO Acuff Quarry, or Ressville Stone Crushing Company Quarry #2, Locality #17 --------------- SO Graysville Mining and Manufacturing Company Quarry #1, Locality #18 ------------------- SO Graysville Mining and Manufacturing Company Quarry #2, Locality #19 ------------------- 52 Graysville Mining and Manufacturing Company Quarries #3 and #4, Locality #20 ----------- 52 Hale Quarry, Locality #21 ---- - ----------------------------------------------------- 52 Graysville Prospect, Locality #22 ---------------------------------------------------- 54 CARBONATE ROCK RESOURCES OF CHATTOOGA COUNTY--------------------------------- 59 Innoduction-------------------------------------------------------------------------- 59 Conasauga Group ------------------------------------------------------------------- 59 Knox Group----------------------------------------------------------------------- 59
New ala Limestone ----------------------------------------------------------------- 59 Chickamauga Limestone ------------------------------------------------------------ 61 Mississippian System ---------------------------------------------------------------- 61 Description of Individual Properties ------------------------------------------------------ 62 Ste. Genevieve-Casper Prospects, Locality #23 ---------------------------------------- 62 Bald Mountain Prospect, Locality #24 ------------------------------------------------- 64 Buckels Limestone Quarry, Locality #25 ----------------------------------------------- 64 William Penn Prospect, Locality #26 ------------------------------------------------- 64 Little Sand Mountain Prospects, Locality #27 -------------- - --------------------------- 65 Cooper Prospect, Locality #28 ------------------------------------------------------- 65
Innoduction-------------------------------------------------------------------- 65
Procedure -------------------------------------------------------------------- - - 66 Interpretation------------------------------------------------------------------- 66
Quality of the Limestone ------------------------------------------------------- - - 78 Quantity --------------------------------------------------------------------- - - 78 Conclusions-------------------------------------------------------------------- 78 Leroy Massey Quarry (Cedar Point), Locality #29 --------------------------------------- 82 Marble Products Quarry #1, Locality #30 ---------------------------------------------- 83 Knox Dolomite Prospect #1, Locality #31 -------------------------------------------- - - 85 Marble Products Quarry #2, Locality #32 ---------------------------------------------- 85 S, I. Storey Property, Locality #33 --------------------------------------------------- 85
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Page Martin's Cave Prospect, Locality #34 --------------------------------------------- 86 Knox Dolomite Prospect #2, Locality #35 ------------------------------- --------- 86 CARBONATE ROCK RESOURCES OF DADE COUNTY------------------------------------- 87 Introduction------------------------------------------------------------------ - --- 87 Knox Group -------------------------------------------------------------------- 87 Chickamauga Limestone --------------------------------------------------------- C7 Mississippian System ------------------------------------------------------------ 87 Description of Individual Properties ------------ ------- --- ---------- ---- --------------- 89 Cloudland Canyon Prospect, Locality #36 ------------------------------------------- 89 Southern Iron and Steel Quarries, Locality #37 --------------------------------------- 90 Fox MolUltain Prospect, Locality #38 ----------------------------------------------- 91 Easley Gap Prospect, Locality #39 ------------------------------------------------- 91 Dave L. Brown Quarry, Locality #40 ----------------------------------------------- 92 Nello A. Teer Quarry, Locality #41 ----------------------------------------------- 92 William Colder Quarry, Locality #42 ---------------------------------------------- 93 CARBONATE ROCK RESOURCES OF FLOYD COUNTY------------------------------------ 94 Introduction---------------------------------------------------------------------- 94 Conasauga Group--------------------------------------------------------------- 94 KnoxGroup-------------------------------------------------------------------- 94 Newala Limestone --------------------------------------------------------------- 96 Chickamauga Limestone--------------------------------------------------------- 96 Mississippian System------------------------------------------------------------- 96 Geology of the Northwest Rome Area ------------------------------------------------- 97 Description of Individual Properties --------------------------------------------------- 99 West Lavender Mountain Prospect, Locality #43 ------------------------------------- 99 Rome Quarry (Will Mitchell Quarry), Locality #44 ----------------------------------- 99 Public Work Camp Quarry #1, Locality #45 ----------------------------------------- 100 Old Summerville Road Quarry, Locality #46 ---------------------------------------- 100 Ledbetter Brothers Quarry, Locality #47 -------------------------------------------- 101 Rome Prospect, Locality #48 ----------------------------------------------------- 102 Old Huffaker Railroad Station Quarry, Locality #49 ---------------------------------- 103 Public Work Camp Quarry #2, 3 and 4, Locality #50--------------------------------- 103 E'ig Cedar Creek Prospect, Locality #51 -------------------------------------------- 1C Pinson Prospect, Locality #52 ----------------------------------------------------- 103 Nannie Prospect, Locality #53 ---------------------------------------------------- 104 Rocky Mountain Prospects, Locality #54------------------------------------------- 104 Lock and Dam Area ------------------------------------------------------------- 105 CARBONATE ROCK RESOURCES OF GORDON COUNTY---------------------------------- 107 Inttoduction---------------------------------------------------------------------- 107 ConasaugaGroup--------------------------------------------------------------- 107 KnoxGroup------------------------------------------------------------------- 107 Mississippian System ------------------------------------------------------------ 107 Description of Individual Properties -------------------------------------------------- 109 Pine Log Creek Prospect, Locality #55--------------------------------------------- 109
J, W. Evans Quarry, Locality #56------------------------------------------------- 109
Hamrick "Black Marble" Quarry, Locality #57-------------------------------------- 111 Phil Tate Quarry, Locality #58 --------------------------------------------------- 113 County Quarry, Locality #59 ----------------------------------------------------- 113
F, J, Richardson Quarry, Locality#60 --------------------------.:.------------------ 114
GEOLOGIC MAP OF EASTERN GORDON, MURRAY AND BARTOW COUNTIES--------------- 114
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CARBONATE ROCK RESOURCES OF MURRAY COUNTY-----------------------------Inuoduction-------------------------------------------------------------------

~ 118
118

Conasauga Group -----------------------------------------------------------

11.'<

KnoxGroup---------------------------------------------------------------- 118

Newala Limestone ----------------------------------------------------------

118

Description of Individual Properties ----------------------------------------------

120

D. 0. Baxter Prospect, Locality #61 ------------------------------------------- 120

CARBONATE ROCK RESOURCES OF POLK COUNTY---------------------------------- 121

Inuoduction------------------------------------------------------------------- 121

Conasauga Group------------------------------------------------------------ 121

Knox Group-:--------------------------------------------------------------- 121

Newala Limestone----------------------------------------------------------- 121

Mississippian System --------------------------------------------------------- 121 Description of Individual Properties ----------------------------------------------- 123
Marble Hill Lime Quarries, Locality #62 ---------------------------------------- 123 Marquette Cement Company Quarry, Locality #63 ------------------------------- 123 Southern States Portland Cement Company Quarries, Locality #64 ------------------ 123 Georgia Portland Cement and Slate Company Prospect, Locality #65 ---------------- 125 Southern Lime Manufacturing Company Quarry, Locality #66 ---------------------- 125 Piedmont Portland Cement Company Quarry, Locality #67 ------------------------ 125 CARBONATE ROCK RESOURCES OF WALKER COUNTY------------------------------- 127 Introduction------------------------------------------------------------------- 127

Conasauga Group ------------------------------------------------------------ 127 KnoxGroup----------------------------------------------------------------- 127

Newala Limestone ----------------------------------------------------------- 127 Chickamauga Limestone----------------------------------------------------- 129 Mississippian System--------------------------------------------------------- 130 Geology of Northern Pigeon Mountain --------------------------------------------- 130 Description of Individual Properties ----------------------------------------------- 133 Yates Quarry #1, Locality #68 ------------------------------------------------- 133 Chickamauga Cement Company Quarry, Locality #69 ----------------------------- 136 Rossville Crushed Stone Company Quarry #1, Locality #70 ------------------------- 136 Burl Hall Quarry, Locality #71 ------------------------------------------------- 136 Georgia Limestone Company (Lookout Limestone Co.) Quarries, Locality #72 -------- 137 Patten Rock Products Quarry, Locality #73 -------------------------------------- 138 W. M. Matthews Quarry, Locality #74 ----------------------------------------- 141 H. R. Perry Quarry, Locality #75 ---------------------------------------------- 141 Yates Quarry #21 Locality #76 ------------------------------------------------- 144 Vernon Close Property -------------------------------------------------------- 144 CARBONATE ROCK RESOURCES OF WHITFIELD COUNTY----------------------------- 159 Introduction------------------------------------------------------------------- 159 Conasauga Group------------------------------------------------------------ 159 KnoxGroup----------------------------------------------------------------- 159 Mississippian System--------------------------------------------------------- 159 Description of Individual Properties ----------------------------------------------- 161 Dalton Rock Products Quarry, Locality #77 -------------------------------------- 161 Jet Black Marble Company Quarries, Locality #78 -------------------------------- 161 ADDENDUM---------------------------------------------------------------------- 164 Marble in Haralson County------------------------------------------------------- 164

BmLIOGRAPHY --- ---- - -------- - ---- --- - -- --- ---- - -- - - - - ------------ -- ---- ------- -- 166

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FIGURES

Figure 1 - Counties of the Coosa Valley Area, Northwest Georgia ------------------

Figure 2 - Generalized columnar section of Paleozoic Rocks in the Coosa Valley

Area, from Butts, 1948 - ----- ----- --------- - ----- - - - ---------------

8

Figure 3- Idealized Cross-section of the Conasauga Group in Georgia -------------- 11

Figure 4- Outcrop map of Mississippian Rocks in Northwest Georgia --------------- 19

Figure 5- Geologic sections through the Mississippian - -------------------------- 22

Figure 6- Distribution of the Principal Cll.rbonate-bearing Formations in Bartow

County ---------------------------------------------------------- 29 Figure 7- Geologic Map of the Quarry Mountain Area, Bartow County-------------- 35

Figure 8- Distribution of the Brincipal Carbonate-bearing Formations in Catoosa

County ---------------------------------------------------------- 37 Figure 9 - Geologic Map of the Cherokee Ridge Area, Catoosa County ------------- 40

Figure 10- Geologic Map of Northern Rabbit Valley ----------------------------- 42

Figure 11 - Geologic Map of the Graysville Area ----- - -- --- -- -- ----------------- 44

Figure 12 - Fax Campbell Quarry, Catoosa County -------------------------------- 45

Figure 13 - Fry Quarry, Catoosa County ---------------------------------------- 48

Figure 14- Distribution of Principal Carbonate-bearing Formations in Chattooga

County ---------------------------------------------------------- 60 Figure 15 - Outcrop pattern of the Ste. Genevieve-Casper Limestones in Chattooga

County ------ - --------------------------------------------------- 63 Figure 16- Geologic Cross-section and Land Plat, Cooper Property, Chattooga

County ---------------------------------------------------------- 67 Figure 17 - Geologic Map of the Marble Products Company Quarry Site, Chattooga
County --------------------------------------------------~------- 84 Figure 18 - Distribution of the Principal Carbonate-bearing Formations in Dade

County ----------------------------------------------------------- 88 Figure 19- Distribution of the Principal Carbonate-bearing Formations in Floyd

Co1 n~'-----------------------------------------------------------

95

Figure 20 - Geologic Map of the Northwest Rome Area ---------------------------- 98

Figure 21 - Geologic Map of the Lock and Dam Area, Floyd County ----------------- 106

Figure 22 - Distribution of the Principal Carbonate-bearing Formations in Gordon

County ------- ---------------------------------------------------- 108 Figure 23 - Evans QuaiTy, Oakman, Georgia --------- - ------ --- - ------ -- - -- - - - -- 110 Figure 24- Hamrick Black Marble Quarry, Ranger, Georgia ------------ - --------- 112
Figure 25 - F. ], Richardson Quarry ---- - - - - ---- - - - ------ -- - ------ ------------- 115 Figure 26- Geologic Map of the Eastern parts of Gordon, Murray, and Bartow

Counties --------------------------------------------------------- 116 Figure 27 - Distribution of the Principal Carbonate-bearing Formations in Murray

County --------------------------------- -------------------------- 119 Figure 28 - Distribution of the Principal Carbonate-bearing Formations in Polk County-- 122
Figure 29- Geologic Map of Northeast Polk County ------------------------------- 124 Figure 30 - Distribution of the Principal Carbonate-bearing Formations in Walker

County --------------------------------- -------------------------- 128 Figure 31 - Geologic Map of Northern Pigeon Mountain, Walker County ------------- 131
Figure 32- Yates QuaiTy #1, Walker County, Georgia ----------------------------- 134 Figure 33 -Geologic Map of the Patton Rock Products Quarry, Walker County -------- 139 Figure 34- W. M. Matthews Quarry, Walker County, Georgia --------------------- 142

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Figure 35 - Location of two areas favored as quany sites on t.'!Je Vel'!lon Close Ranch, Pigeon Mountain, Walker County----------------------------- 146
Figure 36- Map of northeast Pigeon Mountain tract, Walke!' County ---------------- 147 Figure 37 - Lithology and tentative correlation of cores from the proposed drill
sites of Figure 36 -------------------------------------------------- 156 Figure 38- Map of south Pigeon Mountain tract, Walker County ------------------- 157 Firr~~~ 39- Distribution of the Principal Carbonate-bearing Formations in Whitfield
County ---------------------------------------------------------- 160 Figure 40 - Dalton Rock Products Quany, Whitfield County------------------------ 162 Figure 41 - Marble in Haralson County ----------------------------------------- 165

TABLES

Table 1 - Carbonate Quarries and Mines in the Coosa Valley Area, by county and

by formation -----------------------------------------------------

9

Table 2 - Generalized Stratigraphy of the Offshore Facies of the Ordovician System

inGeorgia ------------------------------------------------------- 20 Table 3 - Bangor Limestone - Partial section measured on Interstate #24, two miles
west of Hooker, Dade County---------------------------------------- 26 Table 4 - Stratigraphic Section in the Cherokee Ridge Area ---------------------- 41 Table 5 - Stratigraphy of Northern Rabbit Valley - ------ - ------------------- - - - - 43 Table 6 - Stratigraphic section at the Fax Campbell Quarry, Catoosa County--------- 46 Table 7 - Chemical Analyses of the stratigraphic units in the Fax Campbell Quarry,

Catoosa County ---------------------------------------------------- 47 Table 8 - Stratigraphic Section at the Fry Quarry, Catoosa County ----------------- 47
Table 9 - Chemical Analyses of the stratigraphic units in the Fry Quarry, Catoosa

County ----------------------------------------------------------- 49 Table 10 - Stratigraphy at the Cedar Bluff Prospect- Chemical Analyses of the Stone--- 49 Table 11 - Stratigraphic Section on the William M, Kittle Property at Ringgold,
Catoosa County---------------------------------------------------- 51 Table 12 - Chemical Analyses of the stratigraphic units on the William M. Kittle

Property, Ringgold, Georgia ----------------------- - - ------ --- - ----- 52 Table 13 - Stratigraphy at the Acuff Quarry, Locality #17 - ---- --- - ---- --------- --- 53
Table 14 - Chemical Analyses of the Stratigraphic units at the Acuff Quarry,

Locality #17 ------------------------------------------------------- 54 Table 15 - Stratigraphy at the old Graysville Mining and Manufacturing Company
Quarries #1 and #2, Localities #18 and 19 ------------------------------ 55 Table 16 - Analyses of Limestone and Dolomite from the old Graysville Mining and
Manufacturing Company Quarries #1 and #2, Localities #18 and #19 ------- 56 Table 17 - Stratigraphic Section at the old Graysville Mining and Manufacturing

Company Quarries #3 and #4 --------- - --------------------- ------ - - 56 Table 18 - Analyses of composite samples from the old Graysville Mining and Manu-
facturing Company Quarries #3 and #4 ------------------------------- 57 Table 19 - Analyses of Dolomite from the Hale Quarry, Locality #21 --------------- 57 Table 20 - Stratigraphic Section at the Hale Quarry, Locality #21 ------------------ 58 Table 21 - Lithologic Logs of Cores from the Cooper Properties in northwestern

Chattooga County ------------------------------------------------- 68

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:~plu :~ro.c1 rhe Cooper ?roperties

i:r. t:lc;c .. r.Lvrti.:~.~~-e:>tt!rn C._1?..

\-=~Y~ u~ty

____ ... __ ..__..,_,.____ ______ __ ____ ______

Table 23 - Stratigra;o~'lic SrctiJn at eJ.r fJ~nt, .:: mil=> we.>t of Me;1lo, Ch?.ttooga Cou::.:; --- --~ -- -- --------- ---- - - ---- - - - - --- ---------
Table 24 - Cl,e:nical Arr::..;:e~ .i .: :npvsir.cd L~n: ~sto:1e Sa:nples from Cedar Point, C}>attooga C>~=.-ry - -~ -- -- - - - --- - - - -- -- - -- - - ------ ------------------
Table 25 - Stra.tigc?.phic Se:c~i<J;:. a: thE. ~., a:t:e Produ;:ts r:ompa:1y Quarry #1, Chattoob<i Cour.r: -- - - - --- -- - ----- ----- -- --- - - ---- ---- ---------
Table 26 - Analyses oi Limeot.:mE ar t 12 ?vhrtlf. ?rcd"t<cts Co:::npar.y Quarry #1, Chr.ttooga C-:>:.mty - ---- - - - - - - --------- --- - --- - ---------------- - -
Table 27 - Str<'.t:gra~Jl:ti.c .>~:.Cor, ;;.t Loc8lity #37 ---~------- --------------------Table 28 Ana ly~es o: Lh::e~t, :12 .!'::eo:n ~he L'pp.e~ Qua..~y, Loca:ity #37 -----------Table 29 - Analyses::>:!: C-,rnposlt(! Sarr.plE~ ."rom LoC9.1.il:}' #38 -- -- - ---------------Table 30 - Analyses :>f Ch:c:!--.ar~-,a;ga Lin~eston,~ .~rom theW illi;;.::n Colder Quarry,

Lo::ality #-4'2 -- ------- ---- - - - - ----- - - - - -- - - ---- -- - --- - -----------Table 31 - Stratigr.apl1ic Sec~Jon z.t t:w ~~ ::lt.octer i3rnr.he~s :;l1.2r!'Y, Loc2lity #47 -----Table 32 - Analyses of L1e Li!T:est,J"e at t~.e Ledbet:.er. Srothers Quarry, Lo::ality

#47 - ---- - - - ------- ----- - - - - - - - -- --- ----- -- --- - ------------
Table 33 - Str.atigr<:?hlc SE.,~!lon a': t:'.E' J, 1/ll, Ev,.ns Quarry, Oakm:;n, Georgia ------
Table 34 - Analyses of the Li:'Y;E.st-:>:lf! in the ], W. Evans Qt:a.rry, Oakman, Georgia -Table 35 - Cambrian Fo~matio:,, in eajtern Cordon, Mm':}ay a:t1d Bartow Counties-----
Table 36 - Stratigraphic Secti<J,, icr "'ort.h=m Pi;:;eon Mountain -------------------Table 37 - StratigrapH.:: Se-.:tlon a: t.1E' Yate> Qua,_:y #l, Walker County, Georgia----Table 38 - Analyses o::: Lir.cestones in t:N~ Yates Qua!T}' #1, W <o.lker County, Georgia--Table 3 9 - Stratit:rapLic SectLn: at Quarry /fl (Ole! 'I'routh and Co2npany Quarry),
Loca:ity #7'2, and c,e!n. cal A:nlyses oi the Sn'atigraphic Units ---------Table 40 - Geologic Sectcm ~t !\:';n Rock I'rud:1cts Quw:oy, Walker County,

Georgia -- _---- -------- - - - --- - - -- --- - --- - - ----- - - ------ -- - - --Table 41 - Analyses .Jf stonP fr0m tlle I':l''Co1'' Rock hoducts Quarry, Walker County,
Geo~ia ---------------------------------------------------------Table 42 - Stratig!'aphic Sect:lon at d.e l\1, W. Mat1hews Quarry, Walker County------
Table 43 - Analyses of the Stene at theW, M. Ma:thews Qu::..ny, Walker County ----Table 44 - Analyses of 6ree o8mpl''~. rcc ,res<' rldr..~ <J. 90-fr.. 6ic!mess of limestone
between chert zone.< #l ""'d !t2 Ol' llernon Close Ranch, Walker County
Table 45 - Lithologic Descri;Jt[on of 6 c'r:::;, i":-om the Ve:.non Close Property, Walker C01mty - ------ - - --- -- ---- -- ~ ---- - ---- -- - - -- - ------ - - - -----
Table 46 - P2.rt:ial Auc:lys:os uf cc:c~ :i':x-n:1 tiw .No:rt:h Tr[ct, Vernon Close Property, Walker CN;.'lty. ~::oo~ :,,c n ie>Il ,_,::: cor;:s :e2. :?ig'.lr~ 36 -- --- - ------- --- ---

79
82
82
83
85 90 91 91
93 101
102 111 111 114 132 135 135
138
140
141 143 143
145
149
158

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INTRODUCTION

In June of 1966 the Geology Department, University of Georgia, contracted with the Coosa Valley Area Planning and Development Commission and the Economic Development Administration to conduct a partial survey of mineral resources within the Coosa Valley Area, Georgia. The survey was restricted to three classes of deposits: carbonates, sulphides, and talc. After two years of study, the findings have been assembled as three separate reports, one for each class of deposits.
This report deals with the carbonates (Figure 1).
The carbonate rocks comprise (1) the limestones, which are sedimentary rocks composed mainly of calcite (Caco 3), (2) the dolomites, which are sedimentary rocks consisting mainly of the mineral dolomite (Caco3 . MgC03), and (3) marbles, the metamorphosed equivalents of limestone or dolomite. Gradations from limestones to dolomites are common.
Limestones and dolomites crop out in 10 counties of the Coosa Valley Area. This report is concerned with their distribution, thickness, quality, how these parameters vary from one formation to another and one area to another.
Carbonate rocks have many industrial applications. They are used in the production of crushed and broken stone, dimension stone, and lime and refractory lime, which are basic starting materials for a variety of chemical and metallurgical industries.
Crushed and broken stone is the general term for all stone whose shape is not specified, or specified only generally, as aggregate, railroad ballast, riprap and agricultural stone.
Dimension stone is produced to specified dimensions. It includes building stone, monumental stone, curbing, and flagstone.
Lime and refractory lime are produced by calcining limestone and dolomite at moderately high temperatures.
Crushed and Broken Stone
Crushed stone is a basic construction, chemical and metallurgical raw material, a major commodity in both tonnage and value. Its principal uses are roadstone and concrete. Additional large quantities are used in the production of cement, lime, furnace flux, agricultural stone, and a variety of chemical and industrial applications. Lesser quantities are used for riprap and railroad ballast.
- 1-

T E N N E s s _El__E__________ _
I
I

I I

\HAR
I I
\

ALSON
0 BUCHANAN

MARIETTA
@ ATLANTA

I I

\

I I

\

~ CARBONATE-BEARING FORMATIONS

FIGURE 1 - Counties of the Coosa Valley Area, northwest Georgia. The heavy line is the Cartersville Fault along which metamorphic and igneous rocks have been thrust northwestward over Paleozoic sedimentary rocks.

- 2-

Nearly three-fourths of all crushed stone production comes from limestones and dolomites like those which extensively underlie the Coosa ValleyArea.
The growth of the crushed stone industry closely parallels growth in population and economy. The producing deposits are being depleted at a high rate, and new deposits will have to be opened.
Deposits suitable for aggregate, roadstone and agricultural stone occur widely in 10 of the Coosa Valley Area counties. Large deposits with a composition suitable for the manufacture of portland cement are less common, but still occur at more than a score of localities.
Definitions
The term crushed and broken stone applies to irregular fragments of rock crushed or otherwise reduced in size after quarrying. Most crushed stone is used as aggregate in concrete.
Riprap refer to massive, irregularly shaped chunks of rocks used in spillways at dams, fill in roadways, embankments, etc.
Agricultural stone is finely ground limestone or dolomite used to reduce the acidity of soils and to supply calcium and magnesium to the soil.
Fluxing stone is coarse crushed stone, usually 4-6 inches in diameter, used in iron blast furnaces and foundaries.
Terrazzo consists of fine crushed stone, usually limestone or marble fragments a half to three-fourths inch in diameter, used with portland cement in making floors which are smoothed and polished after the cement has hardened.
Mining and Milling
Crushed stone may be produced from either open quarries or underground mines. A variety of quarrying or mining methods may be followed and a variety of types of equipment used. The main steps are stripping of overburden (if a quarry) or driving underground entries (if a mine), drilling holes for explosives, loosening the stone by blasting, loading it into trucks, cars or conveyor, and transporting it to the crusher.
The extent of crushing, screening and cleaning varies with use. Primary crushing usually is accomplished by jaw or gyratory crushers; for less abrasive stone impact crushers may be used. Secondary crushing usually is done with gyratories, double-roll crushers, rod mills, or swing hammer mills. Finer grinding is accomplished by rod mill, ball mill, tube mill or roller mill. Classification operations utilize bar grizzlies, steel mesh and perforated plate for the coarser sizes, screens for smaller
-3-

sizes, and air separation for still smaller particles. Scrubbers may be used to remove adhering coatings; loose coatings are removed by water jets during screening.
Dimension Stone
The term dimension stone denotes a naturally occurring rock cut, sh?ped or selected for use in blocks, slabs, sheets or other construction units for exterior or interior parts of buildings, foundations, curbing, paving. flagging, bridges, revetments, or other architectural or engineering purposes (Mineral Facts and Problems. 1965, p. 876).
Because of its strength, durability. and other properties. dimension stone was one of the most widely used construction materials up to the turn of the last century. With the advent of steel skeletal construction and the increasing use of concrete in the 1880's and 1890's, the demand for it began to decrease. Concrete was both cheaper and more convenient to use than dimension stone, was stone-like. and could be poured in place and cast or moulded into virtually any shape. Further decline in the use of dimension stone is attributable to the modern tendency to construct buildings with a shorter life expectancy than in earlier times.
Relative to other building materials. then, dimension stone which is costly to mine, process. transport and install has been at a competitive disadvantage for many decades. In recent years, however. the cost difference between stone and concrete construction has diminished. The demand for many varieties of stone is rising. Stone's unique properties for ornamentation and protection against the weather are being recognized anew. Improvements are being affected in quarrying and finishing operations. Further lowering of the final costs of placing stone relative to the costs of concrete construction could cause a significant shift to stone for some types of structures.
Architectural specifications for dimension stone deal primarily with workmanship and surface finish. Engineering specifications are concerned with strength and durability. Stone typically varies from quarry to quarry, even within the same quarry. The ability of the quarryman to furnish large tonnages of stone uniform in soundness, color and texture may be a critical factor in the development of a quarry. The purchaser generally selects stone from samples or brochures furnished by the producer. but he is apt to consider the reputation of the stone and the producer. Some handicaps may be anticipated for a new quarry until the stone's reputation, in particular its durability under a variety of environmental conditions. has been established. This handicap may be partly offset by special attractiveness or other properties of the stone, and may be further offset by tests. The National Bureau of Standards has devised tests to determine the resistance of stones to abrasion, fire, atmospheric acids, solubility in water, strength, density, toughness, porosity and elasticity (Kessler, 1919, 1927, 1940). The American Society for Testing and Materials Committee C-18,
-4-

Natural Building Stone, has developed specifications and testing procedures for a variety of dimension stones. Specifications for stone to be used in federal buildings are set forth in a pamphlet Stone Work issued by the General Services Administration, Public Buildings Service, May 1955.
Mining and Milling
Quarry methods vary somewhat with rock type, quarry depth and intended use. The usual procedure for limestone and dolomite is to cut the stone from the quarry face with a channeling machine, undercut the stone at floor level and break the stone free by wedging. The freed mass is then cut into blocks of the desired size by drilling and wedging. A common mill block size is 10 x 4 x 4 feet.
In the mill, the blocks are cut to size, shaped and finished according to specifications. The machines used for sawing, grinding, turning and finishing are similar to those used in wood working, but the saws and grinding wheels are set with diamond or silicon carbide. The lifting and moving of blocks is assisted by pneumatic hoists and conveyors.
Potential for Dimension Stone Industry
The extensive deposits of limestone and dolomite which underlie the Coosa Valley Area exhibit a variety of textures, structures, and colors which are valued in ornamental and building stones. In the western part of the area are massive, even-textured stones, crinoidal limestones, oolitic to mottled stones, with predominant colors ranging from white to dark gray. In the eastern part is a similar variety of texures and colors. In addition, there are black marbles attractively veined by white calcite.
Few attempts have been made to develop a dimension stone industry in the Coosa Valley Area, though a sizeable industry has developed at Tate and Elberton. Limited prospecting has been conducted at a few localities, most notably on a black marble deposit in the vicinity of Ranger. Great expanses of limestone and dolomite, mantled by soil and vegetation, have not been considered as a potential source of dimension stone, though incidental exposures reveal that this potential exists.
Lime and Refractory Lime
The calcination of limestone and dolomite at moderately high temperatures (1800-3000F) releases carbon dioxide gas and yields a solid residue of quicklime, calcium oxide or calcium-magnesium oxide. The addition of water to quicklime causes rapid hydration of the calcium oxide to calcium hydroxide, or hydrated lime.
- 5-

Lime is a basic industrial chemical and the starting material for a wide variety of chemicals. It finds use also in the neutralization of industrial and agricultural wastes, in high temperature and dehydration processes, as a causticizing agent in the sulfate process of paper-making, in water softening and purification, and in the manufacture of petrochemicals and insecticides. Its former heavy use for mortar, plaster and disinfectant is now relatively minor.
Refractory lime or dead-burned dolomite is a basic raw material for silicothermic plants producing magnesium metal.
The use of sand-lime bricks which are superior to earlier bricks is expected to increase, and might generate an additional local market for lime.
Lime and quicklime are perishable. Their production is closely adjusted to demand, and stocks are kept low. Long distance movement from the source is discouraged by relatively low unit value and the cost of transportation.
High grade limestones and dolomites suitable for the production of lime, hydrated lime, and dead-burned dolomite occur widely in the Coosa Valley Area.
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PREVIOUS GEOLOGIC WORK
The pioneer work of C. w. Hayes, U.S.G.S., was presented in a series of
reports dating 1891 to 1902. Several of the reports were published (Hayes, 1891, 1892, 1894, 1895, 1896, 1902). His maps of the Cartersville, Dalton, and Tallapoosa quadrangles were not published, but were available to subsequent workers.
The geology of the entire Paleozoic area was described by J.W. Spencer, State Geologist, in a Georgia Geological Survey report in 1893. Several other Georgia Geological Survey bulletins dealt with the area (McCallie, 1904, 1908; Maynard, 1912; Shearer, 1912; Smith,l931).
The Butts report (1948) was a milestone. Other notable contributions include Kesler (1950) and Allen and Lester (1954). Other contributions are noted in the bibliography.
FIELD WORK FOR THIS REPORT
Dr. Sumner Long began field work on the carbonates in September of 1966 and worked the first quarter. Mr. Thomas J. Crawford mapped the carbonates in the Pine Log Creek area, and later studied the marble in Haralson County. Mr. William H. McLemore carried on field work full-time from January 1967 to September, 1968, and continued part-time to January 1969.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Mr. Dwayne Copeland helped survey quarries and measure sections. Dr. James W. Smith provided much useful information about the Conasauga Group, especially adjacent to the Cartersville Fault. The field work of Mr. Thomas J. Crawford and Dr. Sumner Long is noted in the section above. Mrs. Vivian Todd, Mr. Matt Rice, Mrs. Martha Klett, and Mr. Harry McSween helped with the chemical analyses. Miss Susan Barnes, Mrs. Joann Slack and Mrs. Li-Jane Lee drafted the maps.
CARBONATE ROCK RESOURCES OF THE COOSA VALLEY AREA
Distribution
Limestones and dolomites are extensive and widespread. They are most prominent in Bartow, southeastern Floyd and Polk Counties, but still are major rock types in Catoosa, Chattooga, Dade, Gordon, Murray, Walker and Whitfield counties.
Limestones predominate generally in the northwestern part of the area in the younger Paleozoic formations while dolomites predominate to the east and south in the older Knox Group.
Stratigraphically, the carbonates are mainly in the Cambrian Conasauga Formation, the Cambro-Ordovician Knox Group, the Ordovician Newala Limestone, The Ordovician Chickamauga Limestone, and the Mississippian Limestones (see Fig. 2).
Most existing quarries are in the Conasauga Formation (Table 1). The high grade Mississippian limestones offer the greatest potential for future development.
- 7-

COLUMNAR SECTION OF PALEOZOIC ROCKS
IN NORTHWEST GEORGIA

SYSTUIS

NAUES OF rOJIMATIONS AHD GROUP'S
_.

