Upper Ordovician Formations 

In the Maysville Area 

Kentucky

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 1244-B

Prepared in cooperation with the 

Kentucky Geological Survey

Upper Ordovician Formations 

In the Maysville Area 

Kentucky

By JOHN H. PECK

CONTRIBUTIONS TO STRATIGRAPHY

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 124 4-B

Prepared in cooperation with the 

Kentucky Geological Survey

UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE, WASHINGTON : 1966
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

STEWART L. UDALL, Secretary

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 

William T. Pecora, Director

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

Washington, D.C. 20402 - Price 20 cents (paper cover)
CONTENTS

Page

Abstract__ ______________________________________________________ Bl

Introduction._____________________________________________________ 1

Previous nomenclature _____________________________________________ 5

Fairview, Fairmount, and Mount Hope_______--______-___----___ 5

Covington, McMillan, Bellevue, Corryville, and Mount Auburn_____ 7

Arnheim, Sunset, and Oregonia__________________________---_____ 9

Waynesville, Liberty, Whitewater, and Elkhorn___________________ 10

Maysville and Richmond.______________________________________ 12

Summary____________________________________________________- 13

Present nomenclature.______-____-_-__-_____________-_____--------_ 13

Kope and Fairview Formations__________________________-_-----_ 13

Grant Lake Limestone--_--_--__-___________-_--_---__--_-_-_-- 14

Bull Fork Formation___________________________________________ 16

Preachersville Member of the Drakes Formation__________-__-_--_ 22

References cited.__________________________________________________ 29

MEASUKED SECTIONS

Page 

SECTION 1. Sleepy Hollow_--__-____--_-__-_______-___--_ B22

2. County line-___--______--____-_---__-___--_- 26

ILLUSTKATIONS

Page 

FIGURE 1. Index map____________________________________________ B2

2. Generalized stratigraphic section_ _________________________ 4

3. Nomenclature chart of Upper Ordovician rocks_____--------- 6

4. Sketch map showing location of type section of the Grant Lake

Limestone.___________________________________________ 15

5. Photograph showing contact of the Grant Lake Limestone and

the Fairview Formation________________________________ 17

6. Photograph showing contact of the Grant Lake Limestone

and the Bull Fork Formation. __________________________ 18

7. Sketch map showing location of type section of Bull Fork

Formation_ __________________________________________ 19

8. Photograph showing characteristic interbedding of fossiliferous

limestone and shale near middle of Bull Fork Formation--. 20

CONTRIBUTIONS TO STRATIGRAPHY

UPPER ORDOVICIAN FORMATIONS IN THE MAYSVILLE 

AREA, KENTUCKY

By JOHN H. PECK

ABSTRACT

Upper Ordovician strata in the Maysville area, Kentucky, are divided into 

five formations. The basal Kope Formation is overlain by the Fairview Formation. Above the Fairview are two newly defined map units, the Grant Lake 

Limestone and the overlying Bull Fork Formation. The Preachersville Member 

of the Drakes Formation overlies the Bull Fork.

The Kope Formation consists of gray calcareous shale with thin layers of 

interbedded fossiliferous limestone. It is about 270 feet thick in the Maysville 

area. The Fairview Formation consists of closely interbedded fossiliferous 

limestone, shale, and minor limy siltstone. It is about 85 feet thick near 

Maysville. The Grant Lake Limestone is chiefly gray rubbly-weathering irregularly thin bedded fosisiliferous and argillaceous limestone having irregular partings and seams of gray calcareous shale. The Grant Lake is 100-120 feet thick 

in the Maysville area.

The Bull Fork Formation consists of interbedded shale and limestone. Shale 

content increases from about 20 percent near the base to about 80 percent at the 

top. The shale is gray to greenish gray, calcareous, and locally fossiliferous. 

The limestone is chiefly gray, evenly thin to medium bedded, very fine to coarse 

grained, and very fossiliferous. The Bull Fork Formation is about 200 feet thick 

in the type area and thins southward.

The Preachersville Member of the Drakes Formation consists of grayish-green 

calcareous to dolomitic mudstone and minor dolomitic limestone and dolomite. 

It is about 25 feet thick near Maysville and thickens southward. It is the uppermost Ordovician unit on the east flank of the Cincinnati arch.

INTRODUCTION

Upper Ordovician rocks are exposed in the area of Maysville, Ky., 

on the east flank of the Cincinnati arch about 50 miles southeast of 

Cincinnati, Ohio (fig. 1). Geologic mapping at a scale of 1: 24,000 as 

part of a cooperative mapping program undertaken by the Kentucky 

Geological Survey and the U.S. Geological Survey has necessitated 

reexamination of and subsequent changes in the stratigraphic nomenBl
B2 CONTRIBUTIONS TO STRATIGRAPHY

MASON

Orangeburg / o Tollesboro

LEWIS

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NICHOLAS

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Sherburne /

Flemingsburg

FLEMING

Sunset

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_^ Mount o Howards Mill j 

Npl Sterling \

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/ INDIANA Cincinnati

\ | VGeorgetown,.

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! ^ /^Lexington0 ^ y~^^'~ ° Richmond \

KENTUCKY Berea ^

TENNESSEE"

FIGURE 1. Map of the Maysville area, Kentucky. Measured sections: 1, 

Sleepy Hollow; 2, County line.
UPPER ORDOVICTAN FORMATIONS, KENTUCKY B3

clature of Upper Ordovician rocks in Kentucky. This report outlines 

the history of the nomenclature and describes the character of the 

formations being mapped in the Maysville area. Two of these formations are defined and named herein.

Since early in this century, Maysville and Richmond have been used 

as formation, group, or stage terms for the upper two-thirds of the 

Upper Ordovician strata surrounding the Cincinnati arch. The 

nomenclature of Upper Ordovician strata of the Cincinnati arch was 

mainly established in the region of Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky surrounding Cincinnati. Stratigraphic units were defined and named 

in large part on the basis of their fossil content. Names of stratigraphic units defined in or near Cincinnati were later applied to rocks 

in the Maysville area largely by faunal correlations. Most of the 

earlier nomenclature in the Maysville area, therefore, cannot be used 

in the mapping of rock units on today's base maps.

The Upper Ordovician strata near Maysville are about 700 feet 

thick, consist largely of interbedded fossiliferous limestone and shale, 

and are divisible into five formations (fig. 2). The basal unit, the 

herein adopted Kope Formation, was recently named and defined 

(Weiss and Sweet, 1964) for rocks exposed at Maysville and nearby 

in Ohio. The Kope is about 270 feet thick near Maysville and consists 

of shale and a little interbedded limestone. The Fairview Formation, 

the one formation of the five whose type locality is in Cincinnati, consists of closely interbedded limestone and shale and is about 85 feet 

thick. The Grant Lake Limestone and Bull Fork Formation, defined 

herein, consist of 110 feet of irregularly bedded argillaceous limestone 

with minor shale and 200 feet of interbedded shale and limestone. 

The Preachersville Member of the Drakes Formation, which was recently named (Weir and others, 1965), consists of mudstone and minor 

interbedded dolomitic limestone and dolomite; it is about 25 feet 

thick near Maysville. The Preachersville Member is the uppermost 

unit of Ordovician strata in the Maysville area, as well as elsewhere 

along the east side of the Cincinnati arch.

F. A. Schilling, Jr., formerly with the U.S. Geological Survey, 

has gathered many of the data in this report. G. W. Weir and E. R. 

Cressman, of the U.S. Geological Survey, have made many suggestions, and data from their work on the Ordovician strata of the Cincinnati arch in Kentucky have helped to establish the units described 

herein.
B4 CONTRIBUTIONS TO STRATIGRAPHY

SYSTEM

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FORMATION

Preachersville 

Member of 

Drakes Formation

Bull Fork 

Formation

Grant Lake 

Limestone

Fairview 

Formation

LITHOLOGY

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THICKNESS, 

IN FEET

20- 

30

200

100 

120

80- 

90

DESCRIPTION

Mudstone, grayish-green, thin-bedded, 

limy to dolomitic; contains a few thin 

beds of argillaceous dolomitic limestone; few megafossils.

