Age:Mississippian Type designation:Type locality: The Ste. Genevieve Limestone was named by Shumard (1860, p. 406; 1873, p. 293-294) for exposures in the bluff of the Mississippi River south of Ste. Genevieve, Missouri (Smith, 1970; Carr, Rexroad, and Gray, 1986). At the type locality the formation is about 100 ft (30 m) thick (Carr, Rexroad, and Gray, 1986). History of usage:History of name in Indiana: The name “Ste. Genevieve Limestone” was mostly suppressed in favor of the term “St. Louis Limestone” until it was revived by Ulrich and Smith (1905) (Smith, 1970; Carr, Rexroad, and Gray, 1986). Beede and others (1915, p. 207) suggested that the Ste. Genevieve Limestone is present in Indiana, but it remained for Cumings (1922, p. 507) to use the name directly (Carr, Rexroad, and Gray, 1986). Before that time, rocks now designated as the Ste. Genevieve in Indiana had been assigned to the Mitchell Limestone (see under "Blue River Group") or to the Paoli or St. Louis Limestones (Carr, Rexroad, and Gray, 1986).
Description:The Ste. Genevieve Limestone in Indiana is a carbonate-rock sequence that is 45 to 220 ft (14 to 67 m) thick and that thickens southward and southwestward (Carr, Rexroad, and Gray, 1986). Its constituent beds are composed largely of oolitic, skeletal, micritic, and detrital limestone (Carr, Rexroad, and Gray, 1986). Shale, dolostone, sandstone, and chert compose about 10 percent of the combined Paoli and Ste. Genevieve Limestones (Carr, Leininger, and Golde, 1978, p. 14; Carr, Rexroad, and Gray, 1986). The Ste. Genevieve crops out in a northward-narrowing belt from the Ohio River in Harrison and Crawford Counties to west-central Putnam County (Carr, Rexroad, and Gray, 1986). It is present throughout the Indiana subsurface south of the central parts of Parke and Vermillion Counties and west of its outcrop belt (Carr, Rexroad, and Gray, 1986).
Correlations:Carr, Rexroad, and Gray (1986) noted that the correlation of the Ste. Genevieve Limestone of Indiana usage is beset with problems associated with the upper boundary, the lower boundary, and certain members of the formation.
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Regional Indiana usage:
Illinois Basin (COSUNA 11)
Misc/Abandoned Names:None Geologic Map Unit Designation:Msg Note: Hansen (1991, p. 52) in Suggestions to authors of the reports of the United States Geological Survey noted that letter symbols for map units are considered to be unique to each geologic map and that adjacent maps do not necessarily need to use the same symbols for the same map unit. Therefore, map unit abbreviations in the Indiana Geologic Names Information System should be regarded simply as recommendations. |
COSUNA areas and regional terminologyNames for geologic units vary across Indiana. The Midwestern Basin and Arches Region COSUNA chart (Shaver, 1984) was developed to strategically document such variations in terminology. The geologic map (below left) is derived from this chart and provides an index to the five defined COSUNA regions in Indiana. The regions are generally based on regional bedrock outcrop patterns and major structural features in Indiana. (Click the maps below to view more detailed maps of COSUNA regions and major structural features in Indiana.) ![]() COSUNA areas and numbers that approximate regional bedrock outcrop patterns and major structural featuers in Indiana. ![]() Major tectonic features that affect bedrock geology in Indiana. |
References:Bates, R. E., 1932, Underground features of Sinking Creek, Washington County, Indiana: Indiana Academy of Science Proceedings, v. 41, p. 263-268. Beede, J. W., Jackson, T. F., and Malott, C. A., 1915, Geology of the Bloomington quadrangle: Indiana Department of Geology and Natural Resources Annual Report 39, p. 190-312. Collinson, Charles, Rexroad, C. B., and Thompson, T. L., 1971, Conodont zonation of the North American Mississippian: Geological Society of America Memoirs 127, p. 353-394. Cumings, E. R., 1922, Nomenclature and description of the geological formations of Indiana, in Logan, W. N., Cumings, E. R., Malott, C. A., Visher, S. S., Tucker, W. M., Reeves, J. R., and Legge, H. W., Handbook of Indiana geology: Indiana Department of Conservation Publications 21, pt. 4, p. 403-570. Hansen, W. R., 1991, Suggestions to authors of the reports of the United States Geological Survey (7th ed.): Washington, D.C., U.S. Geological Survey, 289 p. Malott, C. A., 1952, Stratigraphy of the Ste. Genevieve and Chester formations of southern Indiana: Ann Arbor, Michigan, Edwards Letter Shop, 105 p. Mamet, B. L., and Skipp, B. A., 1971, Lower Carboniferous calcareous Foraminifera–preliminary zonation and stratigraphic implications for the Mississippian of North America: Sixieme Congres International de Stratigraphie et de Geologie du Carbonifere Sheffield, 1967, Compte rendu, v. 3, p. 1,129-1,146. McGrain, Preston, 1943?, The St. Louis and Ste. Genevieve Limestones of Harrison County, Indiana: Indiana Academy of Science Proceedings, v. 52, p. 149-162. Rexroad, C. B., and Fraunfelter, G. H., 1977, Upper Mississippian conodonts and boundary relationships in southern Illinois, in Frank, C. O., ed., Guidebook for field trips–Carbondale 1977: Carbondale, Southern Illinois University Department of Geology, v. 2, Postmeeting field trips, p. 80-103. Rexroad, C. B., Woodson, F. J., and Knox, L. W., 1990, Revised boundary between the St. Louis and Ste. Genevieve Limestones (Middle Mississippian) on outcrop in Indiana [abs.]: Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, v. 22, no. 1, p. 31. Shaver, R. H., coordinator, 1984, Midwestern basin and arches region–correlation of stratigraphic units in North America (COSUNA): American Association of Petroleum Geologists Correlation Chart Series. Shumard, B. F., 1860, Observations on the geology of the County of Ste. Genevieve: Academy of Science of St. Louis Transactions, v. 1, no. 3, p. 404-415. Shumard, B. F., 1873, Ste. Genevieve County, in Reports on the geological survey of the State of Missouri, 1855-1871: Jefferson City, Missouri, p. 290-313. Ulrich, E. O., and Smith, W. S. T., 1905, The lead, zinc, and fluorspar deposits of western Kentucky U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 36, 218 p. Woodson, F. J., 1982, Uppermost St. Louis Limestone (Mississippian)–the Horse Cave Member in Indiana: Indiana Academy of Science Proceedings, v. 91, p. 419-427. |
For additional information, contact:
Nancy Hasenmueller (hasenmue@indiana.edu)Date last revised: May 23, 2017