Clinton Group
Mapped unit of rock in North America
title: "Clinton Group" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["silurian-system-of-north-america", "claystone-groups", "shale-groups-of-the-united-states", "silurian-united-states", "silurian-geology-of-new-york-(state)", "silurian-geology-of-pennsylvania", "silurian-west-virginia", "silurian-ohio", "silurian-new-york", "geologic-formations-of-new-york-(state)", "geologic-formations-of-pennsylvania", "geologic-formations-of-west-virginia", "geologic-formations-of-ohio", "sandstone-groups-of-the-united-states", "limestone-groups-of-the-united-states"] description: "Mapped unit of rock in North America" topic_path: "science/earth-science" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clinton_Group" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Mapped unit of rock in North America ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox rockunit"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Clinton Group |
| period | Early Silurian |
| image | Port Clinton, PA - bedrock outcrop.jpg |
| caption | Rocks of the Clinton Group on the east face of Schuylkill Gap |
| type | Geological formation |
| prilithology | sandstone, shale, and limestone |
| otherlithology | Ironstone and conglomerate, |
| namedfor | Clinton, New York |
| namedby | Lardner Vanuxem (1842) |
| region | Appalachian Basin of eastern North America |
| country | United States |
| subunits | Rochester Shale, Rose Hill Formation, Keefer Formation |
| underlies | Bloomsburg Formation in Pennsylvania, Lockport Group in New York |
| overlies | Tuscarora Formation in Pennsylvania, Clinch Formation in Virginia, Tennessee, and Maryland, Medina Group in New York |
| thickness | 1640 ft |
| extent | Ohio, Pennsylvania, Maryland, New York, West Virginia |
| :: |
| name = Clinton Group | period = Early Silurian | image = Port Clinton, PA - bedrock outcrop.jpg | caption = Rocks of the Clinton Group on the east face of Schuylkill Gap | type = Geological formation | prilithology = sandstone, shale, and limestone | otherlithology = Ironstone and conglomerate, | namedfor = Clinton, New York | namedby = Lardner Vanuxem (1842) | region = Appalachian Basin of eastern North America | country = United States | coordinates = | unitof = | subunits = Rochester Shale, Rose Hill Formation, Keefer Formation | underlies = Bloomsburg Formation in Pennsylvania, Lockport Group in New York | overlies = Tuscarora Formation in Pennsylvania, Clinch Formation in Virginia, Tennessee, and Maryland, Medina Group in New York | thickness = 1640 ft | extent = Ohio, Pennsylvania, Maryland, New York, West Virginia | area = | map = | map_caption = The Clinton Group (also referred to as the Clinton Formation or the Clinton Shale) is a mapped unit of sedimentary rock found throughout eastern North America.{{cite book |author1=Brett, C.E. |author2=Baarli, B.G. |author3=Chowns, T. |author4=Cotter, E. |author5=Driese, S. |author6=Goodman, W. |author7=Johnson, M.E. | year = 1998 | chapter = Early Silurian Condensed Intervals, Ironstones, and Sequence Stratigraphy in the Appalachian Foreland Basin | title = Silurian Cycles: Linkages of Dynamic Stratigraphy with Atmospheric, Oceanic and Tectonic Changes. James Hall Centennial Volume. New York State Museum Bulletin | volume = 491 |editor= Landing, E. |editor2=Johnson, M.E. | pages = 89–143 | author = Vanuxem, L. | year = 1839 | chapter = Third Annual Report of the Geological Survey of the Third District | title = New York State Geological Survey Annual Report | volume = 3 | pages = 241–285 | author = Gillette, T. | year = 1947 | chapter = The Clinton of Western and Central New York | title = New York State Museum Bulletin | volume = 341 | pages = 1–191 | publisher = The University of the State of New York | location = Albany, New York | chapter-url = http://128.121.13.244:8080/awweb/main.jsp?flag=browse&smd=1&awdid=1 |author1=Brett, C.E. |author2=Goodman, W.M. |author3=LoDuca, S.T. | year = 1990 | title = Sequences, cycles, and basin dynamics in the Silurian of the Appalachian Foreland Basin | journal = Sedimentary Geology | volume = 69 |issue=3–4 | pages = 191–244 | doi=10.1016/0037-0738(90)90051-T |bibcode=1990SedG...69..191B }} Historically the term "Clinton" has also been assigned to several lower Silurian stratigraphic units in Ohio and Kentucky which are now known to be significantly older than the Clinton Group as it was originally defined.{{cite journal |author1=Rexroad, C.B. |author2=Branson, E.R. |author3=Smith, M.O. |author4=Summerson, C. |author5=Boucot, A.J. | year = 1965 | title = The Silurian Formations of East-Central Kentucky and Adjacent Ohio | journal = Kentucky Geological Survey, Series X | volume = 2 | pages = 1–34
Stratigraphically, the Clinton Group overlies the coarse siliciclastics of the Medina Group in New York, The Albion Group in the Subsurface of Ohio, the Clinch Sandstone in Virginia and West Virginia, and the Tuscarora Sandstone in Pennsylvania.
Description
The Clinton Group (or Formation) is a widely traceable, lower Silurian lithostratigraphic unit composed primarily of shale and mudstone, though it encompasses a heterogeneous assemblage of sedimentary rock types, including conglomerate, sandstone, limestone, dolomite, and ironstone.
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/da/Maplewood_Furnaceville_Reynales_at_SethGreene_Rochester.jpg" caption="An outcrop of Clinton Group Strata exposed at Seth Greene Drive in [[Rochester, New York]]. Pictured is the Reynales Limestone overlying the Maplewood Shale. The prominent bright red band is the Furnaceville (Ironstone) Member of the Reynales." alt="An outcrop of Clinton Group Strata exposed at Seth Greene Drive in Rochester New York. Pictured is the [[Reynales Formation"] ::
Economic uses
In Maryland, the Rose Hill Formation contained the Cresaptown Iron Sandstone.
Age
Relative age dating of the Clinton Group places it in the Lower Silurian period. It rests conformably atop the Tuscarora Formation and conformably below the Lower and Upper Silurian Lockport Group and Bloomsburg Formation.
References
References
- "Clinton Group, Group". National Geologic Map Database.
- "Iron Ore Mining and Manufacturing in the Town of Kirkland". Lecture at the Clinton Historical Society meeting on April 16, 1998 at the Society's Headquarters on Fountain Street, Clinton, New York.
- "The Niagara Escarpment".
- Ryder, Robert T.. "Possible Continuous-Type (Unconventional) Gas Accumulation in Lower Silurian "Clinton" Sands, Medina Group, and the Tuscarora Sandstone in the Appalachian Basin: A Progress Report of 1995 project activities". [[USGS]].
- (2007). "Preliminary Bedrock Geologic Map of the Middle Portion of the Susquehanna River Valley, Cumberland, Dauphin, And Perry Counties, Pennsylvania". [[Pennsylvania Geological Survey]].
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