Interbedded shale and limestone. Shale 

content increases from about 20 percent at base to about 80 percent at 

top. Shale is gray to grayish green, 

thin bedded, fissile, and calcareous; 

in thin to thick sets separating beds 

of limestone. Limestone is gray, 

thin to medium bedded, even to irregular bedded, and chiefly fossil 

fragmental with a fine-grained matrix; 

some coarse-grained well-sorted limestone; some evenly fine grained limestone; minor limy siltstone; very 

fossiliferous

Limestone, rubbly-weathering, mottled 

gray and light-olive-gray, ve;y irregularly thin bedded; composed of 

jumbled whole fossils and fossil fragments in a fine-grained argillaceous 

limestone matrix; gray calcareous 

shale in partings and seams. Locally 

contains evenly thin to thick bedded 

fine- to coarse-grained well-sorted 

limestone and minor interbedded 

shale. Abundant fossils.

Interbedded limestone and shale. Limestone, gray, evenly thin to medium 

bedded, evenly fine grained, silty, and 

fossil fragmental. Shale, gray, thin 

bedded, fissile, calcareous; in partings 

and thin sets. Minor limy siltstone in 

upper part. Locally abundant fossils.

FIGURE 2. Generalized stratigraphic section of Upper Ordovician rocks 

above the Kope Formation in the Maysville area, Kentucky.
UPPER ORDOVICIAN FORMATIONS, KENTUCKY B5

PREVIOUS NOMENCLATURE

Stratigraphic nomenclature in the Cincinnati region has recently 

been reviewed by Gutstadt (1958, p. 518-521), Weiss and Norman 

(1960), and Fox (1962, p. 622-628). The following discussion includes only those Stratigraphic names which have been used in the 

Maysville area. Previous nomenclature of Upper Ordovician rocks 

above the Kope Formation in the Maysville area is shown in figure 3.

FAIRVIEW, FAIRMOUNT, AND MOUNT HOPE 

The Fairmount or Dekayia aspera beds were defined at Cincinnati 

by Nickles (1902, p. 78-82) as a subdivision of the Lorraine Group 

(Winchell and Ulrich, 1897, p. 102-103). The beds were characterized "by regular alternations of evenly-bedded, bluish limestones from 

2 to 6 inches thick, rarely more, and bluish or sometimes yellowish or 

brownish shales" (Nickles, 1902, p. 78). Limestone makes up at least 

one-third of the unit. The base of the Fairmount was placed at the 

horizon of Strophomena planaconvexa, "which has a very limited 

vertical range" (Nickles, 1902, p. 77). The upper contact was placed 

at the base of the thin shelly limestone of the Bellevue or Monticulipora molesta beds.

The Fairmount and the underlying Mount Hope or Amplecjopora 

septosabeds (Nickles, 1902, p. 76-78) were combined by Bassler (1906, 

p. 10) to form the Fairview Formation, named for Fairview Heights 

at Cincinnati. In defining the Fairview Formation, Bassler stated 

that the Mount Hope and Fairmount were so closely related f aunally 

and distinguished with such difficulty that they could not be mapped 

separately. The base of the Mount Hope and, thus, the base of the 

Fairview Formation was placed at a thick limestone layer containing 

a mass of fossils identified by Nickles (1902, p. 76) as chiefly Dalmanella multisecta. The faunally defined lower boundary of the 

Fairview Formation at Cincinnati is within a few feet of a lithologic 

boundary, and the Fairview Formation recently has been redefined 

and mapped as a rock-stratigraphic unit in the Cincinnati area (Ford, 

1965).

The following discussion of the Fairview Formation at Cincinnati 

is quoted from Ford's thesis (p. 16-29) :

* * * for the past 60 years the Fairview Formation has meant a rock sequence 

at Cincinnati with a faunally defined base, a loosely defined lithologic top and a 

poorly exposed and somewhat incomplete type section at Fairview Heights. * * * 

On the basis of the geologic mapping for this paper, the Fairview is here redefined as a rock-stratigraphic unit. It consists of an unbroken sequence of interbedded limestones and pelitic rock's in which no stratum is persistently thicker 

than 1.5 feet, and usually not more than 0.6 foot. * * * The base of the formation 

is at the base of the limestone overlying the last pelitic rock greater than 2 feet

223-643 O 66 2
xWeir andothers (1965) 

FIGURE 3. Nomenclature ofUpper Ordovician rocksabove theKope

Formation intheMaysville area, Kentucky.

Maysville division (1905)

Maysville (1912)

 >» R

Rich

Fairmount

Maysville

 > Bellevue J Corryville 

Maysville Group

Fairview 

Formation

Fairview

Fairmount

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McMillan 

Formation

Maysville

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 > Bellevue

McMillan

 f Corryville ->! 

I 1 =

Covington Group

Fairview 

Formation

Fairmount 

Member

» McMillan

Bellevue 

Member

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Formation

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UPPER OIRDOVICIAN FORMATIONS, KENTUCKY B7

in thickness. The uninterrupted close spacing of the limestone strata in the 

bulk of the formation is a significant intrinsic lithic property. The top of the 

formation is sharply defined at the top of a limestone underlying pelitic rocks 

which are more than 2 feet thick and which exhibit marked lithologic contrast. 

The Fairview Formation is exposed in its entirety along Clifton Avenue, Cincinnati, in the south- and west-facing cliff below Bellevue Park. This is the type 

section of the Fairview Formation as redefined. It is 108 feet thick. The base 

of the redefined formation lies some 8 to 10 feet below Nickles' Mount Hope * * * 

In Boone, Kenton and Campbell counties, Kentucky, just 'south of the Ohio River, 

the Miamitown Shale is not identifiable * * * There the Fairview rocks grade 

upward into overlying shelly limestones with no distinctive pelitic break between 

the two.

The names Fairview Formation, Mount Hope, and Fair-mount have 

been applied to rocks in the Maysville area that are approximately 

time equivalent to all or part of the Fairview Formation at Cincinnati 

but that are only in part similar lithologically. The closely interbedded limestone and shale characteristic of the Fairview Formation 

at Cincinnati occur at Maysville only in the Fairmount of McFarlan 

and Nosow (1961, p. 278) and the Fairmount Member plus part of the 

Bellevue Member of the McMillan Formation, as used by Carpenter 

and Ory (1961, p. 374-376).

Kocks designated at Maysville as the Mount Hope Member of the 

Fairview Formation by Carpenter and Ory (1961, p. 374) and McFarlan and Nosow (1961, p. 278) are lithologically unlike the typical 

Fairview and have been included in the Kope Formation by Weiss and 

Sweet (1964, p. 1296). The name Fairview Formation is retained in 

the Maysville area for the rock unit characterized by lithology similar 

to that of the Fairview Formation mapped by Ford at Cincinnati. 

The names Mount Hope and Fairmount are not appropriate for rock 

units at Maysville.

COVINGTON, McMILLAN, BELLEVUE, CORBYVILLE, AND MOUNT

AUBURN

Nickles (1902, p. 82-83) gave the name Bellevue or Monticulipora 

molesta beds to about 20 feet of rock immediately above the Fairmount 

beds at Clifton Avenue, Cincinnati. The Bellevue consists of about 

15 feet of thin shelly limestone overlain by about 5 feet of interbedded 

limestone and shale "considerably different lithologically and somewhat faunally" (p. 82). Nickles included these upper 5 feet of beds 

in the Bellevue because they contained Monticulipora molesta, which 

was absent in the overlying division, the Corryville or Chiloporella 

nicholsoni beds. Thus, by definition, the Bellevue consists of rocks of 

two different lithologies, and its upper boundary was placed at the 

highest occurrence of M. molesta.
B8 CONTRIBUTIONS TO STRATIGRAPHY

The Corryville or CMloporella niclwlsoni beds were named at Cincinnati and consist of about 60 feet of shale and interbedded limestone 

(Nickles, 1902, p. 83). Nickles' description follows: "In this division the limestones are thinner and less frequent than in the quarry 

beds [Fairmount] and the shales more yellowish. Blue shale also 

occurs."

