Oil Yield and 

Uranium Content 

of Black Shales

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 356-A

This report concerns work done on behalf 

of the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission 

and is published with the permission 

of the Commission
Oil Yield and 

Uranium Content 

of Black Shales

By VERNON E. SWANSON

URANIUM IN CARBONACEOUS ROCKS

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 356-A

This report concerns work done on behalf 

of the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission 

and is published with the permission 

of the Commission

UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE, WASHINGTON : 1960
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

FRED A. SEATON, Secretary

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 

Thomas B. Nolan, Director

For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office 

Washington 25, D.C. - Price 30 cents (paper cover)
CONTENTS

Page Page

Abstract ________________________________________ 1 Black shales of Pennsylvanian age in eastern Kansas and

Introduction. _ ______________ 1 northeastern Oklahoma_ _ _________ 16

General economic significance ________ __ ________ __ 3 Black shales of Pennsylvanian age in Illinois ______ _ _ 17

Uranium. __ __ ______________________ 4 Black shales in the Phosphoria formation._________ 18

Organic matter and oil yield._____.______________ 6 Black shale in the Sharon Springs member, Pierre shale__ 19

Sampling methods-- __ ___________ 6 Oil shales in the Green River formation in Colorado,

Analytical methods.__ _.________ 7 Utah, and Wyoming_____ _ _ 19

Chattanooga shale and correlatives in the eastern and Shales in foreign countries.__________________ 21

central United States_______________________ 7 Theoretical role of organic matter in oil yield and uranium

Chattanooga shale in the southeastern States_____ 8 concentration-.- __________ _________ _ 22

Antrim shale in Michigan______________________ 14 Summary_________________----------__--______-____ 26

Chattanooga and Woodford shales in the midconti- Literature cited________.--_-___---___________-_-_ 28

nent area____________________________________ 15 Index_______________-_--_--_____ __________ 43

ILLUSTRATIONS

FIGURE 1. Map of United States showing localities of samples and of black shales_ _ - 2

2. Possible associations and time of emplacement of uranium with shale constituents._________________________ 5

3. Relation of oil yield to uranium content of the Chattanooga shale.______________________-_-_-_----_---_-_ 9

4. Localities represented by sample data in figures 3, 5, 6, 7, and 8-__---_____---------_--_---_-------------- 10

5. Relation of oil yield to uranium content, upper unit of Gassaway member of Chattanooga shale-_____________ 10

6. Uranium content and oil yield, Gassaway member of Chattanooga shale._________ ______________________ 10

7. Uranium and carbon, Gassaway member of Chattanooga shale_--__-__-_-_------_----_------------------- 11

8. Relation of specific gravity of oil to uranium content, Chattanooga shale___-_______--_-_-----__----___-___ 12

9. Relation of specific gravity of oil to percent of organic matter converted to oil, in oil shales from Brazil, Australia,

Manchuria, and South Africa___________________________________________-_-_--___---_-__--_________ 13

10. Diagrams giving data on oil shales from Brazil and South Africa_______________________________________ 13

11. Relation of uranium content to oil yield, Antrim shale________________________________________________ 14

12. Relation of uranium and carbon contents, Antrim shale and two other Paleozoic shales._____________________ 15

13. Relation of uranium content to (A) oil yield and (B) specific gravity of oil, Woodford shale._________________ 15

14. Diagrams indicating uranium content is related to phosphate content rather than oil yield in uppermost black

shale unit of Cherokee shale_____-___________________-____________--_-_____-___----___----___---_ 17

15. Relation of uranium contents to oil yields of two black shales of Pennsylvanian age________________ _ 18

16. Relation of uranium content to (A) oil yield, (B) P2Os, and (C) P2O6 and oil in Retort phosphatic shale member

of Phosphoria formation_______________________________________-___________-----_--_---_-----__-_-_ 19

17. Relation between oil yield and uranium content in black shale of Late Cambrian age in Sweden._____________ 21

18. Relation between uranium and carbon content in kolm from Upper Cambrian shale in Sweden.______________ 22

19. Possible relations of uranium content to oil yield of marine black shale as controlled by total organic matter and

proportions of humic and sapropelic material_______________________________________________________ 26

20. Humic and sapropelic materials in a shallow sea and uranium content and oil yield of resulting black shale.___ 27

21. Relation of uranium content to oil yield in theoretical black shale unit.__________---_--_----___-__________ 28

TABLE

TABLE 1. Sampled localities and uranium content, oil yield, and other analyses of black shales.___________------__ 31

m

URANIUM IN CARBONACEOUS ROCKS

OIL YIELD AND URANIUM CONTENT OF BLACK SHALES

By VERNON E. SWANS ON

ABSTRACT

Some black shales contain as much as one hundred times 

more uranium than other common sedimentary rocks and they 

also contain organic matter that will yield oil when subjected 

to destructive distillation. Such shales may be referred to 

as uraniferous oil shales and have been considered as a potential source of both oil and uranium; oil yield and uranium 

determinations on more than five hundred samples of these 

shales are recorded in this report.

Slightly more than half of these samples are from the Late 

Devonian Chattanooga shale and its partial correlatives in the 

eastern and midcontinent areas of the United States. In central Tennessee, the upper member of the Chattanooga shale 

is about 15 feet thick, contains 0.006 percent uranium, and 

will yield about 10 gallons of oil per ton of shale. Limited 

data indicate that the Chattanooga shale in Alabama and 

southern Kentucky, the Antrim shale of Michigan, the New 

Albany shale of Indiana and northwestern Kentucky and its 

stratigraphic equivalent in southern Illinois, and the Chattanooga and Woodford shales of the midcontinent area have 

slightly lesser quantities of both oil and uranium. A channel 

sample of 5 feet of the Doublehorn shale member of the Houy 

formation in central Texas indicates that this unit has a 

uranium content of 0.009 percent and an oil yield of 21.8 

gallons of oil per ton of shale.

Some of the marine black shales in the cyclothems of Pennsylvanian age in Illinois, Kansas, and Oklahoma contain between 0.004 and 0.010 percent uranium and yield 8 to 15 

gallons of oil per ton of shale, but generally these shales are 

less than 3 feet thick. Some shale units in the Phosphoria 

formation of Permian age in southwestern Montana, which 

are about 10 feet thick, will yield 10 to 15 gallons of oil per 

ton of shale, but their uranium content of 0.001 to 0.004 percent is relatively low.

The few data available indicate the Sharon Springs member of the Pierre shale of Late Cretaceous age in the Great 

Plains area has an oil yield of less than 8 gallons per ton of 

shale and a uranium content of about 0.002 percent. The 

Green River formation of Eocene age in Colorado and Utah 

has beds of oil shale tens of feet thick that will yield more 

than 25 gallons of oil per ton of shale, but the uranium content of these beds is low, generally between 0.0003 and 0.0010 

percent.

Both oil and uranium have been recovered in large quantities from the Upper Cambrian black shales of Sweden, which 

yield about 14 gallons of oil per ton of shale and about 0.023 

percent uranium. Some other oil shales from foreign sources 

that yield 50 or more gallons per ton generally contain about 

0.0005 percent or less uranium.

A fair positive relation between oil yield and uranium content exists for some of these shales, particularly for parts of 

the Chattanooga shale locally and the Antrim shale, but in 

other shales little or no relation is apparent. In some of the 

Pennsylvanian shales and in those in the Phosphoria formation the uranium is more closely related to the phosphate 

content.

Whereas the oil from these shales is inherent to and derived directly from the organic matter, most of the uranium 

is attached to or precipitated in the presence of organic matter 

just before or during the time of deposition of the organic-rich 

sediment. It is suggested that two types of organic matter 

should be distinguished, the sapropelic type derived principally 

from algae, pollen and spores, resins, and the fatty tissues 

of animals, and the humic type which is derived principally 

from cellulose and lignin or the woody parts of plants. The 

sapropelic type of organic matter generally yields four or 

five times more oil than the humic type, but, because of its 

general resistance to decay, is probably insignificant in the 

process of concentrating uranium. The humic type of organic 

matter, either in its solid form or as soluble humic acid extracts, or, indirectly, as it creates a reducing and acidic 

environment during its decay, is believed responsible for the 

precipitation or sorption of the uranium in black shales. Only 

where the proportion of sapropelic to humic type of organic 

matter remains the same in an otherwise homogeneous black 

shale will the oil yield and uranium content have a high 

positive correlation.

INTRODUCTION

During the 1944-54 period of intensive search for 

sources of uranium in. the United States, a part of 

the effort of the U.S. Geological Survey was devoted 

to the finding and study of uraniferous marine black 

shales. Several of the more than one hundred black 

shale units checked contain more than average amounts 

of uranium; these were subjected to detailed stratigraphic and geochemical study. Laboratory analyses 

of several kinds were made on more than five thousand 

samples of these shales, and it is the purpose of this 

paper to present some of the analytical data and some 

of the possible geologic interpretations and economic 

implications derived therefrom.

In the general geologic sense, many marine black 

shales may be classed as oil shales. Because of their

1
URANIUM IN CARBONACEOUS ROCKS
OIL YIELD AND URANIUM CONTENT OF BLACK SHALES

large amount of carbonaceous organic matter, fluid 

and gaseous hydrocarbons can be produced from these 

shales by destructive distillation (pyrolysis). The oil 

obtainable from shales having a relatively high uranium content logically is considered as a possibly 

important byproduct if and when the uranium is 

extracted. Figure I indicates those black shales in 

the United States whose oil yield and uranium content 

have been determined and shows the localities where 

these shales were sampled.

The most distinctive feature common to rocks called 

"black shales," "oil shales," and "carbonaceous shales" 

is their relatively high content of organic matter. It 

is not the purpose of this paper to classify and define 

carbonaceous rocks; thus, only general meanings are 

ascribed to these lithologic terms. As used here, 

the three names are used interchangeably; all three 

rock types are fine grained (with clay- and silt-size 

particles), are thinly laminated, and generally contain 

more than 2 percent organic carbon. A marine origin 

for most of these shales is inferred on the basis of 

the contained fossils and the lithologic uniformity 

of the rock over tens or hundreds of thousands of 

square miles. An arbitrary minimum amount of oil 

distillable from a carbonaceous shale is not used here 

in determining when the shale is or is not an oil 

shale; the fact is implied that little or none of the 

contained organic matter is soluble in ordinary petroleum solvents, but a large proportion is convertible 

to artificial petroleum on heating. A shale is here 

considered uraniferous only if it contains 0.002 percent 

or more uranium through most of its vertical and 

lateral extent.

In a compilation and summary paper such as this, 

the work of many persons is represented. Most of 

the collecting of samples, field study, and laboratory 

analyses were accomplished by members of the Geological Survey. Hence, this paper should be recognized as a result of a joint effort within the Geological 

Survey, though the author assumes responsibility for 

the interpretations made. This report was prepared 

on behalf of the Division of Raw Materials of the 

U.S. Atomic Energy Commission.

Several samples of Pennsylvanian black shales in 

Illinois were made available to the author by the 

Illinois States Geological Survey, for analytical work. 

For this cooperation, the author thanks particularly 

J. C. Frye, M. E. Ostrom, and J. E. Lamar. S. P. 

Ellison, Jr., and V. E. Barnes were helpful in obtaining samples of the Woodford shale equivalent in 

Texas. The use of unpublished data provided by 

the U.S. Bureau of Mines and T. B. Dahlman of 

the Geological Survey of Sweden is also gratefully 

acknowledged.

GENERAL ECONOMIC SIGNIFICANCE

Tonnages of uraniferous black shales in the United 

States may be calculated in the trillions, and, similarly, 

the oil that can be recovered from them may be estimated in trillions of barrels. Most of these shales, 

however, contain recoverable oil in such small quantities, less than 15 gallons per ton, that it is doubtful 

they will be considered as a source of oil for many 

decades.

The amount of uranium in these shales is extremely 

large, reckoned in billions of tons of metallic uranium. 

In view of the present large high-grade sources of 

uranium and the probable future demand for the 

metal, it is also unlikely that these shales will be mined 

and processed for uranium in the near future.

As most of the shales discussed in this report generally contain less than 15 gallons of oil per ton and 

less than 0.01 percent uranium, they are far from 

being competitive with the existing sources of crude 

oil or uranium. Possibly certain other constituents, 

such as sulfur and nitrogen compounds, aluminum, 

and titanium, could be extracted during the processing 

of these shales and the combined production of several 

of these, including the oil and uranium, may some 

day be the critical basis for a profitable venture.

The Gassaway member of the Chattanooga shale 

in a part of the central Eastern Highland Rim of 

Tennessee can be cited as an example of a possible 

low-grade and common source of oil and uranium. 

This unit averages 15 feet in thickness and contains 

an average of 0.0060 percent uranium; an average 

of 10 gallons of oil per ton can be recovered from it. 

Computed on a square mile basis, this unit comprises 

an "ore body" of about 30 million tons of shale. 

The shale in this square mile contains about 1,800 

tons of metallic uranium; or, for sake of comparison, 

this "ore body" contains uranium nearly equal to 

that in a million-ton ore deposit, of which less than

10 were known in the United States at the beginning 

of 1957 (U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, 1957,

P- 7>' 

In the course of processing the shale for its uranium,

the shale probably would be retorted, and the extracted

011 would be a significant byproduct. Over 7 million 

barrels of oil could be produced from the shale in 

the square mile mentioned above, an amount of oil 

equivalent to the total estimated production of a fairsized oilfield. Large amounts of sulfur and nitrogen 

compounds, and possibly other materials also, might 

be economically recovered to add to the total value 

of the shale.

This example of the potential products in a specific 

shale is not purported to be representative. Rather,
URANIUM IN CARBONACEOUS ROCKS

it cites a shale in the United States that is known to 

have a uniformly high uranium content over hundreds 

of square miles and for which much detailed geologic 

and chemical information is available. The cost of 

mining and extraction is economically prohibitive today, but in light of the history and exploitation of 

large deposits of low-grade ores in the iron and copper 

industries, the importance of shales as possible sources 

of petroleum and uranium will increase in the decades 

ahead.

URANIUM

The average uranium content of all shales is estimated to be between 0.0003 and 0.0004 percent (3 to 

4 parts per million), which is about the same as for 

granites (Holland and Kulp, 1954, p. 203). Carbonaceous shales, here arbitrarily defined as those that 

contain 2 percent or more organic carbon, have a 

uranium content that generally ranges from O.OOOX 

to O.OX percent. However, very few contain more than 

0.005 percent; the author estimates that the average 

for all carbonaceous shales is probably about 0.0008 

percent.

The highest uranium content known in a marine 

black shale in the United States is from a correlative 

of the Chattanooga shale in northern Arkansas; a 

small selected sample of a layer less than 1 inch 

thick, made up largely of compacted opaque coaly attritus, contained 0.7 percent uranium. In southern 

Sweden, the black organic-rich kolm lenses which are 

sparingly distributed through parts of the Cambrian 

and Ordovician alum shales contain about 0.4 percent 

uranium, but the "richest" shale unit, which in the 

Billingen area is about 10 feet thick and contains the 

kolm, has an average content of about 0.03 percent 

uranium (T. B. Dahlman, oral communication, 1957).

In the United States, parts of a few black shale 

units of Pennsylvanian age in the midcontinent area 

locally contain between 0.010 and 0.017 percent 

uranium, but these more uraniferous beds are generally 

only 1 to 2 feet thick. In central Tennessee, the Gassaway member of the Chattanooga shale contains 0.0060 

percent uranium over hundreds of square miles (Kehn, 

1955); this unit is about 15 feet thick and is of Late 

Devonian age.

The lateral distribution of the uranium in these 

black shales is generally uniform, varying less than 

a few thousandths of one percent over hundreds, and 

in some areas thousands, of square miles. Generally, 

the greater the ratio of organic to mineral material, 

the greater is the uranium content of these widespread 

marine shales; the less the amount of calcium carbonate, the greater is the uranium content; and the

slower the interpreted rate of deposition, the greater 

is the uranium content (also see McKelvey and Nelson, 

1950, p. 38-39). These generalizations can be applied 

successfully in the study of some shales, but, as is 

the case with most generalizations in geology, they 

must always be tempered and adjusted by other geologic factors when a particular unit in a particular 

area is studied in detail.

The uranium in marine black shales may have 

been localized and incorporated in several ways, 12 

of which are shown on figure 2. Five types of material 

are involved, namely, the resistates, clay, organic 

material, phosphatic material, and hydrogen sulfide 

as represented indirectly by iron sulfide minerals. 

The emplacement of the uranium in and with these 

shale components began before erosion of the original 

source rock and probably ended some time after sediment deposition during an early stage of diagenesis. 

Because most of the uranium accumulated with the 

sediments, it is regarded as syngenetic.

Of the 5 types of material indicated as being genetically associated with uranium in marine black shales, 

2 types, the vegetal and the phosphatic materials, 

probably account for more than 90 percent of the total 

amount of uranium. The proportion of uranium associated with these two types differs greatly from one 

shale to the other; the Chattanooga shale of Tennessee 

might be considered as one extreme, where the organic 

matter holds or is associated with probably in excess 

of 90 percent of the uranium, and the phosphate only 

a few percent. At the other extreme are the phosphate-rich units of the Phosphoria formation of Idaho 

where the reverse proportion holds.

Phosphate, in the form of scattered nodules, pellets, 

oolites, thin layers, and discrete microscopic grains 

of carbonate-fluorapatite, is a common and distinctive 

component of most marine black shales. The uranium 

in phosphate is tetravalent and is believed to have 

been substituted isomorphously for calcium (Altschuler, Clarke, and Young, 1954). Some of this 

phosphatic material may contain as much as 0.1 percent 

uranium, but the general range is O.OOX to 0.01X.

Some of the uranium in the organic matter, which 

constitutes as much as 25 percent by weight of some 

shales, may have been absorbed during plant growth, 

but, as will be discussed later, most of it is believed to 

have been directly precipitated or adsorbed in a stable 

form as disseminated uranium dioxide or as a metalorganic compound on products of plant decomposition 

or disintegration.

The chemical conditions that control the preferential attachment of uranium to the phosphate or the 

organic material in a common depositional environment have not been clearly determined. It is the
OIL YIELD AND URANIUM CONTENT OF BLACK SHALES

Uranium included in 

source area material 

and transported to 

site of deposition

Uranium absorbed or 

adsorbed from sea 

water enroute to 

site of deposition

Uranium adsorbedX 

or precipitated at \ _ 

the surface of

sediment deposi- j

tion /

/

Uranium adsorbed

or precipitated

within water-soaked

sediment just below

surface of deposition

Absorbed by land P'ar|t^s^|^''' Included in resistates 

during growth .g&tjiljJip*^ s~ ~~~ ~^<^N. /^^.A^'Czircon and biotite J

^**1^iP^[ by ionic substi- p^> ^\ 

T tution \ T O^

^^=' ' \ 1 algae during growth NV^ * .*> Stabilized in orga- 

| In phosphatic fossil * ^ I nic colloidal disfragments (Luiflulfl, pers.on (hum.c 

conodonts, and fish K ocids)

bones) C ^

T ^^^^^^fe^ - ^--^^S-^S ^M 

 \Adsorbedon On day particle \ In phosphatic layer or nodule 

 ....... ^- plant fragment _ by ion it ex change -> by ionic substitution 

Precipitated by / t v- j

HgS expelled from /

sediment into sea /

water * ~~ ~^ "~~

"?^^^" /^^^^^^^^^^^r^D

^r^Lrrg^^^^^^^^^^

,' *---»-^"- V ' n phosphatic nodule ^

/ 4;'"*7>\\* \ " by ionic substitution v \

: ; M ^ \ t } : ^ K ^

> \*-i^^ '''' ,'V Reduced to stable form in ' \i^ 

^.>-~-^-:*'-'* ' \ presence of HoS, here \

' > "~"' .-' represented by "pyrite ., \) " - B v*

 \x

FIGUEB 2. Diagrammatic sketch showing possible associations and time of emplacement of uranium with common constituents of marine black

shales. Uranium represented by black squares.

writer's opinion that if the phosphate forms at or very 

near the surface of deposition, the phosphate captures 

the available uranium more readily than does the 

organic matter; the organic matter either incorporates 

most of its uranium in stable form prior to reaching 

this sphere of competition with phosphate or captures 

most of the uranium where phosphate precipitation 

is minimal. That phosphate that is precipitated and 

forms concretions a few inches to several feet below 

the surface of deposition commonly contains less uranium than the surrounding organic material; the interstitial water from which this phosphate is precipitated 

probably was earlier depleted in its soluble uranium.

The resistates and the clays are believed to be of 

minor importance in accounting for the total uranium 

in marine black shales. Zircon, sphene, and monazite, 

the most important uraniferous resistates, make up 

less than 1 percent of most shales, and, though they 

may contain from a few hundredths to a few tenths 

percent uranium, they probably contribute, at most, 

only 1 or 2 parts per million (O.OOOX percent) to 

the total uranium in most marine black shales. The 

clays, which comprise more than 50 percent of some 

shales, are believed to contribute a similarly minute 

part of the total uranium content.

528312 60 2

The generation of hydrogen sulfide, represented in 

many shales by pyrite, is a part of the process of 

decay of organic matter which produces a reducing 

acidic chemical environment conducive to uranium 

precipitation. The hydrogen sulfide is released either 

from sulfur-bearing organic matter or from sulfate 

ions in sea water by anaerobic or sulfur-reducing bacteria. Pyrite itself, though abundant in most uraniferous shales, is not chemically associated with the 

uranium but is simply precipitated simultaneously 

with uranium oxide in the presence of decomposing 

organic matter.

Most of the uranium in marine black shales was 

derived from ancient sea water, and therefore the 

amount of uranium available in sea water was an 

obviously important factor in controlling the amount 

of uranium deposited with these sediments. Both 

organic matter and phosphate are uranium acceptors, 

but if these substances accumulated in water depleted 

in uranium, they will contain no uranium; or, if the 

influx of uranium to these waters was erratic, a positive relation between the amounts of uranium and 

one or both of these substances could not be expected. 

