Sedimentary and petrologic analysis of the Mississippian Price Formation at Sherwood Lake, West Virginia

Depositional facies determinations of the upper member of the Price Formation were made based on detailed descriptions of the six outcrops exposed along Sherwood Lake Road, Greenbrier County, West Virginia. Units were placed into one of seven facies: fluvial, distributary channels, crevasse-splays, swamp, beach-bar, lagoon, and interdistributary bay. Sandstone units of the respective facies were then petrographically analyzed.;Petrographic analysis indicates that there are distinct differences in mineralogies among the facies, particularly in the type of lithic grains present within the sandstones. High percentages of schist and phyllite rock fragments within the upper-delta-plain facies indicate that the parent material for the Price in southern West Virginia was dominantly metamorphic. Percentages of rock fragments change systematically down the regional slope; upper-delta-plain facies have high percentages of metamorphic rock fragments (schist and phyllite) and lower-delta-plain facies have abundant sedimentary rock fragments (shale). The change in rock fragments down the paleo slope can be attributed to (1) increased mechanical degradation of metamorphic rock fragments with greater distance from the source area and (2) the introduction of sedimentary rocks fragments that were locally derived from within the mud-rich beds, typically more common in the lower portions of the deltaic system.

Name thesis:degree_name

MS

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Geology and Geography

Year dc:date.available

2002

Author dc:creator

• Sheehan, Laura Ruth

Contributors dc:contributor

• Richard Smosna.

• Geology

Identifier

https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/etd/1535

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:researchrepository.wvu.edu:etd-2538