Rock Island Coal Member
Lithostratigraphy: Kewanee Group >>Spoon Formation >>Rock Island Coal Member
Chronostratigraphy: Paleozoic Erathem >>Pennsylvanian Subsystem >>Desmoinesian Series
Allostratigraphy: Absaroka 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)
M. E. Hopkins and J. A. Simon
Name
Original description
The Rock Island (No. 1) Coal Member of the Spoon Formation was first called Coal Number 1 (Worthen, 1868, p. 6, 10, 11) because it was believed to be the oldest (the first deposited) minable coal in Fulton, Morgan, Scott, and Schuyler Counties. As the type section coal was correlated with the coal mined at Rock Island (Worthen and Shaw, 1873, p. 221, 229-232), the name Rock Island (No. 1) Coal came into general use.
Derivation
Other names
History/background
Type section
Type location
It is typically exposed in the Spoon River Bluff near Seville, Fulton County (Worthen, 1870, p. 194). This exposure was designated the type section (SW SW 23, 6N-1E) by Wanless (1957, p. 72, 201).
Type author(s)
Type status
Reference section
Reference location
Reference author(s)
Reference status
Stratigraphic relationships
The Rock Island Coal Member is the basal named member of the Spoon Formation in western Illinois.
Extent and thickness
In western Illinois the Rock Island (No. 1) Coal occurs only in widely scattered areas. It attains a maximum thickness of about 8 feet in belts trending east-west or northeast-southwest (Wanless, 1965, p. 27, 29-30; Searight and Smith, 1969, p. 13), in other places only a few inches to a foot or two of coal is present, and it is absent throughout broad areas.
Lithology
Core(s)
Photograph(s)
Contacts
Well log characteristics
Fossils
Age and correlation
The Rock Island Coal is tentatively correlated with the Assumption and the Litchfield Coals of west-central Illinois. It has been correlated with the Murphysboro Coal (Wanless, 1957), but the floras indicate it is lower than the Murphysboro (Kosanke, 1950). It is correlated with the Minshall Coal Member of Indiana.
Environments of deposition
Economic importance
Remarks
References
KOSANKE, R. M., 1950, Pennsylvanian spores of Illinois and their use in correlation: Illinois State Geological Survey Bulletin 74, 128 p.
SEARIGHT, T. K., and W. H. SMITH, 1969, Strippable coal reserves of Illinois, Part 5B: Illinois State Geological Survey Circular 439, 22 p.
WANLESS, H. R., 1957, Geology and mineral resources of the Beardstown, Glasford, Havana, and Vermont Quadrangles: Illinois State Geological Survey Bulletin 82, 233 p.
WANLESS, H. R., 1965, Environmental interpretation of coal distribution in the eastern and central United States: Illinois Mining Institute Proceedings, p. 19-35.
WORTHEN, A. H., 1868, Geology and paleontology: Geological Survey of Illinois, v. 3, 574 p.
WORTHEN, A. H., 1870, Geology and paleontology: Geological Survey of Illinois, v. 4, 508 p.
WORTHEN, A. H., and JAMES SHAW, 1873, Geology of Rock Island County: Geological Survey of Illinois, v. 5, p.217-234.
ISGS Codes
| Stratigraphic Code | Geo Unit Designation |
|---|---|
 tl-ri |