The supply and availability of uranium generally
6 URANIUM IN CARBONACEOUS ROCKS

can be considered as more or less constant, however, 

because the volumes of sea water in which black shales 

were deposited probably were very large, because 

uranium was and is highly soluble in normal sea water 

and thereby widely distributed, and because the net 

contribution of soluble uranium from the many and 

varied sources would not change appreciably during 

the period of black shale deposition.

ORGANIC MATTER AND OIL YIELD

The amount of uranium in a black shale may be 

directly related to the amount of organic matter 

present. Because the organic matter yields oil on 

pyrolysis, an indirect but positive relation may exist 

between the uranium content and oil yield of a shale. 

The recoverable uranium and oil are of potential 

economic interest; hence, the general tenor of this 

paper will be to relate these two constituents. This 

approach, however, is not intended to result in the 

establishment of widely applicable principles on the 

common geologic and geochemical history and occurrence of the two constituents in shales. The history 

of accumulation, the type and amount of organic 

matter, the chemical makeup, and the amounts of 

other constituents present involve numerous and complex variations, only a few of which are completely 

understood at this time.

The carbonaceous matter in black shales ranges 

from material that may have remained almost unchanged in form and composition since it was deposited, 

to material that may have been radically changed in 

composition and whose source and parent material 

is unknown. Regardless of its origin and subsequent 

history, most of this carbonaceous material will yield 

oil on destructive distillation, and if this carbonaceous 

matter is incorporated in shale, the rock can be loosely 

termed an oil shale.

Without invading the complex subject of classifications of this organic material, several factors that 

are pertinent to the understanding of the type and 

oil yield of the organic matter in the shales are discussed below. With the exception of the oil shales 

in the Green River formation of Eocene age in Colorado, Wyoming, and Utah, all the shales discussed 

are of marine origin. Most of the organic matter 

in all the shales is believed to be of plant origin, and 

most of the organic matter in these shales is believed 

to have been but little altered, with the exception 

of physical comminution and compaction, since it was 

deposited.

The catch-all term "kerogen" has been used to refer 

to that organic matter in oil shales that will yield 

volatile hydrocarbons when subjected to destructive

distillation. For the purpose of this discussion, however, the writer prefers to divide the organic matter 

that includes kerogen into two major types, sapropelic 

(predominantly algal remains) and humic (mainly 

degraded vascular or woody plant tissues). Most oil 

shales contain both types of organic material, but the 

general proportions of each in a shale are believed to 

be important controlling factors in determining the 

oil yield. The subjectiveness of this point is clearly 

recognized, in that the amount of structureless unidentifiable organic matter in oil shales greatly exceeds 

the amount that can be determined to be of either 

algal or vascular-plant origin.

Dulhunty (1944, p. 32) stated that fossil algal material (torbanite) has an oil yield on pyrolysis of 60 

to 90 percent by weight; the coals, which are predominantly made up of vascular plant debris, yield 

only 15 to 40 percent. Some samples of torbanite oil 

shales of New South Wales have yielded as much 

as 200 gallons of oil per ton of shale, whereas coals 

rarely yield more than a few tens of gallons per ton 

except when artificially hydrogenated. It may be deduced then that an oil shale having a large proportion 

of algal matter will have a greater oil yield than one 

having a large proportion of coaly or humic matter. 

This and other significant characteristics of organic 

matter bearing on the oil yield and uranium content 

are discussed in more detail on p. 22-26.

SAMPLING METHODS

This report is based primarily on the analyses for 

oil yield and uranium content of 526 samples, a total 

of over 1000 chemical determinations (table 1, p. 31-41). 

Determinations for oil yield and equivalent uranium 

were available for an additional 260 samples, and 

analyses of some shales solely for uranium are noted 

in the text. Thus, over 800 samples, collected and 

analyzed individually, are represented in this report.

Most of the shale samples represented by analytical 

data were collected at the outcrop and are channel 

samples of 1 foot or more of shale. The samples 

were taken in most cases to represent specific lithologically homogeneous units; where more than one 

sample was collected within a stratigraphic unit, the 

analytical data were weighted according to thickness 

of sampled interval in calculating an average uranium 

content and oil yield for that unit. In a few cases, 

the samples were made up from either vertical splits 

of well cores or chip samples from well cuttings; a 

few special samples represent a unique lithologic type 

and are considered "selected" samples. With the exception of core, chip, and selected samples, the average 

weight of samples collected was about 5 pounds.
OIL YIELD AND URANIUM CONTENT OP BLACK SHALES

Because most of the samples were collected at outcrops, changes in oil yield and uranium content of 

the rock due to weathering should be considered. 

Weathering breaks down the organic matter by oxidation; thus, other factors being equal, the more weathered the shale, the less the oil yield. For example, a 

sample of surficial weathered shale from the Mahogany 

ledge of the Green Kiver formation assayed 12.8 gallons of oil per ton, whereas a sample of unweathered 

shale taken 2 feet behind the surface assayed 45.5 gallons per ton (Guthrie, 1938, p. 99; similar data, Stanfield and others, 1951, p. 20-22). Similarly, samples 

of weathered Chattanooga shale taken from an old 

road outcrop in eastern DeKalb County, Term., yielded 

an average of 2.2 gallons of oil per ton of shale; 

samples of shale representing the same stratigraphic 

interval, taken from a core drilled a few hundred 

feet away, yielded an average of 11.8 gallons of oil 

per ton.

The changes in the uranium content of a shale due 

to weathering are more complex. The oxidation and 

addition of water involved in the weathering process 

readily cause the decomposition of the abundant iron 

sulfides in carbonaceous shales. These decomposing 

sulfides produce oxidizing sulfuric-acid waters that 

readily take much of the disseminated uranium into 

solution. If these acid waters leach out and transport 

the uranium away from the outcrop, the weathered 

shale contains less uranium. But commonly the uranium is retained and even concentrated in the hydrous 

ferric and ferrous sulfate minerals precipitated on the 

surface of the outcrop. Thus, deeply weathered outcrop samples of Chattanooga shale may contain from 

0.0020 to 0.0040 percent more or less uranium than 

a "fresh" sample from the same unit.

In compiling the data used in this report it was 

impossible to establish quantitatively the magnitude 

of the weathering factor for each sample. In general, 

the samples are considered to be unweathered shale, 

and any "weathering factor" is ignored.

ANALYTICAL METHODS

Most of the chemical determinations used in the 

preparation of this report are for uranium content 

and oil yield (table 1). Where available, analyses for 

other constituents, for example percent organic carbon 

and P2O5 , are also included in the table.

Each sample submitted to the laboratory was 

crushed to a coarse-mesh size, and the sample was 

split into two parts; one split was then further crushed 

to -8 mesh for the determination of oil yield, and 

the other split was crushed to -80 mesh for the uranium determination. For the oil determination, approximately 125 grams are needed; for the uranium 

determination, 1 gram is sufficient. Two "raw shale" 

splits of each sample, about % pint of -20 mesh and 

a similar quantity of -80 mesh, were retained and 

stored, for use in additional analysis, either in the 

Survey's laboratory in Washington, D. C. or in the 

one in Denver, Colo.

Most of the determinations of oil yield were made 

by the modified Fischer retort assay method (Stanfield 

and Frost, 1949); the oil-yield determinations on the 

Antrim shale and on the core samples of the Green 

Eiver formation were made by the photometric method 

devised by Cuttitta (1953a). The reproducibility of 

these determinations of oil yield is considered to fall 

within ±0.5 gallons of oil per ton of shale; all determinations of less than 5 gallons of oil per ton are estimated figures.

All the uranium analyses were made using the fluorometric method described by Grimaldi and Levine 

(1954). Most of the determinations for uranium listed 

in this paper were reported in percent by weight to 

the fourth decimal place (for example, 0.0053 percent), 

but the probable error is estimated as ±0.0005 percent. 

The percent equivalent uranium was determined for 

most samples, but, because of the low total radioactivity in the sampled shales and the variable abundance in most shales of the radioactive isotope of 

potassium (K40 ) and because of the fact that radioactive equilibrium is upset by changes due to weathering, these data are not considered reliable for any 

statistical treatment.

CHATTANOOGA SHALE AND CORRELATIVES IN THE 

EASTERN AND CENTRAL UNITED STATES

The Chattanooga shale is a part of an extensive 

unit of marine black shale of Late Devonian and Early 

Mississippian age that extends with remarkably uniform lithology and thickness over hundreds of 

thousands of square miles of the North American 

continent. The New Albany, Ohio, Antrim, Dunkirk, 

Mountain Glen, Woodford, and Lodgepole are some 

of the names that refer to stratigraphic equivalents 

or partial equivalents of the Chattanooga shale.

In the eastern and central United States the Chattanooga shale and its stratigraphic equivalents are 

estimated to have an average uranium content of 

0.003 percent and an average oil yield of about 5 

gallons per ton of shale. Its thickness generally 

ranges from 0 to 100 feet and averages about 40 feet. 

The amount of uranium and oil that can be extracted 

from the Chattanooga shale in a small area of eastcentral DeKalb County, Term., is discussed in more 

detail on p. 3.
8 URANIUM IN CARBONACEOUS ROCKS

CHATTANOOGA SHALE IN THE SOUTHEASTEBN

STATES

Though the Chattanooga shale is less uraniferous 

than, for example, the alum shales of Sweden, it contains more uranium per unit of thickness over a wider 

area than other known shales in the United States. 

The area where the uranium content is uniformly the 

highest and mining conditions most favorable is in 

the central part of the Eastern Highland Rim of the 

Nashville Basin, Tenn. (fig. 1); this shale of high 

uranium content extends eastward for 75 miles beneath 

the Eastern Highland Eim to the Sequatchie Valley. 

The distribution of uranium and the mineralogy of 

the shale were described by Brown (1956) and Bates 

and Strahl (1957). The geology of the Chattanooga 

shale in this area and parts of adjacent states was 

described in detail by Hass (1956) and by Conant and 

Swanson (written communication, 1959).

In general, the Chattanooga shale has 5 lithologic 

units, the lower 2 composing the Dowelltown member 

and the upper 3 the Gassaway member (fig. 3). These 

5 units, from oldest to youngest, are: (1) a black shale 

unit, commonly 5 to 8 feet thick, with a basal sandstone 

1 or 2 inches thick; (2) a unit, about 8 feet thick, of 

gray shale with some interbedded black shale; (3) a 

black shale unit about 7 feet thick; (4) a unit characterized by gray quartz siltstone interbedded with black 

shale, generally 1 or 2 feet thick; and (5) a black shale 

unit at the top, about 5 feet thick. Where the Chattanooga shale decreases in thickness, the decrease generally is by loss of successive units from the bottom, 

so that where the shale is only a few feet thick, only 

the top black shale unit of the Gassaway member is 

represented. Lateral changes in thickness are gradual, 

commonly only a few inches per mile, and areas of 

hundreds of square miles exist where changes in thickness and lithology are small.

Correlation of the uranium determinations of some 

3,000 samples with the stratigraphic features of the 

Chattanooga shale has established field criteria for 

locating those parts of the shale that contain the most 

uranium. Those units that have the most uranium 

characteristically are the "blackest" and have the 

most organic matter, contain the least calcium carbonate, and can logically be interpreted as having been 

deposited at the slowest rate; abundance of pyrite, 

excellent fissility, and paucity of thin quartz siltstone 

layers are secondary criteria. Beds an inch or less 

in thickness contain 0.010 percent uranium for distances of a mile or more; the upper unit of the Gassaway member of the Chattanooga shale, about 5 feet 

thick, contains about 0.008 percent uranium over an

area of several tens of square miles; and, similarly, 

the entire Gassaway member, about 15 feet thick, contains about 0.006 percent uranium over hundreds of 

square miles.

The fact that the Chattanooga shale yields oil when 

subjected to pyrolysis has long been known; it was 

the stratigraphic correlative of this shale in the Ohio 

River Valley that was first commercially used to produce oil in 1857. Guthrie (1938) summarized the 

potential recovery and chemistry of the oil from the 

Upper Devonian and Lower Mississippian shales in 

the eastern United States; some of the shales will yield 

between 18 and 26 gallons of oil per ton.

When the exploitation of the uranium in the Chattanooga shale in central Tennessee was considered, the 

recoverable oil was anticipated to be an important 

byproduct; consequently, about 325 of the thousands 

of samples analyzed for uranium also were analyzed 

for oil yield. By reason of the emphasis in studies 

on the areas where the Chattanooga contains the most 

uranium, most of these oil assays were made on 

samples from the Eastern Highland Rim in Tennessee.

From the oil determinations reported previously in 

the literature (Ashley, 1917; Grouse, 1925; Guthrie, 

1938; Lamar, Armon, and Simon, 1956) and from those 

of this report, the broad regional and vertical variations in oil yield of the Chattanooga shale and its 

stratigraphic equivalents are difficult to interpret. In 

general, parts of the shale probably would yield 10 

or more gallons of oil per ton of shale over tens of 

thousands of square miles in Tennessee, Kentucky, 

Ohio, southern Illinois, and Indiana. Along most of 

the Eastern Highland Rim in Tennessee, where more 

numerous data are available, the 15-foot thick Gassaway member will yield between 5 and 12 gallons of 

oil per ton, with some channel samples of parts of 

this member yielding 15 to 17 gallons of oil per ton.

There is no question that, in general, as the oil 

yield of the Chattanooga shale increases, the uranium 

content also increases; the simple contrasting of pertinent data on a light-gray shale with that on a dense 

black shale best illustrates this generalization. However, if all the oil and uranium determinations on 

individual samples (table 1) of the entire formation 

from Tennessee and Kentucky are plotted, a scatter 

diagram with randomly distributed points is the result, and no relation between uranium and oil is indicated. Only when the data are organized and plotted 

for individual stratigraphic units within small geographic areas do they show the positive relationship 

between oil yield and uranium content.

The relation that exists between uranium content 

and oil yield in the Chattanooga shale and the general
OIL YIELD AND URANIUM CONTENT OF BLACK SHALES 9

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Black shale

Phosphatic nodules

Average uranium content 

and oil yield at locality 

described in text and

' table 1

4 localities 

19 samples

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

OIL, IN GALLONS PER TON

FIGTJBB 3. Relation of oil yield to uranium content of the 5 stratigraphic units of the Chattanooga shale at 5 localities in DeKalb County

area, central Tennessee. (See fig. 4.)

lithologic and stratigraphic factors that control them 

are indicated in figure 3. As shown in this figure, 

each of the five stratigraphic units in the Chattanooga 

shale is distinguished by a different relation between 

uranium content and oil yield; the figure further 

shows that the relation for each stratigraphic unit 

is fairly consistent from one locality to another. The 

area of the 5 localities of figure 3 (fig. 4), in and near 

DeKalb County in east-central Tennessee, was selected because it had several closely spaced localities 

for which reliable stratigraphic and analytical data 

were available for each of the five stratigraphic units. 

Figure 5 indicates the relation of oil yield to uranium 

content for all the 18 samples from the upper unit

of the Gassaway member in this area and best illustrates the close relation between the two components 

of the shale in a thin unit within a small area. Figure 

6 shows the relation of oil yield to uranium content 

for all the samples (41) of the entire Gassaway member in this same area, but lumping of the data of 

several stratigraphic units results in less well defined 

relation.

In the field, the most obvious characteristic that can 

be related to the amount of uranium and oil in the 

Chattanooga shale, as indicated by analytical data, is 

that of color, or "blackness," which is a crude measure 

of the amount of organic matter in the shale. Thus, 

the upper unit of the Dowelltown member, which is
10 URANIUM EST CARBONACEOUS ROCKS

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that are represented by sample data in figures 3, 5, 6, 7, and 8.

light gray, has the lowest uranium content and oil 

yield. On closer observation of the rock, it is also 

obvious that some parts of the formation have a 

greater proportion of clastic minerals (for example, 

thin layers of quartz siltstone) and consequently have 

less organic matter. Thus, the middle unit of the 

Gassaway member has a relatively low oil yield and 

uranium content.

Physical differences among the three units of massive black shale (the lower unit of the Dowelltown 

and the lower and upper units of the Gassaway) are

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OIL, IN GALLONS PER TON

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FIGURE 5. Kelation of oil yield to uranium content of 18 samples 

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at 5 localities in DeKalb and White Counties, Tenn. Numbers indicate localities from which samples were obtained. (See fig. 4.)

not readily observed in the field. All 3 contain abundant organic matter, generally about 20 percent. Only 

on detailed study of cores and of thin sections are 

small differences observed in proportion of organic 

matter to clastic minerals, in degree of sorting, and 

possibly in type of organic matter. If these lithologic 

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in uranium content and recoverable oil between sam0.0100

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OIL, IN GALLONS PER TON

FIGURE 6. Relation of uranium content to oil yield in 41 outcrop samples of Gassaway member of Chattanooga shale at 5 localities,

DeKalb County area, Tennessee. (See fig. 4.)
OIL YIELD AND URANIUM CONTENT OP BLACK SHALES 11

pies presumably could be explained more clearly.

Bates and Strahl (1956, p. 1669) showed that the 

uranium content of the Gassaway member can be 

directly correlated with the amount of carbon, but 

that the correlation coefficient (0.69) is not exceptionally high. Using their data (Bates and others, 1956, 

p. 38-39), the relation between uranium and carbon 

in the shale from 2 drill cores (YB-4 and YB-19) 

taken in DeKalb County, Tenn. is shown in figure 7. 

Again, a direct relation is suggested as it is when uranium content and oil yield are compared (figs. 6, 7). 

Neither carbon nor oil is the exact key, however, to 

the amount of uranium in the shale.

The proportions of the two main types of organic 

matter, the humic and the sapropelic, may be more 

indicative of the oil yield and uranium content than 

are total carbon and oil yield. The only data available 

that can be presented to support this concept are from 

a hand-picked sample composed of Faerstia sp., a 

planktonic marine alga, which was separated from 

the Huron member of the Ohio shale, a partial correlative of the Chattanooga in Ohio; and from a 

sample of a fragment of coalified driftwood of the 

fossil land plant Callixylon from the Chattanooga 

shale in Tennessee (J. M. Schopf, written communication, 1953). Both are common identifiable constituents in the Chattanooga shale and may be 

considered representative of the sapropelic and humic 

types of organic matter, respectively.

According to Schopf (written communication, 1953) 

the Foerstia sample contained 0.0016 percent uranium 

and yielded 26.5 gallons of oil per ton, the sample 

having an ash content of 55.8 percent.

The Callisoylon sample contained as much as 0.033 

percent uranium (Breger and Schopf, 1955) and 

yielded 18.3 gallons of oil per ton, but this material 

had an ash content of only a few percent.

For the purpose of comparison, the oil yield of 

these two end-member types of organic matter may 

be computed on an ash-free basis; thus, the Foerstia 

sample, a sapropelic type, would have an oil yield 

of 59.9 gallons per ton, and the Oallixylon sample, a 

humic type, about 18.5 gallons per ton. These figures 

are in general agreement with the oil yield of the 

different types of organic matter (Francis, 1954, p. 

400) that would be here considered sapropelic and 

humic. Assuming that the uranium content is related 

to the organic matter, and that both types of hypothetically pure organic matter have 1 percent ash, 

the Foerstia sample would have 0.0036 percent 

uranium, and the Gallixylon sample 0.033 percent.

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EXPLANATION

Drill core YB-4, 25 samples, 16.C 

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12.00 percent carbon, 0.0063 

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CARBON, IN PERCENT

FiotJEB 7. Relation of uranium to carbon in 50 samples from 2 drill cores of Gassaway member of Chattanooga shale, DeKalb County, 

Tenn. (See fig. 4.) Analytical data on Geological Survey cores by Pennsylvania State University (Bates and others, 1956, p. 38-39).
12 URANIUM IN CARBONACEOUS ROCKS

Extrapolating from these postulations, one could 

in turn attempt to estimate the general ratio of sapropelic to humic material in the Chattanooga shale. For 

example, general averages for the uranium content 

and oil yield of the Chattanooga shale in Tennessee 

may be considered 0.004 percent and 7 gallons per 

ton, respectively. Assuming that the average content 

of organic matter in the shale is 20 percent, then the 

organic matter would be composed of about 50 percent 

sapropelic matter and 50 percent humic matter.

Another example, though even more tenuous, of 

how such data might be used is seen in attempting to 

relate the uranium content (0.0060 percent) to the 

oil yield (9.5 gallons per ton) of the Gassaway member of the Chattanooga shale in the central part of 

the Eastern Highland Rim of central Tennessee (fig. 

6). Organic matter constitutes 20 percent of this 

rock, and, hence, hypothetically the pure organic matter would contain 0.030 percent uranium and yield 47.5 

gallons of oil per ton. By analogy to the data on 

the Foerstia sample, about 60 percent of the organic 

matter should be sapropelic to accord with the oil 

yield of 47.5 gallons per ton; however, the uranium 

content could not be explained even if all the organic 

matter is humic, as indicated by the data on the 

Cdllixylon sample. The discrepancy could be explained 

by assigning a 0.07 percent uranium content to the 

humic fraction; more likely, both the oil yield of the 

sapropelic material and the uranium content of the 

humic fraction have higher values than indicated by 

the meager data on the samples of Foerstia and 

Gallixylon material. Worthy of special note with regard to the high oil yield of the Foerstia sample, however, is that White and Stadnichenko (1923) long 

ago recognized this alga in Devonian black shales 

as one of the main "mother plants" of the oil that 

can be derived from these shales; the abundant spore 

cases, with their similar "waxy-resinous" protective 

coatings were also noted as source substances for the 

extractable oil.

The specific gravity of the oil extracted from the 

Chattanooga shale seems to increase as the uranium 

content of the shale increases (fig. 8). The reasons 

for this relation are not known, and in view of the 

information presently available, any possible explanation that might be put forward must be viewed as 

very tentative.

If the uranium content of the Chattanooga shale 

were controlled largely by the type of organic matter 

in the shale and if the specific gravity of the oil 

distilled from this shale were similarly controlled, a 

positive relation between the uranium content of the 

shale and specific gravity of the oil from the shale 

would be expected.