THICKNESS IN FUT

1--------1--=.-~~.,~..-.-,~-~.-.:-:.--.~-----\ ~~~ ~;-: -.~-;-~:i.~::~-.: 1&00

U l l l l . . lpplon

Golconda formollon
Horlttlll Sondllont Ga.,.r Formation
.... o....iiWI Llrw..IOIII
S t~ I.UII L IIPIU?OIIII fort PoJM Cheri

1410
o

1000

Sllwrlon

Atd N'" MOin FOt iiiOIIOI'I

S.Q~~OIC hl l f OUU IJt n

...... -

250

Ordo,.lclon

( olflhon loci ontr

1200

Ordowleion

....

noo

Group

COiftblion

Group

T
noo

Rome Formation

aooo

// /

/ /

I I

1000

Ovort1llt

zooo

FIGURE 2 - 8-

Table 1. - Carbonate Quarries and Mines in the Cocsa Valley Area hy county and by formation

Bartow

_ ------ ---~'nty_

Mississippian active

0

Limestones

inactive

0

Catoosa County
0 2

Chattooga Coun!}'
0 1

Dade CountJ::
0 1

Floyd Gordon

- Cmmty County

1

0

4

0

Murray C01m!}'
0 0

Polk County
0 0

Walker County
1 2

Whitfield Coun!}'
0 0

Total 2
10

Chickamauga Limestone
-
New ala Limestone

active

0

inactive

0

------ -

active

0

inactive

0

-

0

0

2

0

0

2

1

1

0

0

- - ---- -- - --------

0

0

0

0

0

2

0

0

0

0

0

0

1

0

0

4

- - - - -- -

0

0

0

0

5

1

----

0

3

0

8

- ----

0

0

0

8

I

- -

\C

Knox

active

1

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

1

I

Group

inactive

2

3

1

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

6

---- - - - ---- -- - ------ -- ---- - - - - -- - - -- - -

-----

Conasauga

active

2

0

0

0

1

0

0

0

0

1

4

Formation

inactive

3

1

1

0

0

5

0

0

0

l

11

Total

- -- - -- -

active

3

0

0

inactive

5

4

4

-- -

-- - -- - ---- - -

2

2

0

0

0

2

l

10

2

4

5

0

5

7

1

43

- - - - - -- - -

- -- - -

- ---

.-- - - - --

Description of the Carbonate-rich Formations
Conasauga Group
Introduction - The term Conasauga was used by Hayes (1891) and Walcott (1891) to designate argillaceous shales containing numerous lenses and beds of limestone in Whitfield and Murray Counties. It superceded the terms Coosa and Flatwood Shales (Smith, 1890) and Knox Shales (Safford, 1869).
Hayes considered the Conasauga to be Upper Cambrian in age. Butts (1946) regarded it as Middle Cambrian. Swingle (1959) reported the Maynardville Formation and Nolichunky Shale (upper Conasauga) to be late Cambrian, the Maryville Limestone, the Rogersville Shale, the Rutledge Formation, and the Pumpkin Valley Shale (lower Conasauga) to be middle Cambrian (see Figure 3). The Cambrian age of these rocks has never been seriously questioned, though generally they have been accorded the rank of a formation rather than a group.
The Conasauga crops out extensively. All the important outcrops mentioned in the literature were reexamined. Approximately five weeks were spent mapping in detail a 105 square mile strip extending from Ramhurst in Murray County, through Gordon County, to White in Bartow County.
Conasauga Outcrops and Physiography - The best exposures are east of Gaylor Ridge, Taylor Ridge, and Whiteoak Mountain. The largest outcrops are north and south of the Coosa River, in Floyd County, southwest of Rome. The outcrop belt on which LaFayette is located crosses the northwest part of the State from Graysville to Menlo. A shorter anticlinal belt lies along the Chattooga River, and plunges out north of Trion. East of a line drawn through Rome and Dalton, the outcrop of the Conasauga makes a complicated pattern of intercommunicating and disconnected belts controlled by structure.
The limestones in the Conasauga Group weather more readily than the shales and tend to form valleys; the shales form low knobby hills. These features are especially well developed in eastern Gordon County near Fairmount.
Description - It has not been possible to measure a complete geologic section in Georgia, but from outcrops in both Tennessee and Georgia the X-section of Figure 3 can be deduced. This section is consistent with the detailed mapping done in Bartow, Gordon and Murray Counties.
Toward the northwest the total thickness of the Conasauga Group decreases. Toward the southeast, adjacent to the Cartersville Fault, the Conasauga rocks have been slightly metamorphosed. The shales have
- 10 -

CROSS-SECTION OF THE CONASAUGA GROUP
IN GEORGIA

KNOX GROUP
Maynardville Formation limestone and dolomllt 250'- 350'

Nolichucky Shale ln.llrbec2cUil
600'

limu rone

Maryville Limutone s ome lnllrbtddtd ahalt jn loWr part 650'

Rogersville Shalt t.Dme ln11 r~ odde ~ 1000'

eorbonote

Rutledge Formation predominately dolomite 1000'

Pumpkin

Volley 30'

Shalt

ROME FORMATION
LHL

FIGURE 3

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transformed to phyllites which are greenish gray where fresh and pale buff where weathered. A well developed fissility generally dips to the southeast. The original bedding planes are marked by shaly and dolomitic laminae and by less conspicuous grain size differences.
Pumpkin Valley Shale - The oldest unit is the Pumpkin Valley Shale, actually composed of interbedded shale and siltstone, having a maximum thickness in Georgia of about 30 feet. The name was first applied in Tennessee by John Rogers and D. F. Kent (1948) to a thickness of 360 feet of shale lying below the Rutledge Formation and formerly cons~dered to be a part of the Rome Formation. According to Rogers and Kent, the Pumpkin Valley Shale is more related both faunaly and lithologically to the Conasauga Group than to the Rome Formation, though the exact boundary between the Rome and Conasauga rocks generally is hard to delineate.
The distinction between Rome and Conasauga rocks in Georgia has been based on several criteria: the presence of a few thin limestones and dolomites interbedded with the Conasauga shales; thin-bedded brown sandstones interbedded with the Rome shales; geomorphic expression - areas underlain by the Rome formation show more relief than the areas underlain by the Conasauga; and the occurrence of few fossil fragments in the Conasauga rocks.
Rutledge Formation - Immediately overlying the Pumpkin Valley Shale is the Rutledge Formation. It attains a maximum thickness of about 1000 feet in Georgia. Good exposures can be seen in the Shinall Quarry at White, eastern Bartow County. It underlies a long valley extending from the Etowah River to the Bartow-Gordon County line.
The Rutledge Formation is predominantly a gray, fine-grained, bedded dolomite, though there are a few thin beds of limestone. In eastern Bartow County the upper Rutledge appears to be less dolomitic than the lower Rutledge. The lower Rutledge contains some chert.
The dolomite is pale to dark gray, fine-grained, crystalline, in some places silicious. Jasper can be found at most dolomite exposures. The limestone is bluish gray to black, generally fine-grained, shaly, and often banded with thin argillaceous laminae. Black medium- to coarsegrained oolitic zones were observed but could not be traced.
The Rutledge Formation is a good source for crushed stone, agricultural lime, and "black marble". The Shinall Quarry at White provided over two million tons of crushed stone; some of it was pulverized and sold as agricultural lime. Brecciated zones in the black oolitic limestone cemented by white calcite could be quarried as "black marble".
Rogersville Shale - Overlying the Rutledge Formation is the Rogersville Shale whose maximum thickness in Georgia is about 1000 feet. The shale is
- 12 -

dark green and fissile. A few beds of shaly siltstone are interbedded with the shale, as well as several limestones and dolomites. The most important of these carbonate units is the Craig Limestone member which has a thickness in Georgia in excess of one hundred feet. The shale is locally fossiliferous; trilobites can be collected at Fairview Church in northeastern Bartow County.
The thickness of the Rogersville Shale in Lee Valley, Hawkins County, Tennessee is 227 feet, according to Rogers and Kent, 1948, who reported that the Craig Limestone member thins to the west and northwest. Field observations in Georgia indicate that the Craig Limestone member is thicker than in Tennessee, and that the entire Rogersville unit thins to the west and northwest, as in Tennessee.
Rogersville Shales adjacent to the Cartersville Fault have been metamorphosed to phyllites and slates. Slaty cleavage rarely coincides with the original bedding. Slate which appears to be metamorphosed Rogersville Shale is quarried at Flexatile in northeastern Bartow.
Maryville Limestone - Overlying the Rogersville Shale is the Maryville Limestone which in Georgia probably has a maximum thickness of 650 feet. The Maryville is a dolomitic limestone, with interbedded shale near its base. The dolomitic limestone is bluish gray to black, fine-grained, and crystalline. Thin parallel light brown laminae of dolomite less than a centimeter thick show the bedding planes. These laminae are not readily seen on fresh surfaces but weathering etches the resistant dolomite into relief. In some areas the limestone is oolitic, when the dolomitic laminae are absent. Occasional small crystals of pyrite are found in the limestone. Analyses of the Maryville in eastern Gordon County indicate an average MgO content of 3.6%.
The shales near the base of the Maryville Limestone are olive in color and very similar to the Nolichunky and Rogersville shales.
In eastern Gordon County and southeastern Murray County the Maryville Limestone near the Cartersville Fault has been slightly metamorphosed. Interbedded shales have been transformed to phyllite.
The economic potential of the Maryville Limestone is attractive. Several quarries for crushed limestone and agricultural limestone already have been opened in this formation. Limestone for terrazzo chips was mined 1.2 miles southeast of Fairmount in eastern Gordon County. The Marquette Cement Company operates a quarry in Bartow County four miles east of Kingston for the production of portland cement.
Nolichunky Shale - Overlying the Maryville Limestone is the Nolichunky Shale. This formatio~ is about 600 feet thick in Georgia. According to Swingle (1956), the Nolichunky Shale near Cleveland, Tennessee, has the following sequence of beds: (1) a lower zone of oolitic and massive limestone overlying the lower siltstone and shale sequence of the Conasauga;
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(2) greenish clay shale with a few thin beds of siltstone; (3) massive to thinly bedded blue argillaceous limestones; (4) greenish yellow clay shale extending upward to the base of the Maynardville. The Nolichunky near Cleveland is less than 1000 feet thick.
Maynardville Formation - The uppermost formation in the Conasauga is the Maynardville. In Georgia it has a maximum thickness of 350 feet and is composed of interbedded limestone and dolomite.
The following section measured at an old quarry 1.5 miles northwest of Dawnville reveals the lithology of the upper Maynardville and the lower Knox.

Unit No.
18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10
9 8 7
6 5 4 3 2
1

Description of Units
Bluish gray limestone Gray shale Gray shaly limestone Brown shilty shale Gray cherty limestone Gray crystalline limestone Gray cherty limestone Dark gray crystalline limestone Chert with some interbedded shale and limestone Tan shale Chert Concealed (Knox-Maynardville contact in this zone) Gray coarsely crystalline limestone Gray crystalline limestone Concealed Dark gray oolitic limestone Gray slightly argillo-arenaceous crystalline limestone Gray oolitic limestone

Thickness

Total

Feet

Thickness

2.00' 8.50'
.58' .58' 1.00' 10.33' 2.09' 3.58'
10.58' 21.50 I 1.00'
16.00' 13.00' 12.00'
3.00 1 2;09'
6.58' 6.09'

120.50' 118.50' 110.00' 109.42' 108.84' 107.84'
97.51' 95.42'
91.84 I 81.26 I 59.76'
58.76' 42.76' 29.76' 17.76' 14.76'
12.67' 6.09'

The Maynardville has good potential for economic development, but chert float from the adjacent Knox Group mantles most of the Maynardville near the surface, and conceals the optimum places to search for quarry sites.

- 14 -

Knox Group
The term Knox "Group" was first used by Safford (1869) for rocks typically developed in Knox County, Tennessee. Ulrich (1911) proposed splitting the Knox into several formations and introduced the name Copper Ridge for certain beds of dolomite in the vicinity of the original type locality for the Knox. The term Chepultepec was proposed by Ulrich (1911) for a division of the Knox overlying the Copper Ridge. Butts in 1926 reported that the Chepultepec was unconformably overlain by the Longview Dolomite. Oder and Miller (1911) named the upper formations of the Knox Group the Kingsport Limestone and Mascot Dolomite.
The Cambrian-Ordovician boundary presently is placed at the top of the Copper Ridge Dolomite. The Chepultepec, Longview, Kingsport, and Mascot Formations, therefore comprise the lower Ordovician (Beekmantown).
The Knox Group in Georgia characteristically crops out as chert residuum and red clay soils derived from the weathering of the Knox rocks. Though the Knox Group underlies extensive areas in Bartow, Catoosa, Chattooga, Dade, Floyd, Gordon, Murray, Polk, Walker, and Whitfield Counties, fresh rock exposures are uncommon, and the outcrop patterns have been mapped almost entirely from the distribution of chert. One of the most extensive exposures of fresh Knox is along Chickamauga Creek just southeast of Graysville. Other exposures are east of Trion and Summerville. Another good exposure is at the old Ladd Lime and Cement Company Quarry on Quarry Mountain, 2.6 miles southwest of Cartersville. Smaller exposures are along the Etowah River at the bridge 1.5 miles southeast of Euharlee, in a large bend of the river two miles west of Kingston.
The paucity of unweathered outcrops in Georgia hinders the delineation of the formations that comprise the Knox. Reliance here is placed on the good lithologic descriptions of sections measured in Lee Valley, Hawkins County, Tennessee, by Rogers and Kent (1948).
Bedrock exposures of the Copper Ridge Dolomite near Harmony Church 4.5 miles northwest of Dalton suggest that the general description of the Copper Ridge in Lee Valley is applicable here. Both the upper and lower boundaries at Lee Valley probably apply in Georgia. The base of the Copper Ridge is placed at the top of the light colored, chert-free Maynardville Formation. Sandstone at the base of the overlying Chepultepec Dolomite, which marks the Cambrian-Ordovician boundary, determines the top of the Copper Ridge. At Lee Valley the Copper Ridge is 925 feet thick. Upon weathering the Copper Ridge produces large quantities of chert. These chert masses tend to mask and conceal the underlying rocks.
Above the Copper Ridge is the Chepultepec Dolomite, which in Lee Valley is 721 feet thick. The base of the Chepultepec Dolomite is marked by a 3-foot sandstone. Munyan reported sandstone in the Knox Group in the Dalton Quadrangle. Butts (1948) identified the Chepultepec in the city limits of Dalton, 1.5 miles northwest of Euharlee, on east Armuchee Creek five miles south of Subligna. The lithology of the Chepultepec Dolomite is similar
- 15-

to that of the Copper Ridge ~olomite. The rock is a gray to tan, finegrained, crystalline dolomite with massive and nodular chert. Chert appears to be less abundant than in the Copper Ridge.
From present exposures the Longview Dolomite is not separable from the Chepultepec Dolomite in Georgia. In Lee Valley, Tennessee, the Longview is 264 feet thick. The formational name is taken from Longview, Shelby County, Alabama and is defined in Alabama as including the Lecanspira zone and excluding the overlying Ceratopea zone (Butts, 1926). Some gray to pink, cherty, crystalline limestone is interbedded with the gray, fine-grained crystalline dolomite. Upon weathering, the Longview is found to be exceedingly cherty and great quantities of massive chert residuum give rise to a series of low ridges or hills. Outcrops of unweathered rock are rare.
The Kingsport Limestone overlies the Longview Dolomite, and in Lee Valley is 218 feet thick. The formation consists typically of bluish gray to brown limestone interbedded with and grading up into a gray, fine-grained, crystalline dolomite. Much less chert is produced from weathering of the Kingsport than from other formations in the Knox; because of this, the Kingsport Formation generally is at lower elevations than the surrounding Knox formations.
The uppermost formation of the Knox Group is the Mascot Dolomite, which in Lee Valley is 510 feet thick. The rock is a light to dark gray, fine-grained, crystalline dolomite containing beds of nodules of chert. Some blue limestone is at the top of the formation.
Butts (1948), Cressler (1963, 1964), and Allen (1953) did not mention the presence of the Kingsport Limestone or the Mascot Dolomite in their descriptions of Knox rocks in Georgia, probably because of the limited exposures and the difficulties of distinguishing the weathered formations.
No reliable measurement of the thickness of the Knox in Georgia can be made from present exposures. It is 2638 feet thick in Lee Valley, Tennessee, Hayes estimated its thickness in the Rome Quadrangle as 4000 feet. Butts (1948) reported 3500 feet as a conservative estimate for Georgia. Allen (1953) reported a thickness of about 4500 feet at Graysville.
If the Knox is 4500 feet thick in Georgia and 2638 feet thick in Lee Valley, then the Group thins to the north and west, similar to the Conasauga Group.
Current use of the Knox Group is limited to crushed stone, and the use of the cherty residuum as fill.
- 16-

Newala Limestone
This formation gets its name from Newala Station on the Southern Railroad west of Calera, Shelby County, Alabama (Butts, 1948). The Newala is well developed in Alabama and Georgia, but the term is not used in Tennessee (Munyan, 1951).
Stratigraphically, the Hewala Limestone, which is Ordovician, overlies the Mascot Dolomite of the Knox Group and is in turn unconformably overlain by the Chickamauga Limestone, the Athens Shale, and possibly the Rockmart Slate. A continuous outcrop of Newala Limestone along both sides of Missionary Ridge is overlain by the Chickamauga Limestone; nine miles to the southeast, the Chickamauga overlies the Knox Group, and no Newala is found. This absence of Newala Limestone from some areas has been noted in Alabama and might indicate an unconformity of considerable magnitude.
In Murray County, the Newala is overlain by the Ordovician Athens Shale; in Polk County, it is overlain by Rockmart Slate. The Rockmart Slate may be the metamorphic equivalent of the Athens Shale, though some workers (Butts, 1948) have regarded it as Mississippian in age.
Munyan reported the Newala in Murray County to be 110 feet thick. Butts reported its thickness at Aragon as 250-300 feet. It is not known whether the differences in thickness are due to facies thinning or to subsequent erosion.
The best exposures of the Newala are along Georgia Highway #341 from Chickamauga to Kensington, in the old Southern States Quarry one mile north of Rockmart and in the Rossville Crushed Stone Quarry #2 five miles north of Ringgold.
The Newala crops out over a broad area that extends from Rockmart in Polk County through Aragon, Taylorsville, and Statesboro to Malbone which is four miles southwest of Cartersville. Also it crops out at Cedartown and Fish in Polk County, and at Springplace in Murray County. In all of the above areas, the Newala underlies an area of low, flat ground with very few exposures of limestone.
The Newala consists principally of bluish-gray fine- to medium-grained crystalline limestone interbedded with pearl gray, fine-grained, crystalline dolomite. Some chert and argillaceous seams are found in the Newala, but are rare. Generally the lower Newala is dolomitic, while the upper Newala is mainly limestone.
The Newala has been utilized economically for cement, crushed stone, and building stone.
- 17 -

Chickamauga Limestone
The Chickamauga Limestone was named by Hayes (1391) for Chickamauga Creek in Hamilton County, Tennessee and for adjacent areas in Georgia. As originally defined, it consists of Middle and Upper Ordovician limestones unconformably overlying the Knox Group and extending up to the base of the Silurian Sequatchie Formation. The Newala Limestone was originally considered part of the Chickamauga Limestone but Lester and Allen (1957) report that a major unconformity separates the Newala from the Murfreesboro limestone. Because of ths unconformity the Newala should not be considered as part of the Chickamauga. It is restricted to the area west of Taylor Ridge, Gaylor Ridge and Whiteoak Mountain.
Lithologic mapping of the Ordovician is extremely difficult in Georgia. The Chickamauga Limestone comprises several formations which have been separated and described in Tennessee. Butts (1948) was able to separate the Chickamauga into the Maysville Formation, the Stones River Group, and the Newala Limestone. According to Lester and Allen (1957) the Chickamauga strata represent two distinct lithologic environments. They designate the eastern strata as the near-shore facies and the remaining strata as the offshore facies. The field work for this report confirms their conclusion that the Ordovician rocks become more terrigenous toward the east. The Chickamauga Limestone includes all the limestones of their offshore facies above the Middle Ordovician major unconformity and below the Sequatchie Formation. The thickness varies from 1200 to 1900 feet (Lester and Allen, 1957).
The Chickamauga consists of evenly bedded, bluish-gray to gray, fineto medium-grained limestone. Argillaceous laminae and bentonite searns are in the limestones, as well as some chert and dolomite (Table 2).
The Chickamauga Limestone has been quarried for crushed stone and building stone.
Mississippian System
Because the Mississippian System includes most of the high grade limestones of the Coosa Valley Area it was examined in greater detail than the other stratigraphic units. Twenty-three weeks were spent in the field on this System. All roads and trails were walked out. The outcrops reported by Maynard (1912) were reexamined, as well as many additional large outcrops. All quarries were mapped.
This work has provided a more accurate geologic map of the Mississippian System in Georgia than any previously available, and has filled in details of its stratigraphy. Figure 4 shows the distribution of the larger carbonate units.
Physiography - The Mississippian rocks can be divided into two distinct facies. The western facies is part of the physiographic province known as the Appalachian or Cumberland Plateau; the eastern facies is part of the Appalachian Valley and Ridge Province.
- 18 -

)

I

CATOOSA

L_ _l

~

.1 c;
i_,_r'

!

_ _i

I ,

'

I

~ -~

(_/_~__ _

WHITFIELD

GORDON
-- -ru-:._.-------------x----
1
J
r'

FLOYD

BARTOW
,J

FIGURE 4 - 19 -

OUTCROP MAP
OF
MISSISSIPPIAN ROCKS

N

NORTHWEST GEORGIA

r
Western Facies Eastern Facies Rockmart Slates

Table 2 - Generalized Stratigraphy of the Offshore Facies of the Ordovician System in Georgia

System Silurian Silurian
~
t-1 C,) t-1
:>
0
~
~

Forma t~on

Thickness

Litholo gy

Red Mountain formation

1000

Sandstone, shale, and some thin limestone

Sequatchie

250 (?)

Calcareous shale and silt-

formation

stone interbedded with

crystalline limestone

small unconformitY ---------4----------------------------

Maysville

150

Blue crystalline limestone

formation

1

with shaly laminae

~------------- unconformity ________-4---------------------------

Trenton

440 (?)

Thin-bedded, bluish-gray

limestone

fine-to coarse-grained

crystalline limestone with

argillaceous zones and

laminae

Moccasin

rQ::)

limestone

.0u

Ul

Lowville

~

limestone

H ~

15 50 (?)

Gray to brown fine-grained argillaceous limestone
Dark gray fine-grained

limestone with argilla-

ceous laminae and chert

unconformity (?)

Lebanon

limestone


0

Lenoir

1-1
c.!>

limestone 1-1

Mosheim

~ t'tS

.....

bO ;::l

limestone e p:: t'tS

Murfreesboro limestone

Ul t'tS
rQ:: )~ u
f: ..c~::

tiJC,)

55 (?)
100 (?) 20
350 (?)

Gray fine-grained crystalline limestone with shaly laminae
Gray to tan fine-grained argillaceous limestone
Gray medium-grained crystalline
Dark gray fine-grained crystalline limestone with shaly laminae and chert

major unconformity

Newala limestone or Knox Group

200 (?)

Pearl gray dolomite

- 20-

The Rockmart slates in Polk and Bartow Counties may represent a third facies, but they are not considered further in this report because they lack carbonate.
The Appalachian Plateau in Georgia is restricted to the Lookout Mountain and Sand Mountain area. Generally the anticlines are valleys and the synclines are mountains.
The Appalachian Valley, or Valley and Ridge Province, is a complex of high ridges - White Oak Mountain, Taylor Ridge, Gaylor Ridge, Simms Mountain, Johns Mountain, Horn Mountain, Lavender Mountain, Turkey Mountain, Rocky Face Mountain, and Horseleg Mountain. These have been designated the Armuchee Ridges. They are held up by the highly resistant Silurian Red Mountain Formation, the Devonian Armuchee Chert, and the Mississippian Ft. Payne Chert.
Description - The Mississippian System, excluding the Rockmart slates, is composed of two diverse facies of equivalent age. The Fort Payne Chert, the second-oldest Mississippian unit, is common to both. Above the Fort Payne Chert, the western facies is composed of limestone and chert except for the Pennington Shale at the very top. The eastern facies is predominantly a shale, with interbedded limestone and sandstone. This shale and associated limestone and sandstone has been called the Floyd Shale.
From published information and from the addition of measured partial sections three idealized geologic sections through the Mississippian have been constructed (Figure 5).
Maury Shale - At several locations in Georgia, gray to green shale immediately (unconformably?) overlies the black Chattanooga Shale. It has been called the Maury Shale and is considered to be of Mississippian age. The Maury Shale is only 7-8 feet thick. It is glauconitic, pyritic, and contains phosphatic nodules, but generally is hard to differentiate from the Chattanooga Shale. Little is known about its lateral variations.
Fort Payne Chert - In Georgia, the Fort Payne Chert is composed of stratified chert or cherty limestone interbedded with dark calcareous shale and tan quartzose sandstone. The Fort Payne Chert immediately overlies the Maury Shale. The chert is dense, brittle, gray, and evenly bedded. The individual layers are generally six inches to one foot thick but may be thicker or thinner. The upper part of the Fort Payne Chert appears to be more calcareous than the lower part.
In the western facies the exact contact between the Fort Payne and the overlying St. Louis Limestone is very difficult to determine. The Fort Payne Chert probably grades into the St. Louis Limestone, although Butts (1948) reported a hiatus between them.
A dense gray calcareous shale known as the Lavender Shale is interbedded with the Fort Payne in the eastern facies. The Lavender Shale is thicker in Floyd and Chattooga Counties than in Catoosa County. In Floyd County tan quartzose sandstone is interbedded with Fort Payne Chert.
- 21 -

"'1

C)

N N

:c;:e:

t%1

til

I

A

0 ------Z4milu

1600'
-
1<00'
1300'
1200'
,..,..
l---1000'
~~
....
-
"""'

Pottsville Formation
&1!1!. OF PE,..SYLVANIAN
Bangor Limestme
Ha.rtaoll Sand5tcu'll and ~conda ForrntJkm
Gasper Formation and Ste. Genevieve Limestone

Fort Payne Chert includes Maury Shale
1. ..
~ Of. lltHI:II:IIiiLP"U,M
o

0 2

34.~mi11D

0 3 A'

li~1

Pottsville Formation
BASE OF ~UI.t.!IIV.~

l{:~tEi-----===~-----P-en-nin-gt-on-Sh-ale -------

Bangor Limestone

Hr;uf5eHa Sonds)gne and

I

~Th ,..llfFa-'f

Golconda Formation

~ IN hl!l*l'l_,~,..

Fort Payne Chert includes Maury Shale
8AU. !1' ~r.&IIM=Jl'PI.&III
Chattanooga S~l~-;

GEOLOGIC CROSS SECTION A-A'
MISSISSIPPIAN SYSTEM
LITHOLOGIC UNITS
bill Sandstone
~Shalo
e:2:ll limestone
~Limestonewilhchert
f 9 Chort
..., -Biod:Shale

The Fort Payne is very fossiliferous and contains abundant crinoid stems up to one inch in diameter and several large forms of the genus Spirifer. The upper part of the formation is generally deeply weathered and forms a characteristic reddish soil containing blocky, fossiliferous fragments of chert. Borrow pits for chert are common in this formation.
In the western facies the Fort Payne tends to form narrow ridges because of its resistance to weathering. This is most pronounced at Shinbone Ridge in Chattooga and Walker Counties and Roland Ridge in Walker County. In the eastern facies the Fort Payne along with the Silurian Red Mountain Formation forms the Armuchee Ridges.
The Fort Payne is 157 feet thick in Dade County, 150 feet thick in Chattooga County, and 390 feet thick in Catoosa County. Field observations show that the southern and eastern portions of the Fort Payne Chert contain more terrigenous material than the northwestern portions, an indication that the source area for the sediments was to the southeast.
St. Louis Limestone and Shale - In the western facies the St. Louis is a gray to bluish gray, thickly bedded, fine-grained cherty limestone. The upper part of the formation contains some light gray dolomite. A few thin shale stringers (less than 2" thick) are in the lower part of the formation. In the eastern facies the St. Louis shales out. Immediately overlying the Fort Payne in Chattooga and Floyd Counties is a yellow brown or gray calcareous shale, previously referred to as the Floyd Shale.
The St. Louis Limestone is well exposed in the old Southern Iron and Steel Quarries in Dade County and at Yates Quarry in Walker County. The contact between the Fort Payne Chert and the St. Louis Limestone can be seen on Georgia Highway #143, 1.3 miles southeast of Trenton, where the contact appears to be transitional. The contact between the St. Louis Limestone and overlying Ste. Genevieve Limestone is exposed at Yates Quarry #1.
The St. Louis is marked in Georgia by two species of massive corals, lithostrotionella caslelnaui and lithostrotion proliferum. These are easily found in the western facies in Dade and Walker Counties. They also have been noted in the eastern facies at the head of Cherokee Branch and west of Cherokee Ridge four miles northeast of Ringgold.
Because of its high chert content, the St. Louis Limestone generally is a poor quality stone useable only for road aggregate.
Ste. Genevieve Limestone and Gasper Formation - Above the St. Louis is the Ste. Genevieve Limestone, which is easily distinguished from the St. Louis by its oolitic and noncherty character. Butts (1948) says, "It can be affirmed with certainty that the St. Louis is everywhere non-oolitic with perhaps rare and local exemptions." The Ste. Genevieve is a bluish gray,
- 23 -

medium-grained, noncherty, crystalline limestone with oolites. The Ste. Genevieve in contrast with the St. Louis is nearly pure calcium carbonate. The contact between the St. Louis and the Ste. Genevieve is well exposed in Yates Quarry til in Walker County. The Ste. Genevieve is identified by the presence of its guide fossil, Platycrinus penicillus.
The Ste. Genevieve is overlain by another limestone, the Gasper Formation, of similar lithologic character. The Ste. Genevieve and Gasper cannot be differentiated in Georgia except by paleontology. The Gasper like the Ste. Genevieve is a bluish gray, medium-grained, noncherty, crystalline limestone with oolites. Its principle guide fossils are Talarocrinus, a genus of crinoids, and the Campophyllum gasperense.
The Ste. Genevieve and Gasper limestones are exposed in the Patten Rock Products Quarry 2.5 miles west of LaFayette. This quarry along with the Ledbetter Brothers Quarry at Rome are the only quarries presently being operated in the Mississippian limestones.
The thickness of the Ste. Genevieve and Gasper formations is approximately 400 feet in Dade County (Croft, 1964) and 200 feet in Catoosa County (Allen, 1953).
Limestone tentatively identified as Ste. Genevieve-Gasper is interbedded with shale in the eastern facies. This limestone crops out on the western flank of Cherokee Ridge in Catoosa County, forms a long narrow band that extends from one mile north of Silver Hill to one mile northeast of Subligna in Chattooga County; a similar band extends from Huffacker Station to the Old Public Work Camp Quarry til in Floyd County. The Ste. Genevieve-Gasper is well exposed in the Ledbetter Brothers Quarry at Rome, where the quarry manager reports that core drilling indicated a 11 considerable thickness" of limestone. A section measured in this quarry showed 132.3 feet of limestone.
Of the 120 limestone quarries being operated in Tennessee in 1960, twenty-seven were in the Ste. Genevieve-Gasper limestones; of these twenty-seven, ten were underground (Hershy and Maker, 1963). The Ste. Genevieve-Gasper in Tennessee contains more quarries and mines than any other formation. With the possible exception of Upper Newala Limestone, the Ste. Genevieve-Gasper has the highest grade limestone. Chert and dolomite do occur, but both are rare. Argillaceous zones are uncommon. The Ste. Genevieve-Gasper is thicker and better exposed than the Newala Limestone, and offers the greatest economic potential of any limestone in northwest Georgia.
Golconda Formation and Hartselle Sandstone - In Dade County above the Gasper Formation is about 20 feet of shale interbedded with thin platy limestones. This sequence of rocks is called the Golconda Formation. Overlying the Golconda Formation is the Hartselle Sandstone. The Hartselle Sandstone is a tan medium-grained orthoquartzite; at the northern end of Lookout Mountain it is about 5 to 10 feet thick.
- 24-

In the eastern facies the Golconda and Hartselle thicken considerably. In Catoosa County the Golconda shales can be seen at the Fax Campbell Quarry. The Hartselle Sandstone forms the resistant capping to Cherokee Ridge. The combined thickness of the Golconda Formation and the Hartselle Sandstone in Catoosa County is at least 350 feet (Allen, 1953).
In Chattooga and Floyd Counties, the Golconda thickens considerably from Catoosa County and in other reports is called the Floyd Shale. Sandstone which is considered to be equivalent to the Hartselle because of its similar stratigraphic position can be traced for several miles in both Chattooga and Floyd Counties. In Chattooga County, the sandstone crops out 0.6 miles west of Tidings; in Floyd County, it forms a ridge partially encircling Rocky Mountain in Big Texas Valley. The latter was mapped by Hayes in 1902 as the Oxmoor Sandstone.
Bangor Limestone (restricted) - Above the Hartselle Sandstone is the Bangor Limestone. It consists of thick-bedded, medium-grained, crystalline limestones with oBlites. They are interbedded with dark gray calcareous shales, and the entire sequence is approximately 500 feet thick.
The partial section in Table 3 was measured in the Bangor on Interstate Highway #24 two miles west of Hooker in Dade County.
Examination of cores drilled 1.4 miles north of Chelsea indicate that the upper part of the Bangor contains more shale than the lower. Shale over 5 feet thick was encountered 176 feet below the Pennington-Bangor contact. Shale is rarely observed in outcrop. Black blocky chert nodules occur commonly throughout the limestone (Croft, 1964).
Limestone identified as Bangor crops out on Sand Mountain in Catoosa County. Some shales are interbedded, but no shales are seen at the Fry Quarry on the southwestern flank of the mountain.
Southward in Chattooga and Floyd Counties the Bangor shales thicken. Limestones which appear to be equivalent to the Bangor in Catoosa County crop out on the western slope of Little Sand Mountain in Chattooga County and on the lower slopes of Rocky Mountain in Floyd County.
Because of the abundance of shale, especially in the upper part, and chert nodules, the economic potential of the Bangor is limited. A very large outcrop of upper Bangor Limestone is two miles northwest of Morgenville in Dade County; it appears to be a good quarry prospect, but probably is less good than it appears because the upper Bangor in this area usually is too shaly.
Pennington Shale - Above the Bangor Limestone and extending up to the basal Pennsylvanian ("Lookout 11 ) Sandstone is the Pennington Shale. The Pennington is predominantly shale, but includes minor thin sandstones and limestones. The Pennington is further distinguished by the presence of marine fossils which are rare in the overlying Pennsylvanian rocks.
- 25-

TABLE 3 - Bangor Limestone- Partial Section Measured on Interstate #24 two miles west of Hooker, Dade County

Unit #

DESCRIPTION

Thickness

Total Thickness

30 Bluish gray crystalline limestone

8. 00'

216. 46'

29

Knotty tan siltstone

28

Knotty gray shale

4. SO'
s. 67'

208. 46' 203. 96'

27

Bluish gray crystalline limestone

5.001

198. 29'

26

Gray calcareous shale which grades

upward into a shaly limestone

11. 00 1 (est) 193.291

25

Gray crystalline limestone with black

chert in lower part

B. 00 1 (est) 182.291

24

Concealed

57.951

174.291

23

Interbedded bluish gray crystalline

limestone and green shale

15. 001 (est) 116. 341

22

Light gray highly argillaceous

limestone

5.33'

101.341

21

Blue crystalline limestone with

oolites

14.001

96.011

20 Bluish gray crystalline limestone

with dolomite

7. 501

82.011

19 Gray oolitic limestone

3.001

74.51 1

18

Brown shale

.091

71.511

17 Bluish gray slightly argillaceous

limestone

2. 751

71. 42 1

16

Gray calcareous shale

3. 75 1

68. 67'

15

Light gray argillaceous limestone

. 331

64.921

14 Gray knotty shale

6. SO'

64.591

13

Bluish gray oolitic limestone

14.001

58.09'

12

Dark gray shale

4. 331

44.091

11

Bluish gray oolitic limestone

14. 171

39.761

10

Dark gray shale

3. 251

25.591

9 Bluish gray crystalline limestone

2.001

22.341

8 Bluish gray crystalline limestone

with black chert

2. 171

20.341

7

Black chert

. 251

18. 171

6

Light gray dolomite with black chert 3. 751

17. 92 1

5

Black chert

. 251

14. 17'

4

Light gray dolomite with black chert

in lower part

2. 251

13. 92 1

3 Black chert

. 581

11. 67'

2

Gray slightly argillaceous limestone

with black chert

6.09'

11.091

1

Concealed

5.00'

5.001

- 26-

In the western facies the Pennington is 100 to 200 feet thick. In the eastern facies the Pennington has been called Floyd Shale, but can now be identified and separated as a distinct formation. The Floyd Shale - Rocks of the eastern facies of the Mississippian System crop out in a broad belt east of White Oak Mountain and Taylor Ridge, and in the past those rocks above the Fort Payne Chert and below the Pennsylvanian Pottsville Formation have been called the Floyd Shale.
The thickness of the Floyd Shale is difficult to determine because much of the formation is poorly exposed, and the dip of the strata is uncertain. Hayes (1902) estimated the thickness to be 1,200 feet. Butts (1948) reported the thickness to be at least 1,500 feet. By detailed mapping it is possible to correlate the shale, limestone, and sandstone units in the eastern facies with equivalent rock units in the western facies. Thus the uppermost beds in the Floyd Shale are equivalent to the Pennington Shale.
- 27-

CARBONATE ROCK RESOURCES OF BARTOW COUNTY
Introduction
Limestones and dolomites underlie nearly all of the western half of Bartow County and part of the eastern half (Figure 6). Dolomites predominate in the Knox Group and Shady Dolomite. Dolomites are interbedded with limestones in the Newala Limestone. The higher grade limestones are most frequently encountered in the Conasauga Group, where they are interlensed with shale.
Conasauga Group
The Conasauga Group of Middle to Late Cambrian age crops out over a quarter of the county. Croft (1963) estimated its thickness to be at least 4,000 feet, and distinguished three major formations.
The lower formation consists of gray bedded dolomite and a few beds of limestone, apparently equivalent to the Rutledge Formation. A good exposure is at the Shinall Quarry, at White. The carbonates of this belt mostly underlie a broad strike valley, which extends from the Etowah River to Flexatile, with the shaly portions of the formation forming low hills.
The middle formation mentioned by Croft appears to be the Rogersville Shale. In fresh exposures the shale is dark green; on weathering it becomes reddish-orange.
Croft described the upper formation as interbedded gray limestone and shale. This unit probably comprises three formations, the Maryville Limestone, the Nolichucky Shale, and the Maynardville Formation.
The westernmost belt of Conasauga rocks extends southward from Gordon County, through Adairsville, to about one mile south of Halls. Patches occur at Kingston and south of Snow Spring Mountain.
Knox Group
Deeply weathered chert residuum of the Knox Group covers most of the western part of the county and comprises about 30 percent of the total exposures in Bartow County.
Fresh Knox rocks are observable only in quarries and along streams. The best exposure is at the old Ladd Lime and Cement Company quarry 2.6 miles southwest of Cartersville. The Knox consists of thinly to thickly bedded cherty dolomite and cherty limestone which upon weathering yields a thick residuum of cherty nodules and boulders in a reddish brown soil.
The thickness of the Knox Group in Bartow County is estimated to be about 4,500 feet.
- 28-

"%j

C)

N

c:::

I.D

i!l

0\

PRINCIPAL

DISTRIBUTION OF
CARBONATE -BEARING

FORMATIONS
BARTOW COUNTY GEORGIA

1969

N
I

EXPLANATION

!till] Newala UtNIo.,~ ln,6l'bd'.d. d
lfm11'tone and dolomif
C ] Kn01. Group. Malnly do\omUt.

-

eon.. .,. Gn.up. Llm..tonel and

haln. The better known Um11ton1

areal art maril:ed by crollhcrtehlne.

-

Sllady Dolomilo.

"-

Newala Limestone
Most exposures of Newala Limestone are restricted to stream bottoms in the extreme southwestern part of the county. The thickness of the unit is probably about the same as in Polk County (250'-300'). The Newala overlies the Knox Group and in turn is unconformably overlain by the Rockmart Slates.
The Newala is a pearl-gray, fine-grained, crystalline dolomite interbedded with bluish-gray, fine- to medium-grained limestone. The upper Newala appears to be less dolomitic than the lower part.
Although exposures are limited, detailed geologic mapping coupled with drilling probably could locate several potential quarry sites in this formation.

Description of Individual Properties

Sophia Prospect, Locality #1

The location is 3.6 miles west of White and the L & N Railroad, immediately east of the South Fork of Two Run Creek, on a paved county road.

A bluish gray, fine-grained dolomite crops out, overlain by shale. A stratigraphic thickness of about 30 feet is exposed. A composite sample analyzes:

CaO - 30.8

MgO - 19.7

AFSeil022oo233

-

1. 8
0.1
1. 3

C02 - 45.7

100.0

This dolomite is within the Rome Formation, and the available stone appears to be quite limited.

M. E. Painter Quarry, Locality #2
The quarry is 2.6 miles east of Adairsville on Georgia Highway 140. The L & N Railroad is 2.8 miles to the west. This is the old Folsom prospect mentioned by Maynard (1912, p. 269).
The quarry is in the uppermost rocks of the Conasauga Group (Maynardville Formation) in fine- to medium-grained dolomite. The working face is about 40 feet high. Sample 309 is a composite collected near the base of

- 30-

the quarry; sample 310 is a composite from the upper part of the quarry face:

Sample 309 Sample 310

CaO

MgO

Si02

Al203

Fe
co

2o3
2

28.3 19.9
4.9 2.2 0.8 43.8 100.0

29.1 20.5
3.1 1.4 0.8 45.1 100.0

The M. E. Painter quarry was operated by Southeastern Contractors of Gainesville, Ga., in 1965-66 to produce crushed stone for Interstate Highway #75. Reserves appear to be large. Overburden is negligible. The stone can be used for road metal, aggregate and agricultural stone.

Gum Spring Prospect, Locality #3

The prospect is in northern Bartow County, about 3 miles west of Bolivar, on the west side of Pine Log Creek. The nearest paved road is Georgia Highway 140, which is 1.6 miles to the south. The nearest railroad is the L & N, which runs through Bolivar.

