Age:

Pennsylvanian

Type designation:

Type section: The name “Livingston Limestone” was first used by Worthen (1875, p. 11-19) for exposures near Livingston in Clark County, Illinois (Wier, 1986). The type section consists of an upper limestone, 6.5 ft (2.0 m) thick; a middle clay, shale, and thin coal, 4.5 ft (1.4 m) thick; and a lower limestone, 14 ft (4.3 m) thick (Wier, 1986).

History of usage:

This unit is now recognized as a member of the Bond Formation in Illinois (Kosanke and others, 1960, p. 39, 83), Indiana (Wier, 1960), and Kentucky (The Tri-State Committee on Correlation of the Pennsylvanian System in the Illinois Basin, 2001).

Description:

The Livingston Limestone Member is the upper member of the Bond Formation and is present in only two areas in Indiana (Wier, 1970, 1986). In western Sullivan County near Merom and Graysville, the unit consists of two beds of limestone separated by as much as 25 ft (7.6 m) of gray to black shale and a thin coal (Wier, 1970, 1986). The upper bed is buff to light-gray crystalline fossiliferous limestone containing abundant fenestelloid bryozoans and small brachiopods (Wier, 1970, 1986). The lower bed is dark-gray, argillaceous, and nodular and contains crinoid columnals. Wier (1970, 1986) noted that in the Mumford Hills in northwestern Posey County and southwestern Gibson County, the Livingston Limestone Member is not conspicuously present but has been noted in drilling records as a thin limestone.

Correlations:

The Livingston member in Indiana was early miscorrelated with the West Franklin Limestone Member of the Shelburn Formation (Collett, 1874; Ashley, 1899; and Shrock and Malott, 1929; Wier, 1970, 1986). This member of the Bond Formation correlates with the Livingston and Millersville Limestone Members of the Bond Formation in Illinois and Kentucky (The Tri-State Committee on Correlation of the Pennsylvanian System in the Illinois Basin, 2001).

Regional Indiana usage:

Illinois Basin (COSUNA 11)
Supergroup: none
Group: McLeansboro Group
Formation: Bond Formation
Member: Livingston Limestone Member

Misc/Abandoned Names:

None

Geologic Map Unit Designation:

*bl

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:

Ashley, G. H., 1899, The coal deposits of Indiana: Indiana Department of Geology and Natural Resources Annual Report 23, p. 1–1,573.

Collett, John, 1874, Geology of Knox County: Indiana Geological Survey Annual Report 5, p. 315–382.

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.

Kosanke, R. M., Simon, J. A., Wanless, H. R., and Willman, H. B., 1960, Classification of the Pennsylvanian strata of Illinois: Illinois State Geological Survey Report of Investigations 214, 84 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.

Shrock, R. R., and Malott, C. A., 1929, Structural features of West Franklin Formation of southwestern Indiana: American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin, v. 13, p. 1,301–1,315.

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., 1960, Stratigraphic relations of the Merom Sandstone near Merom, Indiana: Indiana Academy of Science Trans., v. 69, p. 217–223.

Wier, C. E., 1970, Livingston 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. 94–95.

Wier, C. E., 1986, Livingston Limestone 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. 82.

Worthen, A. H., 1875, Geology of Clark County, in Geology and paleontology: Illinois State Geological Survey, v. 6, p. 9–21.