Age:

Pennsylvanian

Type designation:

Type section: The Buffaloville Coal Member was first named simply the "Buffaloville Coal," by Franklin and Wanless (1944, p. 89, 90) for the coal that was surface mined near Buffaloville, Spencer County, Indiana. Although not specifically designated as type, the originally described section was in a surface mine in the center of the NE¼NW¼ sec. 9, T. 5 S., R. 5 W. (Hutchison, 1970; Hutchison and Hasenmueller, 1986).

History of usage:

Revised rank: The Buffaloville Coal was assigned member rank by Hutchison (1970, p. 28).

Description:

According to Franklin and Wanless (1944), the Buffaloville coal is blocky (Hutchison, 1970; Hutchison and Hasenmueller, 1986).

Boundaries:

The Buffaloville Coal Member has a floor of underclay some 3 ft (1 m) thick (Hutchison, 1970; Hutchison and Hasenmueller, 1986). The roof of the coal is black sheety unfossiliferous shale, half a foot (0.2 m) thick, which is overlain by dark-gray shale that is soft, calcareous, fossiliferous, and slightly silty and which is overlain in turn by dark-blue to black argillaceous and fossiliferous limestone as much as 2 ft (0.6 m) thick (Hutchison, 1970; Hutchison and Hasenmueller, 1986). In some areas the shale is absent, and the limestone rests directly on the coal (Hutchison, 1970; Hutchison and Hasenmueller, 1986).

Correlations:

The Buffaloville coal was tentatively correlated by Franklin and Wanless (1944) with Coal II of Ashley (1909), but the Buffaloville was later assigned to the Brazil Formation by Hutchison (1959), who considered that it was continuous with the Minshall Coal Member of Clay and Parke Counties (Hutchison and Hasenmueller, 1986). If this correlation is correct, a single coal bed, called both the "Buffaloville" and the "Minshall," is present from the Ohio River to Warren County at the north end of the Indiana coalfield (Hutchison and Hasenmueller, 1986). According to Thompson and Shaver (1964, p. 20, 21), the limestone in the roof of the Buffaloville marks the lowest known Indiana position containing microfaunas that are characterized by the fusulinid Fusulinella and ostracods Amphissites centronotus and A. girtyi (Hutchison, 1970; Hutchison and Hasenmueller, 1986). (See the Perth Limestone Member for a discussion of the coal and the associated limestone.)

Regional Indiana usage:

Illinois Basin (COSUNA 11)
Supergroup: none
Group: Raccoon Creek Group
Formation: Brazil Formation
Member: Buffaloville Coal Member

Misc/Abandoned Names:

Coal II

Geologic Map Unit Designation:

*bzb

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.

See also:

Minshall Coal Member

References:

Ashley, G. H., 1909, Supplementary report to the report of 1898 on the coal deposits of Indiana: Indiana Department of Geology and Natural Resources Annual Report 33, p. 13–150.

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., 1959, Distribution, structure, and mined areas of coals in Spencer County, Indiana: Indiana Geological Survey Preliminary Coal Map 8, scale1:126,720.

Hutchison, H. C., 1970, Buffaloville Coal 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. 28–29.

Hutchison, H. C., and Hasenmueller, W. A., 1986, Buffaloville Coal Member, 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. 25.

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.