Age:

Pennsylvanian

Type designation:

Type locality: The name "Holland Limestone" was first used by Wanless (1939, p. 87) for the marine limestone forming the roof of what was then called the "Holland Coal" near Holland, Dubois County, Indiana (Hasenmueller and Hutchison, 1986). Although the Holland Coal was said to be the uppermost of three coals that crop out near Holland, no type section was designated for the limestone (Hasenmueller and Hutchison, 1986). The name "Holland Limestone" was later applied to what Franklin and Wanless (1944, p. 89, 91) termed the uppermost limestone near Holland, and a measured section in the SE¼NE¼NE¼ sec. 26, T. 3 S., R. 6 W., which included the Holland of present usage, was given (Hasenmueller and Hutchison, 1986). The limestone designated in 1944 as the Holland in this section is not, however, the uppermost limestone, and it is likely that the exposures described by Franklin and Wanless are in the NE¼NE¼NE¼ sec. 26, T. 3 S., R. 6 W. (Hasenmueller and Hutchison, 1986).

History of usage:

The Holland in Dubois County has been called the "Upper Huntingburg Chert" (Franklin and Wanless, 1944; Hutchison, 1970; Hasenmueller and Hutchison, 1986).

Description:

At the measured section the Holland Limestone Member consists of, in descending order, (1) chert that is light-gray to dark-gray-blue and ferruginous, has a porous zone at the top, and is 1 foot (0.3 m) thick; (2) shale and clay that contain limestone pebbles and have an aggregate thickness of 1.5 ft (0.5 m); and (3) limestone that is light-gray, knobby, dense, and 0.5 foot (0.2 m) thick (Franklin and Wanless, 1944, p. 91; Hutchison, 1970; Hasenmueller and Hutchison, 1986). The Holland lies about 30 ft (9 m) above the Buffaloville Coal Member of the Brazil Formation and 70 ft (21 m) below the Seelyville Coal Member (Hutchison, 1970; Hasenmueller and Hutchison, 1986). The Holland is difficult to distinguish unless its identifying chert bed is present, because at least two other thin variable limestones and coals are in the lower part of the Staunton Formation (Hasenmueller and Hutchison, 1986).

Distribution: The Holland has been traced through Spencer County (Hutchison, 1959), most of Dubois County (Hutchison, 1964), and most of Daviess County (Hutchison, 1971). A stratigraphic sequence that has as yet been identified only as similar to that of the Holland area extends more or less continuously northward to Warren County (Hutchison, 1961, 1970; Hasenmueller and Hutchison, 1986).

Correlations:

The Holland has been correlated with the Stonefort Limestone Member of southern Illinois (Wanless, 1939, p. 87; St. Jean, 1957, p. 46-50) and the Creal Springs Limestone Member of Illinois (Searight, 1979, p. 85; Hasenmueller and Hutchison, 1986). The Holland fauna includes the fusulinids Fusulina and Wedekindellina (St. Jean, 1957, p. 46-50), which indicate a Desmoinesian age, but not Profusulinella (Thompson, Shaver, and Riggs, 1959, p. 773), which indicates a greater age and which St. Jean (1957) had nevertheless recorded in the Holland (Hasenmueller and Hutchison, 1986). The Holland lies well above the Lower Pennsylvanian ostracod zone called the Zone of Amphissites rothi by Thompson and Shaver (1964) and in the Middle Pennsylvanian Zone containing Amphissites centronotus (Hasenmueller and Hutchison, 1986). It also lies above the lowest rocks containing Fusulinella, which are in the Brazil Formation and in the overlying equivalent limestone above the Buffaloville Coal Member (Hutchison, 1970; Hasenmueller and Hutchison, 1986). Therefore, considering both faunas and stratigraphic position, the Holland is early Desmoinesian in age in Midcontinent terminology (Hutchison, 1970; Hasenmueller and Hutchison, 1986).

Regional Indiana usage:

Illinois Basin (COSUNA 11)
Supergroup: none
Group: Raccoon Creek Group
Formation: Staunton Formation
Member: Holland Limestone Member

Misc/Abandoned Names:

Upper Huntingburg Chert

Geologic Map Unit Designation:

*sth

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.

Hasenmueller, W. A., and Hutchison, H. C., 1986, Holland 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. 60–61.

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., 1961, Distribution, structure, and mined areas of coals in Fountain and Warren Counties and the northernmost part of Vermillion County, Indiana: Indiana Geological Survey Preliminary Coal Map 9, scale 1:126,720.

Hutchison, H. C., 1964, Distribution, structure, and mined areas of coals in Dubois County, Indiana: Indiana Geological Survey Preliminary Coal Map 10, scale 1:126,720.

Hutchison, H. C., 1970, Holland 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. 72–74.

Hutchison, H. C., 1971, Distribution, structure, and mined areas of coals in Daviess County, Indiana: Indiana Geological Survey Preliminary Coal Map 15, scale 1:126,720.

Searight, T. K., 1979, The stratigraphy and sedimentation of the Abbott and lower portion of the Spoon Formation in the outcrop belt of southern Illinois, in Palmer, J. E., and Dutcher, R. R., eds., Depositional and structural history of the Pennsylvanian System of the Illinois Basin Pt. 2, Invited papers: Ninth International Congress Carboniferous Stratigraphy and Geology, Illinois State Geological Survey Guidebook Series 15a, p. 81–86.

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.

St. Jean, Joseph, Jr., 1957, A middle Pennsylvanian foraminiferal fauna from Dubois County, Indiana: Indiana Geological Survey Bulletin 10, 66 p.

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.

Wanless, H. R., 1939, Pennsylvanian correlations in the Eastern Interior and Appalachian coalfields: Geological Society of America Special Paper 17, 130 p.