Cincinnati Group#Liberty Formation
{{Short description|Geologic group in Kentucky and Ohio, United States}}
{{Infobox rockunit
| name = Cincinnati Group
| image = Cincinnetina meeki (Miller, 1875) slab 2.jpg
| caption = Brachiopod-rich Cincinnatian limestone (Waynesville/Bull Fork Formation, Ohio)
| type = Group
| age = Late Ordovician
| period = Late Ordovician
| prilithology =
| otherlithology =
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| region = Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana
| country = United States
| coordinates =
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| subunits = Drakes Formation, Preachersville Member, Whitewater Formation, Liberty Formation, Waynesville Formation, Arnheim Formation, Grant Lake Limestone, Bellevue Member, Corryville Member, Mount Auburn Member, and Straight Creek Member, Miamitown Shale, Fairview Formation, Kope Formation, Clays Ferry Formation Point Pleasant Tongue
| underlies = Cataract Group
| overlies = Trenton Group
| thickness =
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}}
The Cincinnati Group is a geologic group in Kentucky, Ohio and Indiana. It is Upper Ordovician in age. This geologic group is made up of member formations: Drakes Formation, Whitewater Formation, Liberty Formation, Arnheim Formation, Grant Lake Limestone, Miamitown Shale, Fairview Formation, and Kope Formation. There are also several members of the respective formations.{{Citation |last=Davis |first=R. A. |title=Cincinnati region |date=1986 |work=Southeastern Section of the Geological Society of America |pages=21–24 |url=https://doi.org/10.1130/0-8137-5406-2.21 |access-date=2025-06-16 |publisher=Geological Society of America |isbn=0-8137-5406-2}} Most of these formations are highly fossiliferous.
Stratigraphy
= Drakes Formation =
file:Syneresis Cracks Drakes Formation Adams Co OH Ordovician.jpg
The Drakes Formation is a geologic formation in Kentucky. It preserves fossils dating back to the Ordovician period.
The Drakes Formation was named by Weir for outcrops near the East Fork of Drakes Creek in the Paint Lick quadrangle, southwestern east-central Kentucky.{{Cite report |url=https://doi.org/10.3133/b1224d |title=Calloway Creek limestone and Ashlock and Drakes Formations (Upper Ordovician) in south-central Kentucky |date=1965 |publisher=US Geological Survey}} This formation ranges from 20ft to 150ft thick, thinning northward. It includes four members, Saluda Dolomite Member, Preachersville Member, Rowland Member and Bardstown Member. These formations are made up of interbedded limestone and shale with units of dolomite ranging from a few inches to a few feet think.
= Whitewater Formation =
The Whitewater Formation is a geologic formation in Ohio and Indiana. It preserves fossils dating back to the Ordovician Period.{{Cite web |title=Geolex — Whitewater |url=https://ngmdb.usgs.gov/Geolex/Units/Whitewater_4393.html |access-date=2025-06-16 |website=ngmdb.usgs.gov}}
The Whitewater was first named by J. M. Nickles in 1903.Nickles, J. M., 1903, The Richmond Group in Ohio and Indiana and its subdivisions, with a note on the genus Strophomena and its type: American Geologist, v. 32, p. 202–218. He described exposures of limestone and interbedded calcareous shale along the Whitewater River at Richmond, Wayne County, Indiana.
An excellent exposure of the Whitewater Formation is a roadcut located on Route 27 south of Richmond, Indiana, at 39.7877 N, -84.9014 W. It is typically called "Richmond South" in field guides and other publications.
File:Whitewater slab Richmond IN.jpg|Fossiliferous slab
File:Rugose corals Whitewater Formation Richmond Indiana 1993.jpg|Rugosa corals
File:Bryozoa Whitewater Formation Richmond Indiana 1993.jpg|Bryozoa
File:Brachiopod Whitewater Formation Richmond Indiana 1993 b.jpg|Small brachiopod
File:Brachiopod Whitewater Formation Richmond Indiana 1993 c.jpg|Another brachiopod
File:Bivlave Whitewater Formation Richmond Indiana 1993.jpg|Bivalve
= Liberty Formation =
The Liberty Formation is a geologic formation in Ohio and Indiana. It preserves fossils dating back to the Ordovician Period.
File:Liberty Hardground 090114.jpg from the Liberty Formation of southern Ohio.]]
= Waynesville Formation =
The Waynesville Formation is a geologic formation in Ohio and Indiana. It preserves fossils from the Late Ordovician Period.
See also
{{Portal|Geology|Earth sciences|United States|Ohio|Indiana|Paleontology}}
References
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{{Chronostratigraphy of Ohio}}
Category:Geologic groups of Kentucky
Category:Geologic groups of Ohio
Category:Geologic groups of Indiana
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