Levias Limestone Member

Lithostratigraphy: Pope Megagroup >>Cedar Bluff Limestone Group >>Renault Limestone >>Levias Limestone Member
Chronostratigraphy: Paleozoic Erathem >>Mississippian Subsystem >>Valmeyeran Series
Allostratigraphy: Kaskaskia Sequence

Primary source

Willman, H. B., Elwood Atherton, T. C. Buschbach, Charles Collinson, John C. Frye, M. E. Hopkins, Jerry A. Lineback, and Jack A. Simon, 1975, Handbook of Illinois Stratigraphy: Illinois State Geological Survey Bulletin 95, 261 p.

Contributing author(s)

Elwood Atherton, Charles Collinson, and Jerry A. Lineback

Name

Original description

The Levias Limestone Member of the Renault Formation (Sutton and J. M. Weller, 1932, p. 430, 439).

Derivation

Named for Levias, Crittenden County, Kentucky.

History/background

It was originally the uppermost member of the Ste. Genevieve Limestone and was introduced as a replacement of the earlier name "Lower Ohara," but it was assigned to the Renault Limestone when it was found to overlie the Aux Vases Sandstone.

Type section

Type location

The type locality of the Levias Limestone Member is just east of the town of Levias (10-J-16).

Extent and thickness

The Levias is well developed in and near Hardin County, but north and west of there it is not easily distinguished and it is recognized only sporadically north of Lawrence County and west of Franklin County. In Hardin County the Levias commonly is 10-25 feet thick, but it has a maximum thickness of 35 feet.

Lithology

The limestone is relatively pure, cross-bedded, medium- to coarse-grained, white oolite containing some pink and light green ooliths. It contains some fine-grained limestone, and a few feet at the base is sandy.

Fossils

The Levias Limestone contains Platycriniies penicillus and is the top of the Valmeyeran Series.

References

SUTTON, A. H., and J. M. WELLER, 1932, Lower Chester correlation in western Kentucky and Illinois: Journal of Geology, v. 40, p. 430-442.

ISGS Codes

Stratigraphic Code	Geo Unit Designation
5020	--