The Devonian

Devonian

The Devonian is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic Era spanning from the end of the Silurian Period, about 416.0 ± 2.8 Mya , to the beginning of the Carboniferous Period, about 359.2 ± 2.5 Mya...

 Brallier Formation is a mapped bedrock

Bedrock

In stratigraphy, bedrock is the native consolidated rock underlying the surface of a terrestrial planet, usually the Earth. Above the bedrock is usually an area of broken and weathered unconsolidated rock in the basal subsoil...

 unit in Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

, Maryland

Maryland

Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...

, West Virginia

West Virginia

West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...

, and Virginia

Virginia

The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...

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Description

The Brallier Formation was described by Charles Butts in 1918 as a fine-grained, siliceous shale with few fine-grained sandstone layers, from outcrops in central Pennsylvania. Others expanded usage of the term to rocks in other states.

Stratigraphy

The Brallier is roughly equivalent to the Scherr Formation

Scherr Formation

The Devonian Scherr Formation is a mapped bedrock unit in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia.-Description:The Scherr Formation consists predominantly of siltstone and shale. Lower part of unit includes considerable fine-grained sandstone, while upper two thirds contains almost no...

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The contact with the underlying Harrell Formation

Harrell Formation

The Devonian Harrell Formation is a mapped bedrock unit in Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia, and Virginia.-Description:The Harrell Formation was first described by Charles Butts in 1918...

 is generally gradational.

Fossils

Hasson and Dennison reported the following fossils from outcrops of the lower Brallier at Keyser, West Virginia

Keyser, West Virginia

Keyser is a city in and the county seat of Mineral County, West Virginia, United States. It is part of the Cumberland, MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 5,303 at the 2000 census.- History :...

, Ridgeville, West Virginia

Ridgeville, West Virginia

Ridgeville is an unincorporated community in Mineral County, West Virginia, United States. It lies along U.S. Routes 50 and 220 in the Mill Creek Valley, west of Markwood.The zip code for Ridgeville is 26710...

, and McCoole, Maryland

McCoole, Maryland

McCoole is an unincorporated community in Allegany County, Maryland, USA. It is located at the intersection of U.S. Route 220 and the east end of Maryland Route 135. McCoole lies directly across the North Branch Potomac River from Keyser, West Virginia. McCoole had its own post office in operation...

:

• Bivalvia
  Bivalvia
  Bivalvia is a taxonomic class of marine and freshwater molluscs. This class includes clams, oysters, mussels, scallops, and many other families of molluscs that have two hinged shells...
  
  : Buchiola retrostriata, Paracardium doris, Pterochaenia fragilis
• Cephalopoda
  Cephalopod
  A cephalopod is any member of the molluscan class Cephalopoda . These exclusively marine animals are characterized by bilateral body symmetry, a prominent head, and a set of arms or tentacles modified from the primitive molluscan foot...
  
  : Bactrites, Orthoceras filosum
• Cricoconarida: Styliolina fissurella
• Annelida
  Annelid
  The annelids , formally called Annelida , are a large phylum of segmented worms, with over 17,000 modern species including ragworms, earthworms and leeches...
  
  : Pteridichnites biseriatus

Notable Exposures

Type locality is at a railway station 6 miles northeast of Everett

Everett, Pennsylvania

Everett is a borough in Bedford County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 1,905 at the 2000 census.Everett's original name was Bloody Run, after a creek which was the site of a battle between settlers and Native Americans...

, Bedford County, Pennsylvania

Bedford County, Pennsylvania

Bedford County is a county located in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. As of the 2010 census, the population was 49,762. The county seat is Bedford. It is part of the Altoona, Pennsylvania, Metropolitan Statistical Area.- History :...

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