Dark blue, fine-grained limestone crops out extensively. A composite sample analyzes:

CaO - 51.8

MgO

2.2

Si02

1.6

Al2o3 - 1. 2

Fe203 - 0.1

C02 - 43.0

99.9

The limestone belongs to the upper Conasauga Group. Reserves are estimated as high.

Marquette Cement Company Quarry, Locality #4
The quarry is 3.5 miles east of Kingston, 0.25 miles south of Georgia Highway 20, and 0.4 miles north of the L & N Railroad.
The quarry was picked as a potential site in 1955 by Vernon J. Hurst, explored by diamond drilling by the Marquette Cement Company late in 1955, and opened by them in 1956.
The Conasauga limestone produced at the quarry is mostly gray, finegrained and cut by occasional white calcite veinlets. A composite sample

- 31 -

from the working face in 1968 analysed:

CaO - 50.6

MgO

2.8

Si02

2.2

Al203 1.1

Fe203 0.4

C02

42.8

99.9

The limestone is crushed to minus 2 inches, then trucked 28 miles to the Portland Cement plant in Rockmart. Reserves are large.

Clifford Lime and Stone Company Quarry, Locality #5

The quarry is 3.7 miles north of Kingston, 0.2 miles west of the L & N
Railroad in the Knox Group. It was operated by the Clifford Lime and Stone Company prior to World War I, primarily for the production of burnt lime, and now is owned by General Abrasives Company, Inc., of Niagara Falls, N.Y. Known reserves are about 200,000 tons, though a much greater tonnage doubtlessly could be developed. A composite sample of pearl gray, fine-grained dolomite from the quarry analyses:

CaO - 27.8

MgO - 21.3

SiOz

4.4

Al Fe

22oo33

-

1.0 0.5

COz - 45.0

100.0

Howard Hydraulic Cement Company Mine, Locality #6
The mine is 1.7 miles north of Kingston on the L & N Railroad, in the Knox Group.
From 1880 to 1917 the Howard Hydraulic Cement Company selectively mined dolomite strata for the production of burnt lime. The dolomite was blasted, hand loaded and conveyed in small cars down an incline to kilns (Maynard, 1912, pp. 273-275).
A quarry was opened at the mine in 1926 to provide stone for Georgia Highway 20. The present owner is Mr. Clifford E. Johnson.
A composite sample of blue, fine-grained limestone from this site analyse~

- 32-

CaO MgO Si02 A12o3 Fe203 C02

51.2 2.8 1.8 0.8 0.2
43.2 100.0

The limestone is interbedded with dolomite.

J. H. Perry Quarry, Locality #7
The quarry is 6.5 miles southeast of Adairsville and 5.5 miles northwest of White, in limestones of the Conasauga Group. The landowner is Mr. J. Howell Perry of Cartersville, Georgia.
The quarry was opened in 1960 by the Stockbridge Stone Company and has been worked intermittently since then. Present exposures are insufficient for an estimate of reserves.

Charles F. Jarrett Quarry, Locality #8

Bluish gray, fine-grained dolomite in the Conasauga Group 3.5 miles south of Adairsville on old U.S. Highway #41 was quarried by Lambert Brothers in 1927-28 and again in 1947-48 for crushed stone. The overburden is less than 5 feet at the quarry. A composite sample analyses:

CaO MgO Si02 Al203 Fe203 C02

30.2 21.0
1.2 0.6
0.3 46.6 99.9

The quarry can be reopened as needed.for crushed stone.

David Vaughn Prospect, Locality #9
The prospect is 6.5 miles northeast of White and 0.8 miles east of the
L & N Railroad. No fresh rock crops out, but the prospect is probably with-
in the Conasauga Group.
The Lehigh Portland Cement Company optioned the property from Mr. Vaughn and core drilled it in 1960-61. Earlier in 1925, the Tennessee Copper Company is reported to have dug several prospect pits. The fact that a cement producer explored the property implies the presence of limestone, but their cores are not available for examination.

- 33 -

Stockbridge Stone Company Quarry (Shinall Quarry), Locality #10

The quarry is one mile north of White, adjacent to both a paved road and the L & N Railroad, on the property of Mr. Rob Shinall.

The Stockbridge Stone Company opened the quarry in 1947. The present opening is 850 feet long, up to 660 feet wide, and filled with water. Altogether about 2,000,000 tons of stone have been produced. Most of it was used at Altoona Dam; some has been sold as agricultural stone.

Sample 307 is a composite of gray, fine-grained dolomite from the west side of the quarry; sample 308 is a composite of gray, fine-grained dolomite containing white calcite veinlets from the east side.

Sample 307 Sample 308

GaO MgO
AFcSoeil0222oo233

30.1 21.4 0.6 0.4 0.5 46.9 99.9

30.4 21.2
0.9 0.7 0.5 47.0 100.7

Ladd Lime and Cement Company Quarry, Locality #11

The quarry is located on the Seaboard Airline Railroad 2.6 miles southwest of Cartersville, on the east slope of Quarry Mountain (Figure 7).

The quarry first was opened about 1867. The Ladd Lime and Cement Company ceased operations about 1958. The principal product was burnt lime; lesser amounts of stone were used as fluxing stone, furnace linings, for glass manufacture, ballast and aggregate. Since 1965 some crushed stone has been produced.

The principal quarry is an open cut about 40 feet above the valley level, in the Knox Group. Carbonate, principally fine- to medium-grained dolomite, is exposed vertically for a distance of more than 300 feet. The horizontal extent of the exposure along the east side of the mountain is about 1,000 feet. A good description has been published by Maynard (1912, pp. 271-273). A composite sample from the quarry analyses:

GaO .
MgO Si02 Al203 Fe203 C02

29.9 22.3
0.3 0.2 0.3 47.7 100.7

Millions of tons of dolomite still could be produced from this site.

- 34-

GEOLOGIC MAP
QUARRY MOUNTAIN AREA
BARTOW COUNTY, GEORGIA N

_ __ __ 0....____

___2. MILES

r

~' ~~'~~'~ Knox Group

~

Conasauga Formation

~o ~

u

Shady Dolomite

c

Weisner Formation

j[[.::: ~

~ Crystalline Rocks

FIGURE 7 - 35-

CARBONATE ROCK RESOURCES OF CATOOSA COUNTY
Introduction
About half of Catoosa County is underlain by limestones and dolomites (Figure 8). Low-magnesia, low-silica limestones are interbedded with dolomites in the Knox Group, Newala Limestone, and Chickamauga Limestone, but are most abundant in the Mississippian System. Dolomites predominate in the Knox Group.
Conasauga Group
The Conasauga Group of Middle to Late Cambrian age underlies Peavine Valley on the west side of the county and the narrow valley just east of Smith Chapel on the east side of the county. Exposures are good in Peavine Valley. In the belt east of Smith Chapel exposures are poorer, and the Conasauga rocks are tightly folded.
The principal rock types are clayey and silty limestone, calcareous siltstone and shale. The upper 300 feet consists of massively bedded, gray limestone probably equivalent to the Maynardville Formation. No other formations within the Conasauga could be differentiated.
In Peavine Valley the Conasauga forms an asymmetric anticline which is steeper on the western limb. Faulting might have removed part of the Conasauga on the west limb, because there the upper limestone could not be located, even though large outcrops abound across the valley on the east limb.
Knox Group
The largest exposures in Catoosa County are on Peavine Ridge, which is more than two miles wide, and on Boynton Ridge, about half a mile wide. The Knox also is exposed just north of Salem Church, along a NE-SW trending ridge that passes near Lee's Chapel, and along the eastern border of the county. In the northwest corner of the county a small strip of Knox extending into Wood Station Valley from Waler County, Tennessee, forms the eastern slope of Missionary Ridge. The Knox exposures characteristically consist of chert residuum and clays derived from the weathering of carbonates and cherty carbonates, but there are excellent outcrops of fresh rock, and almost the entire section is exposed. Allen (1953) measured the thickness as 4,340 feet.
The Knox Group was actively quarried around World War I for dolomite.
Newala Limestone
The Newala Limestone is exposed in three, thin, NE-SW trending belts. The eastern belt is west of and parallel to Taylor Ridge and Whiteoak
- 36-

'"rl

C)

w
"

~

00

PRINCIPAL

DISTRIBUTION OF
CARBONATE- BEARING

CATOOSA COUNTY, GEORGIA

0

I

1969

2 MILES

FORMATIONS
N
~

EXPLANATION

B

Mississippian System

lim<ml Chickamauga Limestone

1(':::;:::-:j Newala Limestone

D

Knox Group

Limestone in the Conasauga Group

.............. Fault

Mountain; the middle belt is along the east side of Chickamauga Valley; the western belt passes between the NW corner of the county and Fort Oglethorpe. The western belt and the middle belt are on the flanks of the Pigeon Mountain-Chickamauga Valley syncline.
The Newala Limestone is approximately 240 feet thick in Rabbit Valley and probably has a similar thickness elsewhere in the county. The lower Newala is pearl-gray, fine-grained dolomite; the upper Newala is light gray, fine-grained, slightly argillaceous limestone. The Newala overlies the Knox Group and in turn is overlain by the Chickamauga Limestone.
Exposures of the Newala are generally poor. The best places to search for quarry stone are Rabbit Valley and the area around Fort Oglethorpe.
Chickamauga Limestone
Both the nearshore and offshore facies of the Middle and Upper Ordovician crop out in Catoosa County. The offshore facies is the Chickamauga Limestone, which is about 1,500 feet thick. It is well exposed in two broad belts: one belt is the trough of the southwest-plunging Pigeon Mountaln syncline; the other belt is along the west side of White Oak Mountain and Taylor Ridge, and is on the west flank of a northward extension of the Floyd syncline.
The Chickamauga Limestone is known to unconformably overlie the Newala Limestone, though in places the two formations are quite difficult to separate. Overlying the Chickamauga is the Sequatchie Formation.
Mississippian System
The rocks of the Mississippian Systems crop out along a single belt which belongs to the eastern facies and is just east of White Oak Mountain and Taylor Ridge.
The Fort Payne Chert, in the lower half of the Mississippian System, is about 390 feet thick. It crops out along the eastern flank of Taylor Ridge and White Oak Mountain, also forms a small ridge one mile north of Friendship Church, and surrounds Houston Valley.
The St.. Louis Limestone largely is covered by the flood plain of Cherokee Branch, Johnson Branch, and Chickamauga Creek. Its thickness in Cherokee Valley is 150 feet (Allen, 1953). The limestone in Houston Valley probably is St. Louis or Ste. Genevieve.
The Ste , Genevieve-Gasper limestones crop out along Cherokee Ridge. An excellent exposure is at the extreme northern end of the ridge . At the southern end of the ridge is the Fax Campbell Quarry, mainly in the Gasper
- 38-

Formation. The maximum total thickness of the Ste. Genevieve-Gasper limestones is about 200 feet. In Houston Valley, the rocks which should be equivalent to the St. Louis and/or Ste. Genevieve limestones are very shaly.
The Golconda Formation is well exposed at the Fax Campbell Quarry, at the southern end of Cherokee Ridge. The resistant capping to the ridge is the Hartselle Sandstone. The combined thickness of Golconda Formation and Hartselle Sandstone is at least 350 feet. Geologic mapping indicates a fault between the Hartselle Sandstone and the Bangor Limestone.
The Bangor Limestone crops out on the southwestern flank of Sand Mountain, and is well exposed in the Fry Quarry. The Bangor is about 250 feet thick and is interbedded with shale.
Above the Bangor and below the Pennsylvanian Sandstones on Sand Mountain is a shale about 50 feet thick, probably equivalent to the Pennington Shale.
Geology of the Cherokee Ridge Area
The Ordovician to Mississippian rocks in the Cherokee Ridge area are transitional between the offshore-type sediments that lie to the west and nearshore-type sediments to the east. Cherokee Ridge is thus a critical locality for the correlation of the offshore or western facies with timeequivalent units to the east.
Structurally, Cherokee Ridge is a north-south trending syncline. The eastern limb has been sliced by a major fault along which the lower Cambrian Rome Formation has been thrust onto upper Mississippian Bangor Limestone. Total displacement along the fault probably exceeds 10,000 feet. Several smaller faults are revealed by the offset of formations and the juxtaposition of nonsequential formations (Figure 9).
More than 10,000 feet of the Paleozoic section is exposed on and around Cherokee Ridge (Table 4).
The oldest unit is the Rome Formation composed almost entirely of sandstones, siltstones and shales. The Conasauga Group is not exposed, having been cut out by faulting. The Chickamauga Limestone, though poorly exposed only at the north end of Cherokee Ridge, is clearly more shaly than it is west of White Oak Mountain, and belongs to the eastern or nearshore facies. The Fort Payne Chert which crops out along the east slope of White Oak Mountain is interbedded with a dark gray calcareous shale, known as the Lavender Shale Member, which thins toward the northwest, again reflecting a change from nearshore to offshore facies toward the northwest.
The Mississippian limestones are mapped as one unit in Figure 9. The St. Louis Limestone, which is lowest, is a fine-grained, bluish gray, very cherty limestone. The overlying Ste. Genevieve Limestone and Gasper
- 39-

GEOLOGIC MAP OF THE CHEROKEE

RIDGE AREA

CATOOSA COUNTY



' - - - - = - - - - - "o:.o. o FEET

r

PENNSYLVANIAN ---~::m POTTSVILLE FORMAT ION

BANGOR LIMESTONE

MISSISSIPPIAN

HARTSELLE SANDSTONE (INCLUDES GOLCONDA FORMATION)

GASPER FORMATION, STE GENEVIEVE LIMESTONE AND ST. LOUIS LIMESTONE

0EVONI!1N
SILURI AN - -~
!Wil~1!1J OROOiiiCIAN CAMBRIAN ~
El
[2]

FORT PAYNE CHERT (INCLUDES CHATTANOOGA SHALE)
RED MOUNTAIN FORMATION
CHICKAMAUGA UMESTONE
KNOX GROUP
ROME FORMATION
GEOLOGIC CONTACT FAULT DASHED WHERE APPROXIMATE
MAJOR THRUST FAULT ( T INDICATES UPTHROWN SIDE)

JPS

FIGURE 9

- 40-

TABLE 4- Stratigraphic Section in the Cherokee Ridge Area

System

Formation Name

Pennsylvania Mississippian
Devonian Silurian Ordovician Cambro-Ordovician Cambrian

Pottsville Formation Pennington Shale Bangor Limestone Hartselle Sandstone and
Golconda Formation Gasper Formation and Ste.
Genevieve Limestone St. Louis Limestone Fort Payne Chert Chattanooga Shale Red Mountain Formation Chickamauga Limestone Knox Group Rome Formation

Thickness in Cherokee Ridge Area
50 250
350
190 150 390
10 1000 1500 4500 4000- 5000

Formation are gray, medium-grained, commonly oolitic limestones. They are well exposed along the western slope of Cherokee Ridge, at the Fax Campbell Quarry and at the Cedar Bluff Prospect. The Golconda Formation, which overlies the Gasper limestones, is very shaly. The lower part of it is exposed at the Fax Campbell Quarry. The capping of Cherokee Ridge is Hartselle Sandstone. Stratigraphically above the Hartselle is the Mississippian Bangor Limestone, consisting of limestone interbedded with shale. Shale crops out on the lower slopes of Sand Mountain. The green shale below the rimrocks of Sand Mountain probably is equivalent to the Pennington Shale. The rimrocks are sandstones and conglomerates belonging to the Pennsylvanian Pottsville Formation.
All the Mississippian formations recognized in the Lookout Mountain area of northwest Georgia are found in the Cherokee Ridge area, where they are notably more terrigenous. They can be traced southward and southwestward into Walker, Chattooga, and Floyd Counties where they become progressively more terrigenous, and previously have been called the Floyd Shale.
Geology of Northern Rabbit Valley
All the Ordovician formations are well exposed in the northern part of Rabbit Valley (Figure 10). Geologic relations easily observable there can be extrapolated into other areas where exposures are much less satisfactory.
The Knox Group characteristically crops out as a cherty residuum or as cherty reddish clay. The fresh rock is dolomite, mostly fine-grained, light to dark gray, containing abundant nodules and beds of chert.

- 41-

z

a..
~ ~

u m

<- L .!>Lo<a:(:

9 z

0 w
(!)

:wa:::c:

1a:-:

0

z 0

FIGURE lO - 42-

TABLE 5 - Stratigraphy of Northern Rabbit Valley

System Ordovician Cambrian

Formation Chickamauga Limestone
Newala Limestone Knox Group

Thickness (feet) 1100- 1800 250- 300
approx. 4500

The Newala Limestone consists principally of bluish gray, fine- to medium-grained limestone and interbedded gray, fine-grained dolomite. Chert is very much less common than in the Knox rocks. Shaly beds are rare. The lower Newala is predominantly dolomite. The upper Newala contains more limestone.
The Chickamauga Limestone is mainly gray, evenly bedded, fine- to medium-grained limestone. Argillaceous laminae and bentonite seams are prevalent. Chert and dolomite are less often seen. The lithology of the upper Newala and lower Chickamauga are so similar that the contact is hard to trace.

Geology of the Graysville Area
The Knox dolomites are particularly well exposed in the Graysville area where relief is high (up to 400 feet) and overburden is limited. A very large outcrop is at locality 6 (see Figure 11). Other excellent exposures are along or near the Western and Atlantic Railroad. Five dolomite quarries formerly were operated for the production of burnt lime.
The Knox is mainly gray, fine-grained dolomite in which there are nodules and layers of chert. Traces of fluorite, galena and barite have been found at the Hale Quarry (locality 5). The Conasauga Group underlying the Knox consists of interbedded limestones and shales. The contact is well exposed in the old quarry at locality 2. The Newala Limestone overlying the Knox is very similar to the Newala in northern Rabbit Valley.
Very large reserves of high grade dolomite remain in the Graysville area, readily accessible to the railroad.
Description of Individual Properties
Fax Campbell Quarry, Locality #12
The quarry is 1.7 miles east of Ringgold, about a quarter mile north
of u; S. Highway 41 and a half mile north of the Western and Atlantic
Railroad. The plane table map (Figure 12) was made in June, 1967.

- 43 -

GEOLOGIC MAP OF THE GRAYSVILLE AREA CATOOSA COUNTY

0

112 MILE

1967

N

~

NEWA LA LIMESTONE

~. KNOX GROUP

r

~

CONASAUGA FORMATION

,.,.-,... CONTACT

;

Dashed where approXImate

FIGURE 11 -44-

FAX CAMPBELL QUARRY
CATOOSA COUNTY, GEORGIA

N

. 0

.50 FEET

1967

Contour interval= 5 feet

\

"11

..,.
U1

0
~

....

N

-.....
/
/1'-0/ / /~0/
""rQ:-" /
1 o1 I

5------
10-------------------

Quarry is 1500 feet northwest of the intersection of Salem Valley Road and U .S. 41

The John L. Brown Construction Company of Nashville, Tennessee, opened the quarry in 1963 to produce crushed stone, but closed after a short time because of competition with crushed stone from Dalton, Georgia.
The Quarry opening is mainly in the Gasper Formation, but intersects the Casper-Golconda contact. A total stratigraphic thickness of 76 feet is exposed (Table 6).

TABLE 6- Stratigraphic Section at the Fax Campbell Quarry, Catoosa County

Sample #
5-11 5-10

Unit #
12 11 10

5-9

9

5-8

8

5-7

7

5-6

6

5-5

5

5-4

4

5-3

3

5-2

2

5-1

1

Lithologic Description of Unit
Yellow brown shale (Golconda Formation) Bluish gray medium-grained limestone Partially concealed gray fine-grained argillaceous limestone interbedded with bluish gray medium-grained limestone Partially concealed gray medium-grained fossiliferous limestone
Bluish gray coarse-grained fossiliferous limestone
Bluish gray medium-grained crystalline limestone with oolites. The unit is locally fossiliferous and coarse-grained
Greenish gray fine-grained slightly cherty argillaceous limestone.
Gray medium-grained oolitic limestone. The upper 0. 3' is argillaceous,
Bluish gray medium-grained crystalline limestone wit.lt oolites.
Gray mediwn-grained o;;litic limestone
Gray fine- to medium-grained crystalline limestone with chert. Partially concealed bluish gray mediumto coarse-grained cryst'llline limestone with oolites; unit is slightly argillaceous, and contains some chert.

Total Thickness from Thickness Bottomof Quarry

101 (est.)

76'

51

66'

5,0' (est.)

61 1

1. 0' 5. 3 1 19. 0'

56. 11 55. 1' 49. 8'

2. 2' 10, 8' 4. 6'
9. 3 1
o. 8'
3. 1'

30. 8' 28.61 17. 8' 13. 2'
3. 91 3, 1'

The chemical analyses show that most of the quarry is in low-magnesia stone (Table 7), but silica (chert) is high.

- 46-

TABLE 7 - Chemical Analyses of the Stratigraphic Units in the Fax Campbell Quarry, Catoosa County.

Sample Number
5-11 5-10 5-9 5-8 5-7 5-6
5-5 5-4 5-3 5-2 5-1

CaO
52.8 39.5

MgO
1.0 4.5

Si02 2.3 15.2

Al2o3
1.0 3. 1

(Not analyzed) 52. 1 .7 4.2 1.0

52.3 1.4 4.8 10.0

50.3 1.0 6.3 1.5

51.9 2. 1 1. 8 1.0

54. 1 1. 0

.8 .6

55.2 1 . 7 .6

40.4 2.8 18.6 2.2

45.7 1.4 13.8 1. 0

Fe2o3
.4 1.8
.5 . 3 . 5 .3 1 . 1 1.2 . 8

C02 42.5 35.9
41.5 42.4 40.4 42.9 43.4 43.3 34.8 37.3

Total
100.0 100.0
100.0 100.0 100,0 100.0 100,0 100.0 100.0 100. 0

Fry Quarry, Locality #13
The Fry Quarry is on the southwestern slope of Sand Mountain in the Bangor Limestone (Figure 13). An exposed thickness of more than 200 feet of Bangor Limestone outside the quarry shows limestone interbedded with shale. The quarry face itself, which is 36 feet high, exposes only limestone. While a very large tonnage of stone might be developed, any great expansion of the quarry probably would encounter layers of shale.
The quarry was opened in 1945 by Mr. J. Fry and closed in 1947. The property is owned by Mr. E. E. Kittle.

TABLE 8 - Stratigraphic Section at the Fry Quarry, Catoosa County

Sample Number
3-4
3-3 3-2 3-1

Unit
# 4
3 2

Description of Units
Bluish gray slightly argillaceous limestone
Bluish gray limestone with chert Reddish brown limestone Bluish gray limestone with oolites

Thickness Total (feet) Thickness

3.0'

35.81

22. 11 .4'
10. 3'

32.81 10.71 10.31

- 47-

~
00

-...,
Cc'l
~

.w...

I JII ll
CONTOUR INTERVAL tO FEET

Sand Moufttoin
I -~,. -.,._
0..._____1./2 Mile

FRY QUARRY
CATOOSA COUNTY, GEORGIA

N

0

zo Feet

1967

Sample Nt:mber
3-4 3-3 3-2
3-1

TABLE 9- Chemical Analyses of the Stratigraphic Units in the Fry Quarry, Catoosa County

CaO 54.5 43.8 54.5 54.7

MgO .4
2.8 . 1 .4

Si02 1.1 15.3 1. 3 .0

Al203 . 8 .5 . 9 . 7

Fe203 . 3 . 2 3 .2

C02 43.0 37.4 42.8 43.2

Total 100. 1 100.0
99.9 99.2

Cedar Bluff Prospect, Locality #14
On the north end of Cherokee Ridge, 5.3 miles north of the Western and Atlantic Railroad and a quarter mile south of Brainard Road (see Figure 9), the Ste. Genevieve - Gasper limestones crop out from the valley floor to the rim of the ridge, a vertical distance of more than 250 feet. The limestone is low in magnesia and low in silica (Table 10). The land is owned by Mr. C. R. Mills of Ringgold, Georgia.

TABLE 10 - Stratigraphy at Cedar Bluff Prospect and Chemical Analyses of the Stone

*Sample# 105
103

Unit# 4
3

Descriptions of Rock Units
Bluish gray, medium-grained, crystalline limestone
Gray, coarse-grained, oolitic, fossiliferous limestone

104

2

Light to dark gray, medium-grained,

crystalline limestone with oolites.

Some argillaceous zones

1

St. Louis Limestone

*All of the samples are composite samples

Thickness (feet) 200' - 2501 1001 - 2001 0' - 100'
Valley Floor

Sample #
105 103 104

Analyses of Samples

CaO
53.2 53.5 51.2

MgO
1.0 1.0 2. 1

Si02 1.8 1.3 3.2

Al2o3
.8 . 9 8

Fe2o3
.4 . 3 .3

co2
42.8 43.0 42.4

Total
100.0 100.0 100.0

This is an excellent prospect for high quality limestone.

- 49-

Clark Quarry, Locality #15
A mile north of Ringgold, northwest of and about 50 feet above Chickamauga Creek, in the Newala Limestone is a quarry which was operated by Mr. J. Clark in 1934-45. The quarry rock is predominantly dark gray, finegrained dolomite interbedded with gray, fine-grained limestone. The stone could be used for building stone or agricultural stone, but exposed reserves are limited.
William Kittle Quarry, Locality #16
This quarry is inside the Ringgold city limits on the east bank of Chickamauga Creek, 0.9 miles west of the Western and Atlantic Railroad, in the upper Newala and lower Chickamauga formations. Mr. William M. Kittle, who owns the property, operated the quarry in 1944-47 for crushed stone and agricultural lime. Tables 11 and 12 give the stratigraphic section and chemical analyses of the stone.
In 1949 a 350' water well drilled on the Kittle _property penetrated limestones and dolomites all the way to the bottom, and encountered no problems with chert. Ledbetter and Johnson of Rome, Georgia, took several cores from the property inl962.
Acuff Quarry, or Ressville Stone Crushing Company Quarry #2, Locality #17
The quarry is 4.2 miles north of Ringgold and 0.3 miles west of Georgia Highway 17. The land owner is Mr. C. G. Acuff. Ressville Stone Crushing Company opened the quarry in 1963 and operated it about 2 years for road metal. The quarry is 500 feet long and 110 feet wide. A stratigraphic thickness of 83 feet of the Newala Limestone formation is exposed (Table 13).
The stone is principally dolomite. The quarry could be reopened for crushed stone or agricultural stone.
Graysville Mining &Manufacturing Company Quarry #1, Locality #18
The quarry is on the Western and Atlantic Railroad a half mile northwest of Graysville (Figure 11). Mr. John D. Gray operated the quarry from 1869 to 1886. The Graysville Mining & Manufacturing Company continued the operation until 1901. Burnt lime and crushed stone were the principal products. The present owner is Mr. G. W. Swanson.
The Knox dolomite in the quarry is gray, fine-grained, contains chert nodules, and is interbedded with thin layers of chert. Maynard (1912, pp. 249-252) described the section and gave chemical analyses. His data are reproduced in Tables 15 and 16.
-~-

TABLE 11 - Stratigraphic section on the William M. Kittle Property at Ringgold, Catoosa County

Sample Unit

#

#

4-17 17

4-16 16
4-15 15 4- 14 14

4-13 13 4-12 12

4-11 11

4-10 10

4-9

9

4-8

8

4-7

7

4-6

6

4-5

5

4-4

4

4-3

3

4-2

2

4-1

0

Description of Units Gray fine-grained slightly argillaceous imestone with some chert

Thickness (feet) 3.4

Gray fine-grained slightly

5.5

argillaceous limestone

Black chert seam

0. 1

Greenish gray coarsely crystalline 4. 0 limestone with dolomite, chert and argillaceous patches

Greenish gray aphanitic limestone 5. 1 with chert and argillaceous patches

Light gray fine-grained slightly

1. 0

argillaceous limestone with chert

Gray fine-grained slightly

3.3

argillaceous limestone

Greenish gray aphanitic limestone 2. 1 with chert nodules

Gray coarse-grained crystalline

2. 3

dolomite and pinkish gray dolomite

Gray fine-grained limestone

0. 3

Light greenish gray aphanitic

3. 6

limestone

Green shale

o. 1

Light greenish gray aphanitic

7.3

limestone. This unit becomes

shaly at top.

Light gray "sugary" dolomite;

3. 0

chert nodules up to 10" in

diameter occur in this unit

Concealed

3. 3

Greenish gray aphanitic limestone 1. 0 with argillaceous streaks

Light gray "sugary" dolomite

4.0

Light greenish gray aphanitic

3.0

limestone with chert and

argillaceous streaks

Chickamauga Creek

0

Total Thickness
52 4'
49.0' 43. 5' 43.4'
39. 4' 34.3' 33.31 30.01 27. 9' 25. 6' 25. 3' 21. 7' 21. 6'
14. 3'
11. 3' 8.0' 7.0' 3. 0'
0

- 51-

TABLE 12 - Che:::nical Analyses of the Stratigraphic Units on tne William M. Kittle Property, Ringgold, Ga.

Sample Nu:nber
4-17 4-16 4-15 4-14 4-13 4-12 4-11 4-10 4-9 4-8 4-7 4-6 4-5 4-4 4-3 4-2 4-1

CaO MgO Si02

48.4

2. 1

7.4

44.6

2.8 10. 7

(not analyzed)

42.9

S.8 13.7

?8.8

1.7 25.6

37.4

8.0 12.3

:!9. 4

8.9

8.3

49. 8

3.5

2.8

45.4

5.6

5.2

49.8

2.4

4. 5

53.0

.4

2.0

(not ar..alyzed)

49.3

2.4

1.6

52.3

. 7

1.6

51. 2

2.8

2.0

31. 7 18.6

3.7

45 . 6

2.8 11. 7

Al203
1.5 3. 2
1. 1 .8 2.8 2. 1 1.0 1.7 1.4 .8
5.3 1.6 0.6 .9 .8

fe203
.5 .6
. 8 ,8 1.6 .8 .2 .4 .3 .2
.2 .4 . 2 . 3 . 3

C02
40.2 38. 1
37.7 32.3 38. 0 40.6 42 . 8 41.7 41.6 41. 9
41. 3 42.5 43.2 45.2 38.9

Total
100. 1 100.0
100.0 100.0 100. 1 100. 1 100. 1 100.0 100.0
98.3
100. 1 99. 1
100.0 100.4 100. 1

Graysville Mining & Manufacturing Company Quarry 112, Locality 1119
This old quarry is about a half mile northwest of Graysville, a short distance south of old Graysville Quarry #1 (Figure 11). It was operated first by Mr. John D. Gray and later by the Graysville Mining & Manufacturing Company during the period 1886 to 1901. Its present owner is Mr. G. W. Swanson.
The Conasauga limestones at the quarry are gray, mostly fine-grained, fossiliferous and contain argillaceous laminae. The quarry face averages 40 feet high and extends along a horizontal distance of 450 feet. A stratigraphic thickness of about 350 feet is exposed.

Graysville Mining & Manufacturing Company Quarries #3 and #4, Locality #20
In 1901 the Graysville Mining & Manufacturing Company opened two quarries a half mile east of Graysville. That same year Mr. M. M. Church of Graysville leased both quarries, and operated them until 1910. For their exact location see Figure 11.
The quarries are in the Knox dolomite, and large reserves of stone remain. The data in Tables 17 and 18 are from Maynard (1912, pp. 253-254).

Hale Quarry, Locality #21
About 1.5 miles southeast of Graysville, adjacent to and on the north side of the Western and Atlantic Railroad, Mr. W. F. Hale opened a quarry

- 52-

TABLE 13 - Stratigraphy at the Acuff Quarry, Locality #17

Sample Unit

#

#

7-13

13

7-12

12

7-11

11

7-10

10

7-9

9

7-8

8

7

7-6

6

7-5

5

7-4

4

7-3

3

7-2

2

7-1

1

0

Description of Rock Units

Thickness Total (feet) Thickness

Banded gray fine- to mediumgrained gray dolomite with patches of calcite

19,21

83" 81

Gray fine- to medium-grained dolomite

3. 91

64.61

Light gray aphanitic argillaceous limestone

1. 9'

60. 7'

Gray fine- to medium-grained dolomite

3, 3'

58. 8'

An interbedded sequence of gray fine-grained argillaceous, block shale, and gray fine-grained crystalline dolomite. The limestone in t.his unit is cherty

4. 61

Pearl gray fine- to medium.. grained dolomite

13. 2'

55. 51
so. 91

Black shale

. 2'

37.71

Pearl gray fine- to medium-grained

9. 1'

37.51

dolomite

Gray fine- to mediumgrained dolo- 5. 3' mite interbedded with thin finegrained limestone and blocky shale streaks

28.41

Pearl gray fine- to medium-grained

6. 8'

23, 11

dolomite

Light gray aphanitic limestone

2. 3'

16. 3'

Black shale interbedded with light gray fine- to medium-grained limestone. Rhombs of dolomite can be seen in the limestone

5. 81

14. 0'

Gray fine- to medium-grained dolo- 8. 2'

8. 2'

mite

Water level

0

0

- 53 -

TABLE 14- Chemical Analyses of the Stratigraphic Units at the Acuff Qu=y, locali'ty #17

amp e Number
7-13 7-12 7-11 7-10 7-9 7-8 7-7 7-6 7-5 7-4 7-3 7-2 7-1

CaO MgO S!.Oz Al2o3

31.4 19.6 1. 5 1.3

32.4 19.6

1 ..., I

9

51.2

. 7 4.9 1.9

40.3 12.5 1.1 .7

42.0 8. 7 4.5 2.0

(Sample not analyzed)

(Sample not analyzed)

32.8 19.7 . 3

. 6

(Sample not analyzed)

33. 1 19.3 .4 7

50.2 2.8 9 1.0
40.2 9.4 s. 5 2.3

29.3 21.3 2.3

.6

Fe2o3
. 5 5 . 5 . 3 . 5

C02
45.9 46.7 40.8 45. 1 42.3

Total
100.2 100.8 100.0 100.0 100.0

. 3 47. 1 100.8
1 46.9 100.5 2. 8 42.3 100.0
. 8 041.8 100.0 5 46. 1 100. 1

in 1901 and operated it until 1927. This is Quarry #5 in Figure 11. The stone was used mainly for burnt lime and crushed stone.
The quarry stone, which belongs to the Knox Group, consists of gray, heavy-bedded, fine-grained dolomite interbedded with cherty dolomite. The quarry face is 125' high. A total stratigraphic thickness of more than 200' is exposed.
A composite sample collected from the quarry face in 1967 analyzed:
GaO - 22.6 MgO - 17.1 Si02 - 22.4 Al2o3 - 0.8 Fe203 - 0.8
co2 - 36.4
Total 100.1
The silica content is higher than the average reported by Maynard in Table 19. Probably the analyzed sample was biased by the preferential collection of the more resistant layers.
The property is now owned by Mr. G. w. Swanson. Very large reserves
of stone, much of it nearly pure dolomite, remain. Traces of fluorite, galena and barite are in the quarry.
Graysville Prospect, Locality #22
Less than a mile south of Graysville, just south of Chickamauga Creek on Peavine Ridge, gray, fine-grained dolomites belonging to the Knox Group

- 54-

Sample #
285
286
287 288 289 290 291 292 293

TABLE 15 - Stratigraphy at the Old Graysville Mining & Manufacturing Company Quarries #1 and #2, Localities 18 and 19

Unit # 30 29 28 27 26 25 24 23 22 21
20 19

Description of Units Somewhat shaly, gray thin-bedded dolomite Grayish-white, heavy-bedded dolomite Thin-bedded gray dolomite Thin and heavy-bedded bluish-gray dolomite Arenaceous cherty gray dolomite (not sampled) White arenaceous dolomite (not sampled) Arenaceous dolomite (not sampled) Dark-blue comparatively thin-bedded dolomite Cherty nodular grayish-blue dolomite Grayish-blue to gray heavy-bedded dolomite Gray dolomite, cherty at bottom Thin-bedded gray dolomite

Thickness (feet) . 6 4.5 1. 0 5.5 10.0 1.0 1. 7 1. 4 2.0 5.0 2.6 1, 7

Total Thickness
458. 8 458.2 453.7 452.7 447.2 437.2 436.2 434.5 433. 1
431. 1 426. 1 423.5

18

Cherty arenaceous gray heavy-bedded to massive dolomite

17

Gray dolomite heavy-bedded at the top, massive at the

bottom

9. 5 11.0

421. 8 412.3

16

Gray dolomite

15

Cherty gray dolomite

14

Massive gray to bluish-gray dolomite

6.0 10.6 5.4

401.3 395.3 384.7

13

Gray massive dolomite

12

Massive gray to bluish gray dolomite

11

Dark-blue massive dolomite

4.4

379.3

9.0

374. 9

2.4

365.9

10

Heavy-bedded, grayish-blue dolomite

9

Concealed. (Direction of traverse S. 40"w; horizontal

distance 170 feet)

7.0 13.0

363.5 356.5

Section - Quarry No. 2

8

Heavy-bedded and massive

7

dark-blue and grayish-

6

blue limestone

5

4

Massive and heavy-bedded dark-blue and grayish-blue

limestone. Fossils collected near the bottom in loose

boulders

3

Dark-blue and grayish-blue, massive and heavy-bedded

limestone with some pyrite. Small amount of clayey

intercalations and some small veined calcite near the

top. The rock is somewhat honeycombed due to leaching.

2

Massive and heavy-bedded dark-blue fossiliferous lime-

stone with small amount of pyrite

1

Massive and heavy-bedded dark-blue fossiliferous lime-

stone made up largely of the remains of brachiapods and

trilobites.

