Pennsylvanian System

Type locality and use of name in Indiana: The name Providence Limestone was first used by Glenn (1922, p. 98) in describing exposures of a 1- to 4-foot (0.3- to 1.2-m) limestone bed near Providence, Webster County, Ky. This limestone had been called the Main Newburg Limestone in Indiana by Owen (1839, p. 40), but as recommended by Wier (1961, 1965) in an unpublished manuscript, the term Providence Limestone Member has been given preference in Indiana because of its more frequent use (Wier and Powell, 1967 Burger and Wier, 1970).

Description and correlation: The Providence Limestone Member of the Dugger Formation lies stratigraphically between the Herrin and Hymera Coal Members. It is actually a sequence of one to five beds of blue-gray to brown, finely crystalline fossiliferous limestone and intervening shales. The unit, including the shales, is more than 50 feet (15 m) thick in some places but is more commonly about 20 feet (6 m) thick. Limestones in only a few places make up more than 20 feet (6 m) of this interval, and most of them are about 5 to 10 feet (1.5 to 3.0 m) thick. Fusulinids, including Fusulina girtyi, the coral Chaetetes, brachiopods, and crinoid columnals have been found in this limestone in Pike and Warren Counties. A thin coal lies between two of the limestone beds at one locality in Posey County.

The Providence is thick in Posey, Warrick, Pike, and Gibson Counties but is thin or absent north of these counties. All or part of the Providence is correlated with the Brereton Limestone Member in southern Illinois (Wier, 1965 Hopkins and Simon, 1975), and the fusulinid cited above suggests a Desmoinesian age.