Core Hole B1. Near the site of the Soviet/Russian Threshold Test Ban Treaty
vault/borehole. SW1/4NW1/4SE1/4NW1/4sec.35, T 17 N.,R. 14E., Tulsa County,
Oklahoma, USA.Well cored by Tulsa Testing Co.; lithologic descriptions by
LeRoy A. Hemish, OGS Coal Geologist. Drilled in wooded area about 200 ft E
of the Oklahoma Geological Survey Observatory Office. Surface elevation
estimated from Leonard 71/2 minute sheet 853 ft.
Depth Thickness
to of unit
top ft
of
unit
ft
PENNSYLVANIAN AGE
DESMOINESIAN SERIES
MARMATON GROUP
Wewoka Formation (may include Wetumka Shale and Calvin sandstone
equivalents in lower part)
Surface material (drilled with auger, cuttings not saved;
weathered sandstone boulders and sandy clay exposed at drill
site).............................................................000.0 006.5
Sandstone, grayish-orange (10 YR 7/4)*, very fine-to fine-
grained, quartzose, oxidized, silica- and iron-oxide-cemented,
grains rounded, noncalcareous, massive to cross-bedded in part;
includes some shale layers from 9.4 to 9.7 ft, 12.8 to 13.3 ft,
and 21.3 to 21.4 ft; contains minor carbonaceous shale layers
and fossil plant material; liesegang-banded in places.............006.5 015.2
Sandstone, light-gray (N 7), with medium-dark-gray (N 4) bands,
very fine-grained, interbedded with silty shale, laminated to
massive, noncalcareous, ripple-laminated in places; contains
abundant black carbonized plant fragments, some clay galls,
and some bioturbation features....................................021.7 007.0
Shale, medium-gray (N 5), silty, noncalcareous, includes very
fine-grained lenses and layers of light-gray (N 7) sandstone,
bioturbated in part; includes some soft-sediment deformation
features, black carbonized plant fragments, and small sideritic
concretions up to 1 in. in diameter and 0.25 in. thick............028.7 009.3
No recovery.......................................................038.0 001.4
Shale (same description as interval from 28.7 to 38.0 ft).........039.4 007.0
Sandstone, light-gray (N 7), very fine-grained, noncalcareous,
quartzose; mostly massive, but contains some medium-dark-gray
(N 4), cross-laminated, sandy shale layers up to 7 in. thick
that contain scour-and-fill, bioturbation, and soft-sediment
deformation features; black carbonized plant fragments abundant
in unit...........................................................046.4 004.8
Shale, medium-gray (N 5), noncalcareous, burrowed; contains
rare, small sideritic concretions; is banded in lower 4 ft of
unit and is interstratified with light-gray (N 7), siltstone
and very fine-grained sandstone containing abundant black car-
bonized plant fragments; basal contact sharp......................051.2 013.1
Sandstone, light-gray (N 7), very fine-grained, silty, non-
calcareous; faintly stratified, with some low-angle cross-
stratification; interbedded with medium-dark-gray (N 4), bio-
turbated shale in lower 10 in. of unit............................064.3 001.7
Shale, medium-gray (N 5), noncalcareous, bioturbated; includes
laminae and contorted layers of light-gray (N 7), very fine-
grained, bioturbated sandstone; contains numerous,small sideri-
tic nodules.......................................................066.0 007.2
Sandstone, light-gray (N 7), very fine-grained, calcareous,
faintly laminated.................................................073.2 000.2
Shale, (same description as interval from 66.0 to 73.2 ft); con-
tains two 1.5 in.-thick layers of light-gray (N 7), very fine-
grained sandstone~2.5 ft from base of unit; lower contact grad-
ational...........................................................073.4 006.0
Shale, medium-dark-gray (N 4), calcareous; contains abundant
small shells and shell fragments in lower 3 in. of unit...........079.4 000.5
Shale, black (N 1), noncalcareous; burrowed.......................079.9 000.1
Shale, dark-gray (N 2), calcareous................................080.0 000.3
Sandstone, medium-dark-gray (N 4), very calcareous, very shaly,
churned from drilling or bioturbated..............................080.3 000.5
Fort Scott Formation
Shale black (N 1), fissile, noncalcareous (Little Osage Shale
Member)...........................................................080.8 000.7
Limestone, very light-gray (N 8), shaly,subtly stratified; con-
tains abundant fossil fragments and crinoid columns up to 0.5
in. in diameter (Blackjack Creek Limestone Member)................081.5 000.9
CABANISS GROUP
Senora Formation
Shale, grayish-black (N 2), noncalcareous, fissile; contains
rare laminae of fine-grained limestone (Excello Shale Member).....082.4 001.9
Limestone, medium-light-gray (N 6) to light-brownish-gray
(5 YR 6/1), very fine-grained, micritic impure in lower 2 ft;
contains scattered fossil shells concentrated in thin layers in
places; irregularly laminated; cross-laminated in part; vugular
in places; grades into medium-gray (N 5), calcareous shale in
lower 1 in. of unit (Breezy Hill Limestone Member)................084.3 017.5
Shale, medium-gray (N 5), very calcareous.........................101.8 000.2
Total depth 102.0
*Letter and number designation in parentheses refer to standard color
classifications used in the Munsell color system (Rock-Color Chart
Committee, 1948).
The above core section was published in:
Hemish, LerRoy A. and Lawson, James E. Jr., 1991, Soviet seismic compound
at the OGS Observatory, Leonard, Oklahoma, and shallow subsurface stratigraphy
of the area: Oklahoma Geology Notes, 51, 36-49 (April 1991).
The Soviet/Russian Threshold Test Ban Treaty vault (floor, 11.25 ft below
the surface, pier bottom 13.25 ft below surface) and the Oklahoma Geological
Survey Observatory walk-in vault (floor about 12 ft below surface, pier
bottom 12+? ft below surface) are all apparently in the Wewoka sandstone.
The Soviet TTBT borehole (12 inch ID, Total Depth 106 ft below the surface),
bottoms slightly below this section.