36.7 76.7 51. 1 20.4
33.6
33.6 44.7

343.5 260. 1 183,4 132.3
111.9
78,3 44.7

- 55-

TABLE 16- Analyses of Limestone and Dolomite from the Old Graysville Mining and Manufacturing Company Quarries #1 and #2, Localities #18 and #19,

Sample Unit

Clay Loss on

#

#

CaO

MgO Si 0 2

Fe2o3

so3

P20s bases ignition

285 19-30 31.02 16,00 5,86

1. 52

.01

.02

3.00 42,57

286 10-18 25.60 16.00 15.40

2. 60

.00

.01

2. 86 37.53

287

8 47. 16 3.82 4.09

. 64

. 02

. 01

2. 52 41.74

288

7 42.52 4. 71 6. 17

1. 70

.01

. 02

6.35 38.52

289

6 48.80 1. 20 6,20

. 92

.01

.01

1. 87 40,99

290

5 50.58 1. 30 2.82

1. 00

.00

.01

2. 72 41.57

291

4 49.00 2. 10 4.80

. 80

.00

.OS

1. 91 41.34

292

3 49.76 2. 95 2.46

. 62

.00

tr.

2.30 41. 91

293

1-2 44.68 2.75 6. 58

l. 08

.00

.01

3.30 41.60

Total
100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00

TABLE 17 - Stratigraphic Section at the Old Graysville Mining & Manufacturing Company Quarries #3 and #4

Sample #
294

Unit # 10 9 8
7 6
5

Description of Units

Thickness (feet)

Dark-bluish-gray somewhat

5

cherty dolomite

Grayish-blue to dark-blue dolo-

5

mite almost free of chert

Light-blue dolomite at the top be-

4. 5

coming dark-blue towards the

bottom, Chert layers abundant

and parallel to the bedding

Massive grayish-blue and dark-blue 9.5 dolomite, almost free of chert

Massive dolomite, upper portion

11

light bluish-gray, free from

chert; lower portion dark-bluish

gray; some chert

Concealed

Total Thickness
35 30 25
20.5 11

Section 400 feet west of above in same quarry

4 Dark-blue, somewhat cherty dolo-

7.5

mite, heavy-bedded at the top and

thin-bedded at the bottom

24.4

295

3 Thin-bedded, fine-grained dark-

10.3

16.9

blue dolomite

2 Dark-blue massive dolomite with

3.6

6. 6

secondary calcite

Gray dolomite

3

3

- 56-

TABLE 18 - Analyses of Composite Samples from the Old Graysville Mining & Manufacturing Company Quarries #3 and #4.

Sample No. Unit No.

CaO

MgO

Si~

Fe
so

2o3
3

PzOs

Clay bases

Loss on ignition

294 6-10
30.26 18.64
3.25 .94 .00 tr.
1.68 45.23 100.00

295 1-4
28.56 20.98
1.85 1.08
.00 .01 .51 47.01 100.00

crop out extensively. A very large tonnage of stone could be developed at
this site, which is owned by Mr. G. w. Swanson. A composite sample from
the outcrops analyses:

CaO - 30.9

MgO

18.6

Si02

3.3

Al203 - 1. 7

Fe203 - 0.9

C02 - 44.5

Total - 99.9

The data in Table 19 and Table 20 below are from Maynard (1912, PP 255-256).
TABLE 19- Analyses of Dolomite from the Hale Quarry, Locality #21

Sample No.*

296

297

298

Unit No.

22-23

21

20

CaO

28. 62 31. so 31.20

Iv1g0

16.60 18. 30 17.80

Si02 Fe203 S03 P20s Clay bases

8.54 1. 28
. 03 02 4. 10

3. 60 .90 .01 . 02 1, 37

3. 40 1. 32 .01 .02 1. 70

Loss on ignition 40.81 44. 30 44.97 100.00 100.00 100.00

*For sample location see Table 20.

299 12-18
33. 12 16.60 3. 43
92 tr.
. 02 1. 46 44. 05 100.00

300 11
27.28 17.60 11.76
90 . 02 .02 82 41.58 100.00

301 10
30. 16 18.70 4.64
68 .02 .02 1. 23 44.55 100.00

-57-

TABLE 20- Stratigraphic Section at the Hale Quarry, Locality #21

Sample #

Unit #
23

296

22

297

21

298

20

19
18 17 16 15
14 299
13
12

300

11

301

10

9
8 7 6 5 4
3
2 1

Description of Units
Heavy-bedded and massive gray dolomite, containing in the upper portion several thin layers of chert Heavy-bedded gray dolomite, somewhat arenaceous, containing numerous thin beds of chert Heavy-bedded and massive dolomite
Massive dolomite containing several layers of chert at the top. The lower 6 feet contains calcite of circular form interspersed throughout
Massive gray nodular dolomite with rounded nodules of chert
Bluish-gray heavy-bedded dolomite Cherty dolomite Dark-blue massive dolomite
Bluish-gray massive dolomite, speckled throughout with secondary calcite and some few chert nodules

Thickness {feet) 18.5
10
8 7
4,5
5 2 9 3.8

Total Thickness
202. 1
183.6
173. 6 165.6
158.6
154. 1 149. 1 147. 1 138. 1

Dark grayish-blue heavy-bedded and massive dolomite; some chert in the upper part.
Massive gray cherty dolomite; chert parallel to the bedding more abundant near the top and bottom
Massive and heavy-bedded dolomite, dark-blue 'at the top, grayish-blue towards the middle with considerable chert; lower portion grayish-blue and dark blue,

11 13.5
9

134.3 123.3 109.8

Gray heavy-bedded and massive dolomite

10

Grayish-blue, heavy-bedded and massive dolomite;

5

slightly impure near top.

100.8 90.8

Bottom of quarry: section is continued along the Western and Atlantic Railroad
White and bluish-flint with dolomite galena, fluouite, and barite Gray dolomite Chert containing galena Fine-grained massive gray dolomite Interbedded dolomite with chert Massive gray heavy-bedded dolomite with considerable chert throughout
Massive gray fine-grained dolomite with considerable chett
White and blue chett
Heavy-bedded gray dolomite with some thin beds. A large amount of chert in thin layers parallel to the bedding with some nodular chert

5
4.7 1.5 5.5
11.3
18.8
4 35

85.8
80.8 76. 1 74.6
69. 1
57.8
39 35

- 58 -

CARBONATE ROCK RESOURCES OF CHATTOOGA COUNTY
Introduction
The distribution of the principal carbonate-bearing formations is shown in Figure 14. The dolomites and limestones of the Knox Group dominate. The Chickamauga Limestone, Mississippian limestones and Conasauga limestones also crop out extensively.
Conasauga Group
The Middle to Late Cambrian Conasauga Group underlies the valleys southwest and east of Menlo and to the northeast along Chelsea Valley toward Lafayette. It crops out again along a narrow NE-SW strip on the upthrown side of a thrust fault between Berryton and Summerville. The main outcrop belt extends through Trion, Summerville, and Lyerly.
The Conasauga Group consists mainly of calcareous siltstone, claystone and limestone. Though some limestone occurs throughout the Conasauga, most of it is in a unit about 300 feet thick near the top of the Group, regarded by Cressler (1964) as probably equivalent to the Maynardville Limestone.
The Conasauga limestones are mostly massively bedded, gray, and argillaceous. Those near the top of the Group are marked by abundant styolites.
The thickness of the Conasauga in Chattooga County is estimated to be considerably less than in eastern Gordon County.
Knox Group
The Knox Group forms several low ridges between LookoutMountain and Taylor Ridge, and another ridge near the eastern boundary of the county. Nearly half of the area west of Taylor Ridge is underlain by Knox rocks.
Aside from large exposures at the Marble Products Quarry #2, along the Central of Georgia Railroad 2 miles southeast of Lyerly, and 2~ miles northeast of Trion, fresh outcrops are uncommon. The typical outcrop is a cherty residuum.
The thickness of the Knox has not been accurately measured, but is on the order of 3,500 feet. East of Little Sand Mountain, the Knox Group has been thrust onto the Silurian Red Mountain Formation along a fault with a displacement in excess of 1,500 feet.
Newala Limestone
The Newala Limestone is exposed only in a small area southwest of Menlo.
- 59-

r\-.:r::,- -;''""'--;~

'I <!
'=.)' -.....
..f,


.

+i ...+~~~.~

~.

(,

,~ o.l*" ..r':', ...

o""
vo

-...,
()

c::

0\ 0

~

....

ol:>

.., /i /

EXPLANATION

~ Mississippian Systm

lilllliill Chick~mOUQO Limestone

-E2il Newala Limettone

D

Kno Group

Conasauga Limeatone

-....... Fault

PRINCIPAL

DISTRIBUTION OF

CARBONATE- BEARING

CHATTOOGA COUNTY GEORGIA

0

I

2 MILES

1969

FORMATIONS
N
I

Chickamauga Limestone
The Middle to Upper Ordovician rocks in Chattooga County are mainly offshore facies, but nearshore facies become increasingly prominent toward the east. The offshore facies are mapped as the Chickamauga Limestone. It crops out in three main belts. The western belt extends NE-SW through Menlo. The middle belt runs NE-SW through Berryton. The eastern belt is along the western slope of Taylor Ridge, Simms Mountain, and Gaylor Ridge. Along the lower western slope of John's Mountain, in the extreme eastern part of the county, are equivalent nearshore sediments.
The Chickamauga Limestone is dolomitic at the base, but consists mainly of evenly bedded, gray to blue limestones ranging from flaggy to thick-bedded and containing interbedded calcareous siltstones and claystones. The nearshore facies consists of red calcareous siltstones and claystones with some dolomite in the lower part.
Outcrops of the Chickamauga are common along Georgia Highway #48 between Summerville and Menlo and at Marble Products Quarry #1. Thickness of the formation in Chattooga County is about 1,500 feet.
Mississippian System
The western facies of the Mississippian System crops out on the slopes of Lookout Mountain below the rimrocks and in the valley to the east. The eastern facies crops out in a broad belt between Taylor Ridge and Little Sand Mountain.
Lookout Mountain is a gentle synclinal structure. The Mississippian rocks on the eastern slope of the mountain dip westward into the mountain. The area between Taylor Ridge and Little Sand Mountain is a broad north-south trending basin. East of Little Sand Mountain this basin has been cut by a major thrust fault with a minimal displacement of 3,000 feet.
The Fort Payne Chert, which is about 150 feet thick, crops out widely. It forms Shinbone Ridge, and crops out on the east side of Taylor Ridge, the north side of Simms Ridge, and the west side of Dick Ridge.
The western facies of the St. Louis Limestone, about 100 feet thick, mostly is concealed by the alluvium in Shinbone Valley; the eastern facies has shaled out and thickened to about 250 feet.
Exposures of the western facies of the Ste. Genevieve-Gasper, on Lookout Mountain and in Shinbone Valley are limited. In the eastern facies, a long narrow band of limestone, which appears to be equivalent to the Ste. Genevieve-Gasper, extends from a mile north of Silver Hill to a mile northeast of Subligna. In the western facies the Ste. Genevieve-Gasper is 300400 feet thick, and in the eastern facies about 200 feet thick.
- 61-

The Golconda Formation and Hartselle Sandstone were not found on Lookout Mountain, in Chattooga County. In the eastern facies these two lithologic units can be differentiated in some areas. Sandstone probably equivalent to the Hartselle Sandstone crops out 0.6 miles west of Tidings. All shale occurring between the Ste. Genevieve-Gasper limestones and the sandstone above is considered equivalent to the Golconda Formation. The combined thickness of the Golconda and Hartselle in the eastern facies is estimated at 500 feet.
The Bangor Limestone crops out on the slopes of Lookout Mountain and Little Sand Mountain. A good exposure is at Blowing Spring 0. 9 miles northeast of Chelsea. At Cedar Point 1.9 miles north of Menlo, it forms cliffs over 60 feet high. Core drillin has shown that the upper Bangor of Chattooga County is interbedded with shale.
The Pennington Shale crops out below the rimrocks of Lookout Mountain and is approximately 200 feet thick. On Little Sand Mountain, shale thought to be equivalent to the Pennington Shale and estimated to be 200 feet thick crops out above the Bangor Limestone.
The eastern facies of all Mississippian rocks in Chattooga County have been referred to in the past as the Floyd Shale. This work has shown that all of the units known and named in the western facies can be differentiated in the eastern facies, so formational names that are more specific than "Floyd Shale" can be used throughout the county.

Description of Individual Properties

Ste. Genevieve-Gasper Prospects, Locality #23

Figure 15 shows a belt of Ste. Genevieve-Gasper Limestone extending from a mile north of Silver Hill to a mile northeast of Subligna. On this belt five good prospects for limestone quarries have been located. Locality #23-1 is on the southeast side of the old town of Shackleton. Locality #23-2 is a quarter mile east of Gore, on U.S. Highway 27. Locality #23-3 is two miles northeast of Gore along a paved county road. Locality #23-4 is three miles northeast of Gore along a paved county road. Locality #23-5 is a half mile northeast of Subligna. The limestone at these prospects is similar to that being quarried by Ledbetter Brothers in Floyd County, but probably would yield a slightly higher quality stone. The two analyses below show that the stone is generally low in magnesia and variable in silica. Sample 143 is a composite from Locality #23-2. Sample 145 is a composite from Locality #23-5.

GaO MgO Si02 Al203 Fe203 C02 Total

Sample 143
54.1 0.4 1.8 0.2 0.6
42.8 99.9

Sample 145
50.5 0.6 5.7 1.9 0.9
40.2 99.8

- 62-

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STE. GENEVIEVE-GASPER OUTCROP/

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OF STE. GENEVIEVE-GASPER

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LIMESTONES

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CHATTOOGA COUNTY
X-prospects

/

I I

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2

4

6 miles

1968

I I
'-------- ---

Bald Mountain Prospect, Locality #24
About 2.5 miles west of Summerville and a half mile north of Georgia Highway #48 is Bald Mountain, an elongate hill composed of interbedded limestone and shale of the Chickamauga Limestone formation. Bluish, finegrained limestone crops out abundantly at the top. A composite sample analyses:
CaO -50.9 MgO - 0.4 Si02 - 5.0 Al203- 2.2 Fe203- 1.1 C02 -40.3 Total 99~9

Buckels Limestone Quarry, Locality #25

In 1909 Mr. William Buckels opened a small quarry on an outcrop of Conasauga Limestone, constructed a kiln, and produced lime about 1.5 miles southeast of Chelsea, in the valley. The opening is 15' x 40' and about 10 feet deep. The site is on the Soars Estate, now owned by Rome-Kraft. A composite sample from the quarry analyses:

CaO MgO
Si02
Al203
Fe 2o3
C02 Total

50.9 3.5 0.9 0.4 0.5
43.7 99.9

which is nearly the same as an analysis of the stone reported by Maynard (1912, p. 182). The limestone is gray, fine-grained, and fairly uniform in lithologic character over the whole exposure.

William Penn Prospect, Locality #26
Maynard (1912, p. 183) reported an exposure of gray, fine-grained, Conasauga Limestone 2.5 miles southeast of Trion on land then owned by Mr. William H. Penn. He described the limestone as extending from the valley floor to a vertical height of more than 100 feet. Though a band of Conasauga limestone passes through the approximate site, the exact outcrop described by Maynard could not be relocated. The analysis given by Maynard shows a limestone low in magnesia and containing 5.7 percent silica.

-M-

Little Sand Mountain Prospects, Locality #27
Several Bangor Limestone prospects on Little Sand Mountain were described by Maynard (1912, pp. 191-195): (1) on the south slope of Little Sand Mountain, just north of the Rome-Summerville road; (2) three-fourths mile northwest of Tidings; (3) 1.5 miles north of Kartah, on the west side of Little Sand Mountain; (4) two miles northeast of Kartah; (5) a quarter mile east of Armuchee Creek between Farmersville and Pleasant Grove Church. At many other places on Little Sand Mountain the Bangor Limestone crops out. Everywhere it is closely associated and interbedded with shale. In Chattooga County the eastern facies of the Bangor contains a notably higher proportion of shale than in Catoosa County. Thick sections of limestone free of shale are therefore less frequent, though they do exist, as at (5) above. Several analyses published by Maynard show that the Bangor Limestone in the Little Sand Mountain area is generally low in magnesia and variable in silica content. Small to moderate sized quarries might be opened at several places.
Cooper Prospect, Locality #28
Introduction - The Cooper Prospect is 1.5 miles north of Chelsea in northwestern Chattooga County, on the steep east slope of Lookout Mountain, along the west side of Shinbone Valley. The property is owned by Ernest Cooper and C. D. Cooper of Menlo, Georgia. To the southeast 0.8 miles is the T.A.G. Railroad.
Eight core holes have been drilled to assist the evaluation of limestone on the property. They range in depth from 103 to 464 feet, and penetrate interbedded Mississippian shales and limestones of the Pennington Shale and Bangor Limestone. These strata and the overlying Pennsylvanian Sandstone dip gently northwestward toward the south plunging axis of the Pigeon Mountain Syncline. The east side of Shinbone Valley contains a thrust fault which has moved Cambro-Ordovician Knox northwestward over the younger Ordovician Chickamauga Limestone. The high angle dips associated with this thrust do not appear to affect the Mississippian strata within the cored area.
The core holes were drilled between 7/20/65 and 11/19/66 by the Collins Drilling Company under contract with Mr. John Campbell of Clearwater, Florida. The first 4 holes were drilled in 1965 while Mr. Campbell represented a Michigan individual who later curtailed this activity because of ill health. The last 4 holes were drilled in 1966 for Colonial Chemical Corporation of Dalton, Georgia, in an attempt to evaluate the extent and quality of a 40-foot thick limestone bed encountered in the upper portion of core hole #4.
The cores from holes #1 to #3 have not been examined by us, nor have the limestones cut by these holes been further investigated by the subsequent drilling. Core holes #4 to #8 are of primary interest in this report. Cores 4 and 5 were examined by Mr. Thomas J. Crawford who recommended the locations for holes #5 through #8. Cores 6, 7, and 8 were examined by Dr. Sumner Long who correlated the logs and wrote this report.
- 65 -

Procedure - The whole cores were washed off and carefully examined in the field with a hand lens. Carbonates were tested with dilute hydrochloric acid. Detailed descriptions were made of each major lithologic unit (Table 21). Promising limestone intervals were slabbed, and continuous \ core samples taken by Mr. Campbell to Law and Company in Atlanta for chemical analysis. Their procedure was to crush about half of the total sample, put it in a shaker and then take several random cuts in large test tubes for analysis. This method was followed for cores 6, 7 and 8, but in core #5 Law and Company analyzed only random individual core chips from the samples provided. Core samples from hole #4 were tested by Commercial Testing and Engineering Company of Chicago, Illinois, whose procedure is unknown.
Interpretation - The stratigraphic section penetrated by these core holes consists essentially of a uniform, laterally persistent sequence of dark gray shales, minor interbedded light gray siltstones and gray limestones, the latter of which are increasingly prominent in the lower portion of the cores (Figure 16). Shales are the dominant lithology and are mostly grayblack, carbonaceous, silty, variably calcareous, commonly pyritic and often fossiliferous. Light gray calcareous siltstones and very fine sandstones and layers of fossil fragments commonly are interbedded or interlaminated with these shales. The thin siltstone laminae often are irregular and highly contorted by the activities of bottom-dwelling organisms. The proportion of limestone increases downward: in the section. Thirty feet above the main limestone unit being explored by this drilling limestones become the dominant rock type. They are gray, dense to coarsely crystalline and fossiliferous, with variable amounts of interbedded shale, oolites, pellets, quartz grains, and crinoid brachiopod and bryzoan fragments.
The objective limestone, transected by core holes #4, 5, 6, 7 and 8, is a laterally continuous unit 39-43 feet thick. Its average thickness is 40 feet. It consists of brownish gray, dense to coarsely crystalline, fossiliferous, commonly oolitic and pelletal clastic limestone. This limestone is easily recognized in the cores, and its position in the section can be positively documented. A sequence of distinctive interbedded red to maroon shales 140' to 180' above the top of the objective limestone aids correlation between cores #5, 6, 7 and 8. Core #4 is too low structurally to penetrate this interval. Another horizon which aids correlation is an unusual sequence of interbedded limestones and green shales which appear 0-5' above the top of the objective limestone in cores 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8. Another distinctive unit is a red to maroon shale 11-16 feet below the objective limestone in cores #4, 7 and 8. These key beds coupled with the uniformity in lithology and thickness of the objective limestone leave no doubt that the limestone is laterally continuous and not interrupted by a major fault.
The strike of the limestone is approximately N43E and the dip 8-9 degrees northwest. From this calculated altitude the top of the objective limestone in hole #8 was expected 19' higher than the depth at which it was actually encountered. This difference between the expected and the actual elevation in hole #8 is probably not significant inasmuch as the beds are
- 66-

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GEOLOGIC CROSS-SECTION AND LAND PLAT COOPER PROPERTY
CHATOOGA COUNTY, GEORGIA

GeoiOQtSI &,imner Lom~

D"'"'!mbe 20, 1966

TABLE 21 - Lithologic Logs of cores from the Cooper Properties in Northwestern Chattooga County, Georgia. Drilling by R. N. Collins, Turtletown, Tennessee, 1966. For locations of the holes, see Figure 16.

CORE HOLE# 4 Drill collar elevation 1173'

Depth

FROM

TO

0'0"

55' 1"

55 1 1"

5718"

57'8"

63'0"

63'0"

66'3"

Thickness 55' 1" 2'7" 5 14 " 3'3"

66 13 11

70'5"

4 12 11

70'5"

112 1611

42'1"

Interval Sampled For Analysis

112 1 6 11

113 1 1111

113'11" 1251 111

115 11 11'2"

125'1" 128'9"

3'8"

128'9" 131'7"

2'4"

No recovery

DESCRIPTION

Limestone, gray, very fossiliferous, with abundant thin irregular shale laminae

Limestone, light-gray, dense (4'3" cavity), Limestone, light-gray, medium-crystalline, fossil hash, with infrequent thin shale laminae.

Shale, greenish-gray; and limestone, light-gray, fine- to medium-crystalline, fossiliferous; in irregular laminae 1/ 8" - 2" thick.

Limestone, brownish-gray, medium- to coarsely-crystalline; abundant fossil fragments.

Thin shale laminae in upper 3'6"

Limestone, as above, with scarce thin shale laminae.
Limestone, gray, fine-grained, very shaly; thin zones are coarsely crystalline and fossiliferous. Increase in shale in lower portion.
Shale, red and green mottled, with irregular calcareous masses throughout.
Limestone, green and light-gray, shaly, fossiliferous; irregularly bedded and mottled,

CORE HOLE# 5 Drill collar elevation 1265 1

0'011 20 10 11

20'0" 22'4"

20'0" 214 11

22 14" 40'011 42'4" 45'0" 46'0"
52 10 11 55 10 11 5610 11 62'0"
68'4"

40'0" 42'4" 45'0" 46'0" 52'0"
55'0" 56'0" 62 10 11 68'4"
79'4"

17'8" 2 14 11 2'8" 1'0" 6 10 11
3 10 11 110" 6'0" 6 14 11
11'0"

No recovery.
Shale, gray; and siltstone, white; interlaminated. Laminae are irregular, pinch and swell. Sparsely fossiliferous.
Shale, dark-gray. Shale and siltstone, as from 20'0" - 22'4". Same as above; siltstone laminae slightly calcareous. Limestone, gray, shaly, very fossiliferous. Shale, greenish, silty, slightly calcareous. Red color from 47'3"-51'7" due to oxidation of iron along water-bearing fracture zone. Limestone, gray and greenish mottled; shaly and silty; very fossiliferous. Shale and silty limestone, greenish, fossiliferous. Shale, red and green, evenly laminated; slightly calcareous. Siltstone, very fine-grained sandstone, and shale, white and gray, unevenly interlaminated; calcareous; slightly fossiliferous. Shale, greenish-gray and red banded, with thin irregular silty stringers.

- 68-

Depth FROM
79'4"

TO 81. 911

Thickness 2 1 5 11

81'9'

12613 11

44'6"

126 1311 1281 911

128'9" 142 10 11

2'6" 13'3"

142 10 11 176'8"

1 7 6 1 8 11 193 1 811

3 4 18 11 17'0"

193'8"

2 1 0 1 4 11

1 6 1 8 11

210'4" 212'4"

212 14 11 216'3"

216'3"

217'3"

217'3" 220' 1111

220 1 1111 222'7"

222'7"

262 1211

Interval Sampled

For Analysis

262'2"

262 13 11

262'3"

264 10 11

26410 11

264 1 611

264 1 611 2641 1011

264' 10" 2 6 9 1 8 11

2'0" 3'11" 1'0" 3'8" 1'8" 39'7"
0 1 111 11 911 0'6" 0 14" 41 1011

269'8"

273'3"

3'7"

DESCRIPTION
Shale, gray, with irregular laminae of greenish calcareous silt; fossiliferous. Shale, gray, with very irregular laminae (knots, "eyes", etc. ) of quartz silt and fine calcareous sand; fossiliferous and calcareous. Fractured zone from 85'4" to 86'0" contains calcite and minor pyrite. Siltstone laminae becoming increasingly abundant at 1191011
Siltstone, light-gray, with thin irregular laminae of shale, calcareous.

Shale, dark-gray, slightly calcareous. Calcareous fossiliferous zones at:

1331 1011

133 1 1111

135 1911

138 1811

1 3 91 2 11

1 3 918 11

140'0"

141 12 11

Pyrite, modified cubes, coats fracture at 14910 11

Shale, dark-gray, slightly calcareous, with minor silt laminae. Fractures from 16710 11 to 170'3" are filled with calcite.

Shale, as above, with calcareous fossiliferous zones at: 177'2" --- 177'7" 178'6" --- 1801411 182' 811 --- 1851 1011 187'3" --- 187'7"
Calcite filled fractures at 190'2" - 191'0"
Limestone, light-gray, very fossiliferous, with abundant interlaminae of dark-gray shale.

Shale, olive-gray, non-calcareous. Limestone, brownish-gray, dense, coarsely crystalline, very fossiliferous.

Shale, green; and limestone, gray, fine-grained; in irregular mosaic. Limestone, brownish-gray, dense, coarsely crystalline, very fossiliferous. Shale and limestone, same as 216'3" - 217'3" Limestone, brownish-gray, medium- to coarsely-crystalline, with abundant fossil fragments; oolitic in particular. A 3-foot zone from 256' to 259' is composed almost entirely of oolites. Pyrite is present in negligible amounts . Shale, dark-gray, calcareous.

Limestone, dark-brownish-gray, fine- to coarsely-crystalline, fossiliferous. Shale, dark-gray, calcareous, sparsely fossiliferous.

Limestone, c;lark-gray, very fossiliferous. Limestone, brownish-gray, dense, very fine-grained, with occasional shale-film partings. Irregular laminae of green shale in lower 2".
Limestone, brownish-gray, medium-crystalline fossiliferous.

T. D. 273'3"

- 69-

FROM 0. 0'
31. 8' 35. 8' 37. 8' 38. 4' 39. 2'
43. 91 48. 5' 49. 0' 49. 6'
51. 5'
67. 7' 68. 8'
69. 5' 70. 8' 80. 5'
95. 8' 99. 6' 102. 0' 105. 11 113. 2' 121. 0'
127. 8'

CORE HOLE# 6 Drill collar elevation 12641

TO 31. 81 35. 81 37. 8'

Thickness 31. 81 4. 0 1 2. 0'

38. 4' 39.21 43. 91

0 . 6' 0. 81 4. 7'

48.51
49.01 49. 6' 51. 51
67 . 71

4. 6'
0. 5' 0. 6' 1. 9'
16. 21

68.81 69.5 1

1. 1' 0. 71

70.81 80.51 95.81
99.61 102.01
105. 1'

1. 3' 9. 7 1 15. 3 1
3. 81 2. 4 1
3. 1'

113. 2'

8. 1'

121. 0'

7. 8'

127. 8'

6. 8'

163. 7'

35.71

DESCRIPTION No recovery Shale, dark-gray, with thin irregular silt laminae, very slightly calcareous. Limestone, dark-gray, very fossiliferous, very shaly.
Shale, olive-green, calcareous. Same, maroon.
Shale, green, very silty, with small calcareous nodules irregularly distributed, fossiliferous. Becomes increasingly calcareous and silty in lower part.
Shale, maroon and gray, laminated, silty, with small calcareous nodules, very fossiliferous. Siltstone, greenish-gray, with thin shale laminae, slightly calcareous. Limestone, light-gray, sandy, fossil fragments abundant. Siltstone, light-gray, and shale, greenish-gray, irregularly laminated, only slightly calcareous. Shale, dark-gray and siltstone, light-gray, interlaminated, silt layers very calcareous. Maroon shale streaks (2. 8') from 57. 2' - 60. 0 1 Limestone streaks: 61. 9' -- 62. 3'
62. 9' -- 63. 1' 63. 71 -- 63. 9' 64. 8' -- 64. 91 Shale, maroon, slightly calcareous. Shale, greenish-gray and maroon, slightly calcareous , thin fossil zone at bottom.
Limestone, light-gray, with thin dark-gray shale streaks, very fossiliferous.
Limestone, dark-gray, very argillaceous, with thin laminae of dark-gray shale; very fossiliferous and slightly pyritic. Siltstone, light-gray, and shale, dark-gray, interlaminated in about equal proportions. Fossiliferous, slightly calcareous. Shale, dark-gray, with thin light-gray silt laminae, slightly calcareous.
Siltstone, light-gray, and shale, dark-gray; calcareous. Laminae are very irregular and lumpy. Shale, dark-gray, with thin interlaminae of light-gray siltstone, very slightly calcareous. Same as 99. 6 1 - 102. 0 1, but very slightly calcareous.
Shale , as from 102. 0' - 105. 1' .
Limestone, dark-gray, fossiliferous, very argillaceous, with interlaminae of dark-gray shale. Slightly pyritic.
Shale, dark-gray, pyritic; very fine pyrite forms discreet laminae and thin lenses.

- 70-

Depth

FROM

TO

163. 7'

167. 1'

167. 1' 173. 0'

173. 0' 182. 4'

182. 4' 192. 1'

192. 1' 198.61

198. 6' 201.41

201.4' 207. 8'

207. 8' 208. 9' 209. 2' 209. 6'
210. 3' 210. 4' 211.2'

208.91 209. 2' 209. 6' 210. 3'
210. 4' 211.2' 212. 0'

212. 0'

214. 1'

214. 11

215. 1'

215. 1'

253. 8'

Interval Sampled

For Analysis

253. 8'

255. 3'

255. 3'

258.3 1

258. 3' 259. 3'
262. 0'

259. 3' 262. 0'
263.51

Thickness

DESCRIPTION

3. 4'

Limestone, light-gray, primarily fossil fragments, argillaceous,

pyritic, with laminae of dark-gray shale.

5. 9'

Shale, dark-gray, and limestone, interlaminated, pyritic.

9. 4'

Shale, dark-gray, calcareous; limestone streaks at:

174. 4'

177. 7' 178. 4'

180. 0' 181. 31

9. 7'

Limestone, light- to dark-gray, very fossiliferous, slightly pyritic, with

black shale laminae.

6. 5 1

Limestone, light- to dark-gray, fine- to medium-crystalline, very fossiliferous; very slightly pyritic; very minor black shale laminae. Calcite-filled fractures, high-angle.

2. 8'

Shale, medium- to dark-gray, very slightly calcareous; slightly pyritic.

6. 4'
1. 1' 0. 3' 0.41 0. 7'
0. 1' 0. 8' 0. 8'
2. 1'
1. 0'
38. 7'

Limestone, light- to medium-gray, very fine- to fine-grained, very slightly fossiliferous, with scattered green shale laminae.
Shale, green; and limestone, gray, fine-grained, in irregular mosaic.
Limestone, light-gray, with bands of greenish-gray calcareous shale. Shale, green, calcareous, with minor limestone streaks.
Limestone, light-gray, fine-grained, slightly fossiliferous, with thin gray shale streaks. Limestone, light-gray, and green shale, mosaic.
Limestone, light-gray, fine-grained. Limestone, light-gray, fine-grained, with interbedded green shale in irregular mosaic pattern.
Limestone, light-gray, fine- to medium-grained, with dark-gray shale laminae.
Limestone, light-gray, fine- to medium-grained, slightly fossiliferous, slightly pyritic. Limestone, brownish-gray' fine- to coarse-crystalline, clean, oolitic, pelletal, uniform. Slightly fossiliferous; coarse-grained zone from 239. 0' to 243. 1'

1. 5'

Limestone, gray, fine- to coarsely-crystalline; fossiliferous, with gray

fossiliferous shale streaks.

3. 0'

Limestone, medium- to light-gray, fine- to medium-crystalline,

fossiliferous, with scattered interlaminae of dark-gray, fossiliferous

calcareous shale.

1. 0'

Shale, dark-gray, calcareous, with some light-gray limestone streaks.

2. 7'

Limestone, medium-gray, very finely crystalline, uniform; scattered

fractures with brown-gray shale breaks.

1. 5'

Limestone, brownish-gray, fine- to coarsely-crystalline, slightly

fossiliferous; very o'olitic and pelletal.

- 71 -

Depth

FROM

TO

Thickness

263.51

270. 8'

7.3 1

270. 8'

271. 81

1. 0'

271. 8'

274. 8'

3. O'

274.81 275. 8' 290.51 291.21

275.81 290.51 291. 2' 293.01

1. 0' 14. 7' 0. 7'
1. 8'

DESCRIPTION
Limestone, light-gray to brownish-gray, fine- to coarsely crystalline, with oolitic zones; scattered fossils; thin irregular green shale streaks. Slightly pyritic. Limestone, medium-gray, finely crystalline fossiliferous with mosaic of gray-green slightly calcareous shale.
Limestone, medium-gray, fine-coarsely crystalline, slightly fossiliferous with streaks of gray, slightly calcareous shale.
Shale, dark-gray, interbedded with irregular gray slightly calcareous shale.
Limestone, brownish-gray, fine-coarsely crystalline, clean, very oolitic, fossiliferous with few styolites.
Shale, dark-gray, slightly calcareous with prominent streaks of gray, fossiliferous, pyritic shale.
Limestone, brownish-gray fine- to medium-crystalline, oolitic, fossiliferous with scattered pyrite.

CORE HOLE #7 Drill collar elevation 13631

0.0' 41.61
66. 6' 90. 5'
114. 81
135. 2' 141. 61 158.81 166. 7' 167. 0' 170. 0' 170. 7'
174. 2'

41. 61 66.61
90. 5' 114. 8'
135. 2' 141. 61 158. 8' 166. 7' 167. 0' 170. 0' 170. 7' 174. 2'
176.01

41. 61 25.0'
23. 9'
24. 3'
20.41
6. 4' 17. 2' 7. 9' 0.3' 3. 0 1
o. 7'
3. 5'
1. 8'

Overburden (no samples) Shale, medium gray greenish gray carbonaceous; slightly silty slightly calcareous from 41. 61 to 43. 6' with thin light gray siltstone laminae.
Shale, medium gray-dark gray, carbonaceous, slightly silty, two slightly calcareous streaks in basal 3'.
Shale, as above, medium-dark gray, carbonaceous, with thin light gray slightly calcareous siltstone laminae scattered throughout and scattered pyrite inclusions.
Shale, as above, medium to dark gray with slightly more calcareous siltstone laminae scattered throughout. Shale, as above, fairly soft, less silty, non-calcareous. Shale, dark-gray, hard, very uniform, tracy pyrite (!!silt)
Shale, as above. Pyrite, dull yellow with 40% black, fossiliferous, pelletal limestone and dark black shale interbeds. Shale, black, very fossiliferous, very calcareous, interbedded with almost equal amount of black, very fossiliferous crinoidal limestone. Shale, black, silty, calcareous with some disturbed bedding. Limestone, black, very fossiliferous, dense, shaly, almost fossil hash, crinoids and bryzoans.
Shale, black, carbonaceous with numerous irregular laminae of calcareous siltstone.

- 72-

Depth

FROM

TO

176. 0'

179. 0'

179. 0 1 182.2'

182. 2' 183.2'

183. 2' 185.31 185.91 191.41 191. 91 193. 2' 195. 0'

185.3 1 185. 9' 191. 4' 191. 9' 193.21 195.01 200.3 1

200.3'

204.91

204.91 207. 9' 210. 7' 211. 7' 215. 8' 217. 3' 222,91 227. 8'

207. 9' 210.71 211. 7' 215. 8' 217. 3' 222.91 227. 8' 232.01

232. 0'

240.01

240.0'

247.51

247.51

248. 3'

248. 3'
256. 0'
264.0'
265. 4' 266.51 269.0'

256.01
264.0'
265. 4'
266.51 269.0' 270. 1'

Thickness

DESCRIPTION

3. 0'
3. 2' 1. 0 1
2. 1' 0.6' 5. 5'
o. 5'
1. 3' 1. 8'

Shale, black, uniform, with few very thin light gray siltstone laminae and pyrite lenses, Limestone as above from 170. 7' - 174. 2' Limestone, mottled light gray to greenish gray, shaly, with black fossiliferous shale in upper 0. 4'. Limestone, greenish-gray, argillaceous, fossiliferous. Shale, grayish-green. Shale, red with interbedded dark gray shale laminae, non-calcareous. Shale, medium-gray, non-calcareous. Limestone, light-gray, very fossiliferous, very silty and pyritic. Sandstone, greenish gray, very silty, very shaly, slightly calcareous,

5.3 1 4. 6'

Sandstone, light-gray, very fine-grained, quartzose, non-calcareous, uniform with some pyrite.
Shale, gray, with abundant interbedded calcareous, irregular sandstone and siltstone; limey sand 11 above base.

