Skip to Main Content
Skip Nav Destination
GEOREF RECORD

Study of sedimentation and stratigraphy of Lower Mississippian in western Michigan

Lucille Hale
Study of sedimentation and stratigraphy of Lower Mississippian in western Michigan
Bulletin of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists (April 1941) 25 (4): 713-723

Abstract

The lower Mississippian of western Michigan is composed of the Coldwater, Ellsworth, and the upper part of the Antrim formations. These formations in the western part of the state differ so markedly from the formations of the eastern side of the state that different basins and times of sedimentation are suggested. The basal member of the Coldwater is red fossiliferous limestone with some red shale; several very fossiliferous zones rich in crinoids, ostracods, and bryozoans with some brachiopods, gastropods, cephalopods, and pelecypods occur locally; clay-ironstone concretions are more abundant in the section discussed than elsewhere in the state; and the "Coldwater lime" which in many places is light gray dolomite rather than limestone, has embedded crystals of secondary dolomite and "pepperings" of glauconite. The Ellsworth is present only in the western part of the state and is gray and gray-green shale with gray dolomite zones. Small pyrite concretions and some spore cases are present throughout the formation. In places near the contact of the Ellsworth and Coldwater there is a buff oolitic limestone in which the central core of the oolites is light brown dolomite. Where the oolites are absent the zone is brown crystalline dolomite which in many places produces gas. Stratigraphically this zone is at the horizon of the Berea sandstone of the Michigan basin but lithologically it is dolomite containing grains of rounded frosted sand. The green shales of the Ellsworth grade into, and alternate with, the black shales of the Antrim so that it is difficult to determine the true top. Since the lower Mississippian does not crop out in the area discussed, all correlation must be made from well logs and samples. Recent drilling developments have added considerable information and future work will undoubtedly define the paleogeography.


ISSN: 0883-9247
Serial Title: Bulletin of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists
Serial Volume: 25
Serial Issue: 4
Title: Study of sedimentation and stratigraphy of Lower Mississippian in western Michigan
Author(s): Hale, Lucille
Pages: 713-723
Published: 194104
Text Language: English
Publisher: American Association of Petroleum Geologists, Tulsa, OK, United States
Accession Number: 1949-006859
Categories: Stratigraphy
Document Type: Serial
Bibliographic Level: Analytic
Illustration Description: illus. incl. index, geol. maps
N41°45'00" - N48°25'00", W90°15'00" - W82°30'00"
Source Note: abs., Oil and Gas Jour., p. 52, Apr. 11, 1940.
Country of Publication: United States
Secondary Affiliation: GeoRef, Copyright 2019, American Geosciences Institute. Reference includes data from Bibliography and Index of North American Geology, U. S. Geological Survey, Reston, VA, United States
Update Code: 1949
Close Modal

or Create an Account

Close Modal
Close Modal