Type area: The term “Salina” was first used by J. D. Dana (1863) in the combination Salina Period, during which time the Guelph limestones and marls and limestones and salt of the so-called Saliferous Epoch were said to be deposited in central New York (Shaver, 1970; Droste and Shaver, 1986).
History of usage:
Restriction: The Salina once included rocks assigned to the Onondaga Salt (Saliferous) Group (Dana, 1880, p. 232-233), but after long evolution of the term in New York, the name "Salina" became restricted to Silurian rocks and also synonymous with most of the Cayugan Series, that is, with the Upper Silurian Series of other common North American terminology using a tripartite division of the Silurian System (Droste and Shaver, 1986).
The Salina Group, thus defined, includes a great variety of dominantly carbonate rocks, ranging from fine-grained shaly rocks to pure carbonate-mud rocks and to coarse-grained vuggy bioclastic and otherwise highly fossiliferous rocks including reef-framework rocks; also, from open-marine deeper water carbonate rocks to very shallow marine, ecologically restricted rocks (Droste and Shaver, 1986). Bedded evaporites are unknown, however (Droste and Shaver, 1986).
Many isolated to systematic studies in Indiana have recorded, during the modern period of study of the Salina rocks defined here, dozens of occurrences of key index fossils whose reliabilities are firmly established in a sequential stratigraphy that takes account of the ecologic factors (Droste and Shaver, 1986). In addition, stratigraphic sense has been made of the hundreds of once hopelessly stratigraphically/ecologically confused species that were the objects of classic study (Shaver, 1974) (Droste and Shaver, 1986).
Regional Indiana usage:
Illinois Basin Margin (COSUNA 12)
Huntington Lithofacies, Huntington Dolomite, Huntington Limestone, Huntington Stone
COSUNA areas and regional terminology
Names for geologic units vary across Indiana. The Midwestern Basin and Arches Region COSUNA chart (Shaver, 1984) was developed to strategically document such variations in terminology. The geologic map (below left) is derived from this chart and provides an index to the five defined COSUNA regions in Indiana. The regions are generally based on regional bedrock outcrop patterns and major structural features in Indiana. (Click the maps below to view more detailed maps of COSUNA regions and major structural features in Indiana.)
Dana, J. D., 1863, Manual of geology, 1st ed.: Philadelphia, 798 p.
Dana, J. D., 1880, Manual of geology, 3d ed.: New York, Ivison, Blakeman, Taylor, and Co., Publishers, xiv + 911 p.
Droste, J. B., and Shaver, R. H., 1977, Synchronization of deposition–Silurian reef-bearing rocks on Wabash Platform with cyclic evaporites of Michigan Basin, in Fisher, J. H., ed., Reefs and evaporites–concepts and depositional models: American Association of Petroleum Geologists Studies in Geology 5, p. 93-109.
Droste, J. B., and Shaver, R. H., 1986, Salina Group, in Shaver, R. H., Ault, C. H., Burger, A. M., Carr, D. D., Droste, J. B., Eggert, D. L., Gray, H. H., Harper, Denver, Hasenmueller, N. R., Hasenmueller, W. A., Horowitz, A. S., Hutchison, H. C., Keith, B. D., Keller, S. J., Patton, J. B., Rexroad, C. B., and Wier, C. E., Compendium of Paleozoic rock-unit stratigraphy in Indiana–a revision: Indiana Geological Survey Bulletin 59, p. 133-135.
Droste, J. B., Rexroad, C. B., and Shaver, R. H., 1980, The Silurian System in Indiana and environs–a key to regional paleogeography and to reef and evaporite controversies [abs.]: Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, v. 12, p. 224.
Ells, G. D., 1962, Silurian rocks in the subsurface of southern Michigan, in Fisher, J. H., chm., Silurian rocks of the southern Lake Michigan area: Michigan Basin Geological Society Annual Field Conference 1962, p. 39-49.
Janssens, Adriaan, 1977, Silurian rocks in the subsurface of northwestern Ohio: Ohio Geological Survey Report of Investigations 100, 96 p.
Landes, K. K., 1945, The Salina and Bass Islands rocks in the Michigan Basin: U.S. Geological Survey Oil and Gas Investigations (Preliminary) Map 40.
Mesolella, K. J., 1978, Paleogeography of some Silurian and Devonian reef trends, central Appalachian Basin: American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin, v. 62, p. 1,607-1,644.
Okla, S. M., 1976, Subsurface stratigraphy and sedimentation of Middle and Upper Silurian rocks of northern Indiana: Bloomington, Indiana University, Ph.D. thesis, 153 p.
Patchen, D. G., and Smosna, R. A., 1975, Stratigraphy and petrology of Middle Silurian McKenzie Formation in West Virginia: American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin 59, p. 2,266-2,287; West Virginia Geological and Economic Survey Reports Investigation 25, 22 p. (1976)
Rickard, L. V., 1969, Stratigraphy of the Upper Silurian Salina Group, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Ontario: New York State Museum and Science Service Geological Survey Map and Chart Ser. 12, 57 p.
Rickard, L. V., 1975, Correlation of the Silurian and Devonian rocks in New York State: New York State Museum and Science Service Geological Survey Map and Chart Ser. 24, 16 p.
Shaver, R. H., 1970, Salina Formation, in Shaver, R. H., Burger, A. M., Gates, G. R., Gray, H. H., Hutchison, H. C., Keller, S. J., Patton, J. B., Rexroad, C. B., Smith, N. M., Wayne, W. J., and Wier, C. E., Compendium of rock-unit stratigraphy in Indiana: Indiana Geological Survey Bulletin 43, p. 155-157.
Shaver, R. H., 1974, The Niagaran (Middle Silurian) macrofaunas of northern Indiana–review, appraisal, and inventory: Indiana Academy of Science Proceedings, v. 83, p. 301-315.
Shaver, R. H., and Sunderman, J. A., 1983, Silurian reef and interreef strata as responses to a cyclical succession of environments, southern Great Lakes area (Field Trip 12), in Shaver, R. H., and Sunderman, J. A., eds., Field trips in midwestern geology: Bloomington, Indiana, Geological Society of America, Indiana Geological Survey, and Indiana University Department of Geology, v. 1, p. 141-196.
Shaver, R. H., coordinator, 1984, Midwestern basin and arches region–correlation of stratigraphic units in North America (COSUNA): American Association of Petroleum Geologists Correlation Chart Series.
For additional information contact:
Nancy Hasenmueller (email@example.com) orDate last revised: December 9, 2013
Walter Hasenmueller (firstname.lastname@example.org)