3.0' 2. 8' 1. 0' 4. 11 1. 5'

Shale, red, mottled with black shale, slightly silty non-calcareous. Shale, red mottled with black as above. Limestone, light- to medium-gray, very fossiliferous, and shaly. Shale, gray, very calcareous, fossiliferous. Limestone, gray, very shaly, very fossiliferous.

5. 6 1 4. 9' 4. 2'

Shale, gray, fossiliferous, calcareous. Limestone, gray, fossiliferous, very shaly. Siltstone, light to dark gray, vexy shaly, vexy calcareous, with shale laminae.

B. 0'

Siltstone; light to dark gray, very shaly, very calcareous as above

with thin scattered zones of fossil hash and scattered pyrite lenses.

7. 5 1

Shale, black, carbonaceous with vexy thin light gray, calcareous siltstone laminae and a trace of pyrite.

0. 8'

Siltstone, light gray, very pyritic with much interbedded dark gray shale

laminae displaying disturbed bedding.

7. 7'

Shale, dark gray, carbonaceous, with abundant thin light gray calcareous

siltstone laminae and scattered pyrite lenses.

8.0'

Shale, dark gray-black, vexy silty, slightly pyritic with thin light gray

calcareous siltstone laminae.

1. 4'

Limestone, black, dense, very shaly, very fossiliferous,

(fragmental limestone).

1. 1'

Shale as in 256. 0 1 - 264. 0 1

2. 5'

Limestone as in 264. 0 1 - 265. 4'.

1. 1'

Shale as in 256. 0' - 264. 0'.

- 73 -

Depth

FROM

TO

270. 1'

270.61

270. 6'

271. 1'

271. 1' 271. 6'

271. 6' 279.61

279.61 289. 6' 290. 1' 303. 9' 309. 7' 311.71 316. 2'

289.61 290. 1' 303. 91 309. 7' 311. 7' 316. 2' 317. 2'

317. 2' 320.21 320. 6'
326. 2' 328. 4'

320.2 1 320. 6' 326. 2'
328.41 338. 4'

338. 4' 340. 7' 343. 0'

340. 7' 343. 0' 345.51

345.5 1

351. 7'

351. 7' 353.3 1 354. 91

353. 3' 354.91 356. 9'

356 . 9'

399. 91

Interval Samfled

For Analysis

399. 91

402. 2'

402. 2' 404.5'

404.51 408.51

408.51 411. 61

411. 6' 413 . 61

Thickness 0. 5' 0. 51 0. 5' 8. 0'

DESCRIPTION Limestone as in 264. 0' - 265. 4'. Shale as in 256. 0 1 - 264. 0'. Limestone as in 264. 0' - 265. 4'. Shale as in 256. 0' - 264. 0'.

10. 0' 0. 51 13. 8' 5. 8' 2. 0' 4. 5' 1. 0'
3. 0 1 0. 4' 5. 6'
2. 2' 10. 0'
2. 3' 2. 3' 2. 5'
6. 2'
1. 6' 1. 6' 2. 0'
43. 0'
2. 3'
2. 3' 4. 0 1
3. 1' 2. 0 1

Shale, dark gray-black, uniform, non-calcareous, carbonaceous, (nonsilty). Limestone, dark gray, very fossiliferous, very shaly. Shale as above 'in 279. 6' - 289. 6'. Shale as above in 279. 6' - 289. 6'. Limestone, black, very fossiliferous, very shaly, pyritic (fragmental). Shale as above in 279. 6' - 289. 6' Limestone as above in 309. 7' - 311. 7' with black shale streaks and brachiopod valves. Shale black as above in 279. 6' - 289. 6' Limestone, gray-black, very fossiliferous and pyritic. Shale, black, noncalcareous with light gray limestone and silty fossiliferous limestone laminae and pyrite. Limestone light- to dark-gray, very fossiliferous, shaly, slightly pyritic. Limestone, light gray to black, very shaly, very fossiliferous, brachiorods, crinoids .. Limestone, light to medium gray, finely crystalline, very fossiliferous. Shale, greenish gray, uniform with small black rounded nodules. Limestone, tan to medium gray, finely crystalline, slightly fossiliferous, with few thin gray shale streaks. Limestone, tan to lavender gray, dense to finely crystalline to pelletal and oolitic with FfOminent mosaic j:atches Of green shale, also fossiliferous, bryzoans and brachiorods. Limestone as above 345. 5' - 351. 71 Limestone, tan to gray, very fossiliferous, slightly shaly. Limestone, tan to gray and shale, tan mottled, fossiliferous, slightly shaly. Limestone, brownish-gray, dense to medium crystalline, abundantly fossiliferous, with zones of dominantly oolitic and pellitic limestone, (clastic limestone). Limestone, tan-pale lavender, shaly fossiliferous, dense to finely crystalline, very hard. Limestone, as in 399. 9' - 402. 2' with dark brown irregular shale laminae. Limestone, tan-pale lavender, dense to finely crystalline with thin green shale streaks. Shale, dark green, soft, non-calcareous with dark brown-black nodules.
Shale, red, non-calcareous with mottled gray shale and trace gray limestone nodules.

- 74 -

Depth

FROM

TO

Thickness

413. 6' 416,. 2'

2. 61

416. 2' 419.71

3. 51

419, 7' 424.4'

4. 7'

424.41 429.91

5. 5'

429.91 433. 4'

3. 5'

433.41 440.0'

6. 61

DESCRIPTION
Shale, maroon with interbedded irregular patches of very light gray dense limestone. Shale, green, pyritic with irregular patches of very fossiliferous gray-green limestone. Limestone, tan to light gray, dense to coarsely crystalline, very fossiliferous, clean, uniform (crinoids and bryzoans). Shale black, very calcareous, very fossiliferous with ~'lin streaks of fossil hash,
Limestone, tan-gray; very shaly, very fossiliferous, dense to coarsely crystalline with oolites, bl'yzoans, brachiopods, and crinoids.
Shale black, carbonaceous, calcareous, fossiliferous and interbedded irregular bands of very shaly limestone, dark gray to brown.

Depth

FROM

TO

Thickness

0.01

51.61 51. 6'

51.61

77. 1' 25.51

77. 1'

82. 6'

5. 5'

82. 6'

87. 6'

5.0'

87. 6'

91.3 1

3. 7'

91.3'

98. 7'

7.4'

98.71 101. 4'

2. 7'

101. 4' 106.41

5.01

106.41 128.61 22. 2'

128.61 199.0' 70.4'

199,01 211. 5 1 12,51

211.51 218.01

6, 51

218. 0' 228.51 10. 5'

228.51 231.41

2. 91

CORE HOLE# 8 Drill collar elevation 1413 1
DESCRIPTION Overburden (no samples) Shale, gray, noncalcareous, with thin light gray siltstone laminae scattered throughout.
Shale, gray as above with. 1' fossil hash.
Shale, greenish-gray, noncalcareous, silty, with irregular lumps of siltstone.
Siltstone, red, shaly with irregular interbeds of mottled green siltstone, none ale areous.
Siltstone and silty shale, green to tan, calcareous, shaly with abundant irregular lumps and nodules of gray limestone and minor limestone breccia., Siltstone, green, sandy, shaly, very calcareous with irregular lumps and nodules of gray limestone. Siltstone, green, sandy as above; upper 1' has irregular calcite-filled fractures. Shale, greenish-gray, silty, with irregular siltstone laminae, mottles and lumps, slightly calcareous,
Shale, gray- dark gray, slightly silty, carbonaceous, noncalcareous with scattered light gray siltstone laminae and a few tan pyritic siltstone lumps; pyritic shale streaks (0. 1'); thicknesses increase in basal 20'. Shale, gray-dark gray, carbonaceous, noncalcareous with scattered pyritic laminae; very pyritic shale in basal 0. 3'. Limestone, black, very fossiliferous, very shaly with abundant crinoids, brachiopods, etc. Shale, gray to dark gray, silty, with interlaminated light gray siltstone with disturbed bedding. Limestone, gray very fossiliferous, shaly.

- 75-

Depth

FROM

TO

231. 41

232.51

232.51

234.01

234.01

237.71

237. 71 240.41 241. 41 243.51

240.41 241. 41 243.51 248.61

248.61 250. 11
253. 91 257. 51

250. 11 253. 91
257. 51 264. 11

264. 11

266.61

266.61

275.41

275.41

294. 11

294. 11

297.61

297.61

315.81

315. 81 317. 81 323.21

317. 81 323.21 346.71

346.71 356.71 361. 01 369.01 370.21 373.3 1

356.71 361. 01 369.01 370.21 373.31 382.3 1

Thickness 1. 1 I 1. 5' 3. 7 1
2. 71

DESCRIPTION Shale, green, noncalcareous with irregular limestone lumps. Shale, red, slightly silty, noncalcareous. Shale, green, interbedded with very fossiliferous gray green limestone in almost equal amounts.
Shale, red, as above.

1. 0 1

Shale, green interbedded with limestone as above.

2. 11 5. 11

Shale, red, as above.
Shale, gray, silty, carbonaceous, noncalcareous, with abundant thin light gray siltstone laminae with disturbed bedding.

1. 5 1

Sandstone, light gray, fine-grained uniform, noncalcareous.

3. 81

Siltstone, greenish gray, with irregular fine sandstone laminae and dark shale laminae.

3. 61

Shale, red and gray laminated, slightly silty.

6. 6 1

Siltstone, grayish-green, shaly, very fossiliferous, with irregular streaks of green limestone (Crinoids, brachiopods, and gastropods)

2.51 B. 8 1

Shale, red and gray laminated, slightly fossiliferous, (Calcareous in the gray streaks. ).
Shale, gray-greenish gray, calcareous, very fossiliferous, becomes more calcareous, pyritic and silty in basal 31

18.71 3. 51

Siltstone, gray, shaly, fossiliferous slightly calcareous, with some large gastropods.
Shale, dark gray, carbonaceous, fossiliferous, with light gray siltstone laminae and disturbed bedding.

18. 21

Shale, dark gray, silty, carbonaceous, fossiliferous, noncalcareous, slightly pyritic with interlaminated, light gray irregular siltstone with disturbed bedding.

2.01

Siltstone, black, very fossiliferous, shaly, sandy, very pyritic, (bryzoans, crinoids, etc. ).

5. 41 23.51
10.01 4. 31 8. 0 1 1. 21 3. 1I 9.01

Shale, black, silty, fossiliferous, carbonaceous, noncalcareous, becomes more uniform in basal 4 1
Shale, black, carbonaceous, slightly fossiliferous, uniform with scattered very thin light gray siltstone laminae and pyrite laminae and trace of fossil hash (0. 11).
Shale, black, uniform, carbonaceous, slightly silty, slightly pyritic, as above.
Limestone, light gray, shaly, very fossiliferous, slightly pyritic with thin black shale laminae and pyritic laminae.
Shale, black, very silty, carbonaceous, slightly fossiliferous, slightly pyritic with abundant interbedded light gray fossiliferous siltstone laminae .
Limestone, light to dark gray, dense fo fine grained, very fossiliferous, pyritic. Shale, black, carbonaceous silty, slightly fossiliferous, pyritic.
Shale, black, carbonaceous and limestone light gray, very fossiliferous in about equal amounts.

- 76-

Depth

FROM

TO

Thickness

382. 3' 387. O'

4" 7'

387. 0' 390.0'

3, 0 1

390,01 391. 8'

391. 8' 393.3 1

393. 3' 395. 1'

1. 8'
1. 51 1. 81

395. 1' 397. 6'

397.61 400.2'

400.2 1 403. 6'

2. 51
2. 61 3. 4'

403.61 407. 2'

3. 6'

407.2' 445. 9' Interval Sampled For Analysis
445.91 451. 11

38. 7' 5. 2'

451. 11 459. 4'

B. 3 1

459.4' 462. O'

2. 6'

462.0' 463. 6'

1. 6'

DESCRIPTION
Limestone, light gray to black, dense to medium crystalline, very fossiliferous with less than 20 percent black shale laminae,
Limestone, light gray to black, dense to medium crystalline, very fossiliferous, slightly shaly, slightly pyritic (fragmental).,
Shale gray to olive gray, slightly calcareous and fossiliferous with scattered calcite blebs. Shale, maroon, with scattered limestone blebs and nodules. Shale medium to dark gray, noncalcareous, uniform, basal 0. 5' fossiliferous and calcareous,
Limestone, tan to brownish gray, dense to medium crystalline, very fossiliferous, oolitic. Limestone, tan to lavender, dense to crystalline with mosaic of green shale. Limestone, tan to brownish-gray, dense to medium crystalline interbedded with 30 percent brownish gray shale, fairly fossiliferous with calcitefilled vertical fractwes, Limestone. tan to brownish gray, fine to medium-crystalline, oolitic fossiliferous pelletal clastic limestone with 6 very thin black shale streaks. Limestone, brown to brownish gray, dense to coarsely crystalline, very oolitic pelletal and fossiliferous; clean, very hard clastic limestone with few calcite filled high angle fractures, minor styolites. Limestone, tan to brownish gray, dense, siliceous, very hard with minor gray shale laminae. Limestone tan to gray, dense, hard, shaly with 10 percent gray shale laminae and few fossiliferous zones. Shale, greenish gray, hard, fossiliferous, calcareous with minor interbedded dense limey zones.
Mottled greenish gray and maroon shale, hard, calcareous, with some hard dense gray mottled limestone patches.
T. D. 463. 6'

- 77-

gently dipping and the expected elevation was obtained by a lateral projection of 1,200 feet from the nearest hole.
Quality of the Limestone - The apparent uniformity of the main limestone unit is verified by the similarity of the chemical analyses (Table 22) obtained on samples from core holes 4-8. The analyses confirm that the 40' thick limestone is high quality. Its approximate average composition is:

Total Acid Insolubles

Acid Insolubles other than Si02

CaO

MgO

Si02

Al203

Fe203

P2o5

M304

so3

If present less than

C02

CaC03 Equivalent

1. 49 0.56 52.85 1. 61 0. 93 0.27 0.22 0.03
o. 010
0.01 42.00 98.30

Note: The above averages do not include the analyses from 446-450. 5 feet in core #8, as this bed is below the objective limestone and was tested only for additional information.

The higher silica values were obtained for the upper two samples from core #5. The higher values might be due to the difference in test procedure already noted, reflecting the normal variation to be expected in a clastic limestone.

Quantity - An estimate of volume of the main limestone unit was made by projecting the limestone 600 feet northeast and southwest along strike from the nearest hole and 600 feet northwest downdip. This projection distance is slightly less than the average distance between core holes and is conservative. The southeastern limit is a line parallel to the strike passing through a point 100 feet northwest of core hole #4. The block of proven limestone thus delimited is rectangular in plan with dimensions of 4,600 feet in NE-SW direction, 1,100 feet in NW-SE direction and 40 feet thick. This block comprises 202,400,000 cubic feet, or about 14,700,000 long tons, assuming a weight of 163 pounds per cubic foot.

Conclusions - The five core holes which penetrated the main limestone demonstrate that it is laterally persistent and averages 40 feet thick. The analyses indicate a consistent composition, high in lime, low in magnesia, silica and alkalies. This limestone is suitable for the manufacture of

- 78-

TABLE 22 - Chemical Analyses of Limestone Samples from the Cooper Properties, Chattooga County, Georgia

CORE NO. 4 1 77' - 112 1

CaO Mgo
Si02 Al2o 3 Fe203 P2o5 Mn304 so3 Free Water, H20 C02

As Received 54.06
o. 71
0.54 0.50 0.19 0. 01 0.02 0.04 0.08 43.34

CORE NO. 52

CaO MgO Si02 Al2o 3 Fe203 P2o5 Mn304 so3
Total Acid Insoluble Acid Insoluble other
than Si02 Moisture Loss on Ignition C02 Equivalent CaC03

(1) 222'7"
to 232 1711
% 46.42
5. 14 3. 81 0.34 0. 73 0.05 0.011 If present less than 0.01 5.27
1. 46 0. 10 42.21 42. 10 95.59

(2) 232'7"
to 242'7"
% 49.21
3. 36 2.65 0.44
o. 26
0.05 0.008 If present less than 0.01 4.07
1.42
o. 10
42.64 42.00 96. 16

(3) 242'7"
to 252'7"
% 53. 18
1. 26 0.79 0. 14 0. 26 0.045 0.008 If present less than
o. 01
1. 54
o. 75
0.20 43.48 42.70 98.02

(4) 252'7"
to 262'7"
% 54.09
0. 73 0.88 0.24 0.10 0.045 0.007 If present less than 0.01 1.43
0.55 0.10 43.40 42.90 97.58

Composite (1), (2), (3), (4).
% 51.00
2. 10 2. 18 0.23 0.35 0.045 0.009 If present less than 0.01 3. 12
0. 94
o. 10
42.84 42.25 96.22

- 79-

CORE NO, 62

CaO MgO Si02 A12o3 Fe203 P2os Mn304 so3
Total Acid Insoluble Acid Insoluble other
than Si02 Moisture Loss on Ignition C02 Equivalent CaC03

218'5" to
223 15" %
54.44 0.75 0.60 0.26 0. 14 0.02 0.007 If present less than 0.01 0~ 90 0.30
o. 10 43.84 43.70 99.01

223 1511 to
233'5" %
54.44 0.75 0.58 o. 19 o. 14 0.03 0.007 If present less than 0.01 0.86 o. 28
0. 10 43.65 43. 10 99.01

233'5" to
243 1511 %
53.07 1. so 0.65 0.22 0.20 0.03 0.008
If present less than
0.01 0. 96 0. 31
o. 10 43.73 43.30 98.43

243 1511 to
253 1511 %
52.61 1, 80 1. 14 o. 21 0.23 0.06 0.007
If present less than
0.01 1. 53 0. 39
0. 10 43.44 43. 10 98,35

CORE NO. 72

CaO MgO Si02 A1203 Fez03 P2os Mn304 S03
Total Acid Insoluble Acid Insoluble other
than Si02 Moisture Loss on Ignition COz Equivalent CaC03

3611 to 3671 % 53.68 1.20 0.43 0. 13 o. 21 0.04 0.01 If present less than 0.01 0.81
0.38 0.20 43.68 43.40 98.80

3671 to
377' %
53.52 1. 12 0,42 0.07 0. 16 0.03 0.008
If present less than
0.01 0. 73
0. 31 0. 10 43.80 43,50 98,30

3771 to
387' %
52. 16 1. 95 0.53 o. 10 0.20 0.03 0.009
If present less than
0.01 0.99
0.46 o. 10 43.79 43.40 97,95

387' to
399, 8' %
53.01 1. 20 0,85 o. 19 0. 16 0.03 0.009
If present less than
0.01 1. 48
0,63 0.20 43, 14 43.00 97.60

- 80-

CORE NO. 82

CaO MgO SiOz Alz03 Fez03 PzOs Mn304 S03
Total Acid Insoluble Acid Insoluble other
than SiOz Moisture Loss on Ignition COz Equivalent CaC03

411' to
417' % 51.57 2. 60 0. 55 0.24 0.24 0.05 0.006 If present less than 0.01 1.03
0.48 0.40 44.07 43.00 98.42

417' to
430' % 52.92 2.40 0.50
o. 17 o. 16
0.04 0.006 If present less than 0.01 0. 98
0.48 0.40 44.06 43.20 100.42

430' to
438' % 52.26 2.80 0.60
o. 21 o. 19
0.04 0.007 If present less than 0.01 1. 18
0.58 0.40 43.81 43.10 100.23

438' to
446' % 54. 19 0.80 1. 34 0.30 0.23 0.04 0.008 If present less than 0. 01 2.00
0,66 0.40 43. 10 43.00 98.87

446' to
450. 5' % 42.09 4. 10 14. 12 1. 43 0.60 0.06 0.016 If present less than 0.01 15.30
1. 18 0.50 37.24 37.00 85.33

Samples were washed in 10% HCl and then washed with water before crushing.

1- Analyzed by Commercial Testing and Engineering Company 228 North LaSalle Street, Chicago 1, Illinois
2 -Analyzed by Law and Company, Chemists, Atlanta, Georgia

- 81 -

portland cement, agricultural lime, chemical fluxes and a variety of other uses. An estimated 14,700,000 tons of stone are available in the investigated area. Additional tonnage probably can be proved by further exploration.
Leroy Massey Quarry (Cedar Point), Locality #29
West of Menlo 1.5 miles, on the property of Mr. Leroy Massey, is a cliff known as Cedar Point where nearly 200 feet thickness of Bangor Limestone is exposed. The limestone is heavy-bedded, gray to blue-gray and fine- to medium-grained (Table 23).

TABLE 23 - Stratigraphic Section at Cedar Point, 1. 5 miles west of Menlo, Chattooga County

Sample #
8 and 9

Unit # 6 5 4

6 and 7 3

5

2

Description of Units Sandstone Concealed
Partially concealed bluish gray argillaceous medium-grained crystalline limestone with oolites
Bluish gray medium-grained crystalline limestone and oolitic limestone (vertical cliff)
Bluish gray cherty limestone Concealed

Thickness (feet) 260'

Total Thickness
650'

210'

390'

84'

1801

84'

96'

7'

12'

5'

5'

Unit #1 is at the base of the cliffs. Unit #3 is well exposed on the vertical cliffs. Unit #5 is probably the Pennington Shale. Chemical analyses show that the limestone is generally low in magnesia and silica (Table 24).

TABLE 24- Chemical Analyses of Composite Limestone Samples from Cedar Point, Chattooga County

Sample Sample Sample Sample Sample

#5

#6

#7

#8

#9

CaO MgO Si02
Al2o3 F e 2o3
C02
Total

30, 9 0.7
41.8 0.8 0.9 24,9

53. 1 1, 2
1.8 0.7 0.3 42.9

54.2 1.0
o. 1
0.8 0,3
43.6

53. 9 0.7 1.6 0.6 0.2 43.0

100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

41.6 0,4 16.8 4. 2 4.0
33.0
100.0

- 82-

The nearest paved road is Georgia Highway #48, which is a half mile to the west. The T.A.G. Railroad is 1.2 miles to the east across Shinbone Ridge.
In 1949 the Ledbetter Construction Company of Rome operated a small quarry at Cedar Point and produced crushed stone for Georgia Highway #48.

Marble Products Quarry #1, Locality #30
On the west slope of Taylor Ridge 3.5 miles southeast of Summerville, the upper part of the Chickamauga Limestone is being quarried for Terrazzo chips. The quarry was opened in 1962 on property of the Sturdivand family by the Marble Products Company. The site was chosen because of the red color of the limestone. Traces of earlier workings are a few hundred feet south of the new quarry.
Figure 17 shows the geology of the quarry area. The oldest exposed unit is the Knox dolomite, represented by a yellow to buff, cherty clay. The overlying Chickamauga Limestone ranging from gray to red is fine-grained and commonly argillaceous. Mud cracks and ripple marks can be found along the bedding planes. Some shale is interbedded with the limestone in the lower part of the formation. The red limestone, which local residents call "marble", is most abundant in the upper part of the formation, near its contact with the overlying Silurian Red Mountain Formation. The formational contact is easily located on topographic maps because of a change in slope due to the differential weathering of the two formations. A search along the contact on the western slope of Taylor Ridge has shown that red "marble1' similar to that being quarried is very abundant along the ridge.

Sample #
6-5

Unit #
5

6-4

4

6-3

3

6-2

2

6-1

1

TABLE 25 - Stratigraphic Section at the Marble Products Company Quarry #1, Chattooga County

Description of Rock Units

Thickness

Dark red, fine-grained argillaceous limestone. This
unit forms the ceiling of the mine. Red, fine-grained, argillaceous limestone Interbedded sequence of red, fine-grained, argillaceous limestone, calcareous shale, and gray and red calcareous siltstone. Partially concealed, gray, fine-grained, crystalline limestone. Partially concealed, gray, fine-grained, argillaceous limestone.

5. 00' 8. 17' 15. 83'
9. 91 1 5. 42 1

Total Thickness
44. 33'
39. 33' 31. 161
15. 33'
5. 42 1

- 83 -

'>:1

Ci

co

c:

~

~

......
-..:1

(

/
J
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.........__
\
\
ffJ

I
I
I

I

2-

I

~
-

~',~:;:-CHANGE
r

-..I.N..___"SL-O.P_EI

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'"

MARBLE PRODUCTS QUARRY
CHATTOOGA COUNTY
N

u

660 FEET

1967

~~
;; ~
~
--~
!JD

Red Mountain Formation
Limestone~ Chickamauga Limestone
Shale
Knox Dolomite

[X] Quarry

A topographic break marks the Chickamauga Limestone - Red Mountain formational contact on Gaylor Ridge, Whiteoak Mountain, Johns Mountain, Horn Mountain, Mill Creek Mountain, and Rocky Face Mountain. Red "marbles" are just below this contact at many places.

TABLE 26- Analyses of Limestone at the Marble Products Company Quarry #1, Chattooga County

Sample Sample Sample Sample Sample

6-5

6-4

6-3

6-2

6-1

CaO MgO Si02 A1203 Fe203 C02

33.7 1. 2
25. 1 6. 5 5. 8
27.7

31.4 0.7
28. 1 7.7 6.8
25.3

28.5 1.0
30.5 8. 9 7. 7
23.4

38.0 1. 0
22.3 4.7 3. 2
30.8

40. 1
o. 7
22.0 4.2 0.8
32.2

Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Knox Dolomite Prospect #1, Locality #31

Gray, fine-grained Knox dolomite crops out abundantly on the slopes 2.25 miles northeast of Trion. U.S. Highway 27 is one mile to the west; the Central of Georgia Railroad is 2 miles to the west. A composite sample of the dolomite analyses:

CaO - 30.7%

MgO - 19.9

AFSeil022oo233

-

2.4
o.s
0.4

C02 - 45.7

Total - 99.9

Marble Products Quarry #2, Locality #32
The (underground) quarry is in Knox dolomite 1.5 miles north of the Trion City Hall on the Central of Georgia Railroad. This site was chosen because of the rose color of the dolomite. Three openings have been made, and have produced terrazzo chips since 1962.

S. I. Storey Property, Locality #33
Southeast of Summerville 11 miles, on the west slope of Little Sand Mountain, on the property of Mr. S. I. Storey, gray, fine-grained Bangor

- 85-

Limestone crops out conspicuously. A composite sample analyses:

CaO - 50.7

MgO

0. 7

Si02

6.2

Al Fe

22oo33

-

1. 3 0.5

C02 - 40.6

Total -100.0

No prospecting has been done at this site, but the outcrops reveal a large quantity of limestone.

Martin's Cave Prospect, Locality #34
The cave is 1.5 miles northeast of Teloga, on the east slope of Lookout Mountain. The T.A.G. Railroad and a paved road pass through Teloga.
Bluish gray, fine- to medium-grained Bangor Limestone crops out in the vicinity of the cave. A total thickness of at least 150 feet is exposed. Samples #10, #11 and #12 are three different composite samples taken from the outcrops:

Sample Sample Sample

#10

#11

#12

CaO
MgO
Si02 AI2o3 Fe203
C02

52.2 1. 4 3.2 0.6 0.2
42.4

53.4 1. 0 1. 6 6. 7 0.4
42.9

50.3 0. 4 7. 1 1.7 0.6 39.9

Total 100.0

100.0 100.0

Knox Dolomite Prospect #2, Locality #35

A large outcrop of gray, fine-grained Knox dolomite . is two miles southeast of Lyerly along the Central of Georgia Railroad. A composite sample analyses:

CaO - 29.3

MgO - 19.7

ASFeil022oo233

-

4.1 2.0 0.4

C02 - 44.6

Total 100.1

- 86-

CARBONATE ROCK RESOURCES OF DADE COUNTY
Introduction
The three carbonate-bearing units which crop out in Dade County are the Knox Group, the Chickamauga Limestone, and the Mississippian formations (Figure 18).
Knox Group
Outcrops of the Knox Group are found only in the southern part of the county. They extend northward from the Alabama-Georgia line along the headwaters of Lookout Creek, along the axis of the northeast plunging Wills Creek anticline. Most of the outcrops are cherty residuum, but gray fineto medium-grained cherty limestones and dolomites are exposed about three quarters of a mile south of Cloverdale Church. Though the Knox Group is 3500-4000 feet thick, only the upper few hundred feet are exposed in Dade County.
Chickamauga Limestone
This unit is well exposed in Lookout Valley and along the Wills Creek anticline between Fox Mountain and Lookout Mountain. Excellent outcrops are along U.S. Highway #11 and Interstate Highway #59 in Lookout Valley.
Allen and Lester measured a partial section of 320 feet in Dade County, but the actual thickness of the formation is probably greater than 1000 feet.
Two active quarries (the Dave L. Brown Quarry and the Nella A. Teer Quarry) and one abandoned quarry (The William Colder Quarry) are in the Chickamauga. Additional prospects have been located.
The fresh rock is gray, fine-grained limestone with argillaceous laminae. Fossils are common in many of the units and chert is locally abundant. Occasional small cubes of pyrite are visible.
The Newala Limestone was not observed in Dade County. The Chickamauga Limestone immediately overlies the Knox Group and underlies the Sequatchie Formation.
Mississippian System
All Mississippian rocks in Dade County belong to the western facies. Lower Mississippian rocks generally occur in ridges which flank the center of Lookout Valley and below floodplains of the small streams draining the Valley - Cole City Creek, Allison Creek, Lookout Creek, and Dry Wash Branch. Upper Mississippian rocks occur on the slopes of Lookout, Fox, and Sand Mountains.
- 87-

.,

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If

LLJ

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FIGURE 18 - 88-

The Fort Payne Chert is about 160 feet thick. It crops out as a wide band capping the ridges that flank the center of Lookout Valley. On the western slope of Lookout Mountain from the Tennessee border to 3.3 miles south of Trenton, the Fort Payne is faulted up to the Ste. Genevieve-Gasper limestones.
The St. Louis Limestone generally is concealed under the flood plains of small streams, but is well exposed at the Southern Iron and Steel Quarries in Johnson Crook, the only larg~ exposure of the St. Louis in Dade County.
The lower part of the Ste. Genevieve-Gasper is covered by the floodplains of small streams, like the St. Louis Limestone, but the upper part is exposed on the lower slopes of Sand, Fox, and Lookout Mountains. The Ste. Genevieve-Gasper is well exposed in Cloudland Canyon, at Rising Fawn School, on U. S. Highway #11 one mile south of Rising Fawn, on Newsome Gap Road in Johnson Crook, on the slope of Lookout Mountain between Easley Gap and Rising Fawn, and a half mile east of Sulphur Springs. The combined thickness of the Ste. Genevieve-Gasper is approximately 400 feet.
The Golconda Formation and the Hartselle Sandstone are exposed in Cloudland Canyon. Their combined thickness is about 20 feet.
The Bangor Limestone, about 500 feet thick, is better exposed than the other Mississippian limestones. It crops out at many places on Sand, Fox, and Lookout Mountains, in Nickajack Cove, Slygo Cove, Egypt Hollow, and Paris Hollow.
The Pennington Shale crops out near the rims of Sand, Fox, and Lookout Mountains. The exact Pennsylvanian-Mississippian contact is difficult to determine because directly beneath the ''Lookout" sandstone is a green shale, the Gizzard Formation, similar in appearance to the Pennington Shale, but it contains thin coal seams and probably is Pennsylvanian age. The thickness of the Pennington Shale is between 100 and 200 feet.

Description of Individual Properties

Cloudland Canyon Prospect, Locality #36

A thickness of more than 500 feet of Gasper and lower Bangor limestones is exposed in Cloudland Canyon State Park. A composite sample analyses:

GaO - 53.2%

MgO

1.1

AFSeil022oo233

-

1. 4 o.6 0.5

C0 2 - 43.3

Total 100.1

- 89-

Though the stone in the State Park is hardly available, the strata exposed there extend both to the northeast and southwest, as shown by Figure 18, and could be quarried at many places.

Southern Iron and Steel Quarries, Locality #37
The quarries are 1.2 miles northeast of Rising Fawn. Paved highway Ga. 189 passes 2000 feet to the south. The Southern Railroad passes through Rising Fawn.
In 1875 the old Southern Iron and Steel Company opened four quarries at this site. The three lower quarries are in the St. Louis Limestone. The upper quarry is in both the St. Louis and the Ste. Genevieve limestones, and now exposes. a'vertical thickness of 125 feet. The lower quarries were abandoned because the chert content was too high. Over a 38 year period these quarries produced lime for the blast furnaces at Rising Fawn. Large reserves remain. The owner is Dr. W.S. Hansard.
Table 27 is the geologic section on the southern slope of Lookout Mountain at Locality #37. Note that the thicknesses are vertical rather than stratigraphic thicknesses.

Unit # 5 4
3
2
1
0

TABLE 27 - Stratigraphic Section at Locality #37

Description Pottsville Formation - Sandstone and Conglomerate

Unit Thickness
50'

Pennington Shale - green and yellow shale, largely concealed
Bangor Limestone - bluish gray limestone with argillaceous and cherty beds

310' 3101

Gasper Formation and Ste. Genevieve Limestone -

1401

bluish gray limestone with oolites.

St. Louis Limestone - gray cherty limestone and

140'

shaly beds.

Fort Payne Chert

0

Total Thickness
950' 900'
590'
2801
140'
0

Three composite samples were collected from the upper quarry. #1 is gray, fine-grained, cherty limestone from the lower part of the quarry. #2 is bluish gray, medium-grained, oolitic limestone collected at the top of the quarry. #3 is bluish gray, medium-grained, oolitic limestone collected above the quarry.

- 90-

TABLE 28 - Analyses of Limestone from the Upper Quarry, Locality #37

ill

#2

#3

GaO

MgO

AFSeil022oo233

-

C0 2

Total -

46.9 0.4 10.0 1.4 2.3 38.9 99.9

53.5 0.5 2.3 0.4 0.6
42.7 100.0

54.3 0.5 1.1 0.4 0.3
43.5 100.1

A detailed stratigraphic section and 25 chemical analyses of the stone from the quarries was published by Maynard (1912, pp. 205-208).

Fox Mountain Prospect, Locality #38
Extensive outcrops of the Ste. Genevieve-Gasper limestones are on the lower slopes of Fox Mountain, just north of Rising Fawn Grammar School. U.S. Highway #11 and the Southern Railroad are a quarter mile to the east. The land is owned by Ralph Rumley and Kathleen W. Thomas. A very large tonnage of limestone could be developed. Three composite samples were collected for chemical analyses. Sample #1 is predominantly light gray, oolitic limestone from an elevation of about 817 feet. Sample #2 is dark gray, medium-grained oolitic limestone from an elevation of 970 feet. Sample #3 is gray, finegrained limestone from an elevation of 1055 feet.

TABLE 29 - Analyses of Composite Samples from Locality 1!38

111

1!2

#3

GaO MgO Si0 2
AFcoel 222oo33
Total

49.9 2.4 4.2 1.3 0.6
-140-10..-60

53.0 0.1 3.3 0.8 1.2
41.6 100.0

51.7 1.4 3.8 0.7 0.4
42.0 100.0

Easley Gap Prospect, Locality #39
Ste. Genevieve-Gasper limestones crop out extensively along the Southern Railroad 0.75 miles north of Rising Fawn. U. S. Highway #11 is 1500 feet to the west. The property is owned by Mr. L. M. Allison and Mr. Charles Long. This stone is stratigraphically equivalent to that at the Patton Rock Products Quarry in Walker County and the Fax Campbell Quarry in Catoosa County. A composite sample, predominantly bluish gray, medium-grained, oolitic limestone, analyses:
- 91 -

CaO - 53.1 %

MgO

LO

Si02

2.1

AFel22 oo33

-

0.8 0.3

C02 - 42.7

Total -100.0

A large tonnage of limestone low in magnesia and silica could be developed at this prospect.

Dave L. Brown Quarry, Locality #40

The quarry is at Wildwood, Georgia, just east of U.S. Highway #11 and the Southern Railroad. The Dave L. Brown estate owns the property. The quarry was operated by Mr. Dave L. Brown from 1947 to 1966 and since then has been operated by the Lambert Brothers, to produce crushed stone primarily for road metal. The stone being quarried is the Chickamauga Limestone, a dark gray, fine-grained rock that contains both shale and chert. A composite sample analyses:

CaO

44.0%

MgO

3.8

Si02

10.0

AFel 22oo33

-

2.6 1.0

C0 2 Total

-

-130-80..-60

Nella A. Teer Quarry, Locality #41

While a road cut was being made through the Chickamauga Limestone along Interstate Highway #59 a mile southwest of New England, Georgia, the excavated stone was crushed and used as road metal. The operation was carried on by Mr. Nella A. Teer of Durham, N.C., during 1966-67. The stone is gray, fine-grained argillaceous limestone; a composite sample analyses:

CaO

47 .s%

MgO

1.8

Si02

Al Fe

22oo33

-

COz

8.2 2.0 1.3 39.2

Total - 100.0

A stratigraphic thickness of more than 100 feet of the Chickamauga Limestone is exposed in the cut.

- 92-

William Colder Quarry, Locality #42
The quarry is in the Chickamauga Limestone at the junction of Interstate Highway #24 and Georgia Highway #289, 1.2 miles east of Hooker. The
L & N Railroad is 0.3 mile to the north.
In 1966 Mr. William Colder opened the quarry to supply local stone for the fill on which a gasoline station was built. The quarry face is over 60 feet high. The overburden is about 35 feet thick. Three samples were collected for analysis. Sample #1 was collected at the quarry floor; sample #2 was collected at the middle of the quarry face; and sample #3 from the top of the quarry.