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SPECIFIC GRAVITY OF OIL AT 60°F COMPARED WITH WATER ATsO'F

FIGURE 8. Relation of specific gravity of extracted oil to uranium 

content, as determined on 46 samples of Chattanooga shale from 5 

localities, DeKalb County area, Tennessee. (See fig. 4.)/

Determination of specific gravity of the oil extracted from a shale is part of the routine modified 

Fischer assay method (Stanfield and Frost, 1949). In 

this assay method, a 100-gram sample of ground 

shale is heated from room temperature to 500° C in 

40 minutes and maintained at this temperature for 

an additional 20 minutes. If the shale is heated to 

higher or lower temperatures, or for much longer or 

shorter periods, the same shale will yield oils having 

different specific gravities; but the fact that different 

shale samples produce oils of different specific gravities under standard time and temperature conditions 

may indicate fundamental differences in the type or 

combination of types of organic matter among the 

shale samples. These differences in the organic matter might be substantiated by microscopic observation,, 

solvent properties, ultimate coal analyses, infrared 

spectrographic analyses, and many other ways, but 

these observations and analyses are not available for 

the described Chattanooga shale samples. Information on other shales can be presented, however, to 

illustrate the probable control that the type of organic 

matter contained has on the specific gravity of the 

oil produced from a shale.

W. C. Kommes and J. W. Smith (U.S. Bureau of 

Mines, written communication, 1952) made oil and 

organic-matter determinations on several suites of 

samples of oil shales of foreign countries. From their 

data, the approximate percentage of organic matter 

converted to oil can be estimated. A graph of the 

estimated data plotted against the specific gravities 

of the respective oils (fig. 9) indicates that within a 

suite of samples the greater the percentage of organic 

matter converted to oil, the lighter the oil. In terms
OIL YIELD AND URANIUM CONTENT OF BLACK SHALES 13

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Brazil, Sao Paulo

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SPECIFIC GRAVITY OF OIL AT 60'F COMPARED WITH WATER AT 60°F

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SPECIFIC GRAVITY OF OIL AT 60'F COMPARED WITH WATER AT 60"F

FIGURE 9. Relation of specific gravity of extracted oil to oil recovery, 

as percent of organic matter converted to oil; based on Fischer 

assays of samples of oil shale from Brazil, Australia, Manchuria, 

and South Africa. (Data from W. C. Kommes and J. W. Smith, 

U.S. Bureau of Mines, written communication, 1952.)

of the types of organic matter previously discussed, 

where the sapropelic type of organic matter has a 

much greater oil yield than the humic type, in general 4 or 5 times as much, the logical conclusion 

would be that the greater the percentage of sapropelic 

substance in the total organic matter, the lower the 

specific gravity of the derived oil. Conversely, the 

greater the percentage of humic substance in a shale, 

the higher the specific gravity of the derived oil 

will be.

Support for these conclusions is found by observing 

the relation of the specific gravity of the oils extracted 

from the shales to the hydrogen content of the organic 

matter. Plotted data of 2 of the suites of samples 

of figure 9, the shales from Brazil and South Africa, 

show that as the hydrogen content of the organic 

matter increases, the oil becomes lighter (fig. 10). 

Figure 10 also shows a positive relation between hydrogen content of the organic matter and the amount 

of that organic matter converted to oil.

528312 60 3

,0il recovery

Hydrogen

BRAZIL

6.860 0.870 0.880 0.890 0.900 

SPECIFIC GRAVITY OF OIL AT 60°F COMPARED WITH WATER AT 60"F

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0.910 0.920 0.930 0.940 0.950 

SPECIFIC GRAVITY OF OIL AT 60° F COMPARED WITH WATER AT 60° F

FIGURE 10. Diagrams indicating that the specific gravity of oil extracted from shale Is related both to the hydrogen content of the 

organic matter and to the amount of organic matter converted to 

oil; based on Fischer assays on samples of oil shales from Brazil 

and South Africa. (Data from W. C. Kommes and J. W. Smith, 

U.S. Bureau of Mines, written communication, 1952.)

The data on shales from other countries are reviewed 

here to show that changes in the specific gravity of 

oils derived from a shale by the Fischer method are 

probably a function of the variations in the proportions of sapropelic to humic types of organic matter. 

The suggested conclusion is that, for a group of samples from an oil shale, low specific gravity of oil, 

high percentage of organic matter converted to oil, 

and organic matter of high hydrogen content are indicative of a preponderance of the sapropelic type of 

organic matter in an oil shale; conversely, high specific gravity of oil, low percentage of organic matter 

converted to oil, and organic matter of low hydrogen 

content are indicative of a preponderance of the humic 

type of organic matter. If this conclusion can be 

proved, the observed relation between the uranium 

content of the Chattanooga shale and the specific 

gravity of the derived oil (fig. 8) can be used as additional proof of the theory that, other factors being 

equal, the amount of uranium deposited in a shale 

has a positive relation to the amount of humic organic 

matter being deposited at the same time.

The author does not wish to invade the complex 

subject of the relation that exists between uranium
14 URANIUM IN CARBONACEOUS ROCKS

and liquid petroleums; but it is of interest that, in a 

study of uranium in oils and asphalts in the United 

States, K. G. Bell (written communication, 1958) 

found that the heavier asphalt-base crude oils in general contain several times as much uranium as do the 

lighter paraffin-base oils, and they show a slight positive correlation between specific gravity and uranium 

content. The uranium contents of the crude oils generally range from a fraction of one part per billion 

to a few parts per billion.

No uranium analyses have been made on oils derived 

from oil shales, to the author's knowledge, but these 

oils undoubtedly contain only a few parts per billion. 

Breger, Meyrowitz, and Deul (1954) subjected samples 

of Chattanooga shale, Oallixylon from the Chattanooga, subbituminous coal, and Swedish kolm to destructive distillation tests; they showed that most, 

if not all, of the uranium in these rocks does not volatilize with the resulting oil but remains with the 

char residue.

In summary, a positive relation between uranium 

content and oil yield in the Chattanooga shale would 

suggest a constant proportion of humic to sapropelic 

material in the shale. The positive relation between 

uranium content and oil yield exists for thin units in 

a small geographic area but becomes less distinct 

where thicker units or larger areas are considered. 

The apparent positive relation of uranium content to 

the specific gravity of the oil derived from the shale 

further supports the suggestion that the proportion 

of humic to sapropelic matter controls the uranium 

content of the shale and probably also controls the 

amount and type of oil that can be distilled from 

the shale.

ANTRIM SHALE IN MICHIGAN

Determinations of uranium content and oil yield 

for 38 samples of the Antrim shale from 2 wells in 

Michigan are given in table 1 and shown in figure 11. 

The Antrim is a marine Devonian black shale that 

is in part correlative with and lithologically similar 

to the Chattanooga shale. The organic content of 

parts of the Antrim is about 10 percent; its known 

uranium content rarely exceeds 0.004 percent. As 

indicated by available analyses, the oil yield ranges 

from no measurable oil to 16.9 gallons per ton of shale, 

with the best 10 feet of shale yielding 15.0 and 13.4 

gallons of oil per ton of shale in the Pure Oil Co. and 

the Cook Drilling Co. Bonardi wells, respectively.

The analytical data on samples from several feet 

of section from 2 localities about 200 miles apart are 

not intended to be representative of the large body 

of Antrim shale that generally ranges from 100 to 

650 feet in thickness. On the other hand, the simi0.0040 

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OIL ASSAY, IN GALLONS PER TON

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FIGURE 11. Relation of uranium content to oil yield In 38 

samples of Antrim shale IB Michigan.

larity in the distribution of points in the scatter diagrams is readily observed. As is the case for some 

other shales, a general positive relation of uranium 

contents to oil yields is indicated, and the general increase of uranium content with an increase of 

recoverable oil is certainly suggested. The oil yield of
OIL YIELD AND URANIUM CONTENT OP BLACK SHALES 15

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0.

? .0020

Z 

£ .0010

.oooa

A

/

Sunt 

ansit

/& -f\

/Antrim s

ury shale 

on zone"

ntrim shal

lale

k

3 5 TO 15 21

CARBON. IN PERCENT

FIGUEB 12. Relation of uranium and carbon contents of Antrim and two other 

Paleozoic shales in Michigan. (Modified 

from Beers, 1945, fig. 10.)

the Antrim shale samples was determined by the photometric method of Cuttitta (1953a), which unfortunately does not include specific gravity determinations 

on the oil; thus, any relation of the uranium content 

of the shale to the specific gravity of the oil is not 

known.

Beers (1945, p. 11) presented some carbon and uranium determinations of the Antrim shale and two 

overlying Paleozoic shales in Michigan, and from 

these data he concluded that there was high positive 

correlation between these two components (fig. 12). 

Because the amount of carbon in the Antrim is a crude 

measure of the amount of oil that can be produced, 

some positive correlation between the oil and the 

uranium would be expected; the limited new data 

presented here are believed to support this conclusion.

CHATTANOOGA AND WOODFORD SHALES IN THE 

MIDCONTINENT AREA

Lucas (1953) briefly described the methods of distillation of the Woodford shale of Oklahoma, and, on 

the basis of a few samples, reported that this shale 

yields about 9.3 gallons of oil per ton. Landis (1958) 

summarized the uranium contents of the Woodford 

and the Chattanooga shales and their stratigraphic 

correlatives in the central midcontinent area.

Too few analyses of the Chattanooga and Woodford 

shales (approximate correlatives) of the midcontinent 

area are available to appraise them as potential 

sources of oil or to demonstrate conclusively any relationship of their oil yield to uranium content. Seven 

channel samples, representing 30 feet of the Woodford 

shale in Murray County, Okla., yielded as much as 

15.3 gallons of oil per ton and 0.007 percent uranium; 

the average was 11.5 gallons per ton and 0.005 percent 

uranium. Data shown on figure 13 suggest that a

slight positive relation exists between the uranium 

content and the oil yield of these shale samples and 

also between the uranium content of the shale and 

the specific gravity of the oil; however, the data are 

insufficient to draw any conclusions on their validity. 

Eleven samples of the lower 11 feet of the Chattanooga 

shale about 100 miles north in Cherokee County, Okla., 

all contained less than 2 gallons of oil per ton; the 

uranium content ranged from 0.002 to O.OOT percent 

and averaged 0.005 percent. The shale in the two 

areas appears lithologically similar, but detailed 

studies might reveal distinct differences in the amount 

and type of organic material, which would explain 

the differences in oil yield. In turn, the difference 

in type of organic material could be related to paleogeographic position of the two areas, with respect to 

source of the dominating types of plant matter contributed to the Chattanooga sea.

0.008

Z .006

UJ 

O 

K.

.004

.002

.000

5 10 15 

OIL, IN GALLONS PER TON

B

20

.008 

.006 

.004 

.002

.000 

0.

^'/

 /'/

370 0.990 1.010 1.030 1.0

SPECIFIC GRAVITY OF OIL AT 60°F 

COMPARED WITH WATER AT 60°F

FIGURE 13. Relation of uranium content to (A) 

oil yield and (B) specific gravity of oil, Woodford shale, Oklahoma. (Note: Insufficient oil 

from sample yielding 3.8 gallons of oil per ton 

for specific gravity determination.)
16 URANIUM IN CARBONACEOUS ROCKS

Samples were obtained from a core of Woodford 

shale equivalent from Sinclair Prairie Oil University 

6 "154," Andrews County, in western Texas, through 

the courtesy of S. P. Ellison, Jr. (see Ellison, 1950, 

p. 9). The analyses (table 1) that were made on 

samples from 10 feet of this core indicate a uranium 

content of 0.003 percent and an oil yield of about 8.4 

gallons of oil per ton of shale. When the data on oil 

and uranium in the nine samples are compared, no obvious positive or negative relation can be shown to exist. The only analyses that are available for comparison 

with the Woodford equivalent of western Texas are 

those on a 5-foot channel sample of the black shale 

of the Doublehorn shale member of the Houy formation (Cloud, Barnes, and Hass, 1957), a partial correlative of the Woodford that is exposed in the Llano 

area, Burnet County, Tex. This sample, which represents the upper part of the 8-foot unit, contained 

0.009 percent uranium and the Fischer assay was 

21.8 gallons of oil per ton. Pertinent to the nearly 

threefold difference of both the oil yields and uranium 

contents of these Upper Devonian and Lower Mississippian(?) black shales in Texas are the readily apparent differences between the shales of the two areas 

as observed in thin sections. The shale from the Llano 

area, which has the higher oil yield and uranium 

content, is finely laminated and contains an estimated 

40 percent organic matter by volume, with numerous 

recognizable spore exines. The Woodford shale equivalent of western Texas is poorly sorted, contains more 

clastic mineral grains, and the organic matter, which 

constitutes an estimated 25 to 30 percent by volume, 

is macerated and contains very few recognizable spores.

The stratigraphically equivalent black shales of 

Late Devonian and Early Mississippian age in southern Illinois generally yield less than 5 gallons of oil 

per ton (Lamar, Armon, and Simon, 1956, p. 5). The 

uranium content of these shales is estimated to be 

about 0.005 percent, based on the radioactivity data 

presented by Ostrom and others (1955).

BLACK SHALES OF PENNSYLVANIAN AGE IN EASTERN 

KANSAS AND NORTHEASTERN OKLAHOMA

Within the thick sequence of rocks of Pennsylvanian 

age in the central midcontinent area are some 40 

marine black shale units, most of which are only a 

few feet thick, contain scattered phosphatic nodules, 

and commonly overlie coal beds. In the course of the 

Geological Survey's reconnaissance investigations for 

uraniferous black shales most of these shales were 

checked for their radioactivity, (reviewed in Swanson, 

1956, p. 454-455) and, more recently, the distribution 

and genesis of uranium in black shales of Des Moines

age have been investigated (Walter Danilchik and H. J. 

Hyden, written communication, 1957).

Kunnels and others (1952) reported the oil yields 

of 59 samples from 20 of these black shale units in 

Kansas as ranging from a trace to a maximum of 22.8 

gallons per ton. The oil yields and uranium contents 

of 16 additional samples are reported here. These 

data suggest that the following units, which are black 

shales 2 to 5 feet thick, may be expected to yield 5 

to 10 gallons of oil per ton of shale over areas of 

hundreds of square miles: Heebner shale member of 

the Oread limestone; Eudora shale member of the 

Stanton limestone; black shale in the Lenapah limestone ; black shale at the base of the Pawnee limestone; 

black shale in the Fort Scott limestone. The average 

uranium content of each of these units is estimated to 

be about 0.005 percent.

The scattered phosphatic nodules in these shales, 

which were described and analyzed by Kunnels, Schleicher, and Van Nortwick (1953), generally contain 

0.01 to 0.09 percent uranium and undoubtedly are the 

major uranium-bearing material in many of the shales. 

In contrast to the uranium of some of the shales cited 

in this report, most of the uranium of the Pennsylvanian shales apparently is not related to the organic 

matter, and the uranium content and oil yield are 

independent of each other. These relations are indicated by the analyses of seven samples (table 1) of 

the uppermost black shale unit of the Cherokee shale 

as shown in figure 14; Danilchik and Hyden (written 

communication, 1957) concluded that most of the 

uranium is in the carbonate-fluorapatite present in 

these shales.

Burton and Sullivan (1951, p. 884) pointed out the 

positive correlation between the radioactivity and 

organic carbon in eight cores of the Cherokee shale 

in Oklahoma; Whitehead (1952, p. 196) observed an 

increase of radioactivity with increase in phosphorus 

in the same cores. Whitehead further indicated (1952, 

p. 198) by autoradiographic studies that about three 

times more radioactive alpha particles originate in 

the phosphatic material than in the organic matter.

There is no doubt that the three constituents, uranium, phosphate, and organic material, are genetically 

interrelated in these Pennsylvanian shales. Inasmuch 

as phosphorus, which is one of the major inherent 

elements in plants and which is concentrated by many 

animals, is an essential element in living organisms, 

the phosphorus in the phosphate in these shales was 

probably derived in large part from the decaying 

organic matter, most likely plant matter. The phosphorus thus contributed precipitated out in combination with calcium and fluorine to form phosphate,
OIL YIELD AND URANIUM CONTENT OF BLACK SHALES 17

0.0100

.0080

hZ 

UJ

Si -0060

E .0040

Z

< 

<r

D

.0020

.0000

V

V

2468 

OIL, IN GALLONS PER TON

10

0.0100

.0080

Z 

UJ

o

£i .0060

CL

g .0040

.0020

.0000 23 

P2 05 - IN PERCENT

FIGURE 14. Scatter diagrams that indicate uranium content is related to phosphate content rather than to oil yield In the uppermost black shale unit of the Cherokee shale of Pennsylvanian age 

in southeastern Kansas. Both diagrams based on same set of 

samples.

which preferentially attached most of the available 

uranium.

BLACK SHALES OF PENNSYLVANIAN AGE IN ILLINOIS

Marine black shales in the Pennsylvanian rocks in 

Illinois are similar in thickness, age, and cyclothemic 

position to the shales in eastern Kansas and northeastern Oklahoma. The oil yield of 114 samples from 

some 30 of these shale units ranged from 0 to 40 

gallons per ton, but 88 percent of them contained less 

than 15 gallons per ton (Lamar, Armon, and Simon, 

1956, p. 1). The radioactivity of most of these same 

samples is presented by Ostrom and others (1955).

An attempt was made to determine if there is any 

relation between the oil yield and radioactivity of 92 

of the samples for which both oil and uranium determinations are given in the two publications cited 

above. No significant relation was determined, probably because of the inherent variability of the radioactivity measurements (expressed as equivalent uranium oxide), and the many variable factors involved 

in the wide geologic and geographic distribution of 

the outcrop samples.

Splits of 7 samples from the shale above the No. 

2 coal, Carbondale group, and of 7 samples from the 

shale below the Shoal Creek limestone, McLeansboro 

group, were obtained from the Illinois State Geological 

Survey for additional chemical study (table 1). The 

oil yield and uranium determinations are plotted in 

figure 15. For the shale above the No. 2 coal, which 

is 1 to 3 feet thick, the graph shows a slight suggestion that oil yield increases with increasing uranium 

content, but no relation is indicated by the data on 

the shale below the Shoal Creek limestone, which is 

also about 1 to 3 feet thick.

Inasmuch as some or all of the uranium may be 

associated with the phosphate in these shales, as it 

seems to be in some of the Pennsylvanian shales of 

Kansas and Oklahoma, the uranium determinations 

were compared with percent P2O5 determinations. The 

amount of P2O5 in the 14 samples of figure 15 ranged 

from 0.3 to 4.0 percent and averaged 1.4 percent. 

Again, no relation is apparent, nor is there when the 

sums or different ratios of the oil and phosphate 

analyses are compared with uranium content. The 

author believes, however, that if analyses were available on numerous samples systematically selected from 

a shale unit in a small area, a clear-cut relation could 

be shown to exist among the three constituents, uranium, phosphate, and organic matter. This conclusion is almost opposite to that reached by Krumbein 

and Slack (1956) in their statistical analysis of the 

distribution of radioactivity in the Pennsylvanian 

black shale overlying "Coal No. 6" in Illinois. In 

this study, this black shale was interpreted statistically 

as a "homogeneous sampling stratum" (p. 745) because 

the radioactivity of their closely spaced channel samples varies greatly, but nonsystematically, in either 

vertical or lateral directions. The present author believes that it is within this internal variation that 

rather precise local and regional differences could be 

determined. The greater part of the radioactivity 

is caused by the uranium, which in these Pennsylvanian black shales is related mainly to the phosphate 

and, to a lesser extent, to the organic matter. It is 

the changes in the distribution and amount of these 

two components and the amount of uranium associated
18 URANIUM IN CARBONACEOUS ROCKS

0.0100

.0050

.0000

Shale above No. 2 coal, 

Carbondale group

10 20 

OIL ASSAY, IN GALLONS PER TON

30

0.0100

.0050

.0000

Shale below Shoal Creek 

limestone, McLeansboro 

group

0 10 20 30 

OIL ASSAY, IN GALLONS PER TON

FIGURE 15. Relation of uranium contents to oil yields of two black 

shales of Pennsylvanlan age In Illinois. (Oil assays from Lamar, 

Armon and Simon, 1956; uranium determinations by U.S. Geological 

Survey on sample splits provided by Illinois State Geological Survey.)

with each that would provide the basis for determining patterns of radioactivity differences that were 

not made apparent in the study made by Krumbein 

and Slack.

BLACK SHALES IN THE PHOSPHORIA FORMATION

Condit (1919) presented a general review of the 

shale-oil potential of the Phosphoria formation in 

western Montana, southeastern Idaho, and adjacent 

parts of Wyoming and Utah. He reported that shales 

in the lower part of the Phosphoria in the Dillon-Dell 

area of southwestern Montana yield the most oil, 

about 20 gallons per ton of shale, of any part of 

the Phosphoria throughout these states. The shales, 

which are also phosphatic, range from a few to 20 

feet in thickness and are interbedded with phosphatic 

units that contain as much as 30.5 percent P2O5.

Extensive studies by the Geological Survey have 

shown that the uranium in the Phosphoria formation, 

which ranges from 0.001 to 0.06 percent, is most 

closely associated with the phosphate (reviewed in 

McKelvey and Carswell, 1956); any future production 

of uranium from this formation will be as a byproduct 

in the well-established phosphate industry. Thompson (1953, p. 62) found, however, that in samples 

having a low equivalent-uranium content (average of 

less than 0.010 percent) there is a direct relation 

between uranium content and organic matter; most 

of the beds that might be termed oil shales probably 

fall into this group.

The only available analyses of samples of the black 

shale in the Phosphoria formation considered applicable to this discussion are on 48 samples from the 

Retort phosphatic shale member (McKelvey and 

others, 1956; unit D of Cressman, 1955) of the Phosphoria formation in Beaverhead County, southwestern 

Montana (table 1). Of these 48 samples, which represent a total thickness of 58.2 feet, 21 contiguous 

samples (Nos. 20-40) of a part of the member 

26.7 feet thick near the middle of the unit were chosen 

for diagrammatic comparison of their uranium content, P2O5 , and oil yield (fig. 16). The diagrams 

suggest that the oil yield and uranium content bear 

little or no relation to each other, and that the P2O5 

and uranium contents have a generally positive relation. There seems to be an even closer correlation 

when the uranium content is compared with the sum 

of the percentage of oil yield and percentage of P2O5 ; 

this correlation suggests that the phosphate and the 

organic matter together account for most of the uranium in this shale.

