Pennsylvanian System

Type section: The name Busseron Sandstone was first used by Cumings (1922, p. 529) for exposures of a sandstone and a sandy shale along Busseron Creek in Sullivan County. Cumings placed this unit stratigraphically at the base of his Shelburn Group, noting that, in general, the Busseron Sandstone rested disconformably on Coal VII (Danville Coal Member). Wier (1961, 1965) designated the unit as the Busseron Sandstone Member of the Shelburn Formation and selected a type section in the SW¼SE¼SE¼ sec. 7, T. 9 N., R. 8 W., Sullivan County, Ind.

Description: The Busseron Sandstone Member is a gray to tan sandstone that is fine to medium grained and massive. The sandstone is interbedded in places with gray shale. The sandstone is thickest south of Sullivan County in southwestern Indiana. It is the basal member of the Shelburn Formation in most places, but in some places it unconformably overlies an unnamed gray shale that is also included in the Shelburn Formation. The member is variable in thickness, ranging from 48 to 77 feet (15 to 23 m) in Sullivan County. In parts of southeastern Gibson County, the Busseron sandstone fills erosional cutouts and rests on rocks having stratigraphic position somewhat below the Danville coal. Cores and geophysical logs from Posey County indicate that the Busseron is missing from many places where the basal part of the Shelburn Formation consists entirely of shale, sandy shales, or very thinly interbedded sandstone and shale.