TABLE 30 - Analyses of Chickamauga Limestone from the William Colder Quarry, Locality #42

#1

#2

#3

CaO MgO
AFcSoeil0222oo233
Total

42.0 1.0
18.6 3.1 1.3
34.0 100.0

34.7 2.1 23.7 4.6 5.4 29.5 100.0

40.3 1.0
20.5 3.5 2.1
32.7 100.1

Because of location, thick overburden and poor quality of stone, this site is unfavorable for further development.

- 93 -

CARBONATE ROCK RESOURCES OF FLOYD COUNTY
Introduction
Carbonate-bearing formations underlie extensive areas in Floyd County. Most extensive is the Conasauga Group, which blankets much of the western part of the county (Figure 19). Next most extensive is the Knox Group, which underlies nearly all of the southeast. The Newala Limestone, Chickamauga Limestone and Mississippian limestones occupy relatively small areas.
Conasauga Group
The northern boundary of the Conasauga Group is the Rome Fault. South of the fault the Conasauga crops out in a broad triangular area extending eastward from the Alabama line between Coosa and Cave Springs to Rome. Northeast of Rome the Conasauga crops out in two belts. The westernmost of these belts underlies the flood plain of the Oostanaula River. The eastern belt forms a broad valley extending from Rome through Hermitage to the Gordon County line. South and southwest of Rome, the Conasauga crops out in a series of narrow belts, most of them bounded on the west by a thrust fault along which Conasauga rocks have been thrust over Knox rocks.
The entire Conasauga section appears to be present in Floyd County, but because of complex folding and faulting, its exact thickness is hard to determine.
Conasauga limestone crops out extensively at the Public Work Camp Quarries #2, #3, and #4 just east of the Coosa River, 3 miles southwest of Rome. The limestone is thin-bedded to laminated, intensely shattered and recemented by calcite. At a point on the Southern Railroad 1.5 miles west of Cunningham Station, the limestone is dark blue to light blue, locally oolitic and frequently made up almost entirely of trilobite remains. Northeast of Rome limestone is less abundant in the Conasauga, and occurs as very thin beds interstratified with shale. The uppermost beds of the Conasauga are mainly limestone and probably are equivalent to the Maynardville Formation.
Knox Group
The Knox Group consists mainly of heavy-bedded to massive gray dolomite, containing dark gray carbonaceous beds and interbedded with chert. Chert occurs also as nodules. Cherty limestone and occasionally sandstone also are interbedded with the dolomite and the chert. A thick chert residuum accumulates over the weathering Knox rocks; fresh outcrops are uncommon. The best exposures are along streams where the residuum has been recently removed.
-~-

DISTRIBUTION 0 F

PRINCIPAL CARBONATE-BEARING FORMATIONS

/

FLOYD COUNTY

GEORGIA
1969

N
I

/
'~

EXPLANATION

.UJ Mlululpp an. Llmutonee

e J Chickamauga Limeeton

--fiE\'EI Newolo Limtone

D

Knox Group

Conaeaugo Group

Fault

FIGURE 19 - 95-

Newala Limestone
Exposure of the Newala Limestone is limited to a small area in the extreme southeastern corner of the county. The area is low, and exposure is poor.
Chickamauga Limestone
Approximately 1500 stratigraphic feet of Middle and Upper Ordovician strata crop out in Floyd County. Good exposures are on Horseleg Mountain, Lavender Mountain, the west side of Heath Mountain, the vicinity of Sprite, and the west side of John's Mountain.
The Middle and Upper Ordovician strata consist largely of varicolored argillaceous shales and interbedded, mottled, argillaceous limestones. The abundance of terrigenous material connotes that these strata belong to the nearshore facies; by definition, then, they are not the Chickamauga limestone; though they are stratigraphically equivalent.
Mississippian System
All of the Mississippian rocks in Floyd County are part of the eastern facies, or nearshore facies. They are similar to the eastern facies rocks in Chattooga County, but are more terrigenous.
Structurally, Floyd County is quite complex. The rocks are tightly folded and sliced by numerous thrust faults. Simms Mountain, Johns Mountain, Lavender Mountain, Turkey Mountain, and Horseleg Mountain, all of which are known as Armuchee Ridges, are anticlinal features. A large thrust fault cuts through Big Texas Valley. The Rome Fault, which crosses the county, has moved the Cambrian Conasauga Formation into contact with strata of Mississippian age, a displacement of at least 7500 feet.
The widely distributed Fort Payne Chert generally crops out on the lower slopes of the Armuchee Ridges. Above the Fort Payne Chert, are green, gray and brown shales which probably are the stratigraphic equivalent of the St. Louis Limestone. A limestone thought to be Ste. Genevieve-Gasper crops out in a narrow band from the old Public Work Camp Quarry #1 four miles north of Rome to the Old Huffacker Railroad Station 4.5 miles northwest of Rome. The large Ledbetter Bros. Quarry is in this unit. Similar limestones crop out on the Oostanaula River 1.6 miles south of Rosedale and on Beach Creek 4 miles southeast of the Coosa Post Office. Above the limestones are shale which probably are equivalent to the Golconda formation. Nine large clay pits are located in this shale unit along the Central of Georgia Railroad west of Rome.
A narrow band of sandstone partially encircles Rocky Mountain. Hayes (1902) mapped it as the Oxmoor Sandstone. It appears to be the Hartselle Sandstone, which crops out also on Judy Mountain.
-%-

Above the Hartselle Sandstone are interbedded Bangor shales and limestones. The limestones are exposed at Orsman and along the lower slopes of Rocky Mountain.
The shale cropping out below the Pennsylvanian sandstones on Rocky Mountain probably is the Pennington Shale.
Geology of the Northwest Rome Area
Figure 20 is a detailed geologic map of the Northwest Rome area. The commercial limestone in this area is restricted to a stratigraphic thickness of about 200 feet of the Gasper-Ste. Genevieve formations. Beneath the Gasper-Ste. Genevieve limestone is the St. Louis shale; overlying the limestone are Gasper and Golconda shales. The Mississippian limestones in this area contain very little dolomite, in contrast to the Conasauga limestones which commonly are dolomitic. The Ledbetter Bros. Quarry at locality 4 (Figure 20) shows that the quality of the limestone is good, and that shale and chert are minimal.
The Gasper-Ste. Genevieve limestone has been traced for over three miles through Northwest Rome. Three quarries are within this 3 mile stretch. The Public Work Camp No. 1 Quarry (locality #2 of Figure 20) and the Old Huffacker Station Quarry (locality #6) are small quarries that have been out of operation several years. The Ledbetter Bros. Quarry (locality #4), the largest limestone quarry in northwest Georgia, is being actively worked, and extensive reserves remain.
Only Cambrian and Mississippian rocks are exposed in the Northwest Rome area. The Cambrian Conasauga rocks have been overridden by the Mississippian rocks along the Rome Fault, represented by the heavy dashed line on the left side of Figure 20. The Conasauga rocks are tan- to cream-colored shales interbedded with thin blue limestones. The oldest Mississippian formation is the Fort Payne Chert. The Lavender Shale member predominates over bedded chert, so that most of the formation is a gray calcareous shale. The Lavender Shale is well exposed at the Will Mitchell Quarry (locality #1).
The St. Louis Shale is the clastic facies of the St. Louis Limestone. The shale is dark gray, calcareous, and often interbedded with thin, bluish, medium-grained limestones that locally are cherty.
Overlying the St. Louis shale are the Ste. Genevieve-Gasper limestones. The Ste. Genevieve and lower Gasper could not be distinguished during the mapping. Both consist of bluish gray, slightly argillaceous, medium-grained, crystalline to oolitic limestones. A 152 foot section is exposed in the Ledbetter Bros. Quarry. Another large outcrop of this limestone is at locality #6, a good potential quarry site.
Undifferentiated Mississippian shales overlie the Ste. Genevieve-Gasper limestones. These gray to brown calcareous shales interbedded with dark gray shaly limestone are exposed at the Old Summerville Road Quarry (locality #3).
- 97 -

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GEOLOGIC MAP
NORTHWEST ROME AREA

FLOYD COUNTY,
:.__ ___:19:;80 Feel 1968

GEORGIA
N
I

t=-=---: Mississippian Sholes
(Includes Golconda Formation and Gasper Shales)

~
~!n

Gasper Formation and St. Louis Sholes Fori Payne Chert

Ste. Genevieve

Limestone

~~-1 Conasauga Formation

The undifferentiated Mississippian shales include the upper Gasper Formation, which probably is shaly, and the shales of the Golconda Formation.
The Mississippian units in the Northwest Rome area strike east-northeast and dip 10-20 N.W. To the south the Mississippian rocks are slightly undulose. The Cambrian Conasauga rocks have been thrust at least 7500 feet along the Rome Fault onto the Mississippian sediments. The trace of the Rome Fault is quite irregular, but because of distinct color differences between Conasauga and Mississippian shales, the fault is easy to trace.
The Gasper-Ste. Genevieve belt in Northwest Rome offers large reserves of low-magnesia limestone favorably situated along railroads, with abundant shales nearby. From a raw materials standpoint, the area is favorable site for a portland cement plant.

Description of Individual Properties

West Lavender Mountain Prospect, Locality #43

On the west side of Lavender Mountain, a mile west of the Central of Georgia Railroad, a thickness of 60 feet of light gray, fine-grained limestone is exposed. For the exact location see the frontispiece. This site has never been prospected. The limestone could be considerably thicker. A composite sample of the exposed 60-foot thickness analyses:

GaO

51.0%

MgO

0.4

AFSeil022oo233

-

5.4 1.5 0.6

C0 2

41.1

Total - 100.0

Maynard (1912, pp. 169-170) gave an earlier description of this prospect.

Rome Quarry (Will Mitchell Quarry), Locality #44

Within the Rome city limits at the junction of U.S. Highway #27 and the Southern Railroad is an abandoned quarry in dark gray, fine-grained shaly limestone belonging to the Lavender Shale Member of the Ft. Payne Chert. Floyd County operated the quarry from about 1900 to 1920. Mr. WiLL Mitchell continued the operation until 1945. Part of the stone was used in the construction of buildings at Berry College. The land now is owned by W. C. Lloyd Real Estate Company of Anniston, Alabama. An automobile dealer occupies part of the old quarry floor. Though the site no longer is available for the production of stone, a composite sample has been analysed to show the general quality of the stone in this stratigraphic unit in the vicinity of Rome:

- 99-

CaO

12.9%

MgO

2.1

AcFSoeil0222oo233

-

56.5 7.7 8.4
12.4

Total - 100.0

Public Work Camp Quarry #1, Locality #45

This abandoned quarry is beneath a bridge on U. S. Highway #27, where the highway cros~es Big Dry Creek in Northwest Rome. It is Locality #2 in Figure 20, now owned by Berry College. Floyd County opened the quarry in 1917 and operated it about three years for crushed stone. The quarry is in the Ste. Genevieve-Gasper limestone which is bluish gray, medium-grained, and analyses:

CaO

54.1%

MgO

0.1

AFScoeil0222oo233

-

2.3 0.7 0.3 42.5

Total - 100.0

A cherty layer is 7-8 feet above the quarry floor. Reserves are small.

Old Summerville Road Quarry, Locality #46
The quarry, 4.5 miles north of Rome on the Old Summerville Road, was operated by Floyd County prior to World War I for road metal. A waterfilled pit 50' x 100' now marks the site. The property is owned by Dr. L. R. Cauthen.

The rock exposed at the quarry is a dark gray calcareous shale, probably Golconda shale, which analyses:

CaO

24.4%

MgO

1.0

AFSeil022oo233

-

38.4 9.6 6.4

C0 2

20.2

Total - 100.0

Neither the quality of the stone nor the quantity that is readily accessible favor reopening the quarry.

- 100-

Ledbetter Brothers Quarry, Locality #47
Ste. Genevieve-Gasper limestone has been quarried by Ledbetter Brothers since 1951 from an opening 3 miles northwest of Rome on a spur of the Central of Georgia Railroad. The opening has a maximum width of 742 feet and a length of 1900 feet. About 75 persons presently work at the quarry. The stone is crushed mainly for aggregate and agricultural lime. Table 31 describes the stratigraphic section measured at the quarry.

TABLE 31- Stratigraphic Section at the Ledbetter Brothers Quarry, Locality #47

Sample Unit

#

# Description of Rock Units

Thickness

B-19 B-17 B-16 B-15 B-14
B-13 B-12 B-11
B-10
B-9
B-B
B-7 B-6 B-5
B-4
B-3 B-2
B-1

19 Light bluish gray fine-grained calcareous shale

B.O'

1B Greenish gray shale

2.0'

17 Very dark gray fine-grained limestone

4. B'

16 Gray fine- tO' medium-grained crystalline

s. 7'

limestone with o8lites.

15 Gray medium-grained limestone with oCilites.

B. 1'

Thin argillaceous streaks are interbedded.

14 Gray medium-grained limestone with o!Slites.

20. 6'

In places the unit should be considered an

oolitic limestone.

13 Bluish gray medium- to coarse-grained

14.51

. crystalline limestone with o8lites.

12 Gray medium-grained limestone with o<Slites,

11. 5'

interbedded with gray shaly limestone.

11 Dark gray fine- to medium-grained crys-

14. B'

talline limestone with o8lites, interbedded

with shale.

10 Dark gray fine- to medium-grained crys-

B. 3'

talline limestone with oolites. This unit

contains a few thin argillaceous streaks

9 Black highly fossiliferous calcareous shale

1. 0'

8 Bluish gray medium- to coarse-grained

4. 3'

crystalline limestone. Some chert is in

the lower part.

7 Dark gray fine-grained shaly limestone.

1. 6'

6 Gray medium- to coarse-grained crys-

1. 3'

talline limestone.

5 Dark gray fine- to medium-grained crys-

s. 2'

talline limestone. This unit is slightly

argillaceous

4 Bluish gray coarse-grained crystalline lime-

6. B'

stones. Locally the unit is oolitic.

3 Bluish gray medium-grained o81itic limestone

7. 1'

2 Dark gray slightly argillaceous fine- to medium- 1B. 3'

grained limestone. The unit becomes o()litic

upward.

1 Dark gray medium-grained oolitic limestone

9. 0'

Total Thickness
152. 9' 144. 9' 142. 91 13B. 1' 132. 4' 124. 3'
103. 7' B9. 2' 77. 7'
62. 9'
54. 6' 53. 6'
49. 3' 47. 7' 46. 4'
41. 2' 34. 4' 27. 3'
9.0'

- 101 -

The analyses in Table 32 show the quality of the stone.

TABLE 32 - Analyses of the Limestone at the Ledbetter Brothers Quarry, Locality #47

CaO MgO Si02 Al203 Fe203 C02 TOTAL

8.. 19
21. 9 1.0
38.7 12.0 8. 1 18.3 100.0

8-17
49.0 1. 4 6.7 1.7 1.3
39.9 100.0

8-16
54.0 . 1
2.3 . 9 .3
42. 4 100.0

SAMPLE NUMBER

8-15 8-14 8- 13

50.3 1. 0 6.7 1. 2 .4
40.4 100.0

54.2 .4 1.8 . 6 . 2
42.8 100.0

54.4 4
1. 2 .8 . 3 43.0 100.0

8-12
31. 2 2.4 31. 9 4. 3 3. 2
27.0 100.0

8-11
18.3 2. 8 49. 0 6. 1 6.4 17.4 100.0

8-10
47.4 2. 8 7.9 . 9 8
40.2 100.0

CaO MgO Si02 Al203 Fe203 C02 TOTAL

8-9

8-8

28. 1 2. 4
32.9 7. 3 4. 8
24.5 100.0

53. 1 1.0 1. '7 . 6 9
42.. 7 100.0

8-7
37.9 1.2
24.2 3. 8 2. 0
30.9 100.0

8-6
51. 3 1.2 5.0 . 8 3
41.4 100.0

8-5
53.6 .7
1. 7 . 9 .3 42.8 100.0

8-4
54.4 . 1
2.0 . 5 . 3
42.7 100.0

8-3
51.7 2.8 1.0 7 .3 43.5
100.0

8-2
53 . 6 1. 0 1. 5 6 .3
43.0 100.0

8-1
54.3 1
2. 1 . 6 2
42.7 100.0

The lower 48 feet of the limestone is low in magnesia and silica. The next 41 feet is siliceous, and the overlying 50 foot thickness again is low in magnesia and silica. These low magnesia-silica sections are a good grade of limestone for the production of portland cement~ large tonnages could be developed.

Rome Prospect, Locality #48

Ste. Genevieve-Gasper limestone crops out along the Southern Railroad 3.6 miles northwest of the Rome City Hall. The stone is bluish gray, fine-
to medium-grained. A composite sample analyses:

GaO

47.5%

MgO

0.1

Si02

13.2

Al203 - 1.2

Fe203 - 0.8

C02 Total

-

-130-70..-20

This prospect is at the same stratigraphic horizon as the Ledbetter Brothers quarry, but being within an industrial area lessens its potential.

- 102 -

Old Huffaker Railroad Station Quarry, Locality #49

The quarry is 300 feet west of where Southern Railroad crosses Huffaker Road, northwest of Rome. The owner is Mr. I. Adams. The stone is bluish gray crinoidal limestone belonging to the Ste. Genevieve-Gasper formations. The exposure is small, and the total thickness of the limestone at this point unknown. A composite sample analyses:

CaO

54.3%

MgO

0.4

Si0 2

1.7

Al Fe

22oo33

-

0.3 0.3

C0 2

43.1

Total - 100.1

which is very similar to the analysis reported by Maynard (1912, p. 174).

Public Work Camp Quarry #2, #3, and #4, Locality #50
These quarries are about 3 miles southwest of Rome, on the east bank of the Coosa River in limestone of the Conasauga Group. Floyd County operated quarry #2 from 1921 to 1962, quarry #3 in 1963-64, and quarry #4 from 1964 to the present, using convict labor. The limestone is crushed for road metal.

Big Cedar Creek Prospect, Locality #51

North of Vans Valley 1.2 miles, on the north side of Cedar Creek, is an exposure of a 30-foot thickness of limestone and dolomite. Apparently this outcrop is the Conasauga-Knox contact. A composite sample of the entire outcrop analyses:

CaO

MgO

SiO 2 -

Al ;P 3-

Fe2
co2

o3

-

Total -

26.0%
11.4 23.4 13.6
2.8 22.6 99.8

Pinson Prospect, Locality #52
In northeastern Floyd County, a half mile west of Pinson and 900 feet east of Woodward Creek, is a low ridge of Conasauga limestone overlain by shale. A stratigraphic thickness of 60 feet of limestone is exposed which analyses:

- 103-

GaO

51.0%

MgO

2.5

Si02

1.8

Al
Fe
co

22oo33
2

-

0.3 1.7
-4-2.-7

Total 100.0

Nannie Prospect, Locality #53

Northeast of Nannie 1.5 miles towards Adairsville, on the north side of the road, is a large outcrop of bluish gray, medium-grained Conasauga limestone cut by numerous white calcite veinlets. A 60-foot thickness is exposed which analyses:

GaO

49.7%

MgO

0.7

AFSeil022oo233

-

6.4 0.3 3.2

C0 2 Total

-130-90..-70

Rocky Mountain Prospects, Locality #54

nine miles northwest of Rome, the Bangor limestone crops out at several places on the lower slopes of Rocky Mountain. Several exposures are marked on the frontispiece. Locality #54-1 is three miles due west of Armuchee and about a half mile south of Heath Creek. Locality #54-2 is at Orsman. Locality #54-3 and #54-4 are along the road on the southeast slope of Rocky Mountain. Locality #54-5 is along the road leading from Orsman to Big Texas Valley, on the south side of Heath Creek. Exposures of the Bangor Limestone in the same general areas were described by Maynard (1912, pp. 176-179). In Floyd County the Bangor limestone is generally interbedded with shale. On exposure the shale breaks down to soil and leaves outcrops of limestone from which the interbedding with shale is not readily apparent. At most of the Bangor outcrops on Rocky Mountain less than a 20-foot stratigraphic thickness of limestone is exposed. A moderate tonnage could be produced from many of these sites, but the opening of a large quarry would face the risk of finding troublesome shale interbeds in the limestone.

The limestone is generally dark blue, heavy-bedded, fine-grained, commonly crinoidal and sometimes cherty. A composite sample from the lower slopes of Rocky Mountain analysed:

CaO

31.2%

MgO

5.9

AFcSoeil0222oo233
Total

-

27.2 3.0 1.9
-3-0.-8
100.0

- 104-

This analysis is lower in lime, higher in magnesia and considerably higher in silica than the analyses given by Maynard (1912, pp. 176-179). A composite sample from surface exposures easily is biased toward high magnesia and high silica because the dolomitic and siliceous portions of the stone are more resistant to weathering than the high lime portions. Chert was rejected from the samples collected by Maynard, but not from the composite sample reported above.
Lock and Dam Area The Lock and Dam area is about 6 miles southwest of Rome on the paved Blacks Bluff Road. Extensive outcrops of Conasauga limestone are immediately south of Lock and Dam (Figure 21) and along Blacks Bluff Road. The limestone is gray, mostly fine-grained, and mostly low in magnesia.
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FIGURE 21 - 106-

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CARBONATE ROCK RESOURCES OF GORDON COUNTY
Introduction
Well over two-thirds of Gordon County is underlain by limestone- dolomite-bearing formations (Figure 22). The Conasauga Group and the Knox Group are the principal units. Though Mississippian rocks crop out in the western part of the county, they belong to the eastern facies (see page 19), and appear to contain little carbonate of high quality. Carbonates are completely absent from the area east of the Cartersville Fault, which runs north-south ~-1 mile east of Fairmount, Ranger and Oakman.
Conasauga Group
The Conasauga Group crops out in four north-south trending belts. The westernmost belt, which is immediately east of the Rome Fault, extends northward from the Oostanaula River through Sugar Valley to the Whitfield County line. The two belts in the central part of the county are the outcrop pattern due to a series of gently dipping anticlines and synclines in which the Conasauga rocks occupy the anticlinal areas and Knox rocks occupy the synclinal areas. At the eastern side of the county, immediately west of the Cartersville Fault, slightly metamorphosed Conasauga shales and limestones form a 3-4 mile wide belt extending from the Bartow to the Murray County line.
All of the Conasauga formations appear to be present in Gordon County, and the total thickness of the Group is at least 3600 feet.
The Conasauga Group offers a greater economic potential than any other Paleozoic unit in the county.
Knox Group
Three areas in the central part of the county are underlain by the Knox Group. The western area extends northward out of Bartow County to about one mile north of Lilly Pond. A second area extends northeastward from Calhoun almost to the Oostanaula River. The third area extends from the Bartow County line through Farmville, to the Murray County line a mile east of Nickelville.
The Knox Group in Gordon County, as elsewhere, consists mainly of cherty dolomites and limestones. Weathering develops over the Knox a thick residuum of cherty nodules and boulders.
Mississippian System
Mississippian rocks crop out only in the western part of the county. They are bounded on the west by Silurian and Devonian rocks along Horn Mountain and on the east by the Rome Fault, along which the Conasauga Group has
- 107-

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PRINCIPAL

DISTRIBUTION OF

CARBONATE-BEARING

GORDON COUNTY, GEORGIA

u

2 MILES

1969

FORMATIONS
r

EXPLANATION

CJ Knox Group.

-

ConosOUQO Group. Limestones and

shales. The better known limestone

areas ore marked by cross-hotchlnQ.

""" Fault.

been thrust over Mississippian rocks.
The Fort Payne Chert crops out along the eastern flank of Horn Mountain and in a small north-south trending fenster between Sugar Valley and Resaca. It immediately overlies the Devonian Chattanooga Shale. Its thickness probably exceeds 150 feet. Excellent exposures of the Fort Payne are on Baugh Mountain, where there are many chert pits. No Lavender Shale was seen in the county.
Above the Fort Payne Chert is a greenish gray shale probably equivalent to the St. Louis Limestone farther west. The thickness of this shale could not be measured. Above it are Ste. Genevieve-Gasper limestones, the youngest rocks in the county.
The Mississippian rocks are tightly folded and faulted. Baugh Mountain is a small northeast-southwest trending anticline.
No commercial deposits of limestone were observed in the Mississippian rocks of Gordon County, though the Mississippian cherts on Baugh Mountain and the eastern flank of Horn Mountain have been used extensively for road metal and fill.

Description of Individual Properties

Pine Log Creek Prospect, Locality #55

In southern Gordon County, four miles southwest of Fairmount, bluish gray, medium-grained Conasauga limestone crops out on the west side of the dirt road. The thickness and extent of the stone are not decipherable from present exposures, but a minimum of 100,000 tons probably could be quarried. A composite sample analyses:

CaO

49.0%

MgO

4.2

Si02

2.1

Al203 - 1.0

Fe 2o3 - 0.7

C02

43.0

Total - 100.0

J. W. Evans Quarry, Locality #56
The quarry is on the east side of Oakman, within the city limits, 0.2 mile east of U.S. Highway #411 and the L & N Railroad (Figure 23). Lambert Brothers of Chattanooga, Tennessee, operated the quarry in 1936-37 to produce crushed stone for U. S. Highway 411. Mr. Leonard Smith core drilled the area in 1950. The owner is Mr. J. W. Evans. The quarry face is 30 feet high. A total stratigraphic thickness of 46 feet of Conasauga limestone is exposed in the quarry area.

- 109-

0 1968
CONTOUR INTERVAL

100 FEET

OAKMAN

EVANS QUARRY
OAKMAN, GA-.

-

v

~ EVANS QUARRY

(/)

::i

N

FIGURE 23

0
1968 - 110-

3000 FEET

TABLE 33 - Stratigraphic Section at the J, W. Evans
Quarry, Oakman, Georgia

Sample# Unit# Description of Rock Units

Total Thickness Thickness

ll-5 11-4 11-3 11-2 11-1

5

Gray fine-grained argillaceous lime-

stone interbedded with black fine-

grained limestone

4

Gray fine-grained argillaceous lime-

stone with white coarse-grained

calcite veinlets

3

Gray to black fine-grained limestone

with argillaceous patches and white

calcite veinlets

2

Black fine-grained limestone with

white coarse-grained calcite veinlets

Dark gray fine-grained slightly

argillaceous limestone

17. 4'

46.11

10.01

28.71

6.01 5. 71 7.01+

18. 7'
12.71
7. 0'

The analyses in Table 34 show that magnesia is too high for the stone to be considered for the production of portland cement.

TABLE 34 - Analyses of the Limestone in the ], W, Evans Quarry, Oakman, Georgia

11-5

11-4

11-3

11-2

11-1

CaO MgO Si02 A1203 Fe203 C02 Total

44.6 2.5 10.6 3. 5 1. 3
37.6 100. 1

37.3 4.5 17.4 4.4 2.3
34.1 100.0

49.3 3.8 3.1 0. 6 0.5
42.7
lOO.C

48.4 3.8 3.8 1.5 0.5
42.0 100.0

48.8 3.5 3.9 1.4 0.5
41.9 100.0

Hamrick "Black Marble11 Quarry, Locality It 57
The quarry is 0.9 mile west of Ranger (Figure 24) in dark gray to black Conasauga limestone. The property owner is Mr. H. F. Hamrick. "Black Marble11 dimension stone was produced by Mr. Leonard Smith from 1951 to 1958. The Georgia Marble Company prospected the site and took over the quarry from 1958 to 1962.
The quarried stone ranges from black, oolitic, crystalline limestone or "marble" to dark gray interlaminated limestone, shaly limestone, and dolomite. Conunonly the black "marble" is cut by white calcite veinlets that occupy well

- 111-

OF MARBLE

I 1 7
N
1

_ _ _ _ 0,____ __._

___I_O. OFEET

1968

HAMRICK BLACK MARBLE QUARRY
RANGER, GA.

.-

0

3000 FEET

1968

FIGURE 24 - 112-

defined fracture sets. The strength of the stone depends significantly on the proportion and distribution of shaly laminae and on how well the fractures have been healed by calcite.
This 11black marble 11 gashed by white calcite veinlets makes a striking dimension stone, and is quite widespread in the area. The selection of quarry sites that will yield solid, high-strength blocks requires core drilling. Prospecting should be restricted to sites where the partially weathered stone near the surface easily can be stripped off in preparation for the removal of dimension stone, where shaly laminae are notably coherent (or absent) and where the numerous fractures that cut the stone are well healed.

Phil Tate Quarry, Locality #58

A mile southwest of Fairmount, a small quarry in Conasauga limestone was operated by Mr. Phil Tate from 1955-60. The crushed stone that he produced was used to make cement blocks. The quarry face is ten feet high. Sample #260 was collected near the bottom of the quarry face; sample #261 was collected near the top.

Sample 11260 Sample #261

CaO MgO
Si02 Al203
Fe 2o3
C02 Total

48.6 2.4 5.3 2.2 0.8
-140-00..-70

41.7 4.9
12.1 2.5 0.9
37.9 100.0

The quality of the stone as shown by these analyses is unsatisfactory for the production of portland cement. The quantity appears to be too small for the development of a large quarry.

County Quarry, Locality #59

Southeast of Fairmount 1.25 miles and 0.4 mile east of U. S. Highway #41, on the north side of Sallocoa Creek, is a quarry in the Conasauga Group. The quarry face is over 100 feet high. An adit 12 feet high and 18 feet wide opened in the quarry face goes back into the hill 62 feet. The limestone is notably fractured, probably because it is near the Cartersville Fault. A composite sample analyses:

CaO MgO
Si02
Al 2o3 -
Fe203 C02 Total -

52.3 2.1 1.1 1.0 0.2
43.2 99.9

- 113 -

Lambert Brothers of Chattanooga operated the quarry in 1936-37 for road metal. Mr. N. R. Champion produced crushed stone for road aggregate and terrazzo chips from 1957 to 1962. The property is owned by Janelle Irving of Charlotte, N. C.

F. J. Richardson Quarry, Locality #60
Southeast of Calhoun 3.25 miles and a quarter mile east of Interstate #75 is a large quarry from which Lambert Brothers produced crushed stone for road metal in 1965-66 (Figure 25). The stone is bluish gray, fine- to medium-grained limestone of the Conasauga Group. The owner is Mr. F. J. Richardson.
The quarry was opened to supply stone for Interstate 1175 and closed when the highway was completed. Large reserves of limestone remain. Overburden is thin.

GEOLOGIC MAP OF EASTERN GORDON, MURRAY AND BARTOW COUNTIES
A 105 square mile area comprising the eastern parts of Gordon, Murray and Bartow Counties was mapped geologically in 1967 to accurately locate the carbonate deposits that are readily accessible to Atlanta by railroad (Figure 26).
Only the Conasauga carbonates in this area appear to have any appreciable economic potential. The Shady dolomite is too deeply weathered to be a promising source. The limestones in the Rome Formation are too thin and variable.
All the formations which underlie the area are tabulated in Table 35. All are Cambrian in age.

TABLE 35 - Cambrian Formations in Eastern Gordon, Murray and Bartow Counties

Ccnasat<ga Group

Formational Name
Nolichunky Shale Maryville Limestone Rogersville Shale Rutledge Formation Pumpkin Valley Shale

Thickness (feet)
600 650 1,000 1,000
30 (?)

Rome Formation Shady Dolomite Weisner Quartzite

2, 000 1, 000 2, 000

The Weisner Quartzite is a thick succession of quartzite, sandstone and conglomerate beds alternating with beds of shale.
- 114 -

Calhoun 3 miles

F.J. RICHARDSON QUARRY

GORDON COUNTY

N

0

1000 FEET

I

1967

~

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" Belwood School

~

FIGURE 25

- 115-

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FIGURE 26 - 116-

The Shady Dolomite is a bluish gray medium- to coarse-grained dolomite.
The Rome Formation is predominantly sandstone and shale, but in places there are thin beds of limestone. The sandstone is fine-grained, green to red. Much of the shale is gray to yellowish as weathered, but usually greenish when fresh. The Rome shales are hard to distinguish from the Conasauga shales. No definite exposures of Pumpkin Valley Shale were located during the mapping. Likely the Pumpkin Valley was mapped as part of the Rome Formation.
The Rutledge Formation is predominantly a gray fine-grained thin- to thick-bedded dolomite, with thin beds of limestone. A few thin shale units (<SO') are interbedded with the carbonate. The upper Rutledge is less dolomitic than the lower Rutledge, which contains some chert. The Rutledge Formation is well exposed at the Shinall Quarry at White, in Bartow County.
The Rogersville Shale overlies the Rutledge Formation. The fresh Rogersville is green but weathers to a buff color. Some limestone is interbedded with the shale. Adjacent to the Cartersville Fault the Rogersville has.been metamorphosed to phyllites and slates. Fossils found at Fairview Church (1.1 miles northeast of Pine Log) identify the shale as Rogersville. The carbonate units north of Fairview Church overlie the Rogersville Shale, and thus are identified as Maryville Limestone.
The Maryville is a dolomitic limestone with shale interbedded near the base of the formation. In the eastern Gordon, Murray, and Bartow Counties, the Maryville is generally composed of thinly laminated dolomite and limestone. Some of the limestone is oolitic. The Maryville is well exposed from the County Quarry (1.25 miles southeast of Fairmount in Gordon County) to a point 1.5 miles southeast of Ramhurst in Murray County, and several small quarries have been opened in it.
Overlying the Maryville is the Nolichunky Shale, a buff to gray shale containing some interbedded limestones. The Hamrick ''Black Marble" Quarry is in one of these limestone units. The Nolichunky Shale is the youngest rock in eastern Gordon, Murray, and Bartow Counties.
Structurally the area is quite complex, as it bounds the Cartersville Fault.
Potentially economic carbonate deposits are noted in the sections labelled Description of Individual Properties. Three additional localities are marked A, B, and C on Figure 26. Locality A has the greatest potential of the three. For the descriptions of the other quarries and prospects in this area see pages 30-35, 109-114, and 120.
- 1.17 -

CARBONATE ROCK RESOURCES OF MURRAY COUNTY
Introduction
The Cartersville Fault, a major thrust fault, transects Murray County north to south: it passes a short distance east of Chatsworth (see Figure 27). East of the Cartersville Fault are metamorphic rocks which belong mainly to the Great Smoky Group of pre-Cambrian age but include lesser Cambrian rocks. The only known carbonate rock east of the Fault is a 150-foot thickness of irregularly laminated metalimestone which crops out 1.3 miles northeast of Cisco. The laminae range in thickness from one em to less than a mm, but average about 2mm. The rock is heavily veined with calcite, the veins averaging 2mm in width (Salisbury, 1961, p. 31).
West of the Cartersville Fault, carbonate-bearing formations predominate. The major unit is the Conasauga Group. The Knox Group underlies a large area in the northwestern part of the county. The Newala Limestone is less extensive.
Conasauga Group
The Conasauga Group crops out on both limbs of a gently dipping syncline whose axial plane passes through Spring Place and Cisco. The eastern limb is cut by several thrust faults. A third outcrop belt extends southward along the Cartersville Fault from Grassy Mountain to the Gordon County line.
Adjacent to the Cartersville Fault, Conasauga rocks are slightly metamorphosed.
Knox Group
Knox rocks crop out on the western limb of the syncline mentioned above. They are largely absent from the east limb, due to faulting, except in the vicinity of Spring Place. Unweathered dolomite exposures are rare. The typical outcrop is a cherty residuum. Total thickness of the Knox Group is about 4500 feet.
Newala Limestone
Newala Limestone outcrops are limited to a narrow band on the western flank of Sumac Ridge. The Newala consists principally of dark, blue-gray limestones and pearl-gray dolomites in heavy massive beds.
The Newala overlies the Knox Group and in turn is overlain by the Athens shale. Its thickness is about 110 feet (Munyan, 1951).
- 118 -

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FIGURE 27 - 119-

Description of Individual Properties

D.O. Baxter Prospect, Locality #61

On the D.O. Baxter property 9.5 miles north of Chatsworth is a promising quarry site in Newala Limestone. U.S. Highway #411 is 1.2 miles east
of the site; the L & N Railroad is 1.3 miles to the east. Gray, fine- to
medium-grained limestone is interbedded with light gray, medium-grained, sugary dolomite. A composite sample analyses:

GaO

40.8%

MgO

11.5

SiOz

AFel 22oo33

-

mz

1.6 1.0 0.5 44.6

Total 100.0

An estimated 300,000 tons of stone are readily available.

- 120 -

CARBONATE ROCK RESOURCES OF POLK COUNTY
Introduction
The trace of the Cartersville Fault enters Polk County from the northeast corner, loops south around Rockmart and leaves the county in the vicinity of Esom Mill. Carbonate rocks are not known south of the Fault, but they underlie most of the county north of the Fault (Figure 28).
Conasauga Group
Conasauga rocks are restricted to the extreme northwestern portion of the county, where they occur on the upthrown sides of several small thrust faults. Outcrops of Conasauga carbonates are rare. The few that are found probably belong to the Rutledge Formation.
Knox Group
The rocks of the Knox Group are by far the most abundant rocks in the county. Where exposed they consist mainly of thick-bedded, gray dolomite which upon weathering yields a thick residuum of gray chert. The best exposures are along Cedar Creek, Euharlee Creek, and Lake Creek. Only the upper part of the Knox crops out, probably no more than the upper 200-300 feet.
Newala Limestone
Butts (1948) described the Newala in Polk County as pearl-gray, finegrained crystalline dolomite interbedded with bluish gray, fine- to mediumgrained, slightly argillaceous limestone. The lower half of the Newala is more dolomitic than the upper half. Total thickness is 250-300 feet. The Newala overlies the Knox Group and in turn is unconformably overlain by the Rockmart slates.
The most important area of Newala exposure is east of the Southern Railroad, west of Euharlee Creek and north of Rockmart. For the most part this is a low-lying area with many sinkholes and small ponds. Exposures are generally restricted to stream bottoms. Over 120 stratigraphic feet of Newala limestone occur at the old Southern States Portland Cement Quarry 1.5 miles north of Rockmart. A second area of extensive outcrops is Cedartown and vicinity.
Mississippian System
The Rockmart Slate was reported by Butts (1948) to be Mississippian in age. It might be the metamorphic equivalent of the Floyd shale. Excellent
- 121 -

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/ / '
' '

PRINCIPAL

DISTRIBUTION OF

CARBONATE-BEARING

POLK COUNTY GEORGIA

u
1969

2 WILES

FORMATIONS
N
t

EXPLANATION

![I] Newala Llmoatono

0

Knox Group

-

Conoaouaa Group

/Fault

Mississippian fossils are 1.5 miles southwest of Rockmart along the Cartersville Fault in an arenaceous shale (Pinson, 1949, pp. 121-123).

