Historical:Murray Bluff Sandstone Member
Lithostratigraphy: McCormick Group >>Abbott Formation >>Murray Bluff Sandstone Member
Chronostratigraphy: Paleozoic Erathem >>Pennsylvanian Subsystem >>Atokan Series
Allostratigraphy: Absaroka Sequence
Authors
M. E. Hopkins and J. A. Simon
Name Origin
The Murray Bluff Sandstone Member of the Abbott Formation (Weller, 1940, p. 40), the top member of the formation in southern Illinois, is named for the hill called Murray Bluff in Saline County.
Type Section
The type section occurs at Murry Bluff (NE 35, 10S-5E).
Correlation
The Murray Bluff has been correlated with the Bernadotte Sandstone of western Illinois and the Aberdeen Sandstone Member of western Kentucky.
Extent and Thickness
In the type section the sandstone is at least 60 feet thick and contains many liesegang rings (secondary iron-oxide diffusion banding). It is relatively thick in channel facies and thinner in nonchannel facies. The Murray Bluff has been identified at numerous localities throughout the outcrop area in southern Illinois, but its northward extent in the subsurface is generally not recognized.
Stratigraphic Position
A sandstone occurs at this position in the areas where the Litchfield and Assumption Coals of the Spoon Formation are present.
References
WELLER, J. M., 1940, Geology and oil possibilities of extreme southern Illinois: Illinois State Geological Survey Report of Investigations 71, 71 p.
ISGS Codes
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