Numerous other multiple analyses of samples of 

phosphatic units in the Phosphoria formation that
OIL YIELD AND URANIUM CONTENT OF BLACK SHALES 19

0.0060 

.0050

5 .0040 

ce 

tf

- .0030

s

3 

Z

gj .0020

o

.0010 

.0000

3 5 10 15 20 25 30 3£ 

OIL, IN GALLONS PER TON

B

0.0060

.0050

i-

£ .0040 

cc 

tf

- .0030 

5

3 

Z

£ .0020

r>

.0010 

.0000

-m 

 r~ "

10 15 20 25 30 35 

IN PERCENT

0.0060 

.0050

5 .0040 

ce 

£

5 .0030

5

£ .0020

3

.0010 

.0000

 * 

3 5 10 15 20 25 30 3,

PjOg PLUS OIL, IN PERCENT

FIGUBH 16. Relation of uranium content to (A) oil yield, (B) PZO5, and 

(C) P2OB, and oil for 21 vertically contiguous samples (Nos. 20-40) 

of the Retort phosphatic shale member of the Phosphorla formation, 

Beaverhead County, southwestern Montana. (All data except uranium 

determinations from Swanson and others, 1953, p. 16-24.)

include determinations of oil yield (V. E. McKelvey, 

written communication, 1957") are not reviewed here 

or included in the table, as the determinations all 

show less than 4 gallons of oil per ton and most less 

than 1 gallon per ton.

BLACK SHALE IN THE SHARON SPRINGS MEMBER, 

PIERRE SHALE

A part of the Sharon Springs member of the 

Pierre shale in South Dakota, Nebraska, and Kansas 

is hard black organic-rich shale that contains as much 

as 0.010 percent uranium, but generally only about 

0.003 percent (Tourtelot, 1956). The thickness of the 

member generally ranges from 20 to 500 feet, but 

typically only the lowest part of the unit contains 

more than 0.001 percent uranium.

Too few determinations are available to estimate 

the oil yield of the Sharon Springs member, but it 

is doubtful that more than a few beds a few feet 

thick would yield more than 5 gallons per ton of 

shale. A sample from a bed about 3 feet thick in 

Lyman County, S. Dak., yielded 8.1 gallons per ton, 

the highest of the 3 analyses available, but the sample 

contained only 0.002 percent uranium (B. C. Kepferle, 

written communication, 1956; table 1). Runnels and 

others (1952, p. 179) reported shale about 10 feet 

thick in the Sharon Springs member of the Pierre 

shale of Wallace County, Kans., would yield slightly 

more than 6 gallons of oil per ton, but the uranium 

content is not known.

OIL SHALES IN THE GREEN RIVER FORMATION IN 

COLORADO, UTAH, AND WYOMING

The oil shales in the Green River formation extend 

over a large area in northwestern Colorado, northeastern Utah, and southwestern Wyoming. Of all the 

oil shales in the United States, those in the Green 

River have the greatest immediate potential for commercial production of oil, and have thus received intensive geologic and economic study by private companies and government agencies.

The oil shales of the Green River formation are 

not intended to be compared directly with the other 

shales discussed in this paper, as they are markedly 

different in overall composition and origin; but, 

because they are economically important as a potential 

source of oil and because their uranium content has 

been investigated, they are pertinent to this discussion. No attempt is made here to review the voluminous literature on the geology and oil potential of 

the Green River formation. The reader is referred 

to general papers on its geology and origin (Bradley, 

1931; Donnell, Cashion, and Brown, 1953; Picard,
20 URANIUM IN CARBONACEOUS ROCKS

1955), the physical and chemical properties of its 

oil shale (Stanfield and others, 1951), its oil resources 

(Donnell, 1957), and the mining and processing of 

the shale (U.S. Bureau of Mines, 1954).

In 1944, Russell, (p. 191) observed that of all the 

sedimentary rocks tested, oil shales had the highest 

average radioactivity; thus early in the post-World 

War II search for sources of uranium, the radioactivity of the oil shales in the Green River formation 

was tested. This early reconnaissance work indicated 

that the general positive correlation between uranium 

and organic content observed in other shales did not 

apply in the case of the oil shales of the Green River, 

and subsequent investigations and analytical data substantiated this conclusion. The paucity of uranium 

in these widespread rich oil shales, however, does lend 

support to and serves to clarify several interpretations 

and conclusions on the geologic controls involved in 

the syngenetic concentration of uranium in other 

shales.

The average uranium content of the oil shales in 

the Mahogany ledge, Parachute Creek member, based 

on 46 channel samples, each representing 1 to 5 feet 

of section, from 3 localities in northwestern Colorado 

and northeastern Utah (table 1), is about 0.0006 percent, only very slightly higher than the average uranium content for all shales. The range in uranium 

content in this suite of samples is small, 0.0003 to 

0.0013 percent. The oil yield ranged from 1.0 to 42.7 

gallons per ton, and the 2 samples that yielded 1.0 and 

42.7 gallons per ton both contained 0.0006 percent 

uranium. Furthermore, the 3 samples that contained 

0.0010 percent uranium yielded 5.3, 16.8, and 26.0 gallons per ton; of the 9 samples that contained only 

0.0003 percent uranium, the oil yield ranged from 9.7 

to 30.5 gallons per ton. Thus, no relation appears to 

exist between the uranium content and oil yield in 

this suite of 46 samples; nor is any relationship apparent when the oil yields and uranium contents of 

samples from individual localities are compared. Comparison of the uranium content of the shale with the 

specific gravities of the oil derived from the shale 

also gives a random pattern. Until more detailed 

studies prove otherwise, it is doubted that the small 

amount of uranium in the oil shales of the Green 

River formation is chemically or genetically associated 

with the abundant organic matter in these shales. 

More likely, it is contained in the resistates, in the 

clay fraction, and in the volcanic ash that is distributed 

through the Green River formation.

As emphasized by Bradley (1931, p. 7) and as a 

point of definite contrast to most of the shales discussed in this paper, the oil shales in the Green River 

formation would be better described as marlstones

rich in organic matter. The predominant minerals 

in both rich and lean oil-shale beds of the formation 

are calcite and dolomite, which constitute about 25 

percent of most of them and over 50 percent of some. 

Other important differences between the "oil shales" 

of the Green River and other oil shales described are: 

(a) The Green River formation was deposited in an 

increasingly saline lake, as indicated by the biota, detailed paleogeographic studies, and saline constituents 

such as sodium sulfates, sodium bicarbonates, and 

magnesium salts; thus, it is nonmarine. (b) The 

major part of the organic matter in the "oil shales" 

of the Green River appears to be of algal origin and 

can thus be compared to the boghead coals, whereas 

the organic matter in most of the other shales, though 

not so well known, is probably a combination of vascular-plants and marine plankton, (c) This difference in type of organic material is probably the 

chief reason for the difference in type and amount 

of distillable oil the "oil shales" of the Green River 

formation have yielded as much as 100 gallons of 

oil per ton of shale and the oil is a lighter paraffinic 

type, but the oil yield of the marine oil shales rarely 

exceeds 20 gallons of oil per ton and the oil is generally a heavy and aromatic type.

A complete evaluation of these differences for the 

purpose of interpreting the reason why the rich "oil 

shales" in the Green River formation have only a 

small fraction of the uranium content of marine oil 

shales will not be presented here. The most obvious 

conclusion is either that the lake waters contained 

little or no uranium or that the conditions conducive 

to uranium precipitation or adsorption on or within 

the organic matter never existed. The abundance of 

carbonate minerals intimately mixed with the organic 

matter indicates a carbonate environment with neutral 

to slightly alkaline pH and slightly oxidizing conditions wherein the uranium would be retained in solution, probably as uranyl carbonate complexions. The 

sapropelic type of organic matter, mainly of algal 

origin, does not assimilate uranium, nor does it lend 

itself to the decomposition by anaerobic bacteria that 

would result in the acid and reducing environment 

in overlying waters that would be favorable for 

uranium precipitation. The pyrite in these shales 

probably formed under the reducing conditions created 

within the sediment some distance below the sedimentwater interface where little or no reducible uranium 

was present.

It should be mentioned that several thin beds in 

the Laney shale tongue of the Green River formation 

near Green River, Wyo. are abnormally radioactive 

along an outcrop distance of more than 90 miles 

(Love, 1955, p. 263). The most radioactive bed is a
OIL YIELD AND URANIUM CONTENT OF BLACK SHALES 21

yellowish-gray silty claystone, one sample of which 

contained 0.15 percent uranium; another bed, 3 inches 

thick, is an olive-gray low-grade oil shale, which contains as much as 0.014 percent uranium. J. D. Love 

and Charles Milton (written communication, 1959) 

reported that the uranium in these beds is related to 

their P2O5 content, which is as much as 20 percent. 

Similar occurrences are known in southern Uintah 

County, Utah. As suggested by the widespread and 

uniform distribution of these uraniferous beds, the 

uranium was very likely incorporated by the phosphate at the same time the sediments were deposited.

SHALES IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES

Little detailed information is available on the uranium content of the many well-known oil shales in 

other countries, such as the Dictyonema shales and 

kukersite of Estonia and the U.S.S.R., the Cambrian 

and Ordovician alum shales of Sweden, the Lower 

Carboniferous shales of Scotland, the Permian torbanites of Australia, and many others. For descriptions of many of these oil shales and the oil produced 

from them the reader is referred to Cadman (1948), 

Sell (1951), and Guthrie and Klosky (1951).

Splits of 3 samples of oil shale from the Glen 

Davis mine in New South Wales, Australia, were 

obtained from the U.S. Bureau of Mines; each contained less than 0.0005 percent uranium but yielded 

(U.S. Bur. Mines, written communication, 1952) 82.9, 

119.7, and 135.9 gallons of oil per ton, respectively. 

Similarly, 2 samples of oil shale from Breyton, Transvaal, South Africa, which yielded 45.0 and 45.6 gallons per ton each, contained less than 0.0005 percent 

uranium. A large sample of shale from the Albert 

formation of Early Mississippian age, collected by 

K. G. Bell from a mine dump in Albert County, New 

Brunswick, Canada, contained 0.0012 percent uranium 

and yielded 48.6 gallons of oil per ton of shale. The 

Dictyonema shale of Early Ordovician age in the 

U.S.S.R. reportedly contains between about 0.005 and 

0.025 percent uranium (Orlov and Kurbatov, 1934- 

1936; Glebov, 1941), but its oil yield is low, generally 

less than 10 gallons of oil per ton (Gabert, 1921). 

Conversely, the Middle Ordovician beds of kukersite 

in Estonia, which have been extensively mined for 

many years for oil production, have an average yield 

of about 60 gallons per ton (Winkler, 1930, p. 145- 

148) but probably contain less than 0.0010 percent 

uranium. The author ventures the guess that most 

of the other commercially worked oil shales in the 

world, particularly those yielding in excess of 25 

gallons of oil per ton from shale having only 20 to 

30 percent organic matter, also contain only a few

parts per million (O.OOOX percent) of uranium. The 

Swedish shale, which has a relatively low oil yield, 

is an exception.

Plants for extracting oil and uranium from the 

Upper Cambrian alum shales have been in production 

at Kvarntorp, Narke region, Sweden for some years 

(Guthrie and Klosky, 1951, p. 33; Magnuson, 1957, 

p. 6). Dr. T. Bertil Dahlman (oral communication, 

1957) of the Geological Survey of Sweden, stated that 

a lower unit of the Peltura zone in the shale of the 

Narke region has an average yield of between 13 and 

14 gallons of oil per ton and that the upper 15 feet 

of this shale zone, which is mined for uranium, contains about 0.023 percent uranium. In the Billingen 

area of Vastergotland, an extensive layer of this 

Upper Cambrian shale is about 10 feet thick and has 

an average uranium content of 0.030 percent; this 

same shale, however, will yield only a few gallons of 

oil per ton, much of the oil originally in the shale 

presumably lost by natural fractionation or low-temperature pyrolization during the intrusion of an overlying diabase sill (Dahlman, oral communication, 

1957; McKelvey, Everhart, and Garrels, 1955, p. 519- 

520).

Figure 17 shows a crude relation between the oil 

yield and uranium content of a part of the oil shale 

in Narke. Based on data obtained from Bates and 

others, (1956, p. 89), figure 18 shows a more positive 

relation of the uranium content to the carbon content 

of the scattered lenses of kolm in the shale from Billingen, Vastergotland, Sweden. Oil yield data on

URANIUM, 

IN PERCENT

0.00 0.02

EXPLANATION

Black shale

3456

OIL, IN 

PERCENT

Kolm lenses

One percent oil equals 

about 2.7 gallons of oil 

per ton of shale

FIGURE 17. Approximate relation of oil yield to uranium content of 

part of the kolm-bearing black shale of Late Cambrian age in thfr 

Kvarntorp district, Sweden. (Modified from information obtained 

from and used with permission of staff of Geological Survey of 

Sweden.)
22 URANIUM IN CARBONACEOUS ROCKS

0.80 

.70

.60

iUJ

0 .50

LU 

Q.

Z .40

2

r>

< .30

cc

r>

.20 

.10 

nn

/

/

/ 

/

/

/

/

/

/ 

i /

/

-Z/

/

/

10 20 30 40 50 60 

CARBON, IN PERCENT

70 80

FIGORB 18. Relation of uranium and carbon content in eight samples 

of kolm from the Upper Cambrian shale near Billingen, Vfistergotland, Sweden. (Data from Bates and others, 1956, p. 89.)

these kolm samples are lacking, so the relation of 

oil yield to uranium is not known. The oil yield of 

kolm is relatively small, according to Dr. Gosta Salomonson (oral communication, 195Y) of the Swedish 

Shale Oil Co. A sample of kolm collected by Dr. 

Curt Teichert from the Upper Cambrian alum shale 

at Stolan, in the Billingen area, contained 0.58 percent 

uranium, yielded 1.1 percent or 2.9 gallons of oil per 

ton of rock, and had an ash content of 16.55 percent 

(U.S. Geological Survey sample 154140, Joseph Budinsky, analyst; oil determination by volumetric 

method of Cuttitta, 1953b).

THEORETICAL ROLE OF ORGANIC MATTER IN OIL 

YIELD AND URANIUM CONCENTRATION

The organic matter in the shale is the most important factor to be considered in understanding the 

oil yield and uranium content of any black shale. 

All the relations brought forward in discussing shales 

in this paper either directly or indirectly concern the 

carbonaceous matter in these shales.

The oil that can be distilled from organic matter 

can be related directly to the amount and type of 

organic matter in the shale. The uranium present in 

shales, however, is not for the most part an inherent 

original constituent of the organic matter; rather it 

is attached to the organic matter externally at some 

stage in the decay and sedimentary cycle of the 

organic matter. Thus, the amount and manner of 

fixation of uranium in a black shale involves many

more variables and is less understood than the origin, 

of the recoverable oil.

It is generally true that the more carbonaceous material present in a shale, the greater will be the oil 

yield; but a simple direct relation between the two 

certainly does not hold for all shales. For example, 

a Pennsylvanian black shale in the midcontinent area 

and an oil shale from the Green Eiver formation of 

Colorado may both have 25 percent organic matter; 

on distillation, the former yields only 7 gallons of 

oil per ton, but the latter yields 40 gallons per ton. 

The obvious conclusion is either that the oil yield is 

dependent on the original type of organic matter or 

that diagenetic processes drastically alter the organic 

substance to increase the oil yield. Both probably 

are of fundamental importance.

The oil yields of the wide variety of organic substances can be determined empirically, and thus the 

components of plants and animals can be shown to 

differ widely in the amount of oil they yield on 

destructive distillation. The resin of a tree, for example, yields over ten times the oil that the cellulose 

does (Francis, 1954, p. 351, 400); and, ignoring alteration for the moment, the shale whose organic matter 

consists predominantly of resins yields a far greater 

proportion of oil on destructive distillation than a 

shale whose organic matter consists largely of 

cellulose.

It is beyond the scope of this paper to list the oil 

yield and to evaluate the possible geologic significance 

of each of the many kinds of organic substances, as 

to its relative abundance and resistance to weathering, 

erosion, and diagenetic processes. Such a study would 

be necessary to the basic understanding of the amount 

of oil that can be extracted from a rock and the accurate determination of what kerogen (p. 6) actually is.

For this discussion, the organic matter in shales 

is simply divided into two main types the sapropelic 

type and the humic type (Twenhofel, 1950, p. 463; 

Bell, 1954, p. 10Y). Each type has different paleobiologic, chemical, and geologic characteristics, and 

the significance of each type in controlling the oil 

yield and the uranium content of a black shale can 

be better described and understood in light of these 

differences.

The sapropelic type of organic matter in shales 

was derived principally from algae, spores and pollen, 

cuticles, and, probably to a lesser extent, from plant 

resins and waxes and from the fatty tissues of animals. Only the first two are commonly recognized 

in shales. Most of the humic type of organic matter 

in shales was derived from the woody parts of plants, 

composed mainly of cellulose and lignin. The sapro-
OIL YIELD AND URANIUM CONTENT OP BLACK SHALES 23

pelic and humic types of organic material may be 

distinguished on the basis of their hydrogen and 

oxygen contents (White, 1926, fig. 44, table 34; Francis, 1954, p. 329). The sapropelic type generally contains 10 percent or more hydrogen and 10 percent or 

less oxygen on an ash-free basis, whereas the humic 

type generally contains only a few percent hydrogen 

but as much as 50 percent oxygen.

The hydrogen content of organic matter may be 

considered as a crude index of oil yield, so that the 

greater the amount of hydrogen in organic matter, 

the greater the amount of recoverable oil (fig. 10; 

Francis, 1954, p. 400; Kinney and Schwartz, 1957, 

p. 1125). The sapropelic type of organic matter is, 

in general, greatly resistant to chemical and bacterial 

decay (White and Stadniehenko, 1923, p. 243) and 

thus retains its originally high hydrogen content; 

this more stable type of organic matter explains the 

high yields of oil from a shale, but it probably has 

little significance in the postulated processes controlling uranium concentration in shales.

The geologic significance of the two types of organic 

matter in shales and the changes that the precursory 

plant or animal substances have undergone under a 

variety of natural conditions are, of course, complex 

and therefore difficult to generalize. Though algae 

are more prevalent in marine waters, they were and 

are heavy contributors to the organic sediment in 

lakes and swamps. Spore exines and pollen grains, 

because they are easily transported by wind and as 

a fine-grained sediment by water, also are widely 

distributed; but because they are derived mainly from 

land plants, they would be expected to be more abundant near land. The humic type is more commonly 

confined to terrestrial or near-shore marine deposits. 

Thus, in a marine shale, the amount of the humic 

type of material would be expected to decrease with 

increasing distance from an ancient shore line (Uspenskiy, 1938). The importance of this latter observation 

on the distribution and subsequent alteration of hydrocarbon-forming materials in modern and ancient sediments was emphasized by Strakhov and Eodionova 

(1954).

The organic matter from which humic material is 

derived is generally much less resistant to chemical 

and bacterial decomposition than the plant substances 

from which sapropelic material is derived (Francis, 

1954, p. 144-147). Most of the plant substances which 

are the progenitors of the humic type of organic 

matter are immediately attacked and are completely 

destroyed under most terrestrial conditions, and their 

rate of decay is partly arrested only under rather 

extreme natural conditions. Many of the plant or 

animal substances that end as sapropelic matter can

be exposed to aerobic conditions, transported, deposited, and preserved while the corresponding progenitors of humic matter, which initially might have been 

much more abundant, would be almost wholly destroyed. The resulting concentration of the sapropelic type of organic matter, if not too much diluted 

by mineral sediment, produces a rich oil shale.

The sapropelic type of organic matter on the other 

hand is believed to be almost inactive in the process 

of syngenetically concentrating uranium; being resistant to the natural forces of decomposition and 

almost chemically inert, it does not ordinarily produce 

the chemical environment or products of decomposition believed essential to uranium precipitation. This 

fact may be the most important reason why some rich 

oil shales contain less uranium than many other types 

of rock and may also explain the lack of correlation 

between oil yield and uranium content of some of 

the shales discussed in this report.

The exact method or methods by which uranium is 

incorporated with the organic matter in black shales 

is unknown. By laboratory experiments, uranium 

can be shown to be readily and irreversibly removed 

from solution by organic substances (Tolmaehev, 

1943; Szalay, 1954; Moore, 1954; Manskaya, Drozdova, and Emelyanova, 1956); but whether the uranium is held as adsorbed metal, as uranium-organic 

complexes, as finely disseminated uraninite, or as all 

three is not known. The general geochemistry of uranium is. however, fairly well known (McKelvey, Everhart, and Garrels, 1955, p. 466-472), and some very 

probable means by which uranium may be concentrated by organic matter are suggested here: namely, 

simple reduction and precipitation by hydrogen sulfide, 

and assimilation (either adsorption or complexing).

The humic type of organic matter readily undergoes 

a radical and complex chemical change on decay. It 

is postulated that this change is the critical basis for 

creating the chemical environment in which uranium 

will be removed from natural waters. After deposition 

of the humic type of organic matter in stagnant or 

poorly circulated water, the period of oxidation and 

attack by aerobic microbial action is very short; subsequent decomposition in the resulting toxic waters 

is accomplished at a much reduced rate by anaerobic 

bacteria, which are dependent upon the bound oxygen 

of the humic matter for survival. The overlying and 

surrounding water becomes increasingly reducing and 

acidic in character (Krumbein and Garrels, 1952, fig. 

8) with the continued release of the decay products 

CO2 , hydrogen sulfide, and methane.

The uranium that is soluble and transportable in 

natural waters is in the hexavalent form, but on the 

entry of these waters into the environment just de-
24 URANIUM IN CARBONACEOUS ROCKS

scribed, the uranium is reduced to its relatively stable 

tetravalent form and is probably precipitated directly 

or sorbed onto the organic matter. A possible mechanism of this precipitation process, suggested specifically for black shales by Str0m (1948) and by Goldschmidt (1954, p. 566-567), has been accomplished 

experimentally (Gruner, 1952; Miller, 1958), where 

tetravalent uranium oxide, or uraninite, can be precipitated from a uranyl solution by the introduction 

of hydrogen sulfide gas into the solution; as is well 

known, hydrogen sulfide is a common decompositional 

product of humic matter under anaerobic conditions; 

it is also formed by reduction of sulfate ions in sea 

water by bacteria. Str0m (1948) reported as much 

as 199.5 cubic centimeters of hydrogen sulfide per liter 

in the stagnant bottom waters of fjords on the coast 

of Norway, where black muds containing as much as 

0.006 percent uranium are now accumulating.