The next higher division, the Mount Auburn or Platystrophia lynx 

(P. ponderosa Foerste) beds, consists of about 20 feet of "mainly blue 

shale, though sometimes yellowish in exposure, with some rather 

irregularly bedded limestone" (Nickles, 1902, p. 85-86). The boundary between the Corryville and Mount Auburn beds was presumably 

identified on faunal criteria. The upper boundary of the Mount 

Auburn beds was based on the highest occurrence of Platystrophia 

ponderosa, for Nickles (p. 86) stated that the "Mount Auburn beds 

pass with little distinction into the next series of beds."

Bassler (1906, p. 10) designated the Bellevue, Corryville, and Mount 

Auburn as members of a new unit, the McMillan Formation, named 

for McMillan Avenue, Cincinnati. No description of the McMillan 

Formation or its boundaries was given. At the same time, Bassler 

(p. 9) defined his Covington Group, named for Covington, Ky., which 

included all strata in the Cincinnati area between the top of the 

Trenton and the top of the McMillan.

The upper boundary of the McMillan Formation and Covington 

Group in the Cincinnati area occurs within a thick succession of shale 

having moderate amounts of interbedded limestone. Caster, Dalve, 

and Pope (1961, p. 18) stated that no significant change occurs "in the 

lithological character from Maysville deposits (Mount Auburn) to 

the Richmondian (Arnheim). However, the base of the Richmond is 

defined by the appearance of the remains of many new animals even 

though many characteristic Maysville fossils persist to the top of the 

Lower Arnheim * * *." In outcrops where the boundary is exposed, 

such as those along Westwood-Northern Boulevard in western Cincinnati, at Mount Airy in northwestern Cincinnati, at the crossing of 

Interstate Route 75 and the New York Central Railroad near Maud, 

Ohio (see also Shaver and others, 1961, p. 36-39), and along Stonelick 

Creek near Newtonsville, Ohio, no lithologic break is apparent between 

the McMillan Formation and overlying rocks. The name McMillan, 

therefore, seems inadequate as a rock-stratigraphic term because a 

lithologically definable upper boundary is not present in the type area. 

The same conclusion was also reached by J. P. Ford (written commun., 

1965).

The names Covington Group, McMillan Formation, and Bellevue, 

Corryville, and Mount Auburn Members have previously been applied
UPPER ORDOVICIAN FORMATIONS, KENTUCKY B9

to rocks in the Maysville area (see fig. 3), but workers have shown 

little agreement on the placement of formation and member boundaries 

in the same exposure at Maysville (McFarlan and Nosow, 1961, p. 

278-279; Carpenter and Ory, 1961). The rocks previously called McMillan at Maysville are dominantly irregularly thin bedded argillaceous limestone having little shale. The greater part of the McMillan-type rocks at Cincinnati are shale and thin interbedded limestone, very similar to rocks overlying the so-called McMillan at Maysville. The recognition of the Covington Group and of the McMillan 

Formation and its members at Maysville was primarily based on the 

similarity of faunal characteristics between the rocks at Maysville and 

those at Cincinnati. Thus, the names Covington, McMillan, Bellevue, 

Corryville, and Mount Auburn have been used to show time or f aunal 

equivalence to units largely defined on f aunal characteristics at Cincinnati, and these names are inappropriate for lithologic divisions in the 

Maysville area.

ARNHEIM, SUNSET, AND OREGONIA

Nickles (1902, p. 86-87) defined the Warren or Homotrypa, Ixxssleri 

beds and stated, "Limestone is not very abundant in the beds under 

consideration, whose thickness is about 80 feet. The intercalated 

shales are of a dark bluish color, rather marly." The Warren beds 

were named for Warren County, Ohio, and overlie the Mount Auburn 

beds; little or no lithologic distinction is recognized between the two 

divisions. Foerste (1905, p. 150) proposed the name Arnheim as a 

substitute for Warren, which was preoccupied. The Arnheim bed was 

named for Arnheim, Brown County, Ohio, which is near Foerste's 

designated type section along Straight Creek. Foerste stated that 

"the top of the Arnheim bed consists of the nodular clay layer so 

characteristic of the exposures of this bed in Warren County, Ohio. 

The base of the Arnheim bed is a considerable distance down the 

stream, where it rests upon the top of the Mount Auburn bed, which 

contains an abundance of Platystrophia lynx at the top. The thickness of the Arnheim bed is estimated approximately at 63 feet."

Foerste (1910, p. 18-19) divided the Arnheim into two units, the 

lower Sunset division and upper Oregonia division. Later Foerste 

(1912) ranked the Arnheim as a formation; most later writers (Wolford, 1930, p. 303; Flower, 1946, p. 112) considered the Sunset and 

Oregonia to be of member rank. The Sunset division was named for 

Sunset, Fleming County, Ky. (see fig. 1). The type section was 

described by Foerste (1912, p. 432) as being 13 feet thick and consisting 

of "a rather uniform section of dense, argillaceous, dark blue limestone,
BIO CONTRIBUTIONS TO STRATIGRAPHY

nearly unfossiliferous, but containing a few specimens of Plafystrophia ponderosa about 3 feet below the top."

The Oregonia division was named for Oregonia, Warren County, 

Ohio. Foerste (1912, p. 441) described a measured section at Oregonia 

that contains about 38 feet of rubble clay rock capped by 5 feet of massive nodular argillaceous limestone that yielded one specimen of 

Strophomena cdncordensis. According to Foerste (p. 430) the separation and identification of his two members of the Arnheim Formation 

was "due largely to the fact that the Oregonia division includes a 

characteristic fauna; * * * Dinorthis ca-rleyi, Rhynchotrema dentata 

var., Leptaena richmondensis var., and Platystrophia ponderosa." 

The top of the Arnheim Formation in Ohio was placed at the top of a 

nodular argillaceous limestone containing Strophomena concordensis 

(Foerste, 1912, p. 443-445).

The Sunset and Oregonia divisions of the Arnheim Formation were 

identified by Foerste (1912, p. 442-443) in a measured section 3 miles 

south of Maysville. These divisions had a similar lithology, interbedded limestone and shale, and were separated on the basis of fossils 

characteristic of the Oregonia division in the upper 28 feet of the 46- 

foot section. The top of the Arnheim was placed at the horizon of 

Strophomena concordensis, in limestone which is "difficult to distinguish lithologically from the overlying Waynesville section" (Foerste, 

1912, p. 444).

McFarlan and Nosow (1961, p. 278-279) identified Foerste's Sunset 

at Maysville by faunal criteria but included the Sunset in the McMillan. The lithology characteristic of the Sunset division in its type 

locality is not present at Maysville and appears restricted to a small 

area in Fleming, Bath, and Montgomery Counties, Ky.

The Arnheim Formation as previously identified in the Maysville 

area by Foerste (1912, p. 442-443), Dunn and Wolford (1930), and 

Palmquist and Hall (I960) was primarily identified by its faunal 

characteristics. Lithologically, the interbedded limestone and shale of 

this Arnheim is indistinguishable from the overlying strata. The 

names Arnheim, Sunset, and Oregonia are, therefore, inappropriate 

for rock units in the Maysville area.

WAYNESVILLE, LIBERTY, WHITEWATEB, AND ELKHORN

Nickles (1903, p. 205-207) proposed the name Waynesville or Bythopora meeki beds for about 50 feet of strata overlying his Warren beds 

(Arnheim). The Waynesville was named for Waynesville, Warren 

County, Ohio, and according to Nickles (p. 205) contained "some good 

limestone layers, 2 to 5 inches thick, * * * and a large amount of clay 

and clay shale." No explicit definition of the lower boundary was
UPPER ORDOVICIAN FORMATIONS, KENTUCKY Bll

given, but Nickles (p. 206) stated that in the "lowest layers Dalmanella 

jugosa (James), or a small variety of it, is very abundant."

