Age:

Pennsylvanian

Type designation:

Type locality: The name "Ferdinand Limestone" was applied to a so-called "marine zone," including carbonate rocks (Franklin and Wanless, 1944, p. 88-89), some 15 ft (4.6 m) above the Fulda Limestone (as then called), which was said to be best developed northeast of Ferdinand, Dubois County, Indiana, in T. 3 S., R. 4 W. (Hutchison, 1970; Shaver, 1986). No exposure is known at a location specifically cited by Franklin for that township (Hutchison, 1970; Shaver, 1986).

Characteristic exposure: 1 mile (1.6 km) northwest of Ferdinand in the NW¼NW¼ sec. 29, T. 3 S., R. 4 W. (Hutchison, 1970; Shaver, 1986).

History of usage:

Revised rank: In 1964 the Ferdinand was assigned member rank in the upper part of the Mansfield Formation (Thompson and Shaver, p. 15-16; Hutchison, 1970; Shaver, 1986).

Revised rank: Shaver and Smith (1974, p. 6) designated this unit as the Ferdinand Bed of the Lead Creek Limestone Member (Mansfield Formation) (Shaver, 1986).

Description:

The Ferdinand Bed, generally lying about 40 ft (12 m) below the top of the Mansfield, ranges from 2 to more than 3 ft (0.6 to > 0.9 m) in thickness and is dark-blue to gray argillaceous fossiliferous limestone that in some places is nearly all chert (Hutchison, 1970; Shaver, 1986). In some places it consists of two limestones separated by 1 foot (0.3 m) of chert (Hutchison, 1970; Shaver, 1986). Large crinoid columnals are present in a part of the southern Ferdinand distribution. Northward the bed becomes rather impure and includes calcareous siltstone and shale (Hutchison, 1976, p. 28).

Distribution: The Ferdinand is well represented along the outcrop belt in Spencer County and southern Dubois County, where it is generally found associated with the Fulda Bed 10 ft (3.0 m) or more below (Shaver, 1986). Northward it becomes thinner and is found sporadically as far north as Warren County within tentatively to positively identified upper Mansfield rocks (Shaver, 1986). (See Kottlowski, 1959, 1960; Shaver and Smith, 1974, p. 7-9; and Hutchison, 1976, p. 28.)

Boundaries:

The Ferdinand is underlain by blue-gray shale and a bright blocky 1-foot (0.3-m) coal bed (Franklin and Wanless, 1944); it is overlain by black soft shale and massive sandstone that is fine grained, carbonaceous, and micaceous (Hutchison, 1970; Shaver, 1986). Both contacts are apparently conformable (Shaver, 1986).

Correlations:

The Ferdinand Bed includes the Grandview Limestone of Franklin and Wanless (1944) in southern Spencer County and coextends to the upper ledge of the Lead Creek Limestone Member (Tradewater Formation) in Hancock County, Kentucky, and probably also to the upper limestone of two exposed at Morgantown, Butler County, Kentucky (Thompson, Shaver, and Riggs, 1959; Shaver, 1986).

Together with the Fulda Bed, the Ferdinand contains key microfaunas, including representatives of the ostracod Zone of Amphissites rothi and the fusulinid Zone of Profusulinella (Hutchison, 1970; Shaver, 1986). On this basis the Ferdinand has been assigned a late Bashkirian age (global standard; late Morrowan, American standard) by Shaver and Smith (1974), Shaver (1984), and Shaver (1984), but such correlation has long been debated (Shaver, 1986). (See details in the discussion on correlation in the article on the Lead Creek Limestone Member.)

Regional Indiana usage:

Illinois Basin (COSUNA 11)
Supergroup: none
Group: Raccoon Creek Group
Formation: Mansfield Formation
Member: Lead Creek Limestone Member
Bed: Ferdinand Bed
Illinois Basin Margin (COSUNA 12)
Supergroup: none
Group: Raccoon Creek Group
Formation: Mansfield Formation
Member: Lead Creek Limestone Member
Bed: Ferdinand Bed

Misc/Abandoned Names:

Grandview Limestone

Geologic Map Unit Designation:

*mfr

Note: Hansen (1991, p. 52) in Suggestions to authors of the reports of the United States Geological Survey noted that letter symbols for map units are considered to be unique to each geologic map and that adjacent maps do not necessarily need to use the same symbols for the same map unit. Therefore, map unit abbreviations in the Indiana Geologic Names Information System should be regarded simply as recommendations.