The theory of slow but continuous precipitation of 

ultramicroscopic uraninite in the presence of hydrogen 

sulfide in the black mud environment seems very 

plausible, but it remains to be verified by duplication 

of this environment in the laboratory. Support for 

this postulated genesis of uranium in the Chattanooga 

shale is indicated by the findings of Deul (1955, 1957). 

After physically separating the shale into several 

fractions, he found that the fraction consisting of 

the finest particles contained the most uranium. He 

concluded (1955) that the uranium ". . . exists largely 

as a colloidal phase dispersed through the organic 

matrix and that most of the uranium is not now 

combined with the organic material or with the 

minerals." In 1957 (p. 218), on the basis of additional 

experimental data, he stated that the uranium was 

probably derived from the Chattanooga sea by reduction of the uranyl ion to uranium dioxide.

The amount of uranium precipitated by hydrogen 

sulfide would be controlled by the amount of uranium 

in the water and the rate of overturn of this water 

in the relatively stagnant environment. Sea water, 

with which we are mainly concerned, has an average 

uranium content of only 3.3 parts per billion, or 

0.00000033 percent (Rona, Gilpatrick, and Jeffrey, 

1957, p. 700), and there is little reason to believe ancient sea water contained appreciably more (Holland 

and Kulp, 1954, p. 204; Koczy, Tomic. and Hecht, 

1957). Obviously, with so dilute a source and with 

the limited rate of overturn of water necessary to 

maintain the environment for the precipitation of 

uranium, the thorough dispersal of submicroscopic 

uranium on and within the organic matter of a black 

shale, and even on adjacent mineral particles, is more 

understandable. The probable slow but continual rain 

of detrital mineral particles and more organic sediment further makes the likelihood of a large amount 

of uranium being incorporated on or within any particular layer extremely small. It is for this latter 

reason that the interpreted slow rate of deposition 

is a key characteristic of uraniferous black shales.

It has also been shown experimentally that solid 

organic matter such as peat and lignite, which are 

predominantly humic in type, can extract large quantities of uranium from pregnant solutions (Szalay, 

1954; Moore, 1954). The Devonian woody plant 

Callixylon, mentioned in connection with the Chattanooga shale (p. 11), probably obtained its relatively large percentage of uranium (0.033 percent) 

in this manner, and this may have been an important 

method of concentration of uranium in this shale.

Another and slightly more complex mechanism 

whereby uranium is related specifically to the humic 

type of organic matter involves the decay products 

commonly termed humic acids (Vine, Swanson, and 

Bell, 1958). These "acids," which are released from 

decaying organic matter of the humic type and transported in a colloidal state by slightly alkaline solutions, 

are capable of adsorbing as much as 10 percent uranium by weight (Szalay, 1954, p. 304). If the pH 

of the aqueous medium is lowered, the humic acids, 

with the adsorbed uranium, readily coagulate to a gel, 

beginning at a pH of about 7.0 (Manskaya, Drozdova, and Emelyanova, 1956). It is conceivable that 

humic acids may have been carried by streams from 

land into black shale seas, or possibly were even 

derived from decomposing matter of the humic type 

on parts of the sea bottom. Adsorbing uranium enroute, these organic colloids may have been coagulated 

and deposited in the acidic waters where the organicrich muds accumulated. The high uranium content 

(0.1 to 0.7 percent), the apparently low oil yield, 

and an appearance similar to both natural and artificial humates suggest that the kolm in the Upper 

Cambrian shales of Sweden originated as coagulated 

humic acids. On the sea bottom, humic acids may 

also form from and accumulate in the decomposing 

humic matter, earlier described as creating the chemical environment inducive to uranium precipitation 

from sea water; thus in themselves they may adsorb 

uranium without being transported. If these humic 

acids, which on hardening appear in thin section as 

structureless dark yellowish-brown to almost black 

translucent matter, make up only 0.1 percent of a black 

shale but contain 5 percent uranium, they could be the 

explanation for all the uranium in a shale having 0.005 

percent uranium.

As previously cited, Deul (1955, 1957) found that 

of the several fractions of Chattanooga shale physically separated in the laboratory, the colloidal fraction
OIL YIELD AND URANIUM CONTENT OF BLACK SHALES 25

contained the most uranium, as much as 0.08 percent. 

It is possible, though apparently not considered by 

Deul, that this colloidal fraction may have contained 

several percent humic acids; either the solid humic 

acids may have been pulverized to colloidal-size particles, or, as a result of slight oxidation during grinding, the humic acids may have been made amenable 

to resuspension by chemical means.

The separation and analysis of humic acids from 

the Chattanooga shale by chemical methods were 

described by Kinney and Schwartz (1957); however, 

the original uranium content of the acids is not known 

because most of the uranium is chemically released 

during treatment of the shale for separation of the 

humic acids.

No specific study has been made of the effect of 

postdepositional or diagenetic processes on the present 

oil yield and uranium content of carbonaceous shales, 

but the results of other studies on these processes 

may be applied here. Simple physical compaction, 

which in muds, for example, may result in a volume 

loss of as much as 90 percent by loss of porosity 

(Hedberg, 1926, p. 1036), probably involves no real 

gain or loss of these components. But the compaction, 

once completed, does have a sealing effect; porosity 

and permeability are reduced to the point where the 

migration of any constituents is minimal, and the 

organic matter, with its uranium and its oil-yielding 

components, probably remains unchanged except under 

later conditions of extreme metamorphism or exposure 

to weathering.

In the earliest stages of diagenesis, before burial 

to depths of more than a few tens of feet, some 

chemical reorganization undoubtedly takes place for 

example, the intrasediment precipitation of iron sulfides and possibly phosphate from the upward-moving 

interstitial solutions. But once the organic matter 

is buried, its decay is slowed and almost terminated, 

and subsequent changes, other than compaction, in 

it and its associated uranium are believed negligible. 

If at some later geologic time the shale is subjected 

to forces other than simple gravitational compaction, 

such as heat and pressures resulting from dynamic 

metamorphism, natural distillation of the organic 

matter, mainly of the sapropelic type, will result in 

the formation and possible expulsion of gaseous and 

liquid hydrocarbons. The oil yield of the rock will 

be correspondingly diminished; but, as shown by 

experiment by Breger, Meyrowitz, and Deul (1954) 

and further documented by McKelvey, Everhart, and 

Garrels (1955, p. 519-520), the uranium remains in 

the residual part of the organic matter.

In summary, it is here concluded that the fraction 

of the total organic matter in a shale genetically

responsible for most of the uranium is of the humic 

type. Though this same fraction contributes a small 

part, it is the sapropelic type of organic matter that 

is the source of most of the oil extractable from a 

shale.

It is obvious from the preceding discussion that a 

quantitative evaluation of all the factors that combine 

to result in a uranif erous oil shale would be extremely 

difficult. It is apparent that a given shale having, 

say, 20 percent organic matter throughout its extent 

might yield rather widely different amounts of oil and 

uranium from place to place; and, theoretically, at 

least, the two derivatives could actually be shown to 

have an inverse relation. Thus, other factors being 

constant, only where the proportion of sapropelic to 

humic type of organic matter remains constant would 

the oil yield and uranium content be expected to have 

a positive relation and be a simple function of the 

increase or decrease of total organic matter.

Because few data are available to prove specifically 

or to modify these theoretical relations, figures 19 and 

20 are presented as illustrations of the possible control 

that the 2 types of organic matter have on the variable 

oil yield and uranium content of a black shale. Figure 

19 is actually an extrapolation of the analytical data 

on the samples of the alga Foerstia and the wood 

fragments of Callixylon from the Chattanooga phale, 

sapropelic and humic type of organic matter, respectively (p. 11). The positive relation of the uranium 

content to the specific gravity of the oil gives additional support to the theory that the type of organic 

matter controls the uranium content and oil yield 

of the shale. (See fig. 8; p. 12-13.)

As shown in the diagram on the left in figure 19, 

a marine black shale whose organic matter consists 

predominantly of the sapropelic type, probably has 

a very small amount of uranium, regardless of the 

amount of total organic matter in the rock; if, on 

the other hand, the humic type of organic matter predominates, relatively small increases in percent of 

organic matter can reflect a large increase in the 

uranium content of the rock. As shown in the diagram on the right in figure 19, almost the reverse 

situation is true where the sapropelic type of organic 

matter is responsible for much larger oil yields than 

a corresponding amount of the humic type of organic 

matter. Because most marine black shales contain 

mixtures of the two types of organic matter, it follows 

that the amount of uranium and the oil yield of these 

shales are related not only to the amount of organic 

matter in the rock, but also to the proportion of the 

sapropelic to the humic material making up that 

organic matter. Examples <z, &, c, and c' in figure 19 

show these relations. If additional analytical data
26

0.0400

.0300 '

5 .0200 '

.0100 -

.0000

URANIUM IN CARBONACEOUS ROCKS

60.0

45.0

25 50 75 

TOTAL ORGANIC MATTER IN ROCK. IN PERCENT

100

DC

UJ

o. 

to 

030.0

a 

z

15.0

.0

25 50 75 

TOTAL ORGANIC MATTER IN ROCK, IN PERCENT

100

a. 25 percent total organic metter 

75 percent humic 

25 percent sapropelic

0.0064 percent uranium

7.0 gallons oil per ton

b. 25 percent total organic matter 

25 percent humic 

75 percent sapropelic 

0.0027 pe-cent uranium 

12.3 gallons oil per ton

C. 20 percent total organic matter 

50 percent humic 

50 percent sapropelic

0.0036 percent uranium

7.6 gallons oil per tori

C'. 30 percent total organic matter 

50 percent humic 

50 percent sapropelic 

0.0055 percent uranium 

11.6 gellons oil per ton

FIGURE 19. Diagrams showing possible relation of uranium content to oil yield of a marine black shale, as controlled by total organic 

matter and the proportions of humic and sapropelic material making up the organic matter.

on isolated materials of the sapropelic and humic 

types of organic matter were obtained, they undoubtedly would modify the lines shown in figure 19, 

but the general pattern shown would probably hold 

for the Chattanooga shale.

In any black shale, the percent of organic matter 

and the proportion of sapropelic to humic type making up that organic matter probably change in a 

systematic manner in both a lateral and a vertical 

direction. The reason for these changes can be visualized by reconstructing the paleogeography of the 

basin or area in which the black muds were deposited. 

The amount of organic matter in the sediment at 

any locality probably can be related to the paleogeographic distance of the deposited sediment from the 

source area. Similarly, the ratio of sapropelic to 

humic matter probably increases with increasing distance from land areas. These theoretical relationships 

are illustrated in figure 20 and, inasmuch as they 

are believed to be significant in controlling the uranium content and oil yield of the resulting rock, several 

positions (a, 6, <r,, <?2 , cs, c^ d, e, and / in fig. 20) in 

the theoretical black mud layer are indicated to illustrate the changes in uranium content and oil yield 

of the rock. The data on the shale at these several 

positions are utilized in the diagrams in figure 21 

to illustrate the circumstances under which a relation 

between uranium content and oil yield is lacking 

and those under which a positive relation would exist.

As shown, a positive relation exists if the proportion 

of humic to sapropelic type of organic matter remains 

constant, regardless of the total amount of organic 

matter in the rock.

SUMMARY

No black shale in the United States is known to 

have sufficient extractable quantities of both oil and 

uranium to warrant its being considered as an important common source of both these commodities in 

the near future. The shales in the Green Biver formation of northwestern Colorado and adjacent parts of 

Utah and Wyoming, which yield in excess of 25 gallons of oil per ton, will undoubtedly be commercially 

processed for their oil in the near future, but their 

uranium content is negligible, generally less than 

0.001 percent. Parts of the Chattanooga shale of the 

southeastern United States will yield about 10 gallons 

of oil per ton and contain about 0.006 percent uranium; the large tonnages of this shale warrant its 

being considered as a low-grade source of both commodities.

In attempting to understand the oil yield and uranium content of black shales, the following points 

should be considered:

1. The organic matter in black shales accounts for all the 

oil yield and for most of the uranium content. In some shales, 

a clear-cut positive relation can be shown between oil yield 

and uranium content, but in others such a relation is lacking or is even inverse.
~~ Sapropelic matter increases

SEA ~ WATER

Humic matter increases

Organic matter, percent 30 25

Humic, percent 15 25

Sapropelic, percent 85 75

Uranium, percent 0.0030 0.0041

Oil. gallons per ton 26.6 20.3

20

50

50

0.0063

12.5

10

11

17

50

50

0.0054

10.6

0 

i i i I

15

50

50

0.0048

9.4

10

50

50

0.0031

6.2

10

15

75

25

0.0070

6.6

e

10

85

15

0.0054

3.6

f

5

95

5

0.0031

1.4

20 MILES 

J

FIGURE 20. Sketch showing theoretical distribution of humic and sapropelic materials in a shallow sea in which black muds are accumulating, and 

and oil yield of the resulting black shale. Increase of total organic matter seaward due chiefly to seaward decrease in amount of detrital sed

saproplic matter seaward due to decrease of humic land-plant debris and predominance of planktonic matter.
28 URANIUM IN CARBONACEOUS ROCKS

.0090 

.0080 

.0070 

.0060

.0050 

.0040 

.0030 

.0020

.0010 

.0000 (

 > 

 e

5r f'

4

b

a

 «

) 3 6 9 12 15 18 21 24 27 3 

OIL, IN GALLONS PER TON

.0090

H .0080 

Z 

g .0070

£ .0060 

? .0050 

^ .0040

| .0030 

or

D .0020 

.0010 

.0000

/

/

'

/

( >

i

c*i

£Cj

i 

f

/ ft c,

/

) 3 6 9 12 15 18 21 24 27 3 

OIL. IN GALLONS PER TON

FIGURE 21. Graphs showing relation of uranium content to oil yield in the theoretical black shale unit illustrated in figure 20.

2. Oil is derived directly from organic matter, whereas 

most of the uranium is not in the original organic matter but 

is later attached to or precipitated in the presence of organic 

matter.

3. Two main types of organic matter in black shales, the 

sapropelic and the humic, should be distinguished. The sapropelic type is derived from algae, spores, pollen, resins, cuticles, 

and analogous plant and animal remains. The humic type 

is derived from cellulose, lignin, and analogous woody parts 

of plants. Both types are present in varying proportions in 

most black shales.

4. The sapropelic type of organic matter yields 4 to 5 times 

more oil than does the humic type, whereas the humic type 

contains far more uranium than does the sapropelic type.

5. Some data indicate that as the uranium content of a 

black shale increases, the specific gravity of the oil derived 

from the shale by the Fischer method also increases. A tentative explanation of this linear relation is that both reflect an 

increase in the proportion of humic to sapropelic matter in 

the shale. This increase in the relative amount of humic matter also may be indicated by a decrease in the hydrogen 

content of the organic substances and a decrease in the percentage of organic matter converted to oil.

6. It is postulated that the uranium in shales is concentrated from sea water within, on, or near the humic type of 

organic matter by one or all of the following ways: direct 

precipitation (by simple reduction of the hexavalent to the 

tetravalent form) of uranium, probably by hydrogen sulfide; 

removal of uranium ions from solution by adsorption and 

complexing on solid humic materials; and adsorption or complexing of uranium by humic acids while in solution. The 

uranium in those black shales having an abundance of phosphatic materials generally is associated with the phosphate 

rather than with the organic matter; this uranium probably 

has substituted for calcium in the carbonate-fluorapatite 

structure.

7. Other factors being constant, only where the proportion 

of sapropelic to humic type of organic matter in a shale remains constant will the oil yield and uranium content have 

a high positive correlation. Because the humic type of organic 

matter is largely derived from land plants, this proportion 

would logically change with paleogeographic position, and the 

ratio of sapropelic to humic matter would increase with increasing distance from shore.

LITERATURE CITED

Altschuler, Z. S., Clarke, R. S., Jr., and Young, E. J., 1954, 

Uranium in apatite [abs.]: Geol. Soc. America Bull., v. 65, 

p. 1225-1226.

Ashley, G. H., 1917, Oil resources of black shales of the eastern United States: U.S. Geol. Survey Bull. 641-L, p. 311- 

324.

Bates, T. F., and Strahl, E. O., 1956, Regional study of the 

mineralogy and petrology of the Chattanooga shale [abs.]: 

Geol. Soc. America Bull., v. 67, p. 1669.

 1957, Mineralogy, petrography, and radioactivity of 

representative samples of Chattanooga shale: Geol. Soc. 

America Bull., v. 68, p. 1305-1314.

Bates, T. F., and others, 1956, An investigation of the mineralogy, petrography, and paleobotany of uranium-bearing 

shales and lignites. Scope A Shales: U.S. Atomic Energy 

Comm. NYO-7411, 106 p., issued by U.S. Atomic Energy 

Comm. Tech. Inf. Service, Oak Ridge, Tenn.

Beers, R. F., 1945, Radioactivity and organic content of some 

Paleozoic shales: Am. Assoc. Petroleum Geologists Bull., 

v. 29, p. 1-22.

Bell, K. G., 1954, Uranium and thorium in sedimentary rocks, 

in Faul, Henry, ed., Nuclear Geology: John Wiley & Sons, 

p. 98-114.

Bradley, W. H., 1931, Origin and microfossils of the oil shale 

of the Green River formation of Colorado and Utah: 

U.S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 168, 58 p.

Breger, I. A., Meyrowitz, Robert, and Deul, Maurice, 1954, 

Effects of destructive distillation on the uranium associated with selected naturally occurring carbonaceous substances: Science, v. 120, no. 3112, p. 310-312.

Breger, I. A., and Schopf, J. M., 1955, Germanium and uranium 

in coalified wood from Upper Devonian black shale: 

Geochim. et Cosmochim. Acta, v. 7, nos. 5-6, p. 287-293.

Brown, Andrew, 1956, Uranium in the Chattanooga shale of 

eastern Tennessee, in Page, Stocking, and Smith: U.S. 

Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 300, p. 457-462.

Burton, V. L., and Sullivan, G. R., 1951, Carbon content and 

radioactivity of marine rocks: Am. Geophys. Union Trans., 

v. 32, no. 6, p. 881-884.

Cadman, W. H., 1948, The oil shale deposits of the world and 

recent developments in their exploitation and utilization, 

review to May, 1947: London, Inst. Petroleum Jour., v. 

34, no. 290, p. 109-132.
OIL YIELD AND URANIUM CONTENT OF BLACK SHALES 29

Cloud, P. E., Barnes, V. E., and Hass, W. H., 1957, DevonianMississippian transition in central Texas: Geol. Soc. 

America Bull., v. 68, p. 807-816.

Condit, D. D., 1919, Oil shale in western Montana, southeastern Idaho, and adjacent parts of Wyoming and Utah: 

U.S. Geol. Survey Bull. 711-B, p. 15-40.

Cressman, E. R., 1955, Physical stratigraphy of the Phosphoria 

formation in part of southwestern Montana: U.S. Geol. 

Survey Bull. 1027-A, p. 1-31.

Crouse, C. S., 1925, An economic study of the black Devonian 

shales of Kentucky, in Theissen, Reinhardt, and others, 

Oil shales of Kentucky: Kentucky Geol. Survey, ser. 6, 

v. 21, p. 59-97.

Cuttitta, Frank, 1953a, A photometric method for the estimation of the oil yield of oil shale: U.S. Geol. Survey Bull. 

992, p. 15-31.

 1953b, A volumetric method for the estimation of the

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33-37. 

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Geol. Soc. America Bull., v. 66, p. 1549.

 1957, Geochemistry of uranium-bearing shales, in 

Geologic investigations of radioactive deposits Semiannual progress report, June 1 to November 30, 1957: 

U.S. Geol. Survey TEI-700, p. 213-224, issued by U.S. 

Atomic Energy Comm. Tech. Inf. Service, Oak Ridge, 

Tenn.

Donnell, J. R., 1957, Preliminary report on oil-shale resources 

of Piceance Creek basin, northwestern Colorado: U.S. 

Geol. Survey Bull. 1042-H, p. 255-271.

Donnell, J. R., Cashion, W. B., Jr., and Brown. J. H., Jr., 

1953, Geology of the Cathedral Bluffs oil-shale area, Rio 

Blanco and Garfleld Counties, Colorado: U.S. Geol. Survey 

Oil and Gas Inv. Map OM-134.

Dulhunty, J. A., 1944, Origin of the New South Wales torbanites: Linnean Soc. New South Wales Proc., v. 66, pts. 

1-2, p. 26-48.

Ellison, S. P., Jr., 1950, Subsurface Woodford black shale, west 

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Geology Rept. Inv. 7, 20 p.

Francis, Wilfrid, 1954, Coal, its formation and composition: 

London, Edward Arnold, Ltd., 567 p.

Gabert, C., 1921, On the oil shale in Estonia: Braunkohle, v. 

19, no. 48, p. 597-610.

Glebov, S. M., 1941, Radioactivity of Dictyonema shales: Leningrad. Gornyy Inst. Zapiski, v. 14, p. 1-12.

Goldschmidt, V. M., 1954, Geochemistry: Oxford, Clarendon 

Press, 730 p.

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Geol. Survey Bull. 1006, p. 43-48.

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by U.S. Atomic Energy Comm. Tech. Inf. Service, Oak 

Ridge, Tenn.

Guthrie, Boyd, 1938, Studies of certain properties of oil shale 

and shale oil: U.S. Bur. Mines Bull. 415, 159 p.

Guthrie, Boyd, and Klosky, Simon, 1951, The oil-shale industries of Europe: U.S. Bur. Mines Rept. Inv. 4776, 73 p.

Hass, W. H., 1956, Age and correlation of the Chattanooga 

shale and the Maury formation: U.S. Geol. Survey Prof. 

Paper 286, 47 p.

Hedberg, H. D., 1926, The effect of gravitational compaction 

on the structure of sedimentary rocks: Am. Assoc. Petroleum Geol. Bull., v. 10, p. 1035-1072.