The 35 feet of strata above the Waynesville beds was named the 

Liberty or Stroph&mena. planuniborui beds (Nickles, 1903, p. 207-208) 

for Liberty, Ind. The Liberty was described by Nickles (p. 207) as 

"even-bedded limestones averaging 3 inches in thickness, prevailingly 

blue in color, with clayey and shaley layers intervening, which are also 

usually blue in color." Nickles (p. 207) stated that the "first appearance of Hebertella- insculpta (Hall) is considered to mark the beginning of this formation." Concerning the upper boundary, Nickles 

(p. 207) said that "these beds pass rather gradually into the next division on the west side of the [Cincinnati] uplift. On the east side a 

layer in which Streptelasma msticurri (Billings) is very abundant 

marks about this horizon and may be considered the upper boundary."

The Whitewater or Hanwtrypa mortheni beds were named by 

Nickles (1903, p. 208-209) for rocks above the Liberty beds; these 

rocks were exposed in the banks of the Whitewater River near Richmond, Ind. Nickles' description follows: "In this division the strata 

usually present a roughish, concretionary, nodular appearance, both 

the limestone and the shale. The color is usually brownish or yellowish, though at some localities bluish. The limestone layers, often more 

or less impure, are seldom over 2 inches thick and generally less. The 

thickness of this division is from 45 to 50 feet." Hom-otrypa, wortheni 

was considered the characteristic fossil for the Wllitewater although 

numerous other forms were listed (Nickles, 1903, p. 209).

Cumings (1908, p. 678) named the Elkhorn division or Platystrophia 

lynx trwritura zone for about 50 feet of strata overlying the Whitewater beds and overlain by the Clinton (Brassfield). The type section 

is located along Elkhorn Creek southeast of Richmond, Ind. Cumings 

(1922, p. 438) gave this description of the type section: "at the top is 

a bed of soft clay-shale 4 feet thick, underlain by 6 feet of hard brownish limestone layers abounding in the brachiopods Platystiwphw m,oritura and Hebertella smuata. Below this come 25 feet of blocky, 

arenaceous limestone, underlain in turn by 15 feet of very soft blue, 

barren shale. Beneath this occur the lumpy Whitewater limestones 

abounding in Rliynchotrem-a dentata-.^

In the Maysville area, a thick sequence of interbedded shale and 

limestone overlain by a thin predominantly muclstone unit has previously been divided into units called Arnheim, Waynesville, Liberty, 

and Whitewater-Elkhorn by Dunn and Wolford (1930) and Palmquist and Hall (1960, sheet 3). (See fig. 3.) A recognizable and mappable lithologic break occurs about 25 feet below the base of the
B12 CONTRIBUTIONS TO STRATIGRAPHY

Brassfield Formation within Dunn and Wolford's Whitewater-Elkliorn. The mudstone unit above this contact is lithologically unlike 

the typical Elkhorn lithology described previously. The rock below 

the contact is also unlike typical Elkhorn. McFarlan (1943, p. 33) 

did not recognize Elkhorn strata in Kentucky. The lumpy, nodular, 

or concretionary limestone characteristic of the Whitewater at the 

type locality is not present in the Maysville area. In this area, the 

boundaries separating the Arnheim and Waynesville, the Waynesville 

and Liberty, and the Liberty and Whitewater-Elkhorn have been 

placed at f aunal breaks in the rock sequence. These f aunal boundaries 

do not occur at recognizable lithologic breaks. The names Waynesville, Liberty, Whitewater, and Elkhorn, therefore, are inappropriate 

for rock-stratigraphic units in the Maysville area.

MAYSVILLE AND RICHMOND

Winchell and Ulrich (1897, p. 101-103) divided the rocks of the 

Cincinnati "period" into three groups, in ascending order, the Utica, 

the Lorraine, and the Eichmond. The Utica and Lorraine Groups 

were considered equivalent to units of the same names in New York 

State. The Kichmond Group was named for Eichmond, Ind., and 

included the rocks previously called Lebanon beds (Orton, 1873, p. 

371), the name Lebanon being preoccupied. Nickles (1902, p. 75) 

divided the Lorraine Group at Cincinnati into six series of beds. The 

base of the Lorraine was considered to be at the base of the Mount 

Hope or Amplexopora septosa beds, and the boundary between the 

Lorraine and Richmond Groups was considered to be at the top of the 

Warren or Homotrypa bassleri beds (Nickles, 1903, p. 75).

Foerste (1905, p. 150) proposed the name Maysville to replace 

Lorraine for strata at Cincinnati because the fauna of the Cincinnati 

rocks was different from that of the typical Lorraine in New York. 

The type section of the Maysville is a series of exposures along the 

Louisville and Nashville Eailroad south of Maysville. Foerste 

(p. 150) stated that this "series of exposures gives a complete section 

of all the subdivisions of the Maysville division, from the Mount Hope 

bed to the top of the bed formerly known as Warren." At Maysville, 

the base of the Maysville division as defined by Foerste occurs within 

a thick unit of shale and some interbedded limestone. The lower 

boundary does not occur at a lithologic break but was placed at a f aunal 

horizon considered equivalent to the base of the Mount Hope at 

Cincinnati. Subsequent workers in the Maysville area have shown 

little agreement on the placement of the lower boundary of the Maysville Group, as it is presently known. The boundary indicated by 

McFarlan and Nosow (1961, p. 278) and that indicated by Carpenter
UPPER ORDOVICIAN FORMATIONS, KENTUCKY B13

and Ory (1961, p. 373-374) differed by more than 100 feet in the same 

section at Maysville. Both boundaries were placed on the basis of 

faunal criteria; McFarlan and Nosow used megafossi]s, whereas 

Carpenter and Ory used microfossils as well. Neither boundary coincides with a recognizable lithologic break.

The boundary between the Maysville division and the Richmond 

division was originally placed at the top of the Warren or Arnheim 

bed (Foerste, 1905, p. 150). Subsequently, Bassler (1906, p. 8) and 

Foerste (1909, p. 297) included the Arnheim in the Eichmond Group. 

McFarlan and Nosow (1961, p. 279) considered the top of the Sunset as 

the upper boundary of the Maysville. Eegardless of whether the 

boundary between the Maysville and Richmond Groups is placed at 

the base, within, or at the top of the Arnheim, its position depends on 

the recognition of fossils considered characteristic of each unit. Lithology has not been used as a criterion for separation.

The names Maysville and Richmond have been used (Twenhofel 

and others, 1954, chart 2) as time-stratigraphic terms (stages) as well 

as rock-stratigraphic terms (group). The terms were used as stage 

names (Sweet and others, 1959, p. 1030), and rocks were referred to 

the Richmondian and Maysvillian Stages (Hattin and others, 1961, 

p. 300). Whatever the suitability of the names Maysville and Richmond for time-stratigraphic units, they are inappropriate as rockstratigraphic units in the Maysville area.

SUMMARY

The divisions of Upper Ordovician rocks above the Kope Formation in the Maysville area were primarily identified by early geologists 

on the basis of their faunal characteristics. These units are approximately time equivalent to divisions of Upper Ordovician rocks in the 

Cincinnati and Richmond areas. The previous nomenclature is inadequate for the lithologic divisions of the rock sequence in the 

Maysville area. The names Richmond, Maysville, Covington, Mount 

Hope, Fairmount, McMillan, Bellevue, Corryville, Mount Auburn, 

Arnheim, Sunset, Oregonia, Waynesville, Liberty, Whitewater and 

Elkhorn are inappropriate for rock-stratigraphic units at Maysville. 

The name Fairview Formation is retained for a rock unit similar in 

lithology to the Fairview Formation at Cincinnati.

PRESENT NOMENCLATURE 

KOPE AND FAIRVIEW FORMATIONS

The Kope Formation was named by Weiss and Sweet (1964) and 

is used in the Maysville area as they defined it. It conformably overlies the Point Pleasant Formation, as used by Weiss and Sweet (p.

223-643 O 66 3
B14 CONTRIBUTIONS TO STRATIGRAPHY

1301), which is considered of Middle Ordovician age by most workers. 

(See Weiss and Norman, 1960, pi. 1.)

The Kope consists of shale and a little interbedded limestone. 

Shale, which makes up 70-80 percent of the formation, is mainly gray, 

thin bedded, silty, and calcareous. Limestone is chiefly gray, very 

fine to coarse grained, poorly to well sorted, locally argillaceous to 

silty, and fossiliferous. It occurs in single thin to medium beds separated by variable thicknesses of shale. The Kope is about 270 feet 

thick in the Maysville area.

