Louisiana Geological Survey

Folio Series No. 8

Stratigraphic Charts of Louisiana
2000
Compiled in Association with:
United States Geological Survey
Capital Area Ground Water Conservation Commission
Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality
Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development
Compiled by
John E. Johnston, III1
Paul V. Heinrich1
John K. Lovelace3
Richard P. McCulloh1
Ronald K. Zimmerman1
Contributions by
Whitney J. Autin1
Zahir Bolurchi4
George T. Cardwell2
Howard K. Fielding5
Darwin D. Knochenmus3
David E. Pope1
John I. Snead1
William H. Walter6
Graphics by the Cartographic Section1
1Louisiana

Geological Survey, Louisiana State University

Area Ground Water Conservation Commission
3Water Resources Division, United States Geological Survey
4Water Resources Section, LA Department of Transportation and Development
5Ground Water Protection Division, LA Department of Environmental Quality
6Office of Conservation, LA Department of Natural Resources
2Capital

Louisiana State University

Louisiana Geological Survey
Chacko J. John, Director

John E. Johnston, III, Assistant Director

COMPOSITE SURFACE AND SUBSURFACE

COLUMNAR SECTION OF LOUISIANA
ERATHEM

SYSTEM

SERIES

FORMATION/
MEMBER

GROUP

REMARKS

RECENT
ALLUVIUM

HOLOCENE

Loess forms a veneer on terraces locally.

Fluvial and coast-parrallel surfaces; subsurface
marine equivalents downdip zoned on
paleontology (no surface-subsurface equivalency
scheme generally accepted.) No diagnostic
lithologies.

QUATERNARY
Terrace - associated
PLEISTOCENE deposits, Valley train deposits,and
Loess

Zoned in marine subsurface on paleontology.

Upland Allogroup

Fleming

PLIOCENE

(see Quaternary
stratigraphic
correlation chart)

MIOCENE

Vicksburg

CENOZOIC

2) Catahoula may be Miocene in part in

subsurface.

Frio and Anahuac are wedges recognized in

subsurface only.
These are surface units, not subdivided
in the subsurface.

Mosley Hill
Danville Landing
Yazoo Clay
Moodys Branch

Jackson
EOCENE

Most of these are recognized both at the

surface and in the subsurface.

Cockfield
Cook Mountain
Sparta

Claiborne

3) Equivalent to Weches, Queen City,

and Reklaw of Texas.

Cane River 3
Carrizo 4
Sabinetown
Pendleton
Marthaville
Hall Summit
Lime Hill 5
Converse
Cow Bayou 5
Dolet Hills 5
Naborton

Wilcox
PALEOCENE

These are surface units ; generally

undifferentiated in the subsurface.
4) Informal usage lumps Carrizo
Formation with Wilcox Group.
5) Formerly designated as members of the
Logansport Formation.

Porters Creek Clay

Kincaid

Midway

These units are present only very

locally at the surface.

Arkadelphia
Nacatoch
Saratoga

Navarro *

The only Mesozoic rocks (all upper Cretaceous)

that have been identified at the surface are those
on a few piercement salt domes in the northern
part of the state.

Marlbrook
Annona

Taylor *

Ozan
Brownstown
Tokio
Upper #
Lower #

GULF

Austin *
Eagle Ford *

Upper
Middle
Lower

Tuscaloosa

CRETACEOUS

1) Subsurface marine beds zoned

arbitrarily into upper, middle, and
lower, based on paleontology.

2 Anahuac
Catahoula Frio
Nash Creek (W)
= Rosefield (E)
Sandel

OLIGOCENE

TERTIARY

Blounts Creek
Castor Creek
Williamson Creek
Dough Hills
Carnahan Bayou
Lena

Washita *

MESOZOIC
COMANCHE

Fredericksburg *

6) Equivalent to the Woodbine of Texas.

South Tyler
Buda
Grayson
Main Street
PawPaw - Weno
Denton
Fort Worth
Duck Creek
Kiamichi
Goodland
Paluxy

Washita units are present primarily within the

salt-dome basins of the Interior Salt Basin
(subsurface only).

Fredricksburg and upper parts of the Trinity

are not present over highest elements of the
Sabine Uplift; these and older Comanche units
are also absent over highest elements of the
Monroe Uplift.

Mooringsport

Trinity *

COAHUILA *

Nuevo Leon

Rusk 7 Member
Ferry Lake
Rodessa
James
Pine Island

8) Some of Hosston Formation may

belong in Cotton Valley.

Sligo
Hosston

8
8

Dorcheat 9

JURASSIC

ier 9
ss n)
Bo basi ton
(
er 9
ill f)
M shel
(

Cotton Valley *

Haynesville

Louark *
MIDDLE
LOWER
TRIASSIC

UPPER

11

Louisiana #

Knowles
Schuler

Shongaloo 9

UPPER

7) Equivalent to Upper Glen Rose of

Ark-La-Tex area.

9) Unconformity - bounded units proposed by

Swain and Anderson (Bulletin 45)
and in part by Anderson (1979). See also
AAPG Cosuna Gulf Coast Region
TerryCorrelation Chart (1988).

Hico 8

ville10
Bossier 10

10) Lithofacies units commonly recognized by

industry geologists in the Ark-La-Tex area.

Smackover
Norphlet
Louann

11) Equivalent to Louann Group in other usage.

