Pennsylvanian System

Type locality and description: The name Universal Limestone Member (of the Dugger Formation) was first used by Wier (1951) for a mottled gray and brown limestone that is fine grained, argillaceous, and fossiliferous. The type locality is in the NW¼SW¼ sec. 31, T. 14 N., R. 9 W., south of Universal, Vermillion County, Ind. Ranging from 0.1 to 11.9 feet (< 0.1 to 3.6 m) in thickness, this unit can be recognized beneath the Danville Coal Member near the top of the Dugger Formation throughout most of the Indiana outcrop. The limestone is thickest and most persistent in Vermillion and Vigo Counties but can be seen in some abandoned strip mines in Warrick County as a tan and dark-gray limestone that is mottled, dense, and nonfossiliferous. In Sullivan and Knox Counties its stratigraphic position is generally marked by a calcareous shale or calcareous siltstone. The Universal ranges from less than 1 foot (0.3 m) to about 5 feet (1.5 m) in thickness in the subsurface in Posey County and is missing from some areas in that county.

Correlation: The Universal Limestone Member correlates, at least in part, with the Bankston Fork Limestone Member of Illinois (Hopkins and Simon, 1975).