The Fairview Formation conformably overlies the Kope. It consists of closely interbedded limestone and shale and minor limy siltstone. Limestone, which makes up 50-60 percent of the formation, is 

mainly gray and chiefly of two types. Medium- to coarse-grained 

fossil fragmental limestone is dominant in the lower part. Finegrained even-textured silty limestone containing few fossils is dominant in the upper part. Limestone is generally in even, thin to 

medium beds.

Shale makes up about 35-40 percent of the formation, is chiefly 

medium gray, calcareous, and silty, and occurs as partings and thin 

beds separating limestone beds. Limy siltstone makes up about 5-15 

percent of the formation. The siltstone is mainly light olive gray 

and evenly thin to medium bedded, but bedding is contorted locally 

and forms "flow rolls." Siltstone is most abundant in the upper half 

of the formation.

The contact between the Kope and Fairview is placed at the base 

of the closely spaced limestone and shale. The contact is locally sharp, 

but regionally the lithology of the two formations is transitional.

The Fairview as used here follows Ford's usage at Cincinnati (Ford, 

1965, p. 15-21). It is the Fairmount as used by McFarlan and 

Nosow (1961, p. 280) and the Fairmount plus a few feet of the McMillan Formation as used by Carpenter and Ory (1961, p. 37^376). 

(Seefig. 3.)

GRANT LAKE LIMESTONE

The Grant Lake Limestone is here named for Grant Lake, which is 

about 2.8 miles west-northwest of Orangeburg, Mason County, Ky. 

The type section (measured section 1) was described from roadcuts 

along Kentucky Route 1449 about 4 miles north-northwest of Orangeburg (fig. 4).

The Grant Lake is chiefly irregularly bedded argillaceous limestone 

and minor interbedded shale. Limestone, which makes up 70-90 

percent of the formation, is mainly medium to light gray and has
UPPER OIRDOVICTAN FORMATIONS, KENTUCKY B15

-Line of section, chevrons 

point stratigraphically 

upward

\\

D\\

ORANGEBURG \\ 

3.8 MILES \

1000 2000 FEET

FIGURE 4. Type section of the Grant Lake Limestone.
B16 CONTRIBUTIONS TO STRATIGRAPHY

light-olive-gray mottling. The dominant type of limestone consists 

of a micrograined to medium-grained poorly sorted argillaceous limestone matrix surrounding jumbled large fossil fragments and whole 

fossils. The beds are thin, very irregular, and rubbly weathering. 

Thin- to thick-bedded fine- to coarse-grained well-sorted clastic limestone in even beds occurs locally. Gray calcareous shale occurs as 

irregular partings and thin beds separating limestone layers.

The Grant Lake is very fossiliferous throughout. Brachiopods and 

bryozoans are the most abundant and conspicuous faunal elements, 

but pelecypods, gastropods, cephalopods, trilobites, crinoids, and 

ostracodes occur locally.

The Grant Lake is relatively resistant to erosion and forms 

moderately steep slopes. Weathering of the limestone produces a 

distinctive rubble of rounded cobble-size fragments and a litter of 

fossil fragments. The Grant Lake Limestone is transitional into the 

underlying Fairview Formation (fig. 5). The contact is placed so as 

to separate alternating planar beds of limestone and shale of the 

Fairview Formation from irregularly bedded poorly sorted argillaceous limestone of the Grant Lake. The upper contact of the Grant 

Lake is sharp in some places (fig. 6), but the lithology is transitional 

in others. The contact is placed so as to separate rubbly argillaceous 

limestone of the Grant Lake from alternating limestone and shale of 

the Bull Fork Formation.

The Grant Lake has been mapped in Mason, Lewis, and Fleming 

Counties and has been recognized in exposures from Georgetown, Ohio, 

to Howards Mill, Ky. The formation is about 110 feet thick in its 

type locality. Between Sherburne and Mount Sterling, Ky., the lower 

part of the Grant Lake grades laterally to interbedded limestone and 

shale of the Galloway Creek Limestone and limy mudstone of the Tate 

Member of the Ashlock Formation (Weir and others, 1965). The 

upper part of the Grant Lake extends southwestward to near Richmond, Ky., where it grades laterally to limy mudstone of the Tate 

Member, micrograined limestone of the Gilbert Member, and nodular 

limy siltstone and silty limestone of the Stingy Creek Member of the 

Ashlock Formation (Weir and others, 1965). Previous workers have 

correlated the beds here included in the Grant Lake Limestone with the 

McMillan Formation of the Cincinnati area (Palmquist and Hall, 

1960; McFarlan and Nosow, 1961; Carpenter and Ory, 1961).

BULL FORK FORMATION

The Bull Fork Formation is here named for Bull Fork Creek, a 

tributary of the Ohio River heading near Plumville, Mason County, 

Ky. The type section (measured section 2) was described from road-
UPPER QRDOVICIAN FORMATIONS, KENTUCKY B17

FIGURE 5. Contact of the Grant Lake Limestone (Ogl) and the Fairview Formation (Of). Evenly bedded limestone and interbedded shale characteristic 

of the Fairview is overlain by irregularly thin bedded argillaceous limestone 

characteristic of the Grant Lake. The lithology is somewhat transitional here. 

A 5-foot Jacob staff is shown for scale. Roadcut on Kentucky Route 10 

about 1.5 miles northwest of Mavsville.
B18 CONTRIBUTIONS TO STRATIGRAPHY

FIGURE 6. Contact of the Grant Lake Limestone (Ogl) and the Bull Fork Formation (Ob). The very irregularly bedded argillaceous limestone is characteristic of the upper part of the Grant Lake. The basal Bull Fork has more 

evenly bedded limestone and thin interbeds of shale. Type section of the 

Grant Lake, roadcut on Kentucky Route 1449, 1.3 miles south of the junction 

with Kentucky Route 10. A 5-foot Jacob staff is shown for scale.

cuts along the east side of Kentucky Koute 1443, about 1.9 miles east 

of Springdale, Ky. (fig. 7).

The Bull Fork Formation is composed of alternating shale and 

limestone, the shale content gradually increasing from about 20 percent of the formation near the base to about 80 percent near the top. 

The characteristic appearance of the formation in roadcuts is shown 

in figure 8. Shale is medium gray, grading to grayish green in the 

upper part, is calcareous, plastic when wet, thin bedded, fissile to 

poorly fissile, and obscurely laminated. Shale occurs as thin partings 

and seams, and as sets from 1 inch to 4 feet thick between limestone 

beds. Locally, shale grades laterally to obscurely 'bedded calcareous 

mudstone or to nodular argillaceous limestone.
UPPE.R ORDOVICIAN FORMATIONS, KENTUCKY B19

Line of section, chevrons 

point stratigraphically 

upward

1000 2000 FEET

Bethany 

Church

FIGURE 7. Type section of the Bull Fork Formation.

Limestone of the Bull Fork Formation consists mainly of three 

types. The most common type, which makes up 50-70 percent of the 

limestone, is mainly gray, has some olive-gray to greenish-gray mottling, and has a fair- to well-sorted very fine to medium-grained 

matrix enclosing medium to very coarse fossil fragments that are 

oriented subparallel to the bedding. In many places this type of 

limestone contains pods and stringers of argillaceous material. Bedding is even to irregular, and beds range in thickness from 1 to 8 

inches and average about 4 inches. Large ripple marks occur locally 

on the upper surfaces of beds.
B20 CONTRIBUTIONS TO STRATIGRAPHY

FIGURE 8. Characteristic interbedding of fossiliferous limestone and shale near 

middle of the Bull Fork Formation. Limestone beds are even to slightly 

irregular in thickness. Roadcut 0.6 mile southeast of Oakley on the road 

between Oakley and Wyoming, Ky.

The second type of limestone makes up 5-40 percent of the overall 

limestone content of the formation and increases in abundance southward from Flemingsburg toward the Mount Sterling area. This 

limestone is mainly olive gray, microgranular, and even textured and 

contains sparse fossil fragments. Locally ostracodes are common. In 

many places the limestone contains fine filaments and specks of carbonaceous material. The even bedding is smooth and undulatory. 