Holland, H. D., and Kulp, J. L., 1954, The transport and 

deposition of uranium, ionium, and radium in rivers, 

oceans, and ocean sediments: Geochim. et Cosmochim. 

Acta, v. 5, p. 197-213.

Kehn, T. M., 1955, Uranium in the Chattanooga shale, Youngs 

Bend area, Eastern Highland Rim, Tennessee: U.S. Geol. 

Survey TEI-528-A, 60 p., issued by U.S. Atomic Energy 

Comm. Tech. Inf. Service, Oak Ridge, Tenn.

Kinney, C. R., and Schwartz, Donald, 1957, Partial air oxidation of Chattanooga uraniferous black shale: Indust. Eng. 

Chemistry, v. 49, no. 7, p, 1125-1130.

Koczy, F. F., Tomic, Ernst, and Hecht, Friedrich, 1957, The 

geochemistry of uranium in the Baltic Sea: Geochim. et 

Cosmochim. Acta, v. 11, nos. 1-2, p. 86-102.

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oxidation-reduction potentials: Jour. Geology, v. 60, p. 

1-33.

Krumbein, W. C., and Slack, H. A., 1956, Statistical analysis 

of low-level radioactivity of Pennsylvanian black fissile 

shale in Illinois: Geol. Soc. America Bull., v. 67, p. 739- 

762.

Lamar, J. E., Armon, W. J., and Simon, J. A., 1956, Illinois 

oil shales: Illinois State Geol. Survey Circ. 208, 22 p.

Landis, E. R., 1958, Radioactivity and uranium content of 

Devonian and Mississippian black shales in the central 

midcontinent area, in Geologic investigations of radioactive deposits Semiannual progress report, December 1, 

1957 to May 31, 1958: U.S. Geol. Survey TEI-740, p. 202- 

208, issued by U.S. Atomic Energy Comm. Tech. Inf. Service, Oak Ridge, Tenn.

Love, J. D., 1955, Uraniferous zones in the Green River formation, southwestern Wyoming, in Geologic investigations of 

radioactive deposits Semiannual progress report for June 

1 to November 30, 1955: U.S. Geol. Survey TEI-590, p. 263, 

issued by U.S. Atomic Energy Comm. Tech. Inf. Service, 

Oak Ridge, Tenn.

Lucas, E. L., 1953, Oil shale distillation techniques on Oklahoma shales: Oklahoma Acad. Sci. Proc., 1953, v. 34, p. 

143-146.

McKelvey, V. E., and Carswell, L. D., 1956, Uranium in the 

Phosphoria formation, in Page, Stocking, and Smith: 

U.S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 300, p. 483-487.

McKelvey, V. E., Everhart, D. L., and Garrels, R. M., 1955, 

Origin of uranium deposits: Econ. Geology, v. 50, 

p. 464-533.

McKelvey, V. E., and Nelson, J. M., 1950, Characteristics of 

marine uranium-bearing sedimentary rocks: Econ. Geology, 

v. 45, p. 35-53.

McKelvey, V. E., Williams, J. S., Sheldon, R. P., Cressman, 

E. R., Cheney, T. M., and Swanson, R. W., 1956, Summary 

description of Phosphoria, Park City, and Shedhorn formations in western phosphate field: Am. Assoc. Petroleum 

Geologists Bull., v. 40, p. 2826-2863.

Magnusson, N. H., 1957, Ores, industrial minerals, and rocks: 

Geology Atlas of Sweden, nos. 11-12, 6 p.
30 URANIUM IN CARBONACEOUS ROCKS

Manskaya, S. M., Drozdova, T. V., and Emelyanova, M. P., 

1956, Binding of uranium by humic acids and by melanoidines: Geokhimiya, v. 4, p. 10-23.

Miller, L. J., 1958, The chemical environment of pitchblende: 

Econ. Geology, v. 53, no. 5, p. 521-545.

Moore, G. W., 1954, Extraction of uranium from aqueous solution by coal and some other materials: Econ. Geology, r. 

49, no. 6, p. 652-658.

Moore, R. C., Frye, J. C., Jewett, J. M., Lee, Wallace, and 

O'Connor, H. G., 1951, The Kansas rock column: Kansas 

Geol. Survey Bull. 89, 132 p.

Orlov, N. A., and Kurbatov, L. M., 1934-1936, Radioactivity 

of combustible shales: Khim. Tverd. Topliva, r. 5 (1934), 

p. 525-527, v. 6 (1935), p. 278-291, v. 7 (1936), p. 94-98.

Ostrom, M. E., Hopkins, M. E., White, W. A., and McVicker, 

L. D., 1955, Uranium in Illinois black shales: Illinois Geol. 

Surrey Circ. 203, 15 p.

Page, L. R., Stocking, H. E., and Smith, H. B., compilers, 1956, 

Contributions to the geology of uranium and thorium by 

the United States Geological Surrey and Atomic Energy 

Commission for the United Nations International Conference on peaceful uses of Atomic Energy, Genera, Switzerland 1955: U.S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 300, 739 p.

Picard, M. D., 1955, Subsurface stratigraphy and lithology of 

Green River formation in Uinta Basin, Utah: Am. Assoc. 

Petroleum Geologists Bull., v. 39, p. 75-102.

Rona, E., Gilpatrick, L. O., and Jeffrey, L. M., 1956, Uranium 

determination in sea water: Am. Geophys. Union Trans., 

v. 37, no. 6, p. 697-701.

Runnels, R. T., Kulstad, R. O., McDuffee, Clinton, and 

Schleicher, J. A., 1952, Oil shale in Kansas: Kansas Geol. 

Survey Bull. 96, pt. 3, p. 157-184.

Runnels, R. T., Schleicher, J. A., and Van Nortwick, H. S., 

1953, Composition of some uranium-bearing phosphate 

nodules from Kansas shales: Kansas Geol. Survey Bull. 

102, pt. 3, p. 93-104.

Russell, W. L., 1944, The total gamma ray activity of sedimentary rocks as indicated by Geiger counter determinations: Geophysics, v. 9, p. 180-216.

Searight, W. V., Howe, W. B., Moore, R. C., Jewett, J. M., 

Condra, G. E., Oakes, M. C., and Branson, C. C., 1953, 

Classification of Desmoinesian (Pennsylranian) of northern mid-continent: Am. Assoc. Petroleum Geologists Bull., 

v. 37, no. 12, p. 2747-2749.

Sell, George, ed., 1951, Oil shale and cannel coal, in 2nd Oil 

Shale and Cannel Coal Conf. Proc., July, 1950; London, 

Inst. Petroleum, r. 2, 832 p.

Stanfield, K. E., and Frost, I. C., 1949, Method of assaying 

oil shale by a modified Fischer retort: U.S. Bur. Mines 

Rept. Inv. 4477, 13 p.

Stanfield, K. E., Frost, I. C., McAuley, W. S., and Smith, 

H. N., 1951, Properties of Colorado oil shale: U.S. Bur. 

Mines Rept. Inv. 4825, 27 p.

Strakhov, N., and Rodionova, K. F., 1954, Relationship of dispersed bitumens to the petrographic types of sedimentary 

rocks, Geochemistry of organic matter: Byull. Moskov. 

Obshchestva Ispytateley Prirody, otd. geologii, v. 29, no. 2, 

p. 3-20.

Sttym, K. M., 1948, A concentration of uranium in black muds: 

Nature, v. 162, p. 922.

Swanson, R. W., Lowell, W. R., Cressman, E. R., and Bostwick, D. A., 1953, Stratigraphic sections of the Phosphoria 

formation in Montana, 1947-48: U.S. Geol. Survey Circ. 

209, 31 p.

Swanson, V. E., 1956, Uranium in marine black shales of the 

United States, in Page, Stocking, and Smith: U.S. Geol. 

Surrey Prof. Paper 300, p. 451-456.

Szalay, S., 1954, The enrichment of uranium in some brown 

coals in Hungary: Acad. Sci. Hungararicae, Acta Geol., 

v. 2, nos. 3-4, p. 299-310.

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Tolmachev, U. M., 1943, Adsorption of uranyl salts on solid 

adsorbents: Akad. Nauk SSSR, Izr., otd. khim. nauk, no. 

1, p. 28-34.

Tourtelot, H. A., 1956, Radioactivity and uranium content of 

some Cretaceous shales, central Great Plains: Am. Assoc. 

Petroleum Geologists Bull., v. 40, p. 62-83.

Twenhofel, W. H., 1950, Principles of sedimentation: 673 p., 

New York, McGraw-Hill Book Co.

U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, 1957, Radiation safety and 

major activities in the atomic energy programs: U.S. 

Atomic Energy Comm. semiannual rept., July-December, 

1956, 396 p.

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Oil from oil shale: U.S. Bur. Mines Rept. Inv. 5044, 55 p.

Uspenskiy, V. A., 1938, Organic substance in the Dictyonema 

shale: Khim. Tverd. Topliva, v. 9, no. 1-2, p. 7-17.

Vine, J. D., Swanson, V. E., and Bell, K. G., 1958, The role 

of humic acids in the geochemistry of uranium: 2nd U.N. 

Internatl. Conf. on Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy Proc., 

v. 2, p. 187-191.

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W. H., ed., Treatise on sedimentation: London, Bailliere, 

Tindall and Cox, p. 266-316.

White, David and Stadnichenko, T. M., 1923, Some mother 

plants of petroleum in the Devonian black shales: Econ. 

Geology, v. 18, no. 3, p. 238-252.

Whitehead, W. L., 1952, Studies of the effect of radioactivity 

in the transformation of marine organic materials into 

petroleum hydrocarbons, in Report of progress fundamental research on occurrence and recovery of petroleum, 

1950-1951: Am. Petroleum Inst., p. 192-201.

Winkler, Henry von, 1930, Estonian oil shale: Reval [Tallin], 

F. Wassermann (Publisher), 350 p.
TABLE 1. Sampled localities and uranium content, oil yield, and other analyses of samples of black shales

[Source: Except where otherwise noted, all the data In this table were provided by U.S. Geological Survey personnel. The Survey geologists who were Instrumental in obtaining 

Brown, J. H. Brown, Jr., W. B. Cashion, G. V. Cohee, L. O. Conant, Walter Danilchik, Wallace DeWitt, Jr., J. R. Donnell, D. C. Duncan, D. H. Eargle, W. H. Hass, W. A

J. M. Johnston, Charles Katlin, T. M. Kehn, R. C. Kepferle, Chabot Kilburn, E. R. Landis, J. F. Pepper, J. O. Reed, Jr., R. C. Robeck, J. M. Schopf, L. E. Shirley, R. E. Smi

L. D. Willman, and W. M. Zilbarsher. The Geological Survey chemists who made the analyses reported herein are: J. W. Budinsky, Alice Caemmerer, Chester Cox, Frank Cutt

G. H. Dudley, D. L. Ferguson, Mona Frank, R. F. Oantnier, F. S. Grimaldi, Norma Guttag, Carmen Hoy, B. L. Ingram, L. B. Jenkins, O. R. Johnson, J. Johnson, Mary 

B. A. McCall, J. P. McClure, Robert Meyrowitz, Roosevelt Moore, Wayne Mountjoy, W. W. Niles, J. W. Patton, Audrey Pletsch, Audrey Smith, Joan Smith, L. B. Steele, 

Locality

Field No. Description

Sample

Laboratory 

No.

Interval

Thickness 

(feet)

Unit

Uranium 

(percent)

Oil

(gallons 

per ton)

Water 

(gallons 

per ton)

Gas 

and loss 

(percent)

Sp gr of oil 

at60°F 

compared 

with water 

at60°FKSO 

CHATTANOOGA SHALE

TENNESSEE

[For each locality, sample data are arranged from top to bottom of formation. Mm indicates basal unit of overlying Maury formation; gu, gm, and gl indicate, respectively, channel 

lower units of the Gassaway member of the Chattanooga shale; du and dl, the upper and lower units of the Dowelltown member; g and d, the undivided members. Order of local

Laboratory numbers In parentheses are not formal laboratory numbers but are field numbers used by the laboratory]

Moore County

10J-9 Outcrop, Hurricane Creek, just below large dam at Cumber- 2143

2144

2146

2146

2147

2148

2149

2.04

1.72

1.84

1.78

1.89

1.83

1.90

g

g

g

g

g

g

g

0.006

.005

.007

.006

.006

.006

.006

7.6

4.1

8.0

5.9

6.1

7.2

9.3

10.1

11.3

9.6

12.9

7.0

6.2

4.1

0.6

.8

1.0

.9

.2

1.2

2.3

0.899

.882

.897

.892

.894

.906

.902

Coffee County

10K-6

YB-44

UK-1

Branch road.

Outcrop, about 1 mile northwest of Noah on U.S. Highway 41;

2174

2176

2176

2177

2178

2179

2180

2181

2182

2183

2184

2185

114274

114276

114276

114277

114278

3264

3265

3266

3267

3268

3269

3270

3271

3272

3273

3274

1.80

1.83

1.74

1.80

.79

1.68

2.00

2.00

2.09

1.47

1.77

2.00

6.64

1.97

6.19

9.26

6.41

2.11

2.11

1.00

1.76

1.99

1.95

1.87

2.00

1.90

1.96

1.95

gu

gu

gu

gu

g}

g}

gl

dl

dl

dl

dl

gu

gl

du

dl

gu

gu

gm

gl

g}

gl

dl

dl

dl

dl

0.0061

.0050

.0072

.0056

.0024

.0033

.0042

.0052

.0018

.0020

.0028

.0085

.0048

.0049

.0011

.0035

.0089

.0073

.0063

.0063

.0062

.0058

.0034

.0022

.0035

.0044

.0032

4.0

3.4

4.3

4.3

1.3

1.1

3.8

5.6

3.8

3.8

2.4

2.7

6.2

2.3

4.5

3.0

4.3

6.4

6.4

.8

1.9

6.6

6.0

3.4

6.9

4.9

7.0

4.7

5.8

5.3

3.8

5.0

2.8

6.0

5.5

5.0

4.6

6.0

5.3

5.5

6.2

5.0

8.2

6.5

5.8

6.0

7.4

5.5

4.6

5.3

6.0

0.8

2.6

2.8

1.6

1.3

2.1

1.3

6.3

5.2

9.1

7.9

4.7

2.6

5.6

1.3

1.1

.3

4.0

2.7

2.3

2.2

.8

0.893

.888

.896

.905

.886

.898

.886

.876

.874

.890

.862
TABLE 1. Sampled localities and uranium content, oil yield, and other analyses of samples of black shales Continu

Locality

Field No. Description

Sample

Laboratory 

No.

Interval

Thickness 

(feet)

Unit

Uranium 

(percent)

Oil

(gaUons 

per ton)

Water 

(gallons 

per ton)

Gas 

and loss 

(percent)

Sp gr of oil 

at 60° F 

compared 

with water 

at 60° FK2O 

CHATTANOOGA SHALE Continued

TENNESSEE Continued 

Cannon County

R-C2 

R-C6

Outcrop, about 4 airline miles south of courthouse at Woodbury, 1.4 miles west of State Route 53 at Sheboygan; cut along 

road.

Outcrop, 3.6 miles north of junction of U.S. Highway 70S and 

Auburntown road on west edge of Woodbury; cut on west 

side of road.

2076 

2077 

2078 

2079 

2080 

2081 

2082 

2083 

2084 

2085 

2086 

2087 

2119 

2120 

2121 

2122 

2123 

2124 

2125 

2126 

2127 

2128 

2129 

2130 

2131

0.94 

1.50 

1.50 

1.22 

2.00 

2.00 

2.00 

1.10 

2.00 

2.00 

1.50 

.98 

1.75 

1.50 

1.50 

1.27 

1.22 

1.50 

1.57 

1.50 

1.54 

2.00 

2.00 

1.50 

1.83

gu 

gu 

gu 

gm

g! 

g

g 

gl 

dl 

dl 

dl 

dl 

gu 

gu 

gu 

gu 

gm 

gl 

gl

g 

gl 

dl 

dl 

dl 

dl

0. 0076 

.0080 

.0080 

.0048 

.0046 

.0063 

.0063 

.0043 

.001 

.002 

.003 

.002 

.0040 

.0073 

.0073 

.0074 

.0047 

.0054 

.0058 

.0052 

.0043 

.0028 

.0044 

.0063 

.001

5.0 

5.0

4.2 

5.5 

7.1 

6.0

3.5 

6.0 

4.9 

7.3 

5.1 

8.7 

7.1 

9.1 

11.2 

9.8 

10.4 

9.1 

2.1 

2.9 

6.0 

6.0

6.7 

6.0 

3.6 

6.0 

6.5 

6.0 

4.8 

5.5 

7.2 

7.4 

6.0 

5.5 

4.6 

7.2 

4.3 

4.8 

4.1 

4.1 

3.8 

3.8 

4.8 

8.6 

9.6 

7.2 

3.8

2.3 

2.1 

1.6 

1.0 

2.7 

3.4 

2.3 

3.5 

2.6 

1.6 

2.3 

1.4 

.9 

2.1 

3.9 

2.3 

1.9 

2.2 

3.7 

2.0 

2.6 

2.1 

2.4 

1.2 

.3

0.923 

.913

.901 

.914 

.908 

.892

.888 

.897 

.881 

.898 

.893 

.918 

.918 

.897 

.899 

.908 

.898 

.900

.903

.877 

.878

Bledsoe County

WR-49 Drill core, from hole on east side of Sequatchie Valley, east of 

Pikeville.

114280 

114281 

114282 

114283 

114284 

114285

4.00 

4.00 

5.40 

1.72 

2.85 

6.46

gu 

gm

g} 

gl 

gl 

du

0. 0029 

.0038 

.0092 

.0061 

.0063 

.0012

1.0 

3.8 

5.3 

1.7 

2.8 

.5

4.5

3.6

3.6

4.2

4.2

4.9

White County

LO-113A

LO-11

70 feet east of Caney Fork River. (Fig. 4, loc. 5).

5271

5272

5273

5274

5275

5276

5277

5278

5279

5280

5281

5282

64

65

237

OOQ

11-21)

11-22)

11-31)

11-32)

11-51)

11-52)

2.1

1.1

2.5

1.0

2.0

1.0

1.8

1.3

2.0

1.5

1.6

2.0

2.0

2.00

2.00

1.38

1.00

2.00

1.67

2.00

1.37

1.23

1.25

gu

gu

gu

g!

|1

du

du

du

du

dl

gu

gu

gu

gl

gl

dl

dl

0. 0084

.0064

.0053

.0057

.0060

.0060

.0058

.0012

.0010

.0011

.0008

.0007

.0026

.007

.005

.005

.005

.005

.006

.006

.006

.001

.003

9.2

7.0

6.5

8.0

7.9

11.3

10.9

2.1

1.9

2.4

3.8

1.9

9.8

7.8

5.6

4.3

7.6

13.8

13.0

11.2

12.6

13. 3(?)

11.4

2.9

2.2

2.6

2.6

2 4

2.9

3.4

2.9

2.9

3.1

2.9

2.6

3.1

10.8

11.3

13.4

11.8

7.0

6.5

6 9

5.0

5.0

3.6

3.2

2.4

2.9

1.8

2.3

2.9

1.9

.5

.1

.8

1.4

.7

1.5

1.5

1.2

2.6

2.2

1.8

2.3

.9

.2

.0

.0

0.934

.926

.921

.922

.968

.936

.926

.890

.915

.921

.903

.918

.920

.921

.923

.933

.879

.888
DeKalb County

T r* GO

LC-103

LC-15

LC-10

33-12)

33-13)

33-14)

33-21)

fqq <y)\

/qq qi\

/qq qo

(33-33

foq 04

/OOOf:

(33-51)

('oocoA

(33-53)

(33-54)

1925

1QOA

1Q97

1QOQ

1QQQ

IQQn

1QQ1

1QOO

1QQQ

1QQJ.

1QOC

1QQA

1QQ7

1 QQfi

IQQQ

1940

1Q4.1

1942

984

QQC

986

QQ7

988

QQQ

QQn

991

QQO

QQQ

994

QQC

QQfi

QQ7

QQP.

40

41

A<)

43

44.

JK

46

OK J.

255

(15-51)

(15-52)

(15-53)

OOQ

OOJ.

OOe

OOA

227

OOQ

OOQ

230 oo-i

ooo

233

234

(10-51)

(10-52)

(10-53)

(10-54)

1.61

2 

in

1.41

1.58

1.27 1 Q7

1.52

1.92

1.62

1.50

1.69

1.50 2 nn

1.28

1 60

1.15

1.20

1.05 1

OC

2.10

1.70

1.30

1 60

.95

2.05

2 

in

2.00

2.05

1 40

1 Q*. 2 flfi

i on

2.5 2 n

1.7

1.1

1.9 3 1

2.0

1 Q

2

0

2.3

2.5 I n

2.0

1.0

1 K

.50

1.06

2.00

1.88

2.00

1 Q7

2.25

1 QQ

2.00

2.10 2 flfi

2.00

.50

1 60

1.60

1.50

2.00

2 

on

1 1 *

.70

1 80

1.40

2.00

2.00

1 OK.

1.50

1.15

.90

gu

gu

gug}

g} 

gl 8i

gl

dl

dl

dl

dl

gu 

gu

gu

gu

g}g} 

gl

gl I1

du

du

du

du

dl

dl

dl

gu

gu

gu

gl

g} 

gl

du

du

du

dl

dl

dl

dl

gu

gu

gu

gug} 

gl

dl

dl

dl

gu

gu

gu

gu

gu

g} 8

g} 8

gl

dl

dl

dl

dl

0.007

.009

.008

007

.004

.006

.005

.007

.008

.007

.004

.006

008

fifi^

nnQQ

.0083

.0077

0048

.0038

.0046

.0052

.0056

0058

.0049

.0014

0008

.0009

.0009

.0009

.0024

.0047

.0031

.0090

.0080

.0053

[\f\Af\

.0052

.0060

.0070

.0017

.0009

.0010

.0008

.0024

. 004 (?)

