Trenton-Black River: Research Approach and Progress

Contact: Dave Harris

This project will attempt to provide geological and geophysical data to aid Trenton-Black River exploration. Ordovician outcrops and cores will be analyzed in detail, and high-resolution seismic-reflection data will be acquired.

The project will consist of the following tasks. Click on each link to view progress.

• Field work in central Kentucky, and coring of shallow dolostone bodies near faults to determine their three-dimensional geometry
• Petrographic and geochemical analysis of dolostones to help model the dolomitization mechanism
• Structural analysis to determine the controls on dolomitization along faults
• High-resolution seismic imaging of the dolostone bodies using both P-wave and S-wave energy sources, and ground penetrating radar (GPR) imaging
• Integration with similar research in progress on Trenton-Black River outcrops and core at the New York State Museum Center for Stratigraphy and Paleontology by Taury Smith. We hope that integration of these two studies will result in a basinwide model for tectonically emplaced dolostone in Ordovician carbonates
• Reporting and technology transfer