Meramec (series)
Encyclopedia
The Meramecian or Maramec stage is a sequence of Mississippian
rocks in the Mississippi River Valley. It is named for the Meramec River in Missouri
.
Included are the St. Louis Limestone
, Ste. Genevieve Limestone
, Salem Limestone, and the Harrodsburg Limestone
. All of these rocks are generally thick bedded limestone
s with chert
, gypsum
, dolomite
. Some parts consist of siltstone
.
Mississippian (geologic period)
The Mississippian is a subperiod in the geologic timescale or a subsystem of the geologic record. It is the earliest/lowermost of two subperiods of the Carboniferous period lasting from roughly 359 to 318 Ma...
rocks in the Mississippi River Valley. It is named for the Meramec River in Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
.
Included are the St. Louis Limestone
St. Louis Limestone
The St. Louis Limestone is a large geologic formation covering a wide area of the midwest of the United States. It is named after an exposure at St. Louis, Missouri. It consists of sedimentary limestone with scattered chert beds, including the heavily chertified Lost River Chert Bed in the Horse...
, Ste. Genevieve Limestone
Ste. Genevieve Limestone
The Ste. Genevieve Limestone is a geologic formation named for Ste. Genevieve, Missouri where it is exposed and was first described. It is a thick-bedded limestone that overlies the St. Louis Limestone. Both are Mississippian in age and part of the Meramecian series.Members of the Ste...
, Salem Limestone, and the Harrodsburg Limestone
Harrodsburg limestone
Harrodsburg Limestone is a member of the Sanders Group of Indiana Limestone, of Mississippian age. It was named for Harrodsburg, Indiana in southern Monroe County, Indiana by T. C. Hopkins and C. E. Siebenthal . It is made up primarily of calcarenite and calcirudite...
. All of these rocks are generally thick bedded limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
s with chert
Chert
Chert is a fine-grained silica-rich microcrystalline, cryptocrystalline or microfibrous sedimentary rock that may contain small fossils. It varies greatly in color , but most often manifests as gray, brown, grayish brown and light green to rusty red; its color is an expression of trace elements...
, gypsum
Gypsum
Gypsum is a very soft sulfate mineral composed of calcium sulfate dihydrate, with the chemical formula CaSO4·2H2O. It is found in alabaster, a decorative stone used in Ancient Egypt. It is the second softest mineral on the Mohs Hardness Scale...
, dolomite
Dolomite
Dolomite is a carbonate mineral composed of calcium magnesium carbonate CaMg2. The term is also used to describe the sedimentary carbonate rock dolostone....
. Some parts consist of siltstone
Siltstone
Siltstone is a sedimentary rock which has a grain size in the silt range, finer than sandstone and coarser than claystones.- Description :As its name implies, it is primarily composed of silt sized particles, defined as grains 1/16 - 1/256 mm or 4 to 8 on the Krumbein phi scale...
.