Beds range in thickness from 1 to 18 inches but are generally about 6 

inches thick.
UPPER ORDOVICIAN FORMATIONS, KENTUCKY

The third type makes up 5-30 percent of the limestone of the Bull 

Fork Formation and decreases in abundance southward from the Ohio 

River. Limestone of this type is medium to bluish gray, fine to coarse 

grained, well sorted, and may be slightly phosphatic. It is composed 

dominantly of closely packed grains of fossil debris cemented by 

crystalline calcite. The limestone is evenly bedded to crossbedded at 

low angles. Beds range from 2 to 18 inches in thickness; thin crossbeds occur in sets as much as 2 feet thick. This type of limestone is 

relatively resistant and commonly forms ledgy outcrops.

Lime mudstone, limy siltstone, and other diverse types of limestone 

are minor local constituents of the Bull Fork. The formation is very 

fossiliferous. Brachiopods and bryozoans are the most conspicuous 

faunal elements, but corals (both solitary and colonial), trilobites, 

pelecypods, gastropods, cephalopods, crinoids, and ostracodes are 

locally abundant. In the type area, a zone of abundant rugose corals 

is present near the middle of the formation. The top of the zone 

occurs about 100-115 feet above the base of the formation and locally 

is a useful horizon marker for mapping.

The Bull Fork Formation is generally nonresistant; it crops out 

poorly and forms moderate slopes on which lies an abundance of slabby 

limestone float. In the upper part, thick sets of shale weather to 

produce a poor, fluffy clay soil that supports little vegetation.

At the time of this writing (1965), the type section of the Bull 

Fork Formation has slumped badly, and some parts previously exposed are now covered. Discontinuous exposures, however, in the bed 

of the East Fork of Cabin Creek (Tollesboro quadrangle, Kentucky) 

and along the larger branches of Crooked Creek (Manchester Islands 

quadrangle, Kentucky) provide good examples of the lithology characteristic of the Bull Fork Formation in the type area.

The lithology of the Bull Fork Formation is transitional with the 

mudstone and minor interbedded dolomitic limestone and dolomite 

of the overlying Preachersville Member of the Drakes Formation 

(Weir and others, 1965). The upper contact is placed at the top of 

the highest persistent fossiliferous limestone.

The Bull Fork Formation has been mapped in parts of Mason, 

Lewis, and Fleming Counties and has been recognized in exposures 

south as far as Howards Mill. The Bull Fork is about 200 feet thick in 

the type area and thins to the south. Previous workers have correlated 

the beds here included in the Bull Fork Formation with the upper 

part of the McMillan Formation (McFaiian and Nosow, 1961, p. 278-
B22 CONTRIBUTIONS TO STRATIGRAPHY

279), the Arnheim, Waynesville, and Liberty Formations, and all or 

part of the Whitewater Formation of Ohio and Indiana (Foerste, 

1912; Dunn and Wolford, 1930; Palmquist and Hall, 1960).

PREACHERSVILLE MEMBER OF THE DRAKES FORMATION

The Drakes Formation and the Preachersville Member were named 

and defined by Weir, Greene, and Simmons (1965) in south-central 

Kentucky. Measured sections between the type locality and the Maysville area indicate that Preachersville as used here is a northern extension of the upper part of the Preachersville Member in its type area.

The Preachersville Member in the Maysville area consists of calcareous to dolomitic mudstone and minor interbedded dolomitic limestone and dolomite. Mudstone makes up about 90 percent of the 

formation, is chiefly grayish green but locally reddish purple near 

the top, thin bedded, fissile to blocky, and locally silty. Dolomitic 

limestone and dolomite are gray to brown, fine to medium grained, 

argillaceous to silty, and occur as thin lenses and irregular beds. 

Megafossils are sparse, and those present are fragmented and poorly 

preserved.

Near Maysville the Preachersville Member is 25-30 feet thick, and 

it increases in thickness southward. The Brassfield Formation of 

Early Silurian age overlies the Preachersville. In the Maysville area 

the contact between the Preachersville and Brassfield appears conformable, and locally the lithology is transitional between the two.

MEASURED SECTIONS

SECTION 1. Sleepy Hollow

[Type section of Grant Lake Limestone and representative section of Fairview Formation 

in Maysville area. Section measured in roadcuts along Kentucky Route 1449, beginning 

about 0.7 mile south of the junction with Kentucky Route 10, Mason County, Ky. 

(Maysville East and Orangeburg quadrangles, see fig. 4). Base of section at E. 2,152,100 ; 

N. 410,450 (10,000-ft grid based on Kentucky coordinate system, north zone). Measured 

with Abney level and Jacob staff by F. A. Schilling, Jr., and J. H. Peck, June 1963 ; 

additional description by J. H. Peck, March 1965]

Thickness 

(feet)

Bull Fork Formation (incomplete):

13. Limestone (70 percent) interbedded with shale (29 percent) and 

limy siltstone (1 percent). Limestone of two types. Dominant 

type medium light gray (N 6) * to medium bluish gray (55 5/1);

Color names and numbers based on rock color chart by Ooddard and others (1948).
UPPER ORDOVICIAN FORMATIONS, KENTUCKY B23

Thickness 

(feet)

Bull Pork Formation Continued

weathers grayish orange (10F.R 7/4); contains closely packed 

fossil fragments in a fine- to medium-grained limestone matrix; 

in even to slightly irregular thin to medium beds; abundant 

brachiopods and bryozoans. Minor limestone is medium light 

gray to light bluish gray (5B 7/1); weathers light olive gray 

(5Y 6/1) to grayish orange; fine to coarse grained; well sorted; 

in thin even beds. Shale medium dark gray (N 4); weathers 

dusky yellow (5 Y 6/4); fissile; calcareous; in thin sets and partings. Limy siltstone light olive gray; weathers yellowish grav 

(5Y 7/2); in very thin lenses and beds, and as thin sheaths on 

limestone. Unit relatively nonresistant; not measured, about 

10 ft exposed. 

Grant Lake Limestone:

12. Limestone (95 percent) interbedded with shale (5 percent). Limestone rubbly weathering and mottled medium dark gray (N 4) 

and light olive gray (5Y 6/1); weathers light gray (N 7) to 

yellowish gray (5 Y 6/1); composed of jumbled whole fossils and 

fossil fragments in a fine-grained argillaceous limestone matrix 

that makes up 50 percent or more of the rock; in very thin very 

irregular rough-surfaced beds and discontinuous lenses and 

nodules; called rubbly and argillaceous limestone in remainder of 

section; very abundant brachiopods and bryozoans; pelecypods 

locally. Minor fine-grained even-textured limestone in thin even 

beds. Shale medium dark gray; weathers light gray; fissile; 

calcareous; in irregular and discontinuous partings and seams. 

Unit resistant; well exposed. _______________________________ 19

11. Limestone (85 percent) interbedded with shale (15 percent). 

Limestone of three types in about equal abundance. Type 1 

rubbly and argillaceous limestone. Type 2 medium gray (N 5); 

weathers medium gray to yellowish gray (5Y 7/2); fine grained; 

well sorted; called fine-grained limestone in remainder of section; 

laminated to locally cross laminated; evenly thin to medium 

bedded; few megafossils. Type 3 medium gray; weathers 

yellowish gray to grayish orange (10 YR 7/4); composed of 

closely packed coarse fossil fragments cemented with coarsely to 

medium-crystalline calcite; small amounts of fine-grained matrix; local argillaceous inclusions; evenly thin to medium bedded; 

abundant brachiopods and bryozoans. Shale, like that in unit 

12, as partings and sets as much as 2 in. thick. Unit resistant; 

well exposed,_____________________________________________ 3

10. Covered.__________________________________________________ 13
B24 CONTRIBUTIONS TO STRATIGRAPHY

Thickness

(feet) 

