Pennsylvanian System

Type section and use of name: The name French Lick was first applied to an exposure of coal in a whetstone quarry said to be in the SW¼NW¼ sec. 4, T. 2 N., R. 2 W., near French Lick, Orange County, Ind. (Franklin, 1939, p. 9). This coal was accorded member status in the Mansfield Formation by Gray, Jenkins, and Weidman (1960, p. 26-27), who stated that Franklin's intended type section is probably in the NE¼NE¼ sec. 5, T. 1 N., R. 2 W.

Description: French Lick coal was commercially mined in the type area and was described by Franklin as bright, blocky, 2.4 feet (0.7 m) thick, and having no partings. The roof of the coal is generally thin carbonaceous shale that is overlain by sandy siltstone. The floor is underclay. Stratigraphically, the coal lies immediately below or close to the so-called Hindostan Whetstone Beds and 40 to 60 feet (12 to 18 m) below the Pinnick Coal Member.

The French Lick Coal Member has been recognized along its outcrop in northwestern Orange County (Gray, Jenkins, and Weidman, 1960, pi. 1), southeastern Martin County (Hutchison, 1967), and northeastern Dubois County (Gray, Jenkins, and Weidman, 1960, pl. 1; Hutchison, 1964). This bed is one of several coals that in different areas were identified as Coal 1 by Ashley (1899, p. 1086), who reported its maximum thickness as 1.8 feet (0.6 m).