COSUNA areas and regional terminology

Names for geologic units vary across Indiana. The Midwestern Basin and Arches Region COSUNA chart (Shaver, 1984) was developed to strategically document such variations in terminology. The geologic map (below left) is derived from this chart and provides an index to the five defined COSUNA regions in Indiana. The regions are generally based on regional bedrock outcrop patterns and major structural features in Indiana. (Click the maps below to view more detailed maps of COSUNA regions and major structural features in Indiana.)

COSUNA areas and numbers that approximate regional bedrock outcrop patterns and major structural features in Indiana.

Major tectonic features that affect bedrock geology in Indiana.

References:

Franklin, D. W., and Wanless, H. R., 1944, Pennsylvanian stratigraphy of part of southern Indiana: Illinois State Academy of Science Transactions, v. 37, p. 85–92.

Hansen, W. R., 1991, Suggestions to authors of the reports of the United States Geological Survey (7^th ed.): Washington, D.C., U.S. Geological Survey, 289 p.

Hutchison, H. C., 1970, Ferdinand Limestone Member, in Shaver, R. H., Burger, A. M., Gates, G. R., Gray, H. H., Hutchison, H. C., Keller, S. J., Patton, J. B., Rexroad, C. B., Smith, N. M., Wayne, W. J., and Wier, C. E., Compendium of rock-unit stratigraphy in Indiana: Indiana Geological Survey Bulletin 43, p. 56–57.

Hutchison, H. C., 1976, Geology of the Catlin-Mansfield area, Parke and Putnam Counties, Indiana: Indiana Geological Survey Bulletin 54, 57 p.

Kottlowski, F. E., 1959, Geology and coal deposits of the Coal City quadrangle, Greene, Clay, and Owen Counties: U.S. Geological Survey Coal Investigations Map C-28, scale 1:24,000.

Kottlowski, F. E., 1960, Geology and coal deposits of the Switz City quadrangle, Greene County, Indiana: U.S. Geological Survey Coal Investigations Map C-41, scale 1:24,000.

Shaver, R. H., 1984, Atokan Series concepts with special reference to the Illinois Basin and Iowa, in Sutherland, P. K., and Manger, W. L., eds., The Atokan Series (Pennsylvanian) and its boundaries–a symposium: Oklahoma Geological Survey Bulletin 136, p. 101–113.

Shaver, R. H., 1986, Ferdinand Bed, in Shaver, R. H., Ault, C. H., Burger, A. M., Carr, D. D., Droste, J. B., Eggert, D. L., Gray, H. H., Harper, Denver, Hasenmueller, N. R., Hasenmueller, W. A., Horowitz, A. S., Hutchison, H. C., Keith, B. D., Keller, S. J., Patton, J. B., Rexroad, C. B., and Wier, C. E., Compendium of Paleozoic rock-unit stratigraphy in Indiana–a revision: Indiana Geological Survey Bulletin 59, p. 46.

Shaver, R. H., and Smith, S. G., 1974, Some Pennsylvanian kirkbyacean ostracods of Indiana and midcontinent series terminology: Indiana Geological Survey Report of Progress 31, 59 p.

Shaver, R. H., coordinator, 1984, Midwestern basin and arches region–correlation of stratigraphic units in North America (COSUNA): American Association of Petroleum Geologists Correlation Chart Series.

Thompson, M. L., and Shaver, R. H., 1964, Early Pennsylvanian microfaunas of the Illinois Basin: Illinois State Academy of Science Transactions, v. 67, no. 1, p. 1–23.

Thompson, M. L., Shaver, R. H., and Riggs, A. E., 1959, Early Pennsylvanian fusulinids and ostracods of the Illinois Basin: Journal of Paleontology, v. 33, p. 771–781.