Grant Lake Limestone Continued

9. Limestone (85 percent) interbedded with shale (15 percent). 

Limestone of three types. Type 1 (50 percent of limestone) 

medium light gray (N 6), some grayish green (5GY 6/1) mottling; 

weathers grayish orange (10F.R 7/4); composed of closely packed 

whole fossils and fossil fragments in a fine- to medium-grained 

limestone matrix; locally argillaceous; abundant brachiopods 

and bryozoans. Type 2 (40 percent of limestone) medium 

light gray to medium bluish gray (5B 5/1), weathers same to 

grayish orange; coarse grained; fair to well sorted; cemented 

with sparry calcite; grains chiefly of worn fossil fragments; may 

be slightly phosphatic; called coarse-grained limestone in remainder of section; abundant brachiopods, bryozoans, and 

crinoid columnals. Type 3 (10 percent of limestone) medium 

bluish gray, silty, and fine grained. All limestones chiefly 

evenly thin to medium bedded; a few beds irregular. Shale 

medium gray (N 5); weathers yellowish gray (5F 7/2); fissile; 

calcareous; as partings and sets as much as 3 in. thick. Unit 

relatively nonresistant; poorly exposed_______________________ 15

8. Limestone (95 percent) interbedded with shale (5 percent). Limestone of three types in about equal abundance: Type 1 medium 

light gray and coarse grained; abundant brachiopod and bryozoan fragments. Type 2 rubbly and argillaceous; abundant 

brachiopods and bryozoans; local petroleum residue. Type 3 

medium bluish gray and fine grained. All limestone chiefly in 

thin irregular beds, a few beds as much as 8 in. thick; a few beds 

even. Shale, like that in unit 9, as irregular partings and 

seams. Unit resistant; well exposed_________________________ 6

7. Limestone (90 percent) interbedded with shale (10 percent). Limestone of two types about equal in abundance: Type 1 medium 

gray (N 5) to medium bluish gray (5B 5/1); fine grained. Type 

2 similar to type 3 of unit 11 except that it has local greenish 

gray (5GY 6/1) mottling; abundant brachiopods and bryozoans; 

gastropods and pelecypods locally common. Both types chiefly 

in thin even beds, a few beds as much as 1 ft thick; a few beds 

irregular. Shale, like that in unit 9, as partings and thin seams. 

Unit relatively resistant; well exposed-___________-_____---_- 12

6. Limestone (90 percent) interbedded with shale (10 percent). Limestone of two types. Type 1 (80 percent of limestone) rubbly 

and argillaceous; chiefly thin bedded, a few beds as much as 8 

in. thick; abundant brachiopods and bryozoans; gastropods and 

pelecypods locally. Type 2 medium dark gray (N 4), weathers 

medium light gray (N 6) to grayish orange (10Y.R 7/4); fine to 

coarse grained; well sorted; chiefly in irregular thin to medium 

beds, a few even beds. Shale like that in unit 12. Unit resistant; well exposed__________________________.__-----._--.- 41

Total Grant Lake Limestone______________________--_--------- 109
UPiPEE ORDOVICIAN FORMATIONS, KENTUCKY B25

Thickness 

(feet)

Fairview Formation:

5. Limestone (55 percent) interbedded with shale (35 percent) and 

limy siltstone (10 percent). Limestone of two types. Type 1 

(60 percent of limestone) medium bluish gray (5B 5/1) to light 

olive gray (5Y 6/1); silty; fine grained; evenly thin to medium 

bedded, a few beds as much as l}i ft thick; cut-and-fill structure 

locally; flow roll in bed at base. Tvpe 2, medium light gray (N 

6) to light bluish gray (5B 7/1); weathers same to grayish orange 

(10 YR 7/4); closely packed medium to coarse fossil fragments 

having finely to coarsely crystalline calcite cement; moderate 

amounts of fine-grained limestone matrix; sparse argillaceous 

inclusions; whole fossils on bedding surfaces; called fossil fragmental limestone, in remainder of section; evenly to irregularly 

thin to medium bedded; abundant brachiopods and bryozoans; 

locally abundant crinoid columnals. Type 2 more common in 

upper part of unit. Some composite limestone beds made up of 

alternations of types 1 and 2. Shale olive gray (5 Y 3/2); weathers grayish olive (10Y 4/2); fissile; calcareous; silty; as partings 

and sets as much as 6 in. thick. Limy siltstone light olive gray 

(5Y 6/1), laminated, locally cross laminated; in thin to medium 

even to lenticular beds; local ripple marks; few fossils. Unit 

moderately resistant; well exposed__________________________ 22

4. Limestone (50 percent) interbedded with shale (40 percent) and 

limy siltstone (10 percent). Limestone of two types. Type 1 

(60 percent of limestone) silty, fine grained, and similar to limestone in unit 5; evenly thin to medium bedded; local ripple marks. 

Type 2 fossil fragmental limestone similar to that in unit 5; 

chiefly in thin even to slightly irregular beds, some as much as 

8 in. thick; abundant fossils. Some composite beds as in unit 5. 

Shale like that in unit 5. Limy siltstone like that in unit 5; 

grades locally to silty limestone. Unit nonresistant; fair exposures. _________________________________________________ 21

3. Limestone (70 percent) interbedded with shale (25 percent) and 

limy siltstone (5 percent). Limestone of two types. Type 1 

(70 percent of limestone) fossil fragmental limestone having local 

pale-reddish-brown (10.K 5/4) specks (phosphatic?); chiefly evenly 

thin bedded, a few beds as much as 8 in. thick; abundant fossils. 

Type 2 light olive gray (5Y 7/2), silty, fine grained; ripple marks 

locally; evenly thin to medium bedded; more abundant in upper 

12 ft of unit. A few composite limestone beds as in unit 5. 

Shale like that in unit 5; in partings and sets as much as 3 in. 

thick. Limy siltstone like that in unit 5 except in very thin to 

thin beds and lenses; some as sheaths on limestone. Unit 

relatively nonresistant; well exposed___.___________----__--__ 32
B26 CONTRIBUTIONS TO STRATIGRAPHY

Thickness

(feet) 

Fairview Formation Continued

2. Limestone (85 percent) interbedded with shale (15 percent). 

Limestone chiefly medium light gray (N 6) to medium bluish 

gray (5B 5/1); weathers light gray (N 7) to grayish orange 

(10 YR 7/4); composed of jumbled large whole fossils and fossil 

fragments and coarsely to medium-crystalline calcite cement; 

irregular clay films; obscurely bedded in sets a few inches to as 

much as 2 ft thick; profuse strophomenid brachiopods and 

abundant bryozoans. Minor silty fine-grained limestone in thin 

even beds in lower 2 ft of unit. Shale, like that in unit 1, as 

partings and sets as much as 4 in. thick in lower 2 ft of unit. 

Unit forms prominent ledge; well exposed,___________________ 6

Total Fairview Formation-____________-_-__--_----__--_--_--_ 81

Kope Formation (incomplete):

1. Shale, medium-gray (N 5) to olive-gray (5F 4/1); weathers light 

gray (N 7) to greenish-gray (5GY 6/1); thin bedded; calcareous; 

locally abundant bryozoans; a few thin lenses and beds of fineto coarse-grained fossiliferous limestone; sparse limy siltstone 

lenses. Unit nonresistant; not measured, about 4 ft poorly 

exposed.

SECTION 2. County line

[Type section of Bull Fork Formation. Section measured in readouts along Kentucky Route 1443 beginning 

about 0.9 mile north of the junction with Kentucky Route 984, Mason County, Ky. (Orangeburg and 

Maysville East quadrangles, see fig. 7.) Base of section at E. 2,176,500; N. 408,850 (10,000-ft grid based on 

Kentucky coordinate system, north zone). Measured with Abney level and Jacob staff by F. A. Schilling, 

Jr., June 1963; additional description by J. H. Peck, March 1965]

Thickness 

(feet)

Preachersville Member of Drakes Formation (incomplete):

13. Mudstone, grayish-green (10GY 5/2); weathers grayish yellow green 

(5GY 7/2); thin bedded; somewhat fissile; limy to dolomitic; a 

few very thin irregular beds of argillaceous to silty dolomitic 

limestone containing sparse recrystallized fossil fragments. 