Description of Individual Properties
Marble Hill Lime Quarries, Locality #62
Marble Hill is within the Rockmart city limits, immediately south of the Southern Railroad depot. In the 19th century, two lime kilns and two quarries were located in the Newala Limestone on the south side of the hill. A description and analyses of the stone were given by Maynard (1912, pp. 131132). Marble Hill is now a residential area.

Marquette Cement Company Quarry, Locality #63
This quarry is 1.3 miles north of Rockmart, 0.2 miles east of the paved road, and 0.3 mile east of the Seaboard Air Line Railroad (Figure 29). The quarry was opened by the Stockbridge Stone Company in 1952 and operated by them until 1956 when the Marquette Cement Company took over. Most of the stone that has been removed has been used in local paving projects. Limestone still is taken from the quarry intermittently. Reserves are moderate.

Southern States Portland Cement Company Quarries, Locality #64

East of Georgia Highway #101 and 1.5 miles north of Rockmart, a band of low-magnesia limestone has been selectively quarried for more than half a century (Figure 29). The Southern States Portland Cement Company started quarrying in 1903 and continued until 1954, when the property and plant were bought by the Marquette Cement Company. The production of the plant was doubled by the Marquette Cement Company. Within two years the low-magnesia limestone near the surface had been depleted, adequate reserves had not been proven, and the company opened a new quarry at Kingston in Bartow County, 35 miles to the east. Subsequent field work has shown that the band of low-magnesia stone does continue to the north of Locality #64 but intensive prospecting would be required to trace it.

Large tonnages of magnesian limestone and dolomite suitable for crushed stone and agricultural stone could be developed at the old quarry. For a description of the old Southern States Portland Cement Company's operations and analyses of the stone they quarried see Maynard (1912, pp. 134-143). A recent analysis of the dolomite is:

CaO

MgO

Si02

Al Fe

22oo33

-

C02

Total

34.5% 15.8
3.0 1.2 1.2 44.2 99 . 9

- 123 -

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GEOLOGIC MAP
NORTHEAST POLK COUNTY

N

0

3400 Feet

1967

1

~ Rockmart Slate
CJ Newala Limestone

Georgia Portland Cement and Slate Company Prospect, Locality #65

This property, formerly owned by the Georgia Portland Cement and Slate Company and now owned by Mr. Floyd W. Adams of Buchanan, is at White River Cave on Georgia Highway #113, four miles northeast of Rockmart. The Seaboard Air Line Railroad is 1.7 miles to the west. A good description of the property has been given by Maynard (1912, pp. 149-151). A thickness of at least 75 feet of Newala Limestone is exposed, overlain by Rockmart Slate. Most of the Newala is too high in magnesia for the production of portland cement. A representative sample from the outcrops analyses:

GaO

43.4%

MgO

7.5

AFcSoeil0222oo233

-

3.0 2.2 1.1 42.8

Total 100.0

The location of the prospect along a busy highway, the evident caverning, and the quality of the stone do not encourage the development of a quarry.

Southern Lime Manufacturing Company Quarry, Locality #66

The quarry is 3.4 miles north of Rockmart and about a half mile east of Aragon Station on the Seaboard Railroad (Figure 29). The Southern Lime Manufacturing Company quarried Newala Limestone and produced burnt lime at this site in the early 1900's. The property now is owned by the RenaeKraft Company.

The 70-foot thickness of stone exposed in the quarry was described by Maynard (1912, pp. 151-153). A composite sample analyses:

CaO

36.2%

MgO

13.0

SiOz

3.1

AFel22oo33

-

1.0 2.0

C02

44.8

Total 100.1

A large tonnage suitable for crushed stone and agricultural stone could be developed.

Piedmont Portland Cement Company Quarry, Locality #67
The old quarry is immediately east of the Seaboard Air Line Railroad, 4.1 miles north of Rockmart. For exact location see Figure 29. In the

- 125-

early 1900's, the Piedmont Portland Cement Company quarried Newala Limestone and Rockmart Slate at this site for the production of portland cement. The low-magnesia layers had to be mined selectively, and overburden was high. A description of the operation has been given by Maynard (1912, pp. 143-149). The property now is owned by Mr. Cecil Franklin of Rockmart.
- 126-

CARBONATE ROCK RESOURCES OF WALKER COUNTY
Introduction
Most of Walker County is underlain by carbonate-bearing formations (Figure 30). The Conasauga Group includes a prominent limestone near the top of the unit. The Knox Group and the Newala Limestone maintain the lithologic features which have characterized them in previously described counties. The Chickamauga Limestone, which is the offshore facies of Middle and Upper Ordovician rocks, is well developed in the western half of the county. The Mississippian System includes several limestone formations which offer extensive deposits of high grade stone.
Conasauga Group
The Conasauga Group is composed of siltstone, shale and limestone. Siltstone and shale dominate the lower part of the Group where there are only a few beds of limestone. Some of the siltstones contain enough carbonate to give them the appearance of limestone, but when weathering removes the carbonate, they are reduced to a greenish clay. At the top of the Conasauga is 300 feet of limestone, apparently equivalent to the Maynardville Formation. Total thickness of the Conasauga appears to be no more than 2000 feet in Walker County.
The largest Conasauga limestone exposures are in the Chattooga Valley, which passes through LaFayette.
Knox Group
The largest outcrops of the Knox Group are on Missionary Ridge and Peavine Ridge. The Knox also crops out on the ridge that passes through LaFayette and in the ridge complex in the eastern part of the country between Dick Ridge and Mill Creek Mountain.
Cressler (1964) reported that the Knox Group in Walker County is composed of the Copper Ridge dolomite, the Chepultepec dolomite, and the Longview Limestone. The dolomites are generally light gray, but may also be brownish gray to light red. The bedding ranges from thin, even laminar, to thick. Chert nodules and beds are common. A few layers of chert 10 feet thick are found, but most of the chert is in nodules or thin layers. Occasional sandstones are interbedded.
Apparently the entire Knox section is represented in Walker County. Total thickness of the group is about 4500 feet.
Newala Limestone
The Newala Limestone crops out in three separate areas: (1) a narrow
- ,--~ -

PRINCIPAL

DISTRIBUTION OF
CARBONATE- BEARING WALKER COUNTY GEORGIA

1969

FORMATIONS
N
t

EXPLANATION

0

Mi..iuippian S~atem

lliillilil Chickamauga Lime1tone

~ Newala llme1tane

D 11m

l<no Group Lime1tone in lhe Cono1ouga Oroup

, - ' Faull

FIGURE 30 - 128-

band west of and parallel to Taylor Ridge; (2) a northeast-southwest trending narrow band on the eastern flank of Straight Gut Valley; and (3) on both flanks of the McLemore anticline. The exposures west of Taylor Ridge are intermittent, because most of the formation is concealed by stream alluvium. The exposures on the eastern flank of Straight Gut Valley are hardly better. Here the Knox Group has been thrust over the lower Newala. The most important exposures are on the flanks of the McLemore anticline. This southwestward plunging anticline separates Lookout and Pigeon Mountains. The center of the anticline is occupied by the Knox Group, which is overlain by the Newala Limestone. Outcrops are especially plentiful between Kennsington and Fort Oglethorpe. An excellent exposure is at the Burl Hall Quarry two miles northwest of Kennsington. Because of the hilly terrain and frequent exposures, the area between Kennsington and Fort Oglethorpe is the most promising for the development of the Newala Limestone in the county.
Lithologically, the Newala is about the same in Walker County as in other contiguous counties. The lower part of the unit is a pearl gray, finegrained dolomite ; the upper part is a light gray, fine-grained, argillaceous limestone. Total thickness of the unit generally is 150-200 feet. A section measured in Chickamauga Valley is 203 feet thick. The Newala unconformably overlies the Knox Group and in turn is unconformably overlain by the Chickamauga Limestone.
Chickamauga Limestone
Both the nearshore and offshore facies of Middle and Upper Ordovician rocks crop out in Walker County. Only the offshore facies, designated the Chickamauga Limestone, has been examined in detail because the nearshore facies consists mostly of siltstone and claystone.
The Chickamauga Limestone is well exposed on the flanks of the southwest plunging McLemore anticline. Other good exposures are at Rossville and along the lower western slope of Taylor Ridge. Sections measured by Lester and Allen (1957) show that the thickness of the Chickamauga is in excess of 1455 feet.
Characteristically the Chickamauga Limestone consists of light to dark gray, aphanitic to fine-grained, crystalline or slightly argillaceous limestones. Fossils locally are abundant and some chert is seen. A high degree of fracturing and jointing is characteristic. For the most part, the Chickamauga Limestone forms low-lying areas unsuited for quarrying; but occasional high areas are found, and some of these have been extensively worked.
Along the flanks of the McLemore anticline and at Rossville the Chickamauga unconformably overlies the Newala Limestone; west of Taylor Ridge, the Chickamauga rests directly upon the Knox Group. Everywhere the Chickamauga is overlain by the Sequatchie Formation.
- 129 -

Mississippian System
Both eastern and western facies of the Mississippian System are represented in Walker County. Rocks of the western facies crop out on Lookout and Pigeon Mountains. Rocks of the eastern facies are restricted to West Armuchee Valley.
The Fort Payne Chert, the lowermost Mississippian formation, underlies the younger Mississippian rocks of both the western and eastern facies. Its thickness under western facies rocks is about 150 feet, under eastern facies rocks about 200 feet. The Fort Payne typically crops out along narrow ridges: along Shinbone Ridge, Shankle Ridge, and Roland Ridge in the extreme western part of the county, and along the lower slopes of Taylor Ridge and Dick Ridge in the middle part of the county.
The St. Louis Limestone generally is hidden by the alluvium of small streams, but is well exposed at Yates Quarry #1 and north of this quarry on the lower slopes of Lookout Mountain, where it is about 100 feet thick. It is well exposed also on the extreme northeastern tip of Pigeon Mountain. In the eastern facies the St. Louis apparently has shaled out.
The Ste. Genevieve-Gasper limestones crop out on the slopes of Lookout Mount~in and Pigeon Mountain, and in the central area of West Armuchee Valley. Their total thickness is 300-350 feet.
The Golconda Formation and Hartselle Sandstone, which should overlie the Ste. Genevieve-Gasper, were not observed in Walker County. In fact, no rocks younger than Ste. Genevieve-Gasper occur in the eastern facies in Walker County. The younger Gasper Limestone occurs in the western facies on the upper slopes of Lookout and Pigeon Mountains. Large outcrops are restricted to the extreme southern end of McLemore Cove, and at the headwaters of Waterfall Branch. Its thickness is about 500 feet.
The Pennington Shale, about 200 feet thick, crops out near the rim of Lookout and Pigeon Mountains. The contact between it and the overlying Pennsylvanian rocks is clearly defined.
Geology of Northern Pigeon Mountain
Pigeon Mountain, which trends northeast-southwest, is a spur of Lookout Mountain, and can be considered the eastern edge of the Cumberland Plateau physiographic province. Between the rimrocks of the Plateau and the valley floors is a relief of 1200 feet. The mountain itself is a southwestward plunging syncline. Its axis extends through the central part of the mountain, northward through Chickamauga Park and on into Tennessee.
Very large reserves of high quality limestone are in Pigeon Mountain. The geologic map (Figure 31) shows the distribution of the major lithologic units. Table 36 shows the local stratigraphy.
- 130 -

"...."..

'>:1
5
c::: ~

w...

GEOLOGIC MAP OF NORTHERN PIGEON MOUNTAIN

WALKER COUNTY, GEORGIA

N

0 19 67

I MILE

~ . . POTTSVILLE ~ ~ PENNINGTON

FORMATION SHALE

~ BANGOR LIMESTONE (INCLUDES HARTSELLE
SANDSTONE AND GOLCONDA FORMATION)
i i i GASPER AND STE. GENEVIEVE LIMESTONES
.G.J ST. LOUIS LIMESTONE FORT PAYNE CHERT

~ ~

RED MOUNTAIN FORMATION CHATTANOOGA SHALE)

(INCLUDES

Q .... FORMATIONAL CONTACT (DOTTED
WHERE APPROXIMATE)

TABLE 36- Stratigraphic Section for Northern Pigeon Mountain

Era Pennsy1vani an
Mississippian
Devonian Silurian

Formation Name

Thickness (feet)

Pottsville Formation Pennington Shale Bangor Limestone Hartselle Sandstone Golconda Formation

1500 200 500
5 10

Gasper Formation

150

Ste. Genevieve I imestone 250

St. Louis Limestone

100-150

Fort Payne Chert Chattanooga Shale Red Mountain Formation

150 30 1000

The Red Mountain Formation is composed of gray shales and interbedded thin blue limestones and tan sandstones.

The Chattanooga Shale is black and highly fissle.

The Fort Payne Chert is a dark gray calcareous chert containing abundant crinoid stems. This unit tends to form narrow ridges because of its resistance to weathering, as Shinbone Ridge.

The St. Louis Limestone is a dark gray, very cherty, fine-grained limestone. The contact between the St. Louis limestone and the Fort Payne chert is probably conformable. The St. Louis is generally thick-bedded and contains many large nodules and stringers of chert. Some pearl gray dolomite is near the St. Louis-Ste. Genevieve contact. On the eastern flank of Pigeon Mountain the St. Louis underlies the valley floor.

The bluish gray oolitic Ste. Genevieve overlies the cherty St. Louis. It contains a little chert and a few argillaceous zones, but generally is quite pure. The Ste. Genevieve Limestone is the stone being worked at the Patton Rock Products Quarry and the W.M. Matthews Quarry.

The Gasper Formation overlies the Ste. Genevieve limestone but the two formations are not readily differentiated in Georgia, though the upper Gasper is shaly.

The Golconda Formation consists of thin-bedded fossiliferous limestone and greenish shale and in most localities is difficult to locate or trace.

The Hartselle Sandstone was not seen in outcrop, and might be absent from this area.

The Bangor Limestone consists mostly of gray fine- to coarse-grained limestone, but includes some dolomite and chert. The upper Bangor is interbedded with dark gray calcareous shale.

- 132-

Conformably overlying the Bangor Limestone is the Pennington Shale. Unconformably overlying this shale are the basal conglomerates and sandstones of the Pottsville Formation. Because of greater resistance to weathering the Pottsville forms high cliffs that rim Pigeon Mountain.
The Ste. Genevieve and Gasper limestones are of unusually high quality. They contain limited argillaceous and cherty zones. Both formations are well exposed on Pigeon Mountain, and very large reserves can be developed. The Tennessee, Alabama, and Georgia Railroad connecting Gasden, Alabama, and Chattanooga, Tennessee, runs along the base of the mountain. Pigeon Mountain is one of the more promising areas in the state for the development of high grade limestone deposits.
Description of Individual Properties
Yates Quarry #1, Locality #68
In 1941, the State Highway Department opened a quarry 1.4 miles northwest of Cooper Heights, along Georgia Highway #143 (Figure 32), on the property of the Yates family of Flintstone, Georgia .
The quarry is on the north side of the road, is 200 feet long, l/3rd as wide, and 70 feet deep.
The stone in the quarry is horizontally bedded St. Louis and Ste. Genevieve limestone (see Table 37). Thirty feet above the quarry floor is a layer of chert nodules (silica), flattened ellipsoidal masses and irregularshaped masses up to one inch thick which are scattered along a horizon without forming a continuous layer. Above and below the cherty horizon are fossiliferous limestones and dolomitic limestone.
The geologic map of northwest Georgia shows the quarry rock as part of a limestone band ~-mile wide, running NE-SW, along the flank of Lookout Mountain. The band is at least 250 feet thick, and probably thicker. This means that limestone lies beneath the quarry floor to a depth of at least 100 feet.
The compositional banding visible in the quarry face can be expected to extend laterally for several hundred feet with little change.
Because the beds are horizontal and massive, i.e., maintain their composition laterally, proving a large tonnage would require relatively little drilling at this site. One vertical hole drilled 200 feet northwest of the quarry to a depth of at least 100 feet, a second hole drilled 300 feet southwest of Hole No. 1 and the same distance from the road and a third hole drilled 300 feet northeast of Hole No. 1 would sample a body of stone 400 feet wide, 100 feet deep, and 1000 feet long that could yield more than seven million tons. Additional holes drilled to the northeast might prove additional tonnage.
Table 33 shows the variations in the quality of the stone within the quarry. The limestones are generally low in magnesia, but commonly high in
- 133 -

...

5
c=

lo> ~

~

lo> N

YATE'S QUARRY #

WALKER CO., GEORGIA

N

0

50

100 FEET

1967

L,.; J Ste. Genevieve Limestone
1',::3{:-1 St. Louis Limestone

silica. The silica occurs in small nodules and occasional grains. It is therefore easy in collecting samples to get varying percentages of silica, depending on whether one or more coarse silica nodules happen to be included
in the sample.

TABLE 37- StratigraJ=hic Sec:ion at the Yates QuaiTy #1, Walker County, Georgia

Sample No.
2-12
2-10 2-9 2-8 2-7
2-6
2-5 2-4 2-3

Unit FormNo. ation 12
11 10
9 8 7
6
5 4 3

Description of Units

Thickness (feet)

Bluish gray crystalline limestone with oolites. Small siliceous cavity fillings are in this unit.

7. 1'

Black chert seam

. 3'

Bluish gray oolitic limestone that

14.0'

grades upward into crystalline limestone

Bluish gray oolitic limestone that grades 7. 3' upward into a crystalline limestone

Bluish gray crystalline limestone with

7. 0'

oolites and thin argillaceous streaks.

Greenish gray slightly argillaceous limestone with occasional chert nodules.
Bluish gray limestone containing large chert nodules (up to 2'6" across)

6. 0 1 5. 4'

Gray aphanitic limestone Light gray limestone Gray crystalline limestone. No chert observed in this unit.

2.0' 11. 8' 3. 6'

Total Thickness
82.3 1
75. 2' 74.91 60. 9' 53. 6' 46. 6'
40. 6'
35. 2' 33. 2' 21. 4'

2-2

2

"'..... Qj
;:S 1'1

Gray aphanitic cherty limestone.

10. 8'

17.8'

o.B ..... ~

The chert is present in bands about

............ 1" thick.

2-1

1

<n

Gray highly siliceous calcareous chert 7.0'

7.0'

TABLE ::.8 - Analyses of Limestones in the Yates Quarry #1, W alker County, Georgia

Sample No.
2-12 2-11 2-10 2-9 2-8 2-7 2-6 2-5 2-4 2-3 2-2 2-1

CaO 54.3
51. 1 54.4 51.8 46.3 52.3 53. 4 54. 7 55.3 52.5
8.4

MgO .4
3.5
.4
1.2 2. 8
. 7 .4 .4 . 1 .4 . 1

Si02 1.7
9 1.3 4.2 9.6 4.0 2.9
. 9 5 4.6 82.0

AI2o3 Fe203 C02

. 6

.2 42.9

.6

. 1 43.8

.8

.2 43.0

.6

.2 42.0

1.4

.6 39.3

. 9

.4 41.8

. 9

. 2 42.2

. 7

. 1 43.3

.6

. 1 43.4

.7

. 3 41.5

.8

2.0 6. 7

Total 100. 1
100.0 100. 1 100.0 100.0 100. 1 100.0 100. 1 100.0 100.0 100. 0

- 135-

A large tonnage of stone suitable for aggregate could be developed at this site.

Chickamauga Cement Company Quarry, Locality #69

This old quarry is in Rossville, 0.75 mile south of the Georgia-Tennes-

see line and directly on the Central of Georgia Railroad. The quarry was

opened in 1901 by the Chickamauga Cement Company for the production of nat-

ural cement. A good description of the operation was given by Maynard (1912,

pp. 221-226). A composite sample collected from the quarry face in 1967

analyses:

GaO

42.7%

MgO

1.4

AcFSoeil0222oo233
Total

-

18.3 2.4 0.3
-93-94..-98

The site is an urban area. Several houses are on the east side of the quarry, too close to permit a reopening of the quarry. Similar Chickamauga Limestone is south of Rossville on the west side of Missionary Ridge.

Rossville Crushed Stone Company Quarry #1, Locality #70

The quarry is on McFarland Road just south of the Rossville city limits, 0.2 mile west of the Central of Georgia Railroad, on the Dave L. Brown estate. The quarry was opened in a large Chickamauga Limestone outcrop in 1945 by Mr. Dave L. Brown and operated by him until 1962, when Lambert and Lambert took over. The product is crushed stone, and the quarry is active.

The rock in the quarry is gray to pale red, fine- to medium-grained, cherty limestone cut by white calcite veinlets. A composite sample analyses:

GaO

37.1%

MgO

0.4

Si02

29.5

Al203 - 3.3

Fe203 - 0.4

C02 Total

-120-90..-41

Burl Hall Quarry, Locality #71
The quarry is 1.8 miles northeast of Kensington, 0.1 mile east of a paved road, on the property of Mr. John Price of Chickamauga, Georgia. In 1939 Mr. Burl Hall opened the quarry in Newala Limestone to produce crushed stone and agricultural stone. About 1942 the quarry was closed because of

- 136-

a labor shortage due to World War II. The quarry stone is pale gray finegrained dolomite. A composite sample analyses:

GaO

31.7%

MgO

18.1

AFSeil022oo233

-

4.3 1.0 0.3

C0 2

44.6

Total 100.0

Georgia Limestone Company (Lookout Limestone Co.) Quarries, Locality #72
These quarries are a half mile southeast of Chickamauga Station on the Central of Georgia Railroad. There are two large openings and several small openings. The southernmost large opening, which is 0.2 mile northeast of Glass Mill Road, is designated Quarry #1. The northern large opening, which is within the Chickamauga city limits, is designated Quarry #2.
Quarry #1 was opened by Trauth and Company around 1900, and closed some-
time after 1912. A stratigraphic thickness of about 35 feet is exposed.
The stone is gray to blue fine-grained limestone belonging to the Chickamauga Limestone. Its heavy bedding facilitated the quarrying of building stone, which was the principal product of this quarry. Some fluxing stone was produced.
Quarry #2 was opened in the late 1930's and was operated by several concerns. The last operator was the Georgia Limestone Company which ceased in 1963. A stratigraphic thickness of about 50 feet of gray to tan, finegrained Chickamauga limestone is exposed. The quarry was operated princip-
ally for crushed stone and agricultural stone. A composite sample analyses:

GaO

46.0%

MgO

4.9

ASil022o3 -

5.6 1.7

Fe203 - 0.5

C0 2

41.3

Total 100.0

The stratigraphic section and analyses in Table 39 are from Maynard (1912, p. 227).

- 137 -

TABLE 39 - Stratigraphic Section at Quarry #1 (Old Trauth & Company Quarry),

Locality #72, and Chemical Analyses of t_lj_e Stratigraphic Units,

Thickness

Total

Unit No. Description of Units

(fe et)

Thickness

5

Somewhat argillaceous limestone,

6.

thin-bedded and earthy looking,

like most of the exposed Chickamauga

Limestone

34.8

4

Gray, fine-grained, heavy-bedded

1. 6

limestone

28.8

3

Dark blue, fine-grained, heavy-

bedded limestone (has been used

for fluxing)

6.5

27.2

2

Gray, fine-grained, heavy-bedded

5. 1

argillaceous limestone becoming

impure toward the bottom and attain-

ing a shaly character and a greenish

color.

20.7

1

Gray to bluish gray, fine-grained,

15. 6

heaiT-bedded limestone.

Unit Unit Unit Unit

/14

#3

#2

#1

CaO

52 . 38 51.60 42.56 so. 86

MgO

1. 32 o. 72 4. 10 0. 90

Si02 Clay bases

1. 88 4. 28 9.40 2.58 1. 32 1.40 4. 10 1. 44

Fe 2o 3

0.56 0 . 88 1. 74 0.80

Loss on ignition 42.54 41. 12 38.08 43.42

Total

100.00 100.00 99.98 100.00

15. 6

Patton Rock Products Quarry, Locality #73
The quarry is 3~ miles west of Lafayette, 0.6 mile west of Georgia Highway 193 (see Figure 31 and Figure 33), on a spur of the T.A.G. Railroad.
Since 1960, Ste. Genevieve-Gasper limestones at this site have been crushed for flux stone, aggregate, road metal and agricultural stone. According to local report, some difficulty was encountered in maintaining quality for flux stone. Tables 40 and 41 show that selective quarrying would be necessary to produce a consistently clean, low-silica stone.
Figure 33 shows the topography at the quarry site. Overburden is zero to a few feet. The quarry floor is near the 940-foot elevation. Limestone overlies the quarry section, and extends from the quarry both to the northeast and the southwest. Several million tons of stone of the quality being produced can be mined from this site before the quarry face steepens to the point that an upper bench must be opened or the stone quarried underground.
- 138-

GEOLOGIC MAP

PATTEN ROCK PRODUCTS QUARRY

D

Gasper Forma1ion and St e. Genevieve Limestone

~ St. Louis Limestone

,.,68 C I ' 10 Ful

200 Ful

FIGURE 33 - 139-

TABLE 40- Geologic Section at Patton Rock Products Quarry, Walker County, Georgia

Sample No.
10-20 10-19
10-17
10-16 10-15 10-14
10-13 10-12 10-11
10-10 10-9
10-8 10-7
10-5 10-4 10-3 10-2 10-1

Unit No. Description of Rock Units

Thickness Feet

Total Thickness

20 Dark bluish gray, medium-grained, oolitic lime-

9. 0

stone containing occasional black chert nodules.

19 Bluish gray, medium-grained, oolitic limestone

4.0

18 Gray1 highly argillaceous limestone

1.0

17 Black to bluish gray, medium-grained oolitic

8.5

limestone. An occasional chert nodule can be

found in this unit.

16 Gray; aphanitic to medium-grained crystalline

2.1

limestone with oolites.

99.8 90.8 86.8 85.8
77.3

15 Bluish gray, medium-grained, oolitic limestone
14 Interbedded sequence of bluish gray, mediumgrained, crystalline limestone with oolites and a reddish gray' fine-grained oolitic limestone.
13 Gray, fine-grained, highly argillaceous limestone

9. 0

75.2

5. 0 (est. ) 66. 2

5.0

61.2

12 Light gray, coarse-grained, crystalline limestone

4.4

11 This unit is an interbedded sequence of gray,

4. 8

medium- to coarse-grained, crystalline limestone

and fine- to medium-grained argillaceous limestone

10 Dark gray aphanitic limestone

2.7

9 Bluish gray, medium-grained oolitic limestone. Some chert in upper 21 (Probably base of Ste. Genevieve Limestone).

18.6

8 Gray, crystalline limestone with oolites and chert

3.0

The grain size varies from fine to medium.

56.2 51. 8
47.0
44.3
25.8

7 Interbedded gray, fine-grained cherty, crystalline

5.5

dolomite and light gray, medium-grained, crys-

talline dolomite.

6 Black chert seam

. 5

5 Pinkish gray, fine-grained cherty, crystalline

2. 2

dolomite. Calcite fracture fillings are common.

4 Bluish gray, medium-grained, crystalline lime-

5.3

stone with oolites. The unit becomes shaly at top.

3 Bluish gray, medium-grained oolitic limestone

7.0

2 Light gray, fine-grained crystalline dolomite

1. 0

1 Gray, medium-grained, crystalline limestone

1. 3

with oolites.

22.8
17.3 16.8
14.6
9.3 2.3 1.3

- 140-

TABLE 41 - Analyses of Stone from the Patton Rock Products Quarry, Walker County, Georgia

Sample Number
10-20 10-19 10-18 10-17 10-16 10-15 10-14 10-13 10-12 10-11 10-10 10-9 10-8 10-7 10-6 10-5 10-4 10-3 10-2 10-1

CaO MgO Si02

52.2 1. 4 2.9

54.5

.4 1. 4

Sample not analyzed

51.6 51.6

2.5 1.9 2. 1 4.4

51.0 49.8 29.3 53.2 48.4

1. 2 3.6 1.0 7.6 5.2 27.9 . 8 2. 6 1.4 8.3

47.4 53.4

1.4 10. 1 1.2 1.3

50.7 33.3

1. 7 5. 1 4.9 28.8

Sample not analyzed

31. 1 18.5 4.5

54.0 1.0 1.0

53.4 1.0 1.6 31.7 17.9 4.6

53. 1 1.2 2. 2

Al2o3
. 8 .4
.8 . 8 2.8 1.1 5.4 . 6 1.9 1.9 . 7 .7 . 8
8 .4 . 9 1.0 6

Fe2o3
. 3 . 2

C02 Total 42.4 100.0 43. 1 100.0

.2 43. 1 100. 1 . 3 40.8 100.0 . 2 41.2 100.0 . 5 40.0 100.0 3.6 28.6 100.0 2 42.6 100.0 . 6 39.4 100.0 . 6 38.6 100.0 . 3 43. 1 100.0
.3 41.5 100.0 . 9 31.3 100. 0

. 5 44.6 100.0 . 2 43.4 100.0 . 2 42 . 9 100.0 .5 44.3 100.0 . 1 42.8 100.0

w. M. Matthews Quarry, Locality 1174
At Rug Gap on the northern end of Pigeon Mountain, 1200 feet north of Georgia Highway 193, Walker County opened a quarry for crushed stone
in 1963 on the property of Mr. w. M. Matthews (Figure 34). Table 42 is
the stratigraphic section at the quarry site.
No stone was produced after the quarry had been opened.

H. R. Perry Quarry, Locality 1175
On Mr. H. R. Perry's property 0.2 mile east of the McLemore Cove Road and 2.5 miles southeast of Chickamauga, limestone crops out in a Nl5E direction for more than 1000 feet. A quarry was opened in this exposure by Mr. Perry in 1952, and building stone was produced until 1966. The stone is the Chickamauga Limestone. A composite sample from the quarry analyses:

- 141 -

~ ...
N

g...,
~

...11-J

.,~\
:~..:.. ''
.,.~ -
\. ,'.:.
,.,.,~;t ~~
.

w. M. MATTHEWS QUARRY

WALKER COUNTY, GEORGIA

N

0

100 Feet

1967

D

Ste. Genevieve Limestone

~ ~ St. Louis Limestone

TABLE 42- Stratigraphic Section at theW. M. Matthews Quany, Walker County

Sample Unit

Total

#

#

Description of Rock Units

Thickness Thickness

9-12 9-11

12 Light bluish gray medium-grained oolitic limestone
11 Gray fine-grained argillaceous limestone

4. 67' 2.00 1

so. 251
45. 58'

9-10
9-9 9-8

10 Light gray coarsely crystalline limestone with

7. 751

argillaceous laminae. The argillaceous zones

tend to be fossiliferous.

9 Tan silicious aphanitic limestone. Slightly

. 92 1

oolitic at base.

8 Light bluish gray medium-grained oolitic limestone 2. 751

43. 58'
35, 83' 34.91 1

9-7

7 Gray-brown aphanitic silicious limestone. The

2. 50'

32. 161

unit becomes less silicious upward.

9-6

6 Bluish gray fine- to medium-grained oolitic.

2.001

29. 66'

This unit forms the floor of level II.

9-5

5 Gray fine-grained argillaceous limestone.

4. 83'

27. 66'

Oolites are present in some zones.

9-4

4 Gray fine- to medium-grained oolitic limestone. 14.581

22,83'

9-3

3 Pearly gray crystalline dolomite. This unit is

probably the uppermost St. Louis limestone.

1. 75'

8. 251

9-2

2 Gray medium-grained oolitic limestone.

3. SO'

9-1

1 Bluish gray fine- to medium-grained argillaceous 3.00'

limestone with chert. Chert is very abundant

in the upper foot. Base of Level 1.

6. 50' 3.001

TABLE 43 - Analyses of the Stone at theW. M. Matthews Quarry, Walker County

Sample

#

CaO

MgO

Si02

Al2o3

Fe

o
23

9-12 54.6

1

1. 7

. 6

2

9-11 41.0 2.5 17.0

3.4

1.3

9-10 49.8

. 8 7.3

1. 6

. 6

9-9

32.5 14.3

8. 6

2. 1

1. s

9-8

53.2

1.4

1.4

. 6

. 2

9-7

33.2 14.6 7.8

1. 6

9

9-6

54.9

. 1 1.0

. 8

1

9-5

44. 2

. 7 16.4

2.5

. 8

9-4

54. 1 1. 0

8

5

2

9-3

44.5 4. 6 8. 9

1. 6

6

9-2

52.2

2. 8

.4

. 6

1

9-1

43.4

. 8 18.6

1. 6

.7

C02
42,8 34.8 39.9 41.0 43.2 41.9 43. 1 35.4 43.4 39.9 43.9 34.9

Total
100.0 100,0 100.0 100,0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100. 1 100.0 100.0

- 143 -

CaO

MgO

Si02

Al Fe

22oo33

-

C0 2

Total

38. 7% 8.4
10.8 1.8 0.9 39.2
99.8

A very large tonnage of stone of this quality could be developed.

Yates Quarry #2, Locality #76

The quarry is 1.1 miles north of Cooper Heights, Georgia Highway #193 is 0.2 mile to the east. The T.A.G. Railroad is 0.3 mile to the east. Lambert Brothers cf Knoxville, Tennessee, producec1 crushed stone for highway work in 1941. The property owners are the Yates Family of Flintstone, Ga.

The quarry face is about 50 feet high, in Chickamauga Limestone. Sample 13-2 is a bluish gray, fine-grained limestone containing tan argillaceous patches collected at the top of the quarry. Sample 13-1 is gray, fine-grained limestone containing thin argillaceous seams collected halfway down the quarry face.

GaO

MgO

AFSeil022oo233

-

C0 2

Total

Sample 13-2
48.6% 2.1 6.5 1.9 0.6
40.3 100.0

Sample 13-1
52.3% 0.4 3.6 1.7 0.6
41.4 100.0

Vernon Close Property
The occurrence of thick zones of high-grade limestone along the east side of Pigeon Mountain first was noted nearly ~ century ago. When Maynard issued his report on limestones and cement materials in 1912, he described the Pigeon Mountain deposits (pp. 229-232) and particularly noted their suitability for the production of portland cement.
In 1957 the east Pigeon Mountain limestones, then a part of the Vernon Close ranch, were reexamined and resampled. About 2500 feet west of the ranch buildings, due west of Marsh Crossing, on the lower east slope of Pigeon Mountain, three composite samples were collected by Vernon J. Hurst representing a 90-ft. thickness of limestone. Sample No. 1 was collected across the zone in which a small quarry had been opened many years previously, near the base of the mountain. Sample 2 was collected across the same horizon to the southwest 500 feet, and Sample 3 across the same horizon 500 feet

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farther southwest. The analyses of these samples (Table 44) showed that a 90-foot thickness of limestone could provide suitable stone for the manufacture of portland cement. A reconnaissance geologic map was prepared which showed a persistent cherty horizon along the base of the mountain, just below the limestone horizon that had been sampled.

TABLE 44- Analyses of Three Samples Representing a 90-Ft. Thickness of Limestone Between Chert Zones # 1 and #2 on the Vernon Close Ranch, Walker County

Sample# 1

Sample# 2

Sample# 3

CaO MgO
R203 Si02 P2o5 Moisture at 10ooc
Loss on ignition

54.06 o. 92 0.76 2. 10 0.04 0.07
42.38 100.33

55.28 0.60 0.22
o. 60
0.05 0.06 43.44 100. 25

55. 02
o. 72
0.48 o. 70 0.04 0.07 43.22 100.25

Analyst Dr. L. H. Turner, Georgia Department of Mines, Mining and Geology.
Renewed interest in the possibility of developing a large quarry on the Vernon Close Ranch led early in 1963 to a more detailed reexamination. Using large scale aerial photographs as base maps, Jack H. Medlin and Vernon J. Hurst traced out the cherty horizons in two areas favored as quarry sites (Figure 35).

A closeup of the northeast Pigeon Mountain tract is shown in Figure 36. The base of the mountain is immediately west of south-flowing Duck Creek. Limestones extend from the valley floor westward to the top of the mountain. Three cherty zones have been traced along the lower slopes concordant with the bedding, which dips about 5 into the mountain.

The first zone of chert, located 10-15 feet above the stream, is in a light gray, fine-grained, dolomitic limestone. The chert is in nodules and blebs in a zone approximately 3 feet thick. Traced south, the zone maintains its general character until it becomes covered by alluvium. Westward into the mountain the zone thickens, as shown by cores #5 and #6 (see Figure 37).

The second chert zone is in a dark gray, medium- to coarse-grained fossiliferous limestone. At places the chert appears as irregularly scattered nodules in a zone one foot thick. At other places the chert is in the form of scattered bands 1-1~ inches thick, which wedge out within a few feet. The entire band of chert is fairly persistent in thickness along strike. Traced south, it is covered by alluvium.

