Age:

Pennsylvanian

Type designation:

Type locality: The name “Parker Coal” was used by Fuller and Clapp (1904, p. 2) for a coal exposed near Parkers Settlement in Posey County, Indiana (Wier, 1970; Wier and Ault, 1986).

History of usage:

A discrepancy concerning the stratigraphic position of the coal exists between Fuller and Clapp's (1904) text and columnar section, which has created some confusion in the literature (Wier, 1970; Wier and Ault, 1986). This coal is a few feet below the Parker Limestone of Fuller and Clapp (Carthage Limestone Member of present usage) (Wier, 1970; Wier and Ault, 1986).

Wier (unpublished manuscript; 1970; 1973, fig. 3) assigned this coal member rank in the Patoka Formation and designated the type locality in the NW¼SE¼ sec. 30, T. 5 S., R. 11 W., which is near the Posey-Vanderburgh county line in Vanderburgh County (Wier, 1970; Wier and Ault, 1986).

Description:

The Parker Coal Member is a bright-banded coal, 0.3 ft to 1.7 ft (0.1 to 0.5 m) thick (Wier, 1970; Wier and Ault, 1986). In places, it is represented by streaks of coal in black shale (Wier, 1970; Wier and Ault, 1986). The Parker coal is thickest in Posey, Vanderburgh, and Gibson Counties, where it lies about 190 ft (58 m) above the West Franklin Limestone Member of the Shelburn Formation (Wier, 1970; Wier and Ault, 1986). This coal is thin or absent and is not generally recognized in western Knox County and western Sullivan County (Wier, 1970; Wier and Ault, 1986).

Boundaries:

The Parker Coal is overlain by 1 to 3 ft (0.3 to 0.9 m) of black shale and underlain by underclay (Wier, 1970; Wier and Ault, 1986).

Correlations:

The Parker coal is correlated with the New Haven Coal Member of the Modesto Formation in Illinois (Hopkins and Simon, 1975, p. 196) and the No. 18 Coal of the Sturgis Formation in northwestern Kentucky (Kehn, 1973, p. B19; Johnson and Norris, 1976; Wier and Ault, 1986). In 2001, the upper part of the Modesto Formation of Illinois and the middle part of the Sturgis Formation of western Kentucky were assigned the name "Patoka Formation" by The Tri-State Committee on Correlation of the Pennsylvanian System in the Illinois Basin.

Regional Indiana usage:

Illinois Basin (COSUNA 11)
Supergroup: none
Group: McLeansboro Group
Formation: Patoka Formation
Member: Parker Coal Member

Misc/Abandoned Names:

None

Geologic Map Unit Designation:

*pp

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:

Fuller, M. L., and Clapp, F. G., 1904, Description of the Patoka quadrangle: U.S. Geological Survey Geologic Atlas, Folio 105, 12 p.

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.

Hopkins, M. E., and Simon, J. A., 1975, Pennsylvanian System, in Willman, H. B., Atherton, Elwood, Buschbach, T. C., Collinson, Charles, Frye, J. C., Hopkins, M. E., Lineback, J. A., and Simon, J. A., Handbook of Illinois stratigraphy: Illinois State Geological Survey Bulletin 95, p. 163–201.

Johnson, W. D., Jr., and Norris, R. L., 1976, Geologic map of parts of the Uniontown and Wabash Island quadrangles, Union and Henderson Counties, Kentucky: U.S. Geological Survey Geologic Quadrangle Map GQ-1291.

Kehn, T. M., 1973, Sturgis Formation (Upper Pennsylvanian), a new map unit in the western Kentucky coal field: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1394-B, 24 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.

The Tri-State Committee on Correlation of the Pennsylvanian System in the Illinois Basin, 2001, Toward a more uniform stratigraphic nomenclature for rock units (formations and groups) of the Pennsylvanian System in the Illinois Basin: Indiana Geological Survey, Illinois Basin Consortium Illinois Basin Studies 5, 26 p.

Wier, C. E., 1970, Parker 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. 128.

Wier, C. E., 1973, Coal resources of Indiana: Indiana Geological Survey Bulletin 42-I, 40 p.

Wier, C. E., and Ault, C. H., 1986, Parker 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. 109.