Unit nonresistant; poorly exposed.__________-_-__------_-_-_ 21

Bull Fork Formation:

12. Shale (80 percent) interbedded with limestone (19 percent) and 

limy siltstone (1 percent). Shale grayish green (IQGY 5/2); 

weathers grayish yellow green (5GY 7/2); thin bedded; fissile; 

limy to dolomitic; in sets a few inches to as much as 4 ft 

thick. Limestone of two types. Dominant type 1 medium light 

gray (N 6); weathers yellowish gray (5F 7/2); composed of 

closely packed medium to coarse fossil fragments in a very fine 

to fine-grained limestone matrix; sparse silty to argillaceous 

inclusions; abundant brachiopods and bryozoans. Minor type 2 

medium light gray to medium bluish gray (5B 5/1); weathers 

yellowish gray; evenly fine grained; well sorted; few fossils. 

Both types in thin even beds. Limy siltstone light olive gray; 

in very thin rippled beds intercalated with shale. Unit nonresistant; poorly exposed. Upper contact placed at top of 

highest bed of fossiliferous limestone_______________________ 19
UPPER OBDOVICIAN FORMATION'S, KENTUCKY B27

Thickness

(feet} 

Bull Fork Formation Continued

11. Shale (70 percent) interbedded with limestone (29 percent) and 

limy siltstone (1 percent). Shale, like that in unit 12 except 

not dolomitic, in sets as much as 3 ft thick. Limestone of three 

types: two about equal in abundance, the third minor (1-2 

percent). Type 1 fossil fragmental limestone similar to type 1 

of unit 12; some sparry calcite cement. Type 2 fine grained 

and similar to type 2 of unit 12. Type 3 (minor) light gray 

(N 7); weathers grayish orange (IQYR 7/4); coarse grained; well 

sorted; made up of worn fossil fragments cemented with coarsely 

to medium-crystalline calcite. All limestone in thin even beds. 

Limy siltstone similar to that in unit 12; mostly in upper part. 

Unit nonresistant; fair exposures.___--_________-______-___-- 28

10. Covered.__________________________________________________ 9

9. Shale (65 percent) interbedded with limestone (33 percent) and limy 

siltstone (2 percent). Shale similar to that in unit 11 except 

some is medium light gray (N 6); weathers dusky yellow (5Y 

6/4); in sets a few inches to as much as 2 ft thick. Limestone of 

three types. The most abundant (about two-thirds) is fossil 

fragmental limestone similar to type 1 of unit 12 except for some 

light-olive-gray (5Y 6/1) mottling and common argillaceous 

inclusions; abundant fossils. Type 2 (about one-third) fine 

grained and similar to type 2 of unit 12; some thinly laminated 

beds; some pyrite. A few beds of coarse-grained limestone similar to type 3 of unit 11. All types in even thin to medium beds. 

Limy siltstone similar to that in unit 12. Unit relatively resistant; moderately well exposed____________________________ 26

S. Shale (60 percent) interbedded with limestone (40 percent). Shale 

medium gray (N 5); weathers dusky yellow (5F 6/4); thin bedded; 

fissile; limy; in sets a few inches to as much as 2 ft thick. Limestone of two types. More abundant type fossil fragmental 

limestone similar to that in unit 9; abundant brachiopods and 

bryozoans. Less abundant type fine grained, similar to type 2 

of unit 12; some beds thinly laminated. Both types chiefly in 

even thin beds, a few beds as much as 8 in. thick. Unit nonresistant ; fair discontinuous exposures_______________________ 16

7. Shale (60 percent) interbedded with limestone (40 percent). Shale, 

like that in unit 8, as partings and thin sets. Limestone of 

three types. Dominant type fossil fragmental limestone like 

that in unit 9 except that the matrix is locally argillaceous; in 

thin even to irregular beds having rough surfaces; abundant 

brachiopods and bryozoans. Limestone second in abundance 

coarse grained like type 3 of unit 11; in thin even beds. Minor 

fine-grained limestone, like type 2 of unit 12, in thin even beds. 

At top of unit 2 in. of coquina composed chiefly of whole shells of 

Catazyga headi. Horn corals common in shale and limestone 

of this unit. Unit relatively resistant; fair to good exposures-- 24
B28 CONTRIBUTIONS TO STRATIGRAPHY

Thkkness

(feet) 

Bull Fork Formation Continued

6. Mostly covered. Shale and interbedded limestone of about equal 

abundance. Described from float and small scattered exposures. 

Shale, like that in unit 8, as thin sets and partings. Limestone of three types. Dominant type fossil fragmental limestone 

like that in unit 7; chiefly evenly thin bedded, some irregular 

rough-surfaced beds. Less common types fine-grained limestone like type 2 of unit 12 and coarse-grained limestone like 

type 3 of unit 11; both in thin even beds. Abundant fossils. 

Unit nonresistant_ ________________________________________ 26

5. Limestone (70 percent) interbedded with shale (30 percent). 

Limestone of two types. Dominant type fossil fragmental limestone like type 1 of unit 12 except that some beds have a large 

amount of matrix and sparse fossil fragments. Less common 

type coarse-grained limestone like type 3 of unit 11; may be 

slightly phosphatic. Both limestones in very thin to thin even 

beds having rough surfaces. Shale, like that in unit 8, in thin 

beds and partings. Abundant fossils. Unit resistant; well 

exposed._________________________________________________ 5

4. Mostly covered. Shale interbedded with limestone in roughly 

equal proportions. Described chiefly from float. Limestone of 

three types. Dominant type fossil fragmental limestone similar 

to that in unit 9; in thin even to irregular beds. Less abundant 

type coarse-grained limestone similar to type 3 of unit 11 except 

that it may be slightly phosphatic; in thin even beds. A few thin 

even beds of fine-grained limestone like type 2 of unit 12. Shale 

weathered; yellowish gray (5Y 7/2) to dusky yellow (5Y 6/4); 

limy; as thin sets and partings. Shale and limestone very fossiliferous. Unit nonresistant.______________________________ 11

3. Limestone (50 percent) interbedded with shale (50 percent). 

Limestone of three types. Most abundant type (60 percent) 

fossil fragmental limestone like that in unit 9; in thin even to 

irregular beds. Type 2 (25 percent) coarse-grained limestone 

similar to type 3 of unit 11 except that it contains some large 

whole fossils and large fossil fragments; may be slightly phosphatic; in thin even beds; mostly in upper part. Type 3 (15 

percent) fine-grained limestone similar to that in unit 7; in thin 

even beds; mostly in middle part of unit. Shale, like that in 

unit 8, as partings and thin sets. Abundant fossils. Unit 

relatively resistant; well exposed-___________________________ 18

2. Limestone (70 percent) interbedded with shale (30 percent). 

Limestone of two types in about equal amounts. Type 1 fossil 

fragmental limestone similar to that in unit 9; in thin roughsurfaced even to irregular beds; chiefly in upper part of unit. 

Type 2 coarse-grained limestone similar to type 3 of unit 11 

except that it is slightly phosphatic and contains grayish-red 

(5R 4/2) specks; chiefly evenly thin bedded; a few beds as much as 

8 in. thick; mostly in lower part of unit. Shale, like that in 

unit 8, as partings and sets a few inches to as much as 1 ft thick. 

Abundant fossils. Unit moderately resistant; well exposed.___ 20
UPPER ORDOVICIAN FORMATIONS, KENTUCKY B29

Thickness

Bull Fork Formation Continued (feet) 

1. Limestone, medium-light-gray (N 6); dark-yellowish-orange (10 YR 

6/6) specks; coarse grained; well sorted; slightly phosphatic; 

sparry calcite cement; thin to medium bedded; obscurely crossbedded in part; shale partings; sparse whole fossils. Forms 

prominent ledge. Lower contact sharp-_____________________ 3

Total Bull Fork Formation....________.________---__._- 204

Grant Lake Limestone (incomplete):

Limestone, medium-light-gray (N 6) and light-olive-gray (517 

6/1); large fossils and coarse fossil fragments in a micrograined 

to fine-grained argillaceous limestone matrix; very thin irregular 

rubbly beds; irregular shale partings. Unit not measured; about 

3 ft exposed.

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U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 1966 O 223-643