Site: GLENS 2-1:
Bakerstown Coal off Rt. 8, Richland Township, PA
Latitude: 40° 37' 23"N
Longitude: 79° 56' 38"W
Quadrangle: Glenshaw 7 1/2'
Age: Pennsylvanian
Formation(s): Conemaugh Group, Glenshaw Formation, Bakerstown coal and overlying marine Bakerstown shale.
Purpose:
This site provides a close-up view of a seldom exposed part of the Conemaugh section.Access and Parking:
Park in northern part of Wal Mart parking lot. Outcrop is along hill side next to tire/car-repair shop. Parking available for motor coach. Recommended for all age groups.
Mass Transit Directions:
(Make sure you get an up-to-date PAT Transit schedule:
No PAT Transit Service
Driving Directions:
From the Cathedral of Learning, Drive 0.7 mi. west on Fifth Avenue. Make a Left on Craft Av. Go 0.1 mi., then make a right onto Blvd. of Allies, go 1.6 mi. then bear right onto I-579. Stay on I-579 across the Allegheny River then get onto Rt. 28 East. Go approximately 6.6 miles and take the exit for Rt. 8 North (Etna). Stay on Rt. 8 for 9.9 miles and make a left into the Wal Mart store parking lot (approximately 1 mile north of the PA Turnpike). Outcrop located near north side of lot as described above.
See map and figures.
What you will see:
This is one of very few sites in the region where you can get a good look at the Bakerstown shale and Bakerstown coal interval.
Geologic History: Environment of Deposition:
This interval represents a delta coal followed by a minor marine transgression. The marine interval is part of a major marine transgression associated with the general Conemaugh Group third-order transgressive-regressive unit (Busch and Brezinski, 1984). Most likely, the marine influence was due to the subsiding of delta sediments below sea level after a major delta distributary lobe shifted. This pattern is common in the Mississippi and other delta regions.
Paleogeographic map of the region during Bakerstown shale time.
Click on the thumbnails below for pictures of the outcrops:
| A view of the outcrop showing the coal and the underlying shales. |
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Fossils:
Bakerstown shales above the coal are marine, and contain gastropods and occasional crinoid fragments.
References:
Edmunds, W. E., Skema, V. W., Flint, N. K., 1999, Pennsylvanian, in Shultz, C. H., ed, The Geology of Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania Geological Survey Special Publication 1, p. 149-169.
Harper, J. A., 1990, Fossil Collecting in the Pittsburgh Area, Pittsburgh Geological Society Guidebook. 50 pages.
Johnson, M. E., 1928, Geology and Mineral Resources of the Pittsburgh Quadrangle, Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania Geological Survey Bulletin A 27, 236 p.
Leighton, H. 1945, The Geology of Pittsburgh and its Environs: A Popular Account of the General Geological Features of the Region: Carnegie Institute Press, 2nd edition, Pittsburgh, PA , 80p.
Shaw, E. W., and Munn, M. J., 1911, Geologic Atlas of the United States: Burgettstown-Carnegie Folio, United States Geological Survey Folio 177 Field Edition, 123p.
Wagner, W. R., and others, 1970, Geology of the Pittsburgh Area: Pennsylvania Geological Survey General Geology Report G 59, 145p.
Click here for an image of the County Geologic Map (1880)