.0039

.0028

.0034

.0068

.0062

.0072

.0065

.0036

.0044

.0051

.0053

.005

.005

.005

.006

.008

.008

.007

.009

.005

.003

.005

.006

.003

.006

.005

.002

.005

.004

.003

7.9

11.2

9.4

5.6

3.5 8 Q

7.1

10.3

12.6

3.6

10.4

10.1

12.6

3.6

11.1

11.6

11.4

6.2

7 Q

11.5

19 Q

12.2

12.5

12.8

3.1

2.4

2.2

5.3 2 4

10.6

10.4

Q Q

10.4

10.1

7.9

7 Q

12.0

11.2

14.9 3 1

2.2

2.9

3.9

9.4

11.9

10.1

8.6

.5

6.2 6 Q

8.8

7.3

4.1

5.1

9.2

10.8

3.1

6.4

5.8

TVaoft

.2

4.3

1.9

2.4

5.0

7.1

9.1

7.9

11.6

TVfloa

Trace

Percent 

2.8

2.5

3.0

2.8

3.7

4.5

4.5

2.2

2.6

1.6

1.3

1.1

2.6

1.6

1.0

.9

.8

.7

.8

.9

1.0

.9

1.0

1.0

1.2

1.0

1.0

Gallons 

per ton 

2.6

3.1

2.6

Percent 

1.3

1.1

1.0

.8

.9

1.0

1.3

1.2

1.3

1.1

1.6

1.2

1.2

1.3

Gallons 

per ton 

12.0

9.6

8.4

4.6

4.3

5.5

7.7

6.7

5.3

9.1

7.2

6.7

14.2

18.7

14.4

14.4

11.8

8.6

6.5

9.4

8.2

7.9

8.6

7.0

11.8

10.8

9.8

10.8

0.9

1.9

1.1

.0

1.0

1.6

1.8

.8

.6

.2

2.1

1.5

.6

.2

i a

1.8

2.0

.7

.7

2.6

1.5

2.9

3.7

1.7

.7

.8

.7

1,5

2.8

2.2

2.1

1.5

3.1

2.4

1.9

1.0

2.6

.4

1.1

.4

.4

2.5

2.6

2.4

1.7

2.8

1.6

2.8

3.7

.4

.0

2.9

4.7

.7

1.4

.6

1.3

2 1

4.2

1.2

2.1

1.4

.4

.7

2.9

5.2

2.4

.6

.1

.5

.0

.4

.928

.922

.892

.911

.914

.931

.909

.919

.916

.905

.890

.899

.896

.907

.904

.919

.923

.915

.896

.905

.899

.889

.924

.934

.930

.920

.902

.907

.910

.895

.915

.926

.915

.926
TABLE 1. Sampled localities and uranium content, oil yield, and other analyses of samples of black shales Continu

Locality

Field No. Description

Sample

Laboratory 

No.

Interval

Thickness 

(feet)

Unit

Uranium 

(percent)

Oil

(gallons 

per ton)

Water 

(gallons 

per ton)

Gas 

and loss 

(percent)

Sp gr of oil 

at60°F 

compared 

with water 

at60°FK2 0 

CHATTANOOGA SHALE Continued 

TENNESSEE-Continued 

DeEalb County Continued

LO-102

LC-101

scribed outcrop (LG-10); 100 feet west and 30 feet above road.

(Fig. 4, loc. 2.)

Drill core, from hole on east side of State Route 66, 1.1 miles

south of courthouse at Smithville.

(102-1)

131

132

133

134

135

136

137

138

139

140

141

142

143

144

145

146

147

148

(101-14)

(101-15)

(101-21)

0.60

.25

1.95

2.00

1.90

1.30

1.20

1.80

1.50

1.80

2.00

2.00

1.80

2.00

2.00

1.81

1.24

1.90

2.60

4.0

1.5

2.0

gu

gu

gu

g}

gl

&

el

lu

du

du

du

du

dl

dl

dl

gu

gu

0.002

.0027

.0072

.0075

.0071

.0048

.0036

.0052

.0048

.0065

.0060

.0016

.0011

.0011

.0010

.0010

.0024

.0034

.0021

.009

.006

.005

2.2

11.2

11.7

12.5

6.7

3.1

4.2

10.6

12.4

13.7

3.0

.6

1.2

5.2

1.7

12.4

10.5

7.7

11.7

8.9

5.5

Percent 

2.0

.5

2.1

2.0

1.4

1.4

1.2

1.3

1.3

1.3

1.4

1.4

1.6

1.7

1.6

1.5

1.3

1.3

1.5

Gallons 

per ton 

2.9

3.4

2.6

0.1

.5

3.9

3.1

3.9

1.9

1.6

2.5

3.1

2.5

1.7

1.0

.0

.0

.1

.1

1.7

3.1

.9

2.5

2.4

.8

0.922

.924

.919

.901

.926

.928

.927

.929

.906

.911

.906

.959

.949

Putnam County

13M-1

13L-11

west of courthouse at Cookeville; about 0.8 mile upstream

from old Cookeville power plant on Falling Water River.

Outcrop, on road to Center Hfll Dam, 2.5 miles west of Silver

Point.

1943

1944

1945

1946

1947

1948

1949

1950

1951

1952

1953

1954

1955

1966

1957

1958

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

0.72

1.98

1.88

2.00

2.00

2.00

1.80

.85

1.99

1.94

1.69

1.69

1.69

2.07

1.76

1.76

1.57

1.17

1.71

1.80

1.90

1.78

1.63

1.32

1.31

1.55

1.55

1.55

2.02

2.01

2.02

gu

gu

gu

gu

gu

gm

%

3

g

gl

dl

dl

dl

Mm

Mm(?)

gu

gu

gu

gu

cm

g?

sdl

dl

dl

0.0016

.0020

.0031

.0047

.0047

.0060

.0050

.0034

.0042

.0049

.0044

.0049

.0057

.0026

.0028

.0016

.001

.002

.004

.006

.006

.006

.008

.007

.005

.005

.005

.005

.003

.004

.003

4.2

13.4

10.9

11.6

11.1

11.9

11.3

5.8

8.3

11.9

12.4

12.9

16.6

13.0

12.4

6.1

None

3.7

5.8

9.2

8.5

8.2

1.3

2.4

Trace

8.7

Trace

5.3

2.8

1.6

Percent 

1.7

2.0

3.6

3.6

4.1

2.5

3.5

2.5

2.1

2.7

2.5

2.6

1.7

1.1

1.4

1.6

Gallons 

per ton 

6.7

3.8

9.6

8.4

5.8

5.0

5.0

7.0

5.3

9.6

5.3

10.3

7.2

7.7

8.4

0.2

2.3

1.3

3.0

3.0

1.3

1.0

.7

1.1

.8

1.2

1.8

3.4

1.4

.4

.4

1.1

.35

.6

1.4

2.5

3.1

1.8

.6

.4

1.8

2.2

.5

.5

.3

.1

0.911

.920

.930

.924

.926

.935

.905

.898

.919

.931

.926

.925

.903

.907

.905

.907

.918

.926

.926

.930

.907
13M-7

13M-23 Outcrop; from Junction of U.S. Highway 70N at Double

ington Springs, then northwest about 1.6 miles, then 1.6

9fU9

2043

2044

9fU>>

2046

2047

2048

2049

2080

2051

2062

2053

2064

2066

3206

3207

3208

3209

3210

3211

3212

3213

3214

3215

3216

3217

3218

3210

o in

.80

.S3

84

.70

.70

1.40

1.47

1.90

1 90

1.95

1.65

1.70

1.80

1.11

1.58

1.77

1.80

1.80

1.80

1.40

1.42

1.40

1.95

1.90

1.57

1.40

1.60

Mm

gu

go.

gu

gu

go.

8} g

gl

dl

dl

dl

Mm(?)

gu

gu

gu

gu

go.

gl

gl

dl

dl

dl

.0022

.0067

.0068

.0068

.0065

.0056

0036

.0038

.0035

.0050

.0037

.0020

.0016

.0009

.003

.005

.006

.006

.008

.007

(VW

.003

.002

.004

.006

.003

.002

.002

6.1

12.6

13.0

10.5

9.5 9.6

8.4

3.4

6.3

11.5

8.5

12.1

7.4

5.1

6.3

12.6

10.0

12.8

10.5

7.7

7.4

2.4

9.0

10.5

3.4

1.1

3.8

3.«

4.1 6 n

5.5

5.0

5.5

7.0

8.9

5.3

4.8

5.0

4.8

4.6

4.6

8.6

4.8

7 Q

3.6

4.3

7.4

5.0

6.2

7.2

6.0

8.9

7.7

7.9

n i

2.6

a t

2.0

t n

4.8

.8

.8

2.8

2.3

4.7

3.8

3.7

2.2

1.9

2.5

3.1

3.8

2.5

2.6 2 Q

2.1

1.5

2.5

3.4

3.0

1.4

.6

.912

oat

01 ft

.926

.935

.917

099

.952

QV7

.926

.916

.816

.897

.915

.936

.946

.929

.927

.932

.920

.933

.918

.908

Smith County

13L-22 2025

2026

2027

2028

2029

2030

2031

2032

2033

2034

2035

2039

2040

2041

2.15

1 04

1.80

1.79

1.83

1.89

1.76

1.76

1.52

1.50 2 nn

2.01

2.02

2 02

Mm

gu

gu

gu

gu

gu

gu

gl

dl

dl

dl

0.001

ArtO

.004

.005

.006

.006

.007

.006

.005

.003

.005

.003

.002

.002

nppfu*A

8.9

16.0

11.5

8.3

0.9

7.6

1.1

2.1

7.8

2.8

6.2

6.6

7.2

6.0

6.5

8.2

11.8

7.7

8.9

6.7

7.7

8.4

7.7

8.6

0.3

2.2

2.7

4.3

6.2

2.4

2.9

1.9

1.4

.9

1.4

.3

0.897

.914

.936

.926

.939

.925

.903

Davidson County

14Q-5 Outcrop; from intersection at stoplight at Goodlettsville, south

2.5 miles on U.S. Highway 41 and 31 W, then west 1.3 miles

on paved county road; roadcut on south side of road at top 

of hill. Both samples of same coaly material, 0.04 foot thick, 

6.85 feet from top of Chattanooga shale. For other analytical data, see Breger and Schopf (1955, p. 288-290).

101453

122357

0.04

.04

gg

0.025

.013

18.3

37.4

45.0 13.0

Stunner County

NV-86 Drill core, from hole reached by going 8.0 miles west on Shackle 115055

115056

115057

115058

115059

6.00

3.67

5.00

5.00

3.15

gadd

0.0056

.0055

.0011

.0008

.0006

8.1

6.7

6.9

5.0

8.4

3.

3.

4.

4

4

Macon County

14L-5 Outcrop; from intersection at Willette, 1.2 miles east on State 2191

2192

2193

2194

2195

2196

2197

2.00

2.00

2.00

1.50

1.43

2.15

2.15

Mm(?) ggggg0.0025

.0035

.0048

.0068

.0086

.0052

.0057

2.9

11.4

11.0

6.7

7 Q

' 8.8

10.4

6.5

5.3

4.3

8.6

7.7

7.2

4.1

0.2

1.5

2.0

1.8

1.3

2.1

2.9

0.906

.920

.924

.915

.928

.907
TABLE 1. Sampled localities and uranium content, oil yield, and other analyses of samples of black shales Continu

Locality

Field No. Description

Sample

Laboratory 

No.

Interval

Thickness 

(feet)

Unit

Uranium 

(percent)

Oil

(gallons 

per ton)

Water 

(gallons 

per ton)

Gas 

and loss 

(percent)

Sp gr of oil 

at 60° F 

compared 

with water 

at60°F

KjO 

CHATTANOOGA SHALE Continued

TENNESSEE Continued 

Jackson County

14M-16 3353

v*u

3355

3356

3357

3358

3359

1.85

2.00

2.00

2.00

2.00

2.00

2.00

0.001

.002

.004

.003

.004

.002

.003

3.8

3.5

6.8

4.2

8.9

10.7

6.0

9 

A.

7.4

8 Q

12.0

7.2

5.0

6.5

1.2

1.1

1.7

1.4

2.6

3.3

2.0

0.893

.896

.906

.897

.925

.920

.912

Clay County

15N-12 2269

2270

2271

2272

2273

2274

2275

2276

2277

2278

2.00

2.00

2.00

2.00

2.00

1.50

1.51

1.82

1.82

1.18

g

g

g

g

g

g

g

g

g

g

0.0028

.0054

.0055

.0060

.0043

.0054

.0073

.0060

.0043

.0021

6.2

8.7

6.1

4.0

1.6

5.2

6.5

7.2

5.3

7.0

5.3

5.5

7.9

10.6

7.0

4.3

3.6

3.6

5.3

1.3

1.6

.9

.7

1.0

1.7

2.3

2.3

1.5

.8

0.888

.890

.899

.891

.892

.889

.897

.896

KENTUCKY

Russell County

16P-1 17291

17292

17293

17294

17295

17296

17297

17298

17298-A

17299

17300

17301

2.0

2.0

2.0

2.0

2.0

2.0

2.0

2.0

2.0

2.0

2.0

2.0

0.003

.003

.003

.005

.^06

.005

.005

.005

.005

.005

.005

.005

15.9

11.4

11.9

13.2

10.5

8.6

8.0

8.2

9.1

9.1

9.1

10.1

4.6

4.1

3.8

4.3

3.8

3.8

3.8

3.6

3.8

3.8

4.3

4.3

2.2

2.4

1.9

3.1

2.4

2.2

2.4

2.9

2.5

2.5

3.3

3.4

0.887

.905

.909

.926

.915

.896

.895

.905

.900

.904

.904

.901

Pulaski County

17K-6 Outcrop, about 7.5 airline miles northwest of courthouse at 17320

17321

17322

17323

17324

17325

17326

17327

17328

17329

17330

17331

17332

17333

17334

17335

17336

17337

17338

2.00

2.00

2.00

2.25

2.00

2.00

2 00

2.00

2.00

2.00

2.00

2.00

2.00

2.00

2.00

2.00

2.00

2.00

2.50

0.003

.003

.002

.004

.004

.004

.005

.003

.003

.004

.004

.004

.004

.004

.004

.004

.004

.005

.005

17.8

15.4

13.7

11.3

11.9

7.8

7.4

6.7

6.7

6.2

7.3

8.0

8.0

8.5

7.7

8.4

11.1

7.7

12.1

6.5

8.6

7.2

7.0

5.8

8.6

9.6

8.4

8.9

9.4

6.5

5.8

6.2

5.8

6.5

8.2

9.8

8.2

5.8

5.1

2.4

1.8

1.8

2.1

1.5

2.2

1.0

1.8

1.8

2.1

2.2

1.4

1.4

.9

1.9

2.1

1.2

.5

0.906

.913

.912

.910

.910

.895

.903

.897

.898

.893

.890

.871

.902

.905

.908

.919

.928

.912

.911
ALABAMA

Blonnt County

AL-64 Drill core, from hole reached by going 1.3 miles west of Brooksville on State Route 74, then 0.5 mile east-southeast on narrow 

road; on north side of road. Vertically contiguous samples 

of entire formation.1

120217 

120218 

120219 

120220 

120221

3.75 

3.76 

4.44 

5.08 

2.32

0.0040 

.0046 

.0045 

.0017 

.0025

0.25 

.76 

1.0 

.76 

2.0

3.

3.

3.

3.

4.

UPPER DEVONIAN SHALES

MICHIGAN. Omo. AND NEW YORK

[a, indicates Antrim shale; o, Ohio shale; pd, Dunkirk shale member of Perrysburg formation; hp, Pipe Creek member of Hanover shale]

Charlevoix County, Mich.

Well cuttings, Pure Oil 553. T. 32 N., R. 4 W. Two sets of

Ldepth (flg.jll).i

EQC1J.

CQKI'T

EQC1Q

59521

cQKcn

59553

59555

59557

59558

59560

KQKA1

2

2

2

2

0.0011

.0015

.0015

.0019

.0021

.0021

.0021

.0021

.0007

0007

0008

.0015

OHIO

.0016

.0025

0034

.0036

.0034

.0034

.0030

.0032

.0032

2 9

3.3

4.2

5.6

6.6

8.4

7.6

8.9

2

E

2.2

3.8

7.6

8.0

7 9

9.4

14.7

14.6

15.2

13.3

16.9

15.2

8.9

Saint Clair County, Mich.

depth (fig. 11) .«

59564

59566

59567

59569

59570

59571

59572

59573

59589

59590

59591

59592

59594

5

5

7

8

5

7

8

7

5

5

10

9

9

4

0.0035

.0034

.0019

.0025

.0023

.0024

nniQ

.0012

.0014

.0018

.0018

.0023

.0030

.0017

.0006

8.0

' 14.3

6.9

7.6

6.3

6.0

5.2

3.6

2.3

2.9

6.5

7.2

10.2

13.8

6.2

Franklin County, Ohio

marine alga, hand picked from the same shale.

A

B

0.0012

.0016

4.2

26.5

Erie County, N.Y.

sample of lower 1-foot unit of black shale.

32689 1 nd 0.006 1.9 2.4 0.3

See footnotes on p. 41.
TABLE 1. Sampled localities and uranium content, oil yield, and other analyses of samples of black shales Continu

Locality

Field No. Description

Sample

Laboratory 

No.

Interval

Thickness 

(feet)

Unit

Uranium 

(percent)

Oil

(gallons 

per ton)

Water 

(gallons 

per ton)

Gas 

and loss 

(percent)

Sp gr of oil 

at 60° F 

compared 

with water 

at 60° FK,0 

UPPER DEVONIAN SHALES Continued

MICHIGAN, OHIO, AND NEW TORE Continued 

Chautauqua County, N.T.

124459 12 pd 0.001 3.0

Wyoming County, N.T.

crude channel sample about 10 feet above base near middle of 

formation.

32690 1 hp 0.003 2.4 3.6 0.4

CHATTANOOGA SHALE AND CORRELATIVES

OKLAHOMA AND TEXAS

[c, indicates Chattanooga shale; w, Woodford shale; hd, Doublehorn shale member of Houy formation; we, Woodford shale of Ellison (1950))

Cherokee County, Okla.

Outcrop NWJi sec. 24, T. 18 N., R. 22 E; 11 vertically contiguous channel samples of lowermost 11.1 feet of black 

shale. Total thickness of formation, about 35 feet.

147374

147172

147173

147174

147375

147175

147176

147177

147178

147179

147180

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1.1

c

c

c

c

c

c

c

c

c

c

0.001

.004

.005

.005

.003

.006

.007

.006

.004

.005

.004

1.4

1.7

1.9

1.4

1.4

1.9

1.4

1.4

1.7

1.4

<1.0

4.3

4.3

4.3

5.3

4.8

5.3

5.3

5.8

6.2

5.3

6.0

0.5

4.0

2.0

1.5

2.5

.5

3.5

2.5

1.5

1.0

1.0

Murray County, Okla.

Outcrop SEJi sec. 36, T. 1 S., E. 3 E; channel samples of black

fissile shale Laboratory No. 147211 of top 1 foot, No. 147205

of top 4 feet, No. 147206 of unit 26.5 to 31.5 feet from top, No.

147207 of unit 32.3 to 37.3 feet from top, and remaining sam147211

147205

147206

147207

147208

147209

147210

1

4

5

5

5

5

5

W

w

w

w

w

w

0.004

.007

.006

.005

.004

.005

.002

12.5

15.3

11.5

12.0

14.4

12.0

3.8

5.3

7.2

8.6

7.2

4.8

7.2

10.5

2.0

2.5

1.0

3.0

1.0

1.5

2.0

0.984

1.014

1.033

.996

.988

.991

Burnet County. Tez.

miles south-southeast of Marble falls, Tex.; channel sample of about 5 feet of black shale. Total thickness of member here 5 to Si feet (Cloud, Barnes, and Hass, 1957, p. 815).

209211 5± hd 0.009 21.8 7.2 5.0 0.991 
Andrews County, Tex.

from 9,247 to 9,253 feet; No. 211057, 9.253 to 9,255.3 feet; samples provided by S. P.' EUison, Jrl (Ellison, I960).

911O4R

211049

211051

211053

oiinti

211055

211056

211057

1

1

1

1

1

1

2.3

TETft

TETft

0 003

002

003

003

AAO

003

.003

.001

.005

7.7

9

0

7.0

8

0

8.2

8.2

11.3

10.1

5.8

4.1

3.8

5.3

4.1

4.1

3.8

3.6

4 a

4.8

1.7

1.0

.5

2.5

1.0

3.0

1.5

9 fi

4.0

0.968

.951

Qf\1

o?n

.959

.967

.962

.955

PENNSYLVANIAN SHALES

ILLINOIS, KANSAS, AND OKLAHOMA

[sc, indicates sbale below Shoal Creek limestone of McLeansboro group; cs, shale above No. 2 coal, Oarbondale group; sp, shale above Spaniard limestone member of Savanna 

formation, the black shale unit above the coal in the Tebo formation of Searight and others (1953, p. 2748); sb, uppermost black shale unit of Senora formation; cb, uppe

shale; fs, black shale in the Fort Scott limestone; pb, black shale at base of Pawnee limestone; 1, black shale in the Lenapah limestone; co, black shale near base of Cofleyvi

ILLINOIS

Outcrops D10, SE#SWJ<SEM sec. 17, T. 7 S., R. 10 E.; Dll, 

SWWSW^SEM sec. 21, T. 7 N., R. 4 W.; D21, NE^NEJi 

SWM sec. 33, T. 7 S., R. 6 E.; D70, NWMNE^SWM sec. 

3, T. 13 N., R. 5 W.; D72, SWJiSW&SEM sec. 35, T. 10 N., 

R. 7 W.; D92, SEMNWJiSEM sec. 3, T. 9 N., R. 12 W.; 

D99, SWMSE^SEM sec. 22, T. 2 N., R. 5 W. Collected 

and reported by Ostrom and others (1955) and Lamar and 

others (1956). Data on oil yield from Lamar and others 

(1956, table 3); uranium and PjOj analyses by U.S. Geological Survey (fig. 15). 

Outcrops D22L, SW^NWJi sec. 5, T. 10 S., R. 7 E.; D42, 

NEMNW^NW^sec. 17, T. 5 N.. R. 4 E.; D56, SE^SWJ* 

sec. 8, T. 32 N., R. 2 E.; D58, NEJ^NEJiNEM sec. 3, T. 

