Bedford Shale

Bedford shale, found in Ohio, varies by its layers, some of which are 350-450 million years old.^[1] The shale is successively coursening upward. Fossils are rare in Ohio shale.^[2]

Bedford shale is a marinite type of grey to dark-grey oil shale.^[3]

Layers

Age (see sign at right)

• Berea sandstone (320 million years)
• Bedford Shale (350 million years)
• Cleveland Shale (350 - 400 million years)

Types

• Lower layers include "Gray Bedford" and "Red Bedford", which geologists consider paleoenvironmentally and paleogeographically different. These layers weather and are overgrown.^[2]
• Upper layers include unterbedded shales, siltstones and sandstones.^[2]

Viewing Ohio Shale

Brandywine Falls

Ohio shale can be seen on the Walnut Creek East Roadcut, Franklin, central Ohio, USA. It can also be seen in Cuyahoga Valley National Park, most notably by Brandywine Falls.

External links

• Bedford Shale. James St. John. The Ohio State University.

References