The Stones River Equivalents in Appalachian Region

Abstract

The commonly accepted correlation of the Stones River group of central Tennessee with the Chazy of New York and with beds immediately succeeding the Beekmantown or Knox dolomite in the Appalachian region is no longer tenable. Ulrich's recognition of two Chazyan groups in the Appalachian Valley-the Stones River and overlying Blount-was based upon mistaken identification of formations. In southwestern Virginia the fauna of the Murfreesboro limestone (basal Stones River) occurs in the Peery limestone about 475 feet above the Beekmantown. The Peery is directly overlain by the Benbolt limestone, which correlates faunally with the Pierce and Ridley formations of the Central Basin of Tennessee. In Bland County, Virginia, Murfreesboro-Ridley equivalents overlie the Athens formation of Ulrich's Blount group. The Lebanon of central Tennessee is linked faunally with the Witten limestone, which corresponds to the beds identified by Butts as Lowville in the Clinch Mountain belt of the Middle Crdo-vician in Virginia an...