The third ch~rt zone is in a dark gray, medium- to coarse-grained
fossiliferous limestone in a 1-2 inches thick continuous band. Immediately
above the chert zone is the contact between the medium- to coarse-grained limestone and a light gray, fine-grained, impure, shaly limestone that forms gentle slopes. The coarser limestone is bench forming. Along this

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..,.,
I ()
..... c::: ~ ~
w
til

AREAS MAPPED IN FIGURE 36 a FIGURE 38

0.5

0

0.5 MILES

NORTH END OF PIGEON MOUNTAIN

WALKER COUNTY, GEORGIA

N

500

1968

1,000 FEET

I

~ ~

EXPLANATION

U@J Vegetation covered areas

Proposed drill sites

a ~ Strike

dip of beds

" Vertical joints

A

A'

HGY

RR
I

I

660

FIGURE 36 - 147-

contact two caves occur, 100 feet apart 1 where the vertical joints are shown on the map.
Medlin and Hurst recommended core drilling at 6 points to sample the 100-foot thickness of limestone between chert zone #1 and chert zone #2. The drilling was done in 1964 and the cores logged by Edward A. Stanley (Table 45). The generalized lithology of the cores and tentative correlations are shown in Figure 37. The lack of drill collar elevations and the exact location of the holes adds uncertainty to the correlations. Although the limestones exhibit considerable lithologic variation, seven zones have been distinguished. These differ somewhat from the differentiation proposed in Stanley's report of 1964.
A - Predominantly fossiliferous limestones which are gray to blue-gray in color. Some beds of shale appear in this unit in core #6.
B- Oolitic limestones some of which are fossiliferous.
C Predominantly fossiliferous limestones some of which are oolitic. Chert zone #3 is near the top of this unit.
D - Chert zone #2.
E - Predominantly oolitic limestones some of which are fossiliferous. A thin zone of dolomite is near the bottom of this unit.
F - Predominantly fossiliferous to unfossiliferous limestones which are not oolitic, Chert zone #1 is in the lower half of this unit.
G Dolomitic horizon underlying chert zone #1.
Partial analyses of the cores are given in Table 46. The limestones from the middle of zone F to zone D are consistently high quality and suitable for most commercial needs. The stone proven by the 6 core holes is between 3 and 4 million tons. Additional tonnage might be obtained by (1) quarrying along the zone north or south of the proven area, (2) quarrying above the zone, or (3) by mining deeper into the mountain.
A close-up of the south Pigeon Mountain tract is shown in Figure 38. The base of the mountain corresponds approximately with the east side of the vegetation-covered area. Limestones crop out abundantly on the mountain slopes. Three main types of limestone are: (1) gray, medium- to coarsegrained, oolitic, slightly fossiliferous limestonej (2) black, fine-grained limestone; and (3) gray, coarse-grained, highly fossiliferous limestone, Megascopically these limestones seem to be more impure than the limestone at the north end of Pigeon Mountain. The samples appear to have iron oxide dispersed throughout them. No samples were analysed, so the percentage of the impurities is not known.
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TABLE 45 - Lithologic Description of 6 Cores from the Vernon Close Property, Walker County. (by Edward A. Stanley, 1964)

CORE HOLE#l

DEP'IH in FEET

FROM

TO

LI'IHOLOGIC DESCRIPTION

0.3 3.0 4.0 4.6 4.7 9.4 13.2

3.0 4.0 4. 6 4.7 9.4 13.2 19.9

19.9 27.0 30.7 40.3 55.2 55.9 57.2 61.2 79.5 79.6 80.2

27.0 30.7 40.3 55.2 55.9 57.2 61.2 79.6 79.6 80.2 85.3

85.3 90.3 90.4 91.4 91.5 100,00

90.3 90 ' .-;..: 91.4 91.5 100.0

Limestone: blue-gray, coarsely crystalline, oolitic. Limestone: gray, finely crystalline, unfossiliferous. Cavernous. Limestone: as above. Limestone: blue-gray, coarsely crystalline, oolitic, dispersed fossils present. Limestone: gray, finely crystalline, unfossiliferous. Limestone: blue-gray, coarsely crystalline, oolitic, dispersed fossil fragments
present. Limestone: gray, finely crystalline, unfossiliferous. Limestone: light-gray, coarsely crystalline, fossiliferous. Limestone: gray, finely crystalline, unfossiliferous. Limestone: gray, coarsely crystalline, oolitic. Limestone: tan, finely crystalline, unfossiliferous. Limestone: gray, coarsely crystalline, oolitic. Limestone: gray, finely crystalline, unfossiliferous to slightly fossiliferous. Limestone: gray, coarsely crystalline, oolitic. Limestone: gray, finely crystalline, slightly fossiliferous. Limestone: gray1 finely crystalline, unfossiliferous. Limestone: as above alternating with limestone, gray, finely crystalline,
slightly fossiliferous. Limestone: as above, light-gray. Chert: dark-gray, two 1/2 inch bands (?) about 1 inch apart. Limestone: as above, light-gray. Chert: dark-gray, 1 to 1. 5 inch band. Limestone: as above. BOTTOM

4.0 4.3 4. 5 6.2 7.0 7. 9 9.4 10,0 12.0 12,3 13,0 17.5 17.7 19,4

4.3 4.5 6.2 7.0 7. 9 9.4 10.0 12.0 12,3 13.0 17.5 17.7 19.4 21.4

CORE HOLE #2
Limestone: blue-gray, coarsely crystalline, fossiliferous, Clay: (from driller's log). Limestone: as above, cavernous. Clay: (from driller's log). Limestone: as above. Clay: (from driller's log). Limestone: as above. Clay: (from driller's log), Limestone: blue-gray, coarsely crystalline, fossiliferous. Cavernous. Limestone: gray-brown, coarsely crystalline, fossiliferous. Limestone: gray-brown, coarsely crystalline, oolitic. Limestone: gray-brown, coarsely crystalline, fossiliferous, slightly oolitic. Limestone: gray-brown, finely crystalline, unfossiliferous to slightly
fossiliferous, argillaceous.

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21.4 21.8 22.0 22.6 23.3 25. 1 26.2 26.5 26.7 29.3 34.1 34.6 37.0 40.0 40.2 47.0

21.8 22.0 22.6 23.3 25. 1 26.2 26.5 26.7 29.3 34. 1 34.6 37.0 40.0 40.2 47.0 52.7

52.7 54.0

54.0 60.8 63.4 64. 1 66.4 66.6 67.2 81.6 87.2 87.7 93,8 95.2 95.3 98.8 100.0

60.8 63.4 64. 1 66.4 66.6 67.2 81.6 87.2 87.7 93.8 95.2 95.3 98.8 100.0

0

0.8

0.8 2.2

2.2 14.2

14.2 14.6

14.6 17.0 17.0 17.8 17.8 20,3 20.3 25.3 25.3 29. 1

29, 1 34.5

Limestone: gray-brown, coarsely crystalline, oolitic. Limestone: black, coarsely crystalline' oolitic, Limestone: gray-brown, coarsely crystalline, oolitic. Limestone: black, coarsely crystalline, oolitic. Limestone: gray-brown, coarsely crystalline, oolitic. Limestone: black, coarsely crystalline, oolitic. Limestone: gray-brown, coarsely crystalline, oolitic. Limestone: black, coarsely crystalline, oolitic. Limestone: gray-brown, coarsely crystalline, oolitic. Limestone: gray, fine to medium crystalline, dispersed fossil fragments present. Limestone: black, coarsely crystalline, fossiliferous. Limestone: gray-brown, coarsely crystalline, fossiliferous. Limestone: gray-brown, finely crystalline, unfossiliferous to slightly fossiliferous. Chert: nodule about 2 inches in diameter. Limestone: as above. Limestone: gray-brown, finely crystalline, oolitic, becoming slightly fossil\ferous
tow ad base . Limestone: gray-brown, coarsely crystalline, slightly oolitic, moderately
fossiliferous. Limestone: gray-brown, coarsely crystalline, oolitic. Limestone: gray-brown, finely crystalline. Limestone: gray-brown, coarsely crystalline, oolitic. Limestone: gray, coarsely crystalline, slightly oolitic and slightly fossiliferous, Limestone: gray, finely crystalline, argillaceous, Limestone: gray, coarsely crystalline, oolitic. Limestone: gray, finely crystalline, unfossiliferous, argillaceous in places. Limestone: gray, coarsely crystalline, fossiliferous, slightly oolitic in places. Shale: gray, very calcareous near top, slightly calcareous toward base. Limestone: gray, finely crystalline, argillaceous. Limestone: gray, finely crystalline, slightly to moderately fossiliferous. Chert: dark-gray, fossiliferous. Limestone: light-gray, coarsely crystalline, fossiliferous Limestone: light-gray, finely crystalline unfossiliferous. BOTTOM
CORE HOLE# 3
Limestone: blue-gray, coarsely crystalline, slightly oolitic and slightly fossiliferous. Cavernous, Limestone: as above. Limestone: brown, finely crystalline, very argillaceous with fragments of
limestone, as above. Limestone: blue-gray, coarsely crystalline, slightly oolitic and slightly fossiliferous. Limestone: brown-gray, finely crystalline, slightly fossiliferous. Limestone: light-gray, coarsely crystalline, abundantly fossiliferous. Limestone: gray, coarsely crystalline, oolitic. Limestone: gray, finely crystalline, slightly fossiliferous; alternating with beds
of limestone, gray, coarsely crystalline, oolitic. Limestone: gray, medium to coarsely crystalline, oolitic.

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34.5 34.8 34.8 38.2 38.2 40. 1

40. 1 41.0 43.3 58.8 61.9 62.3 65.4

41.0 43.3 58.8 61. 9 62.3 65.4 72.0

72.0 78.4 79.7 81.7 81.9

78.4 79.7 81.7 81.9 87.7

87.7 92.7 94.3 94.5 94.7 94.8 100.0

92.7 94.3 94.5 94.7 94.8 100.0

Limestone: black, coarsely crystalline, highly fossiliferous. Umestone: gray-~rown, P-J.edium to coarsel" ::-ystalline, oolitic and fossiliferous. Limestone: ;~.:> above, a~ternating with beds of limestone, gray-brown, un-
fossiliierous or slig~1tly fossilifero'!.ls. Limestone: gray-brown, :finely crystalline, slightly fossiliferous. Limestone: g!'ay-brown, medium to coarsely crystalline, fossiliferous. Limestone: gray, finely crystalline, argillaceous in parts, Limestone: gray, coarsely crystalline, oolitic, sligb.tly fossiliferous. Limestone: gray, finely ccystc..lline, unossiliferous. Limestone : g!'ay, .::oarsely crystalline, oolitic and fossiliferous. Limes:o:::te: gray, finely crystalline, unfossiliferous, argillaceous, with
occasional thin bed of limestone as above. Limestone: gray, coarsely crystalline with dispersed fossil fragments, oolitic. Limestone: gray, finely crystalline, unfossiliferous, argillaceous. Limestone: gray, coarsely crystalline, oolitic and fossiliferous. Chert: dark-gray. Limestone: gray, finely crystalline, unfossiliferous, argillaceous; with occasional
thin bed of limestone, as above. Limestone: gray, coarsely crystalline, oolitic and fossiliferous. Limestone: gray, finely crystalline, unfossiliferous. Chert: dark-g'.'ay. Limestone: as above. Che..-rt: dark-gray. Limestone: as abovf'.. BOTTOM

0.7 2. 2 3. 7 4.7 7.7 8.4 10.2 10.7 11.0 12.6 13. 1 20.2 23.9 25.3 30. 1 44.8 46.2 50.8 51.9 53.2 60.2 61.0

2.2
3~ 7 4.7 7. 7 8.4 10.2 10.7 11.0 12.6 13. 1 20.2 23.9 25.3 30. 1 44.8 46.2 50.8 51. 9 53.2 60.2 61.0 63.4

CORE HOLE# 4
Limestone: blue-gray, coarsely crystalline, dispersed fossils present. Clay: (from driller's log). Limestone: as above. Limestone: blue-gray, coarsely crystalline, oolitic. Clay: (from driller's log). Limestone: blue-gray, coarsely crystalline, oolitic and fossiliferous. Clay: (from driller's log). Limestone: as above, cavernous. Limestone: blue-gray, coarsely crystalline, fossiliferous. Cavernous. Limestone, as above. Limestone: blue-gray, coarsely crystalline, o'olitic. Limestone: blue-gray, coarsely crystalline, oolitic, dispersed fossils present. Limestone: blue-gray, coarsely crystalline, fossiliferous. . Limestone: gray, coarsely crystalline, o'olitic. Limestone: gray-brown, finely crystalline. Limestone: gray, finely crystalline, a..-.gillaceous. Limestone: gray, finely crystalline, slightly OOlitic :H:J slightly fossiliferOUS, Limestone: gray, finely crystalline, argfllaceous,' Limestone: gray, coarsely C!'ystalline, o'olitic. Limestone: gray, finely c!oystalline, argillaceous. Limestone: gray, finely crystalline, fossiliferous.

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63.4 63.4 63.7 64.2 64.3 65.0

63.4 63.7 64.2 64.3 65.0 72.9

72.9 74.0

74.0 81.2

81.2 85.2

85.2 92.3 100.0

92.3 100.0

Chert: dark-gray, nodulP.. Limestone: gray, finely CI"fStallir..e. Chert: dark-gray, llod.:tle. Chert: dark-~ay, lo.yer about ~/';, incn thick. Limestone: a~ above. Limestone: gray, finely Cl"f~talline, wi':h 9 distinc": layers or nodule zones
of chert, medium-gray. Limestone: light-gray, medium to coarsely crystalline, fossiliferous with 1
layer of chert, light-grc.y. Limestone: medium-gray, finely cxystalline, argillaceous with about 9 layers or
nodule :!ones of chert, dark-gray. Limestone: light-gray, medium to coarsely crystalline, fossiliferous with two
layers of chert, medium-gray, near base of unit. Limestone: gray, finely crystalline. Limestone: gray to light-gray, coarsely crystalline, fossiliferous. BOTTOM

o.
6. 7 8. 1 B. 1 39.6 39.8 40.8 41.2

6.7 8. 1 8. 1 39.6 39.8 40.8 41.2 49.5

49.5 51. 1 56.4 72.2 73.0 74.3 76.5 76.7 86.5 87.2

51. 1 56.4 72.2 73.0 74.3 76.5 76.7 86.5 87.2 95.2

95.2 99.3 109.3 114.6 115.7 118.9 119.7

99.3 109.3 114.6 115.7 118.9 119.7 122.4

122.4 125.5 125.5 135.7

CORE HOLE# 5
Limestone: blue-gray, finely crystalline with fossil ;fragments. Limestone: blue-gray, coarsely crystalline. Shale: brown, calcareous, 1/2 inch thick. Limestone: blue-gray, finely crystalline with fossil fragments. Limestone: yellow-brown, finely crystalline, slightly dolomitic (?). Limestone: blue-gray, finely crystalline, with fossil fragments. Limestone: yellow-brown, finely crystalline, dolomitic (?), Limestone: blue-gray, finely crystalline, fossil fragments present,
some styolite developement present, vuggy zone at 48. 4 feet. Limestone: gray, oolitic. Limestone: gray, finely crystalline, very few fossil fragments present. Limestone: gray, o'olitic. Limestone: gray unfossiliferous. Limestone: gray, finely crystalline, abundant crinoid fragments present. Limestone: dark-gray, finely crystalline, dispersed fossil fragments present. Chert: dark-gray. Limestone: light-gray, finely crystalline with dispersed fossil fragments present. Limestone: g!'ay, coarsely crystalline, dispersed fossil fragments present. Limestone: gray, coarsely crystalline, dispersed fossil fragments present,
some styolite development, occasional vuggy zone present. Limestone: as above, finely crystalline. Limestone: gray, coarsely crystalline, dispersed fossil fragments present. Limestonf!: gray coarsely crystalline, dispersed fossil fragments present,oolitic. Limestone: dark-g:oay, finely crystalline, very few fossil fragments present. Limestone: g~ay, coarsely crystalline, ooEtic, dispe:tsed fossil fragments present. Limestone: gray, finely crys~alline, very few fossil fragments present. Limestone: gray, coarsely crystalline, dispersed fossi~ fragments present,
oolitic. Limestone: gray-brown, coarsely crystalline, fossiliferous. Limestone: gray-brown, finely crystalline, with few thin beds of oolitic limestone
as above.

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135.7 135.9

135.9 136. 1 136.2 137.8 138.0 138.4 138.5 138~ 7 138.9 139.5 140.0 144.2

136. 1 136.2 137.8 138.0 138,4 138.5 138.7 138.9 139.5 140.0 144.2 147.3

147.3 148.8

14&. 8 150.6 151.0 153.8

150.6 151.0 153.8 158.9

158.9 160.2

160.2 163.0

163.0 166.9 182,8

166.9 182.8 184.7

184.7 213.3 213.3 215.8

215.8 236.0

236.0 237.0

237.0 243.5 247.3 247.5 248.6 251.6

243.5 247.3 247.5 248.6 251.6 261.0

261.0 269.0 272.5 285.5 287. 1 299.8 300.0

269.0 272.5 285,5 287. 1 299.8 300.0

Limestone: g~a;o, coarsely crrstalline w!.tl: dispersed fossil fragments and some oOlites.
Che!'t: daik-g~ay, with some fossil fragments present. Limestone: g!'a'j-, coarsely crystalline with disper~ed foss:i.l fragments. Limestone: gr:>.y, finely c:o:oystalline, u::Uossiliferous. Limestone: gr.9.y, coarsely c::ystalli.ne, Some oolit<!S present, Limestone: gray, finely crystalline, unfossiliferous, Limestone: gray, coa._'I'SE:ly crystalline, whh dispersed fossil fragments. Chert: dark-gray, fossiliferous. Limestone: gray, oolitic. Limestone: gray-brown, finely crystalline, unfossiliferous. Limestone: gray, finely crystalline, argillaceous, Limestone: gray-brown, finely crystalline, unfossiliferous. Limestone: gray, coarsely crystalline, dispersed fossil fragments present, some
oolites present, fossils becoming abundant toward base. Limestone: gray, finely crystalline, few dispersed fossil fragments present, especially
toward base. Limestone: gray, finely crystalline, unfossiliferous. Limestone: gray, coarsely crystalline, moderate number of fossil fragments present. Limestone: gray, finely crystalline, unfossilife!'ous. Limestone: gray, coarsely crystalline, oolitic, becoming especially fossiliferous
toward base. Limestone: gray, coarsely crystalline, oolitic; interbedded with limestone,
gray, finely crystalline, unfossiliierous; beds approximately 0. 2 to 0. 4 feet thick. Limestone: gray, finely crystalline, unfossiliferous; with thin beds limestone, gray coarsely crystalline, with dispersed fossil fragments present, Limestone: gray, finely crystalline, argillaceous, unfossiliferous. Limestone: gray, coarsely crystalline, oolitic. Limestone: gray, finely crystalline, unfossiliferous with thin beds of limestone as above. Limestone: gray, coarsely crystalline, oolitic with dispersed fossil fragments present. Limestone: light-gray, coarsely crystalline, few dispersed fossil fragments present, some styolite development present. Limestone: gray, coarsely crystalline, dispersed fossil fragments present, some layers of o8lites interbedded with thin beds of limestone, gray and un:fossiliferous. Limestone: light-gray, very few fossils present, styolite development present especially near top of unit; occasional pyrite crystal present, Limestone: light-gray, coarsely crystalline, dispersed fossils present, oolites present, Limestone: gray, as above. Chert: dark-gray. Dolomite: light-gray, Limestone: gray, as above. Limestone: dark-gray, finely to coarsely crystalline, interbedded with chert nodules about 0. 1 feet thick. Limestone: dark-gray, coarsely crystalline, dispersed fossil fragments present. Limestone: brown, coarsely crystalline, Limestone: dark-gray, coarsely crystalline. Limestone: brown, coarsely crystalline. Dolomite: light-gray. Chert: dark-gray. BOTTOM

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0 14.0 21.4 23.0 23.4 25.4 27.0 27.3 28.0 31.7

14.0 21.4 23.0 23.4 25.4 27.0 27.3 28.0 31.7 37.8

37.8 40.9 41. 1 43.5 44.0 45. 1 47.3 47.5 63.0 64.0 64.3 64.5 65.5 110.5 112. 2 114. 1 114,2 114.7 117.2 118.8 122.4 124.5 127.5 129.9 130.5 138. 1 138.2 139.2 139.4 141.4 142.5

40.9 41. 1 43.5 44.0 45. 1 47.3 47.5 63.0 64.0 64.3 64.5 65.5 110.5 112.2 114. 1 114.2 114.7 117.2 118.8 122.4 124.5 127.5 129.9 130.5 138. 1 138.2 139.2 139.4 141.4 142.5 145.2

145.2 145.3 145.3 150.8

150.8 153.8

153.8 161. 8 161. 8 176.5

CORE HOLE# 6
Limestone: blu~-gray, coarsely crystalline, dispersed fossil fragments present. Mud (from dri.ller's log). Limestone: as above. Limestone: gray, finely crystalli~e, shaly Shale: brown. Limestone: blue-gray, finely crystalline, oolitic and fossiliferous. Limestone: yellow-brown, argillaceous. Limestone: gray, finely crystalline, oolitic. Shale: gray, slightly calcareous, unfossili:e:.:'ous. Limestone: gray, finely cryst&.lli~e, dispersed fossil fragments present, argillaceous
to shaly in places. Limestone: gray, coarsely crystalline, dispersed fossil fragments present. Limestone: yellow-brown, finely crystalline, unfossiliferous. Shale: gray, calcareous. Limestone: gray, coarsely crystalline, fossiliferous and oolitic. Limestone: gray, finely crystalline, argillaceous. Limestone: gray, coarsely crystalline, oolitic. Limestone: gray, finely crystalline, unfossiliferous. Limestone: gray, coarsely crystalline, fossiliferous and oolitic. Limestone: gray, finely crystalline, unfossiliferous. Limestone: gray, coarsely crystalline, dispei'Sed fossil fragments present. Limestone: dark-gray, coarsely crystalline, fossiliferous. Limestone: gray, finely crystalline, unfossiliferous. Limestone: gray, coarsely crystalline, oolitic, dispersed fossil fragments present. Limestone: light-brown, coarsely crystalline, oolitic. Limestone: gray, finely crystalline, argillaceous, very few fossils present. Limestone: gray, coarsely crystalline, oolitic. Limestone: gray, finely crystalline, argillaceous, very few fossils present. Limestone: gray, coarsely crystalline, oolitic. Limestone: gray, finely crystalline, argillaceous. Limestone: gray, coarsely crystalline, ol:llitic. Limestone: gray, finely crystalline, argillaceous. Limestone: light-brown, coarsely crystalline, oolitic. Limestone: light-brown, finely crystalline. Limestone: light-brown, coarsely crystalline, o'olitic. Limestone: light-brown, finely crystalline, becoming quite argillaceous in places. Chert: dark-gray. Limestone: a.s above. Chert: dark-gray. Limestone: as above. Limestone: light-brown, coarsely crystalline, oolitic. Limestone: lig!:tt-brown, finely crystalline, unfossiliferous to very few fossils
present. LiJ<:J'c: dark-gray. Limestone: as above with few thin beds of limestone, light-brown, coarsely
crystalline and oolitic. Limestone: light-brown, coarsely crystalline, oolitic with few thin beds of
limestone, light-brown, finely crystalline and unfossiliferous. Limestone: gray, finely ccy-stalline, unfossiliferous, argillaceous. Limestone: gray, coarsely crystalline, oolitic.

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176.5 177.5
179. s
182.4 182.9 18?;,0 183. ~ 183.6 189.9 196.2 196.7

1'77.:; l 7St. 2 .~82. 4 lSZ, 9 182..0 183. 1 183.6 189,9 196. ~ 196.7 198.0

198.0 206.7 218.3 228.3 237.2 239.0 240.0 250.0 253.3 257.0 259.0 259.7 262.4 264.9 276.4 278.7 279.8 282.3 286,3 291.7 297.0 300.0

206.7 218.3 228.3 237.2 239.0 240.0 250.0 253.3 257.0 259.0 259.7 262.4 264.9 276.4 278.7 279.8 282.3 286.3 291.7 297.0 300.0

Li::-!l.es~o.:.e: light-g~ay, finely cry~talline. limest)~. 2: H;nt-gray, coarsely crystalline, oolitic. 'L..lm~st:>:-e: sra;;-, iinely crystalline, argillaceous, slightly oolitic :U::rv~stone: gr:ay, coarsely crystalline, abundant fossil fragments present. limestone: dark-g::oay, very argillaceous. Li.meswne: d~&-gray, coarsely crystallir..e, oolitic. L:ime~tone : dark-gray, finely crystalline, argillaceous. li:me;to:::te: da.rk-gray, coarsely crystalline, oolitic. LlriP.stone: gray, coarsely crystalline, oolitic. Dolomite: lig~1t-gray, vuggy zones present. :Jolomite: lignt..gray, slightly vuggy at top and becoming very vuggy toward
base of unit. Limestone: blue-gray, coarsely crystalline, oolitic. Limestone: light-gray, finely crystalline, some vuggy zones present Limestone: light-gray, finely crystalline, moderate number of styolites present. Limestone: as above except coarsely crystalline. Limestone: light-gray, finely crystalline. Limestone: as above with chert, dark gray. Limestone: as above, without chert. Limestone: light-gray, finely crystalline, with thin chert beds (?) Limestone: light-gray, finely crystalline. Lim.!Stone: light-gray, finely crystalline with small chert nodules Chert: dark-gray !.imestone: as above. Dolomite: light-gray, with some chert, dark-gray. Limestone: gray, coarsely crystalline, dispersed fossil fragments present. Limestone: brown, finely crystalline, dolomitic. Limestone: !~:ray, coarsely crystalline. Limestone: gray, with chert, dark-gray. Limestone: gray, coarsely crystalline, dispersed fossil fragments present. Dolomite: vuggy with some chert, dark-gray. Limestone: gray, coarsely crystalline, with some dispersed fossil fragments present, Limestone: brown, dolomitic, vuggy, especially near bottom BOTTOM

Two chert zones which night be different zones or might be one zone which has been cut and offset by faulting have been mapped. The two chert zones are about 100 feet apart in elevation and both are in a light grey, fine- to medium-grained fossiliferous limestone. The northern zone could not be traced south of point 11, nor could the southern zone be traced north of point 6 (See Figure 38).
The upper chert zone begins at point 11 as an irregular chert band and thickens north along strike into a zone 4-5 feet thick. This zone has chert nodules and 3-4 inch thick bands of chert distributed in the fine- to medium-grained fossiliferous limestone.

-155-

LITHOLOGY 8 TENTATIVE CORRELATION OF 6 CORES,

NORTH TRACT OF PIGEON MOUNTAIN

( For location see Figure 36 l

_,.a, 10.0

=,........o,:20;:,.,........,40 FEET

#6

#5

A

B
Chert zone # 3 #2
c

Chert zone # 2 D

E

E

E F
F

F
Chert zone # I
G

FIGURE 37 - 156-

EXPLANATION
ITTIJ Fossiliferous Limestone
~ Unfossiliferous Limestone ~ Oolitic Limestone ~Dolomite ~Cheri ~ Shale
LHL

SOUTH END OF PIGEON MOUNTAIN

WALKER COUNTY, GEORGIA
1969

500

0

1000 FEET

N
I

- -~- -
/

B

:~~:~ O~!R'T - -, I

1001)"

_ _ .....

, ,.,.1

' "".
'

B'

RR

HGV

--=--~ -- -=:]

EXPLANATION
EZllJ Veoetation covered areas
Proposed drill sites
_;!- Strike 8 dip of beds
x Cave
LHL

FIGURE 38

- 157-

TABLE 46 - ?arti:;.: A:1a~ys~s of cures from Nortl1 Tract, Vernon Close Ra :ch, W al~<o:' County. Pur location of cores see Figure 36.

Core Hole No.
1
2 2 3 3 3 4 4 5 5 5 5 6

D=::-t1-- \Ft. )
o. 3 - 35. z
3~ .2 - 79.5
40. 1 - 81. 7 12.:.- U.O 24.0-37.0
o. 0- !4. 2
14. 6- 20,0 20.0- 40. 1
o. 7 - 18, 1
1&. 7- 44. 8
o. 0- 1:J. 3
15. 3 - 40. 8 49.5-76.5
86. s- 125.5
o. 0- 23.0

C2C03
90.54 97.28 91. 92 97.70 97.97 97,42 88,06 97.42 97.97 97. 15 96,87 87.42 91. 92 96.87 91.78

r.t1gC03
2.33 1. 50 2.76 1. 91 1. 91 1, 59 3. 18 1. 91 1. 70 2. 18 2.33 4.46 4.87 2.01 2. 97

TOTAL CARBONATES
92.87 98.78 94.68 99.61 99,88 99.01 91.24 99.33 99.67 99.33 99.20 91.88 96,79 98.88 94.75

The lower chert zone begins at point 6 as a 6-inch zone of chert nodules in a fine-grained limestone. South, along strike, it thickens into a 1--1~ foot zone of chert nodules and bands of chert 1-1~ inches thick in limestone.
Both chert zones extend bryond the limits shown on the maps.
Four exploratory holes have been proposed for an initial test of the quality of the stone. Reconnaissance field work indicates that 7-9 million tons of limestones might be blocked out in the South Tract.
The limestone on the east side of Pigeon ~fountain is within a quarter-mile of the Tennessee, Alabama and Georgia Railroad. The stone can be quarried above the valley floor where ground water problems will be minimal and where gravity loading is possible. The structural attitude favors deep quarrying. A large tonnage can be developed. The quality is high .

., .
-158-

CARBONATE ROCK F..ESOURGES OF vm::TF~.EL::> CCJNTY
:~t:r;-;-dut:tion
More than half cf Whitfield Cour:ty is u.:1de:rlain by carbonate-bearing formations (Figure 39). The Cambrian Conasauga Group and the CambroOrdovician Kncx Group predo:ninate. All Middle and Upper Ordovician rocks in the county are near-shore fac.ies, thus the Chickamauga Limestone does not appear. Cherts and che~ty caroonates of the Ft. Payne Formation crop out widely, but other Mississippian carb.:mates appear to be absent, except a little limestone ~f probable St. Louis age in Houston Valley.
Conasauga Group
This group crops out in a series of roughly parallel north-south to northeast trending bands. Their width varies in response to structure and topography. The best exposures are on the flanks of Cedar Ridge, especially at the Jet Black Marble Quarry.
All the Conasauga formations ap?ear to be present in Whitfield County, though only the Maynardville has been differentiated (Munyan, 1951). Total thickness probably is a little less than the 4600 feet in western Gordon County.
Knox Group
In western Whitfield County the Knox strata occur in a series of subparallel, north-south trend:Lng belts, some of which have been split into smaller slices by faults pa~allel to the general strike of the belts. In the eastern pare of the county, Knox strata cap both the northern and southern parts of Cedar Ridge.
The Knox strata range in color from light gray through brownish gray and light olive gray to pale red. Bedding ranges from less than one inch to more than ten feet. Several chert layers up to ten feet thick are present; still, most of the chert is in the form of nodules. Fresh rock exposures are uncommon; mapping has to be based mostly on the distribution of chert ledges and bculders (Maynard, 1948). No continuous exposures of fresh dolomite that were seen exceed 40 stratig=aphic feet. The best exposure is on Oder Ridge, ~ mile south of U.S, 1176, in an old road quarry.
The entire Knox section appears to be presenL in Whitfield County. Total thickness is about aSOO feet.
The Newala Limestone which commonly overlies the Knox in other counties was not observed in Whitfield County.
Mississippian System
The Fort Payne Chert is the most widely distributed Mississippian unit in Whitfield County. It c:rops out on the eastern slope of Taylor Ridge

DISTRIBUTION OF
PRINCIPAL CARBONATE- BEARING
N WHITFIELD COUNTY GEORGIA

1

6....-...li:...~...J,==~2MILES
1969

FORMATIONS

EXPLANATION

D

Knox Group

-

Conasauva Group

.....-"' Fault

FIGURE 39 - 160-

and the western slope of Dick Ridge in Houston Valley and Gordon Springs Valley. It also crops out on the eastern slope of Rocky Face Mountain, in Redwine Cove; and on both sides of Chestnut Hountain.
Limestone thought to be equivalent to the St. Louis overlies the Ft. Payne Chert in Houston Valley; shale of equivalent age crops out above the Fort Payne in Gordon Springs Valley. No rocks younger than St. Louis have been found. Except chert, which is quarried for road fill, the Mississippian rocks of Whitfield County have limited economic potential,

Description of Individual Properties

Dalton Rock Products Quarry, Locality #77

The quarry is 5.5 miles northeast of Dalton on a paved county road. Georgia Highway #71 is 2.2 miles to the west. The nearest railroad is 3.4 miles to the west. Whitfield County first opened the quarry on a large Conasauga limestone outcrop about 1935. From 1948 to 1955 Cooper and Maples operated the quarry, and in 1955 Dalton Rock Products became the operator. The principal products are aggregate, road metal, and agricultural stone. The property is owned by Mrs. W. B. Renalsen.

Figure 40 is a plan view of the quarry as of 1967. The quarry rock is bluish gray, fine-grained limestone, A composite sample analysed:

CaO

50.1%

MgO

2.2

Si02

3.6

Al203

1.4

Fe203 - 1.1

C02

41.6

Total 100.0

Jet Black Marble Company Quarries, Locality #78

The openings are 4.2 miles east of Dalton on the west side of Cedar Ridge, just north of the Dalton- Chatsworth Highway (U.S, 76), These openings were made in the late 1800's in the hope of locating commercial marbles. A stratigraphic thickness of about 230 feet of dark Conasauga ''marble:' is exposed. It is stratigraphically equivalent to the stone being quarried by the Dalton Rock Products Company. A brief description of the site, a stratigraphic section and two chemical analyses of the stone were given by Maynard (1912, pp. 260-261).

The stone taken from these openings was cut and polished, but no information is available on its quality or use, The L1narblen contains thin argillaceous intercalations, like those described in the black 11marbles 11 of Gordon County. Polish and strength are limited to some extent by these intercalations. The massiveness of the stone, the proportion of oolitic to argillaceous layers, the color and other characteristics vary within

-161-

+-Dolton

....

g"J:j

~

~

~

DALTON ROCK PRODUCTS QUARRY

WHITFIELD COUNTY

N

0
~

./OOOFEET

I

1967 - . / Secondary Roads

abort distances both along and across strike. The search for monumental stone of this type is the search for massive stone whose strength and polishability are not seriously reduced by argillaceous seams. While the Conasauga limestones generally are weak, they are unusually massive at this site, and the possibility of locating high strength "marble" appears good.

A composite sample of the dark limestone analyses:

CaO MgO
Si02 Al203 Fe203 C02 Total

46.9% 3.1
6.2 2.0 1.5 40.3 100.0

-163-

ADDE NDUM
Marble in Haralson County
A thin body of marble northeast of Buchanan is shown on the Geologic Map of Georgia (1939), and mentioned briefly by Crickmay (1952, p. 30). Reconnaissance mapping in the area in 1968 did not locate any outcropping marble.
According to local report, marble outcrops could be seen in the bed of Little River on the Sanders Property (Figure 41) before the run of the river was changed some years back, About two miles southwest of the Sanders Property, marble is said to have been visible at one time in the bottom of a spring in back of the Bowling house.
In 1967, several core holes were drilled in the area. Incomplete records on file at the Georgia Department of Mines show that marble was encountered on both the Sanders and Bowling Properties. No data are available on the quality or extent at either site.
Geologic mapping indicates that the marble occurrences are fault controlled. Roadcuts east of the Bowling property expose a fault zone consisting of approximately 50 feet of sheared micaceous quartzite and 3 feet of breccia and wad. North of Hobbs Bridge, and at intermittant outcrops to the northeast, concentrations of manganese oxide indicate probable faulting. Future exploration for marble in Haralson County should be along the fault in Figure 41. No marble is now exposed.
-164-

MARBLE

OCCURRENCES IN HARALSON

GEORGIA

N

Oiii.5&i!!!I...,.;O..._.;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;il MIL ES
1969

I

COUNTY

The heavy dashed line is o major fault .
FIGURE 41 - 165-

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-

-

-M-is-sis, saipnpd iaLne

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53, Ecol ogi cal Contributions

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a

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-

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-lx-

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----------, 1894, Geology of a Portion of the Coosa Valley in Georgia and Alabama: Geol. Soc. Amer. Bull. 5.

-

---

-A--m-e-r.-,

1894, Jour.

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in pp.

the Southern 237-238.

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-

-

----S-c-ie-n-c, e1, 8n9e5w, .

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,

on the Geology vol. 1.

of

the

Cartersville

Quadrangle:

, 1895, Bauxite: U.S.G.S. 16th Annual Report, Pt. 3, pp. 5475 9 7 . ----~~--

-----D--e-p-o-s,it1s8: 95A, mT. heInGste.olMogini.caEl nRge.,laTtiroannss.o, fvtohle.

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, 1896, The Physiography of the United States: The Southern Appal ----~--~ achians, pp. 305-336.

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-167-

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___________, 1903, Manganese ores of the Cartersville district, Georgia, in Contributions to economic geology, 1902: U.S. Geol. Surv ey Bull. 213, p. 232.

-

-

-

- -d-i-s-t r-i,

and Eckel, ct, Georgia,

E. C., 1903, Iron in Contributions

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------~--- and __________, 1903, Occurrence and development of ocher deposits in the Cartersville district, Georgia, in Contributions to economic geology, 1902: U.S. Geol. Survey Bull. 213, pp. 427432 .

-

--

-

-n-e-ar-

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w. C., 1908, A commercial
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-168-

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~-------- and

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-

---

-G--e-o-l.-,

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,

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and 8.

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-

--

-

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-

--

--

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-170-