AbstractsEarth & Environmental Science

A Sequence Stratigraphic Analysis of the Berea Sandstone in Athens County, Ohio

by Mohanad Z. Muslim




Institution: Ohio University
Department: Geological Sciences (Arts and Sciences)
Degree: MS
Year: 2014
Keywords: Geology; The Berea Sandstone; Gamma-ray log; Forced regression
Record ID: 2025670
Full text PDF: http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1399291939


Abstract

The Berea interval is composed of two separate sandstones, the basal Second Berea and the upper Berea Sandstone, which represent the last progradational pulses during the latest Devonian in the Appalachian basin. The interval within Athens County was investigated using cross-sections, isopach, and motif maps based on 295 gamma-ray logs and one core from the Second Berea zone. The data reveal the presence of two high frequency sequences, a lower sequence composed of the Cleveland Shale and Second Berea and an upper sequence formed by the Bedford and Berea Sandstone. Both sandstone units were formed by prograding wave-dominated delta and strandplain during forced regressions with the basal sequence preserved as a series of detached shorelines and the sandstones with the upper sequence as attached shorelines. The thinning of the Berea interval to the southeast is interpreted as on lap of a forebulge located in southwestern West Virginia. Therefore, the deposition of the Berea is occurred in the back-bulge in Athens County.