33 N.. R. 1 E.; D68, center sec. 36, T. 2 N., R. 1 W.; D75, 

SWMSWMSWK sec. 24, T. 12 N., R. 11 W.; D101, SWJ* 

SWJ^NEM sec. 11, T. 18 N., R. 11 W. Collected and reported by Ostrom and others (1955) and Lamar and others 

(1956). Data on oil yield from Lamar and others (1956, 

table 3); uranium and PjOj analyses by U.S. Geological 

Survey (fig. 15).

149205(D10) 

149206(D11) 

149207 (D21) 

149208 (D70) 

149209(D72) 

149210(D92) 

149211 (D99)

149212(D22 

149213(D42 

149214(D56 

149215(D58 

149216(D68 

149217(D75] 

149218(D10

L)

I)

Inches 

12 

18 

10 

17 

36 

10 

26

18 

24 

22 

14 

38 

30 

26

sc 

sc 

sc 

sc 

sc 

sc 

sc

cs 

cs 

cs 

cs 

cs 

cs 

cs

0.0061 

.0073 

.0049 

.0106 

.0091 

.0052 

.0091

.0074 

.0036 

.0067 

.0032 

.0052 

.0071 

.0037

15.5 

11.3 

9.1 

11.7 

12.3 

8.8 

8.8

12.9 

13.1 

25.8 

5.6 

17.6 

18.6 

16.2

Percent 

4.0 

5.5 

3.5 

4.0 

4.0 

3.0 

5.2

3.0 

3.5 

3.0 

4.0 

4.0 

3.0 

5.0

3.8 

2.8 

1.0 

3.3 

3.7 

2.4 

2.5

4.9 

.5 

4.3 

4.3 

3.9 

3.6 

4.2

0.973 

.966 

.947 

.969 

.966 

.968 

.960

.937 

.937 

.946 

.946 

.938 

.946 

.947

Craig County, Okla.

Outcrop NEJ4 sec. 3, T. 26 N., R. 21 E.; channel sample from 

part of unit 15 feet thick.

146101

Feet 

5 sp 0.002 0.2

Gallons 

per ton 

6.5 0.5

Rogers County, Okla.

Outcrop SWJi sec. 12, T. 21 N., R. 16 E.; channel sample __ 

Outcrop center of south line sec. 3, T. 23 N., R. 16 E. Channel sample of upper 4 feet of tbis unit, which is 7 feet thick 

(included in fig. 14).

146048 

146082

1.2 

4.0

ts 

sb

0.002 

0.002

<0.2 

8.1

9.6 

11.5

1.0 

2.5 0.931

Bourbon County, Kans.

lower Klnnlr eVialp- IMns 118048 148ft3Q 148(141 tmri 148fU9

148035

148034

148038

148039

lAanA-i

148042

118053

1.9

1.0

1.0

1.0

1.0

1.0

2.5

cb

cb

cb

cb

cb

cb

fs

0.0022

.0088

.0093

.0061

.0049

.0042

.0040

0.2

.2

2.9

4.6

6.2

7.2

12.7

4.8

5.8

6.7

5.3

5.3

6.3

4.3

1.0

1.5

.5

.5

1.0

2.0

2.0

0.930

.936

.944

.948

Linn County, Kans.

center of west line sec. 18, T. 23 S., R. 25 E.

146999

147000

146981

0.8

1.0

P£ 

Pb

1

0.004

.006

.003

14.6

6.7

12.0

10.1

16.3

7.2

3.5

4.0

4.0

0.947

.951

.957
TABLE 1. Sampled localities and uranium content, oil yield, and other analyses of samples of black shales Continu

Locality

Field No. Description

Sample

Laboratory 

No.

Interval

Thickness 

(feet)

Unit

Uranium 

(percent)

Oil

(gallons 

per ton)

Water 

(gallons 

per ton)

Gas 

and loss 

(percent)

Sp gr of oil 

at 60° F 

compared 

with water 

at60°FK2O 

PENNSYLVANIAN SHALES Continued

ILLINOIS, KANSAS, AND OKLAHOMA Continued 

Tulsa County, Okla.

Outcrop sec. 13, T. 20 N., E. 12 E. Laboratory No. 146065 is

channel sample of upper 2.9 feet of black shale, No. 146993

of lower 2.4 feet of black shale. Total thickness of unit, 7.15 

feet.

146065

146993

2.9

2.4 CO

0.006

.002

8.9

3.6

8.4

6.0

1.5

1.0

0.934

PHOSPHORIA FORMATION 

MONTANA

Beaverhead County

NWJ4SWJ4 sec. 23, T. 9 S., E. 9 W. Stratigraphically con1956) or D member of Swanson and others (1953; see also

Swanson and others (1953, p. 16-24). (See fig. 16.)

(VEM-1)

(VEM-2)

(VEM-3)

(VEM-4)

(JES-5)

(JES-6)

(JES-7)

(JES-8)

(OAP-9)

(OAP-10)

(OAP-11)

(OAP-12)

(OAP-13)

(LAT-386)

(FSH-15)

(FSH-16)

(FSH-17)

(FSH-1S)

(FSH-19)

(FSH-20)

(EKC-21)

(LAT-22)

(LAT-23)

(LAT-24)

(ERC-25)

(ERC-26)

(ERC-27)

(EEC-28)

(LAT-29)

(LAT-30) 

(LAT-31)

(DAB-32)

(DAB-33)

(DAB-34)

(EEC-35)

(ERC-36)

(EEC-37)

(DAB-38)

(DAB-39)

DAB-40)

DAB-41)

DAB-42)

DAB-43)

ERC-44

(EEC-45

(EEC-46

(DAB-47

(DAB-48)

0.9

1.3

2.3

1.3

2.2

.5

1.6

1.4

.5

.4

.3

.3

1.9

.5

.8

.85

.8

.8

2 7

1.0

2.2

1.5

.9

2.8

.9

1.9

.8

.75

1.05

.65 

1.55

.85

1.33

1.16

1.2

1.2

1.7

.54

2.2

.5

2.4

1.3

1.75

1.5

2.4

.8

1.2

.5

0.004

.001

.004

.001

.002

.002

.007

.005

.004

.001

.002

.001

.005

.005

.002

.004

.003

.004

.002

.001

.003

.002

.001

.001

.002

.001

.003

.003

.003

.uuo 

.004

.004

.004

.004

.004

.005

.005

.005

.003

.002

.004

.006

.007

.006

.004

.001

.004

.010

1.3

2.6

1.8

.9

7.0

20.0

18.8

12.8

4.7

23.6

7.8

18.9

4.8

7.6

8.4

8.9

10.4

8.9

13.4

6.4

1.9

9.1

10.1

11.0

9.6

15.6

11.5

12.9

13.9

8.4

15.3

12.0

14.9

12.5

8.1

9 1

10.8

13.2

8 1

18.0

13.4

16.8

12.5

14.4

10.5

18.6

10.3

17.3

13.4

18.0

10.2 

12.7

12.0

12.0

11.5

13.4

12.5

12.0

7.2

12.9

13.7

11.4

20.4

13.2

18.0

19.2

13.2

7.7

3.6

1.1

i a

2.2

1.6

2.2

1.9

1.7

2.1

.8

2.5

2.6

1.9

2.3

1.4

2.1

1.6

2 4

1.5

3.1

2.6

3.4

3.9

3.3

2.5

3.1

3.3

3.8

5.3

1.4

1.4 

3.0

2.8

2.9

2.7

3.1

3.4

2.9

.3

2.2

.9

.4

.4

1.4

9 B

3.2

.3

.3

.0

0.986

.989

.990

.990

.989

.990

.991

1.002

.994

.990

.986

.990
SHARON SPRINGS MEMBER, PIERRE SHALE

SOUTH DAKOTA 

Charles Mix County

W. Grab sample 12 feet above base of member.

138504 0.003 4.1 

Lyman County

Outcrop center of WH sec. 11, T. 103 N.. R. 73 W. Channel

sample of Interval 7 to 10 feet above base of member.

sample 8 feet above base.*

138505

(56-SO-9)

3.0 0.002

.001

8.1

4.3

GREEN RIVER FORMATION

COLORADO AND UTAH 

Rio Blanco County, Colo.

Outcrop, Upper Piceance Creek sec. 6, T. 4 S., R. 94 W.

Core, General Petroleum Corp. 64-8-G; SEHSWHNEJ4

sec. 8, T. 1 N., R. 98 W. Twenty-one vertically contiguous

45811

45812

45813

45814

45815

45816

45817

45818

45819

45820

45821

45822

45823

111523

111524

111525

111526

111527

111528

111529

111530

111531

111532

111533

111534

111535

111536

111537

111538

111539

111540

111541

111542

111543

5

5

5

5

5

5

5

5

5

5

5

5

5

10

10

10

10

10

10

10

10

10

10

10

10

10

10

10

10

10

10

10

10

10

0. 0007

.0003

.0003

.0005

.0013

.0007

.0010

.0007

.0007

.0008

.0010

.0008

.0010

.0006

.0005

.0003

.0006

.0006

.0(105

.0006

.0005

.0005

.0003

.0003

.0005

.0005

.0006

.0005

.0005

.0003

.0005

.0005

.0006

.0008

10.7

11.2

12.3

10.0

18.2

15.9

26.0

12.5

15.0

5.5

5.3

10.0

16.8

1.0

4.7

9.7

30.6

40.2

34.2

32.3

16.4

26.8

25.6

25.2

22.8

12.4

33.0

24.2

20.5

31.5

24.2

18.3

5.1

2.2

4.3

4.8

3.8

4.1

7.0

5.3

6.7

5.0

3.4

3.6

6.0

5.5

6.2

2.1

2.3

.7

2.5

3.2

1.2

2.8

.7

1.5

1.4

1.4

1.4

3.0

0.913

.905

.920

.911

.906

.916

.912

.903

.894

.917

.935

.914

.910

Uintah County, Utah

Outcrop sec. 28, T. 9 S., R. 25 E. Twelve vertically contiguous channel samples of Mahogany ledge, Parachute72295

72296

72297

72298

72299

72300

72301

72302

72303

72304

72305

72306

5

5

5

5

5

5

5

5

5

5

5

5

0. 0003

.0008

.0006

.0003

.0005

.0005

.0005

.0008

.0005

.0006

.0006

.0005

15.4

11.8

13.6

20.8

21.5

17.2

12.9

20.8

17.4

42.7

22.8

18.4

5.0

2.9

2.4

6.0

5.5

6.2

3.1

5.3

4.1

7.2

6.2

3.8

2.0

.3

.8

4.7

1.6

.3

4.8

1.9

2.6

5.7

3.7

2.4

0.922

.915

.918

.901

.904

.922

.910

.911

.924

.915

.914

.912

Oil determinations by photometric method. * Oil yield estimated, using Ruska still method.

INDEX

Acknowledgments ________________________________ 3,31

Albert formation _________________________________ 2, 21

Alum shales of Sweden ______________________________ 4, 21

Analytical methods ________________________________ 7

Analyses of black shales ____________________________ 31-41

Ancient sea water, source of uranium ______________________ 5, 24

Antrim shale, analyses. ______________________________ 37

correlative of Chattanooga shale _______ - _______________ 7

locality ____________________________________ 2

oil yield and uranium content ________________________ 14-15

Australia, shales, relation of specific gravity of oil to oil recovery _______ 13

Averages, uranium content of shales _______________________ 4

B

Black shale, definition ______________________________ 3 

Brazil, shales, relation of specific gravity of oil to hydrogen content and to oil recovery . . ___ _ ._ __ 13 

Byproducts of oil distillation ___________________________ 3

CaUixylm........................................................... 11-12,14, 24, 25

Canada, Albert formation. . _______ . _.....__._..... 21

Carbon content, relation to uranium content____________ 11,15,16, 21-22 

Carbonaceous shale, definition._________________________ 3,4 

Carbonate minerals. .. ... ......___... 4,8, 20

Chattanooga shale, analyses___________.__._..._____ 31-37,38-39 

In the midcontinent area___________._______________ 15-16 

In the Southeastern States . ....... 8-14

oil yield_.__________ _.____________..___ 3, 7,9-11,12 

organic matter______________________.________ 8,11-12 

sampled localities. . . .. 2, 7,31-37,38-39

uranium content . 3,4, 7,8,9-11,12

Chattanooga shale and correlatives, in eastern and central United States_.. 7-15

Oherokee shale, analyses_____________________________ 39

oil yield, phosphate and uranium contents 16-17

Clay, In marine black shales....________________________ 4

Coffeyville formation, black shale near base, analyses_____________ 40 

Conclusions . 25-28 

Criteria, for locating shale with most uranium_ . ........._ .. 4,8,9

Definition of terms. . ...... 3,6

Devonian shales, localities____________ 2 

oil yield and uranium content ___________________ 7,14,16, 31-39 

Diagenesis, effect on oil yield and uranium content of shales 22,25 

Dictyonema shales of Estonia and U.S.S.E.___ . ...._____. 21 

Doublehorn shale member, Houy formation__________________ 16,38 

Dowelltown member, Chattanooga shale________________ 8,9-10,31-35 

Dunkirk shale member, Perrysburg formation.. 7, 37-38

E

Eastern Highland Run, locality of Chattanooga shale ......_______ 3,8

Economic significance__________________...__._______ 3-4

Eudora shale member, Stanton limestone____... _.________.... 16

Fischer retort assay method, used for oil yield determinations . 7,12 

Fluorometric method, for uranium analyses 7 

Foerstia....... ......................... .......................... .... 11-12,25,26,37

Fort Scott limestone, black shale in, analyses. _._ 39 

oil yield and uranium content..______ .. __ 16

Gassaway member, Chattanooga shale_.____ __ ___ 3,4,8-12,31-35 

Geochemistry of uranium concentration..___ _ ......._._ 23-25

Glen Davls mine, Australia___________ ___.. ___.___ 21

Page

Green River formation, analyses__________________.____ 41 

Laney shale tongue . .. 20 

locality.____.__________________.__.________ 2 

Mahogany ledge_______. ______________________ 7,20,41 

oil shales...... ...................................................... 6,19-21

uranium content_.. ...... ............ .. .._____ 20-21,20

Hanover shale, Pipe Creek member, analyses... .. _ 38

Heebner shale member, Oread limestone . _.__...._._.__ 16

Houy formation, Doublehorn shale member, analyses_____________ 38

locality. . ... 2

oil yield and uranium content.. .. ___..._____ 16

Humic acid, role in concentrating uranium.....___.__________ 24-25,28

Humic organic matter, defined_________________________ 6

decay process _ _.____ 23

derivation__ . _ .... ____ 22-23

relation to oil yield and uranium content ______________ 11-12,25-27

Hydrogen content of organic matter, index of oil yield_____________ 13,23

Hydrogen sulfide, in environment of marine black shale deposition. ____ 4,5,23

role in precipitation of uranium . ...___ 24,28

K 

Kerogen_.......... . _.__..______ 6,22

Kolm..._.___........._____....__.____....._....___. 4,21,22,24

Kukersite_________.__________________________ 21

Laney shale tongue, Green River formation . _ 20-21

Lenapah limestone, black shale in, analyses .. ..._____ 39

oil yield and uranium content.... ...... _________ 16

Literature cited ._ . __ ..._......_________ 28-30

M

Mahogany ledge, Green River formation. .... _..________ 7,20,41 

Manchuria, shales, relation of specific gravity of oil to oil recovery...____ 13 

Maury formation. . 9,31,33,34,35 

Mississippian shales. See Albert formation, Maury formation.

N

Nashville Basin, fee Eastern Highland Rim. 

New South Wales, torbanite oil shales..___. 6,13,21

Ohio shale, analyses .. 11,37 

correlative of Chattanooga shale ......_.__.___ _._____ 7,11

locality..._ 2 

Oil shale, definition.____ ... 3,6 

Oil yield, Albert formation.... ________.________... 21

alum shales of Sweden.. 21 

analyses..-..-. 31-41 

Antrim shale.____...__......_....__. . ___........ 14-15,37

black shale in Coffeyville formation_____________.______ 40 

black shale in Fort Scott limestone 16,39 

black shale in Lenapab limestone.---- 16,39

black shale in Pawnee limestone.........._-__.... . ...._- 16,39

black shale in Phosphoria formation____________.______ 18-19,40 

black shale in Savanna formation___________...... ..____ 39

black shale in Senora formation 39 

black shales of Pennsylvanian age. . 16-18,39-40 

Chattanooga shale 8,15,31-37,38 

Cherokee shale, uppermost black shale unit . 17,39 

Devonian shales.. . . 7-16,31-39 

Doublehorn shale member of Houy formation .._... 16,38 

Dunkirk shale member of Perrysburg formation____..- ... ._. 37-38 

Eudora shale member of Stanton limestone 16

43
44 INDEX

Oil yield, Albert formation Continued

Green River formation .._________ 20,41 

Heebner shale member of Oread limestone_________________ 16 

Houy formation________________________________ 16,38 

kolm from Cambrian shales of Sweden___________________ 22 

Maury formation.. ____._______________ 33-35 

Ohio shale ........______._.._________....._...___ 37

Pipe Creek member of Hanover shale____________________ 37 

relation to uranium content ... . 8-10,14,15,18-19,21-22,25-26 

role of organic matter. ___________________ 6,22-26 

shale above No. 2 coal, Carbondale group.________________ 17-18,39 

shales in foreign countries__________________________ 21-22 

Sharon Springs member of Pierre shale___________________ 19,41 

Shoal Creek limestone, shale below..__________________ 17-18,39 

Woodford shale..._____________________________ 15,16,38-39 

Oread limestone, Heebner shale member____________________ 16 

Organic matter, "blackness" as measure of amount in shale__________ 9-10 

genetic interrelation to uranium and phosphate in Pennsylvanian shales.. 16-17 

in marine black shales____________________________ 4,5 

proportion of humic to sapropelic as indication of oil yield and uranium

content.____________________________ 11-14,25-28 

relation to oil yield. ______________________________ 6,22-23 

relation to uranium content-.._____________________ 4-5,23-28 

sapropelic and humic, denned__.____________________ 6,22

Parachute Creek member, Green River formation............

Pawnee limestone, oil yield and uranium content.. -... 

Pennsylvanian shales, analyses________________

localities__________________________

oil yield and uranium content...........................

Perrysburg formation, Dunkirk shale member, analyses.....

Phosphate, analyses, in black shales..-. .. ... .-. 

component of marine black shales........................

relation to uranium in Green River formation_,... _..

relation to uranium in Pennsylvanian shales______

relation to uranium in Phosphoria formation .. .. .-.

relation to oil yield and uranium content________ 

Phosphoria formation, analyses..............................

locality___________________________

oil yield and uranium content-______________ 

Photometric method of Cuttitta, used for oil determinations. 

Pierre shale, locality______________________

oil yield and uranium content..__.....................

Pipe Creek member, Hanover shale_____________

...... 20,41

__.. 16,39 

...... 39-40

...... 2

.._. 16-18

 37-38 

...... 31-40

...... 4-5

...... 21

 ... 16-17

.-... 18-19

17,18-19, 28

..__ 40

2

...... 18-19

.__ 7 

...... 2

...... 19,41

 ... 37,38

R

Radioactivity. See Uranium content. 

Resistates, in marine black shales...... 4,5

8

Sampled localities________________________________ 2,31-41

Sampling methods___________________________________ 6-7

Sapropelic organic matter, defined________________________ 6,22

derivation_____________________________________ 22-23

relation to uranium content and oil yield________________ 23,25-27

Senora formation, black shale units, analyses. _________________ 39

Shales in foreign countries.____________________________ 21-22

Sharon Springs member, Pierre shale______________________ 19,41

Shoal Creek limestone, black shale below__________________ 17-18,39

Page 

South Africa, oil shales...... ........ . 13,21

Specific gravity of oil, relation to hydrogen content 13

relation to oil recovery 13

relation to uranium content 12-14,15, 28

Stanton limestone, Eudora shale member 16

Summary_________..... 26-28

Sweden, alum shales 4,21-22

Tebo formation, black shale unit, analysis.. 39 

Torbanite oil shales, New South Wales, yield 6

U

Upper Devonian shales, analyses 37-38

Uranium, lateral distribution in black shales 4,8

methods of emplacement in marme black shales..___ . . 4-6,23-24

Uranium concentration, geochemistry.. 23-26

Uranium content, Albert formation 21

alum shales of Sweden 21

analyses_____ - 31-41

Antrim shale........... ............ .. - 14-15,37

black shale in Coffeyville formation... 40 

black shale in Fort Scott limestone . 16,39 

black shale in Lenapah limestone 16,39 

black shale in Pawnee limestone 16,39 

black shale in Phosphoria formation . 18-19,40 

black shale in Savanna formation 39 

black shale in Senora formation... 39 

black shales of Pennsylvanian age . 16-18,39-40 

Chattanooga shale____ - 8,15, 31-37,38 

Cherokee shale, uppermost black shale unit 17,39 

Devonian shales _ - 7-16,31-39 

Doublehorn shale member of Houy formation.... __ 16,38

Dunkirk shale member of Perrysburg formation 37-38 

Eudora shale member of Stanton limestone 16 

Green River formation. . 20,41 

Heebner shale member of Oread limestone. 16 

Houy formation___________ 16,38 

kolm from Cambrian shales of Sweden _ 4,21,22,24 

Maury formation. 33-35 

Ohio shale ._. .... - 37

Pipe Creek member of Hanover shale 37 

relation to carbon content...... . 11,15,16,21-22

relation to oil yield... - 8-10,14,15,18-19,21-22,25-26

relation to organic matter 4-5,23-28 

relation to phosphate content...... 4-5,16-17,18-19,28

relation to specific gravity of oil 12-14,15,28 

role of organic matter. 22-26 

shale above No. 2 coal, Carbondale group 17-18,39 

shales in foreign countries. _. 4,21-22 

Sharon Springs member of Pierre shale 19,41 

Shoal Creek limestone, shale below 17-18,39 

Woodford shale_-_____-- 15,16,38-39

W

Weathering, effect on oil yield and uranium content.. 7

Woodford shale, analyses 38-39

localities___-_ 2

relation of uranium content to oil yield and specific gravity of oil 16-16

o