Werner
Eagle Mills

# - Units proposed by E. G. Anderson in Basic Mesozoic Study in Louisiana, the Northern Gulf Basin Province:
Louisiana Geological Survey Folio Series No. 3, 1979.
* - These units are more properly designated as time-stratigraphic rather than rock-statigraphic, i.e., stage rather than group and
substage rather than formation. Upper Paleozoic rocks have been encountered to date in two deep wells: Union Producing Co.,
A-1 Tensas Delta, Morehouse Parish; Exxon, 1-Boise Southern, Sabine Parish.

QUATERNARY STRATIGRAPHIC CHART

SYSTEM

SERIES

ALLO-UNIT 1

STAGE
LATE

REMARK

Alluvium

HOLOCENE
2

1) Defined and correlated by

morphologic expression;
each complex consists of
one or more alloformations;
subdivisions have yet to be
defined.

Deltaic and
Chenier Plains

LATE
Valley
5
WISCONSIN Trains4 Peoria Loess
MIDDLE
WISCONSIN
EARLY
Valley
WISCONSIN Trains
SANGAMON

PLEISTOCENE

QUATERNARY

LATE

EARLY

Deweyville
Complex 6

Sicily Island
Prairie 8
Loess
Complex

MIDDLE
Intermediate Complex

Continental
Shelf
7
Deposits

2) Early and late are relative

terms; can be differentiated
locally in coastal and
alluvial settings.
3) Meander belts have been
differentiated on the
Mississippi and Red rivers;
undifferentiated on smaller
streams. Natural levee
and backswamp facies have
been differentiated on
Geologic Map of Louisiana.
4) Identified as Braided
Stream Terraces on
Geologic Map of
Louisiana. Early Wisconsin
unit may include some
deposits of middle
Pleistocene valley trains.
5) Lithologic criteria used in
identification.
6) Only recognized as flanking
selected valleys.

EARLY
Upland Complex 9

7) Consists of lowstand shelf

margin deltas downdip and
highstand shelf phase deltas
updip.

TERTIARY

8) Equivalent to Beaumont
Formation of Texas.

PLIOCENE

9) Equivalent to Citronelle
Formation of northern
Gulf Coast and High
Terraces on Geologic
Map of Louisiana.

TERTIARY STRATIGRAPHIC CHART

Quat.

Pleist.

FORMATION / MBR
SURFACE / UPDIP
[refer to Quaternary chart]

Pliocene

Upland Allogroup

Fleming

Miocene

Blounts Creek

FORMATION / MBR
SUBSURFACE /DOWNDIP
(Unnamed)
(Unnamed)
Upper

Castor Creek
Williamson Creek
Dough Hills
Carnahan Bayou
Lena

Middle

Harang

Lower

Frio
Nash
Creek (w) Rosefield (e)
Sandel

Catahoula may be Miocene in part in subsurface.

Hackberry

The lower Miocene, the Anahuac, and the upper

Frio intervals include well-developed reef and reefassociated interbedded limestone units in the
subsurface of southeastern Louisiana.

(Undifferentiated except
paleontologically)

Mosley Hill

Jackson

Danville Landing
Yazoo Clay

(Undifferentiated except
paleontologically)

Predominantly shaly lithofacies with

interbedded limestones in Louisiana, and in
many places, a basal marl.

Eocene

Moodys Branch

Claiborne

Cockfield

Cockfield

Cook Mountain

Cook Mountain

Sparta

Sparta

Well-developed diagenetic ironstone occurs locally

at surface and in shallow subsurface, north
Louisiana.

Cane River

Cane River

Carrizo

Carrizo 1

Unit I 2

Upper

Unit II

Sabinetown
Pendleton
Marthaville
Hall Summit

Wilcox

Big Shale

Middle

Lime Hill

Paleocene

Cow Bayou
Dolet Hills
Naborton

Navarro

Porters Creek Clay

Kincaid
Arkadelphia

Well developed interbedded lignite units from

surface to deep subsurface. Some authors place
Carrizo in Claiborne group based on mineralogical
and/or sequence-stratigraphic criteria; longstanding informal usage places it in Wilcox based on
gross e-log facies and gross lithofacies.

Unit III

Converse

Midway
Cretaceous

Fleming Formation and constituent members are

recognized in west-central Louisiana; Pascagoula
Clay (equivalent to upper Fleming) underlies
Quaternary terrace-associated deposits of the Florida
Parishes, but exposures are too localized to depict on
the Geologic Map of Louisiana (1984).

Catahoula

Vicksburg
Tertiary

Cenozoic

Oligocene

Anahuac

Mesozoic

REMARK
Base of Upland Allogroup equivalent is not
definitely known in the subsurface.

PlanulinaAbbeville

ERATHEM SYSTEM SERIES GROUP

Unit IV

1) Classification of Echols (unpublished data,

modified after Echols 1991)
2) Classification of Tye et al. (1991)

Lower
Unit V
(undifferentiated except
paleontologically)
Arkadelphia

Local surface exposure only in Caddo Parish.

MESOZOIC STRATIGRAPHIC CHART

TAYLOR NAVARRO

Marlbrook
Annona
Ozan
Tokio
Rapides

Lower2

Pepper Shale

Upper Malver
South
Tyler
Maness Shale
Buda
Grayson
Main Street
Pawpaw-Weno

4) Fredericksburg units not preserved over the

crest of the Sabine and Monroe uplifts or the
Lake Bistineau trend (in the North Louisiana
Syncline) between the uplifts.

Benbrook
Marys Creek

Paluxy

Pine Island Fm
Pettet 6

Givens p

Hosston

UNNAMED

COAHUILA

Sligo

Grambling p

Aycock p

Unnamed
Reef

MESOZOIC

James Fm

Caspiana p

Dorcheat
+

Upper

Shongaloo

Roseberry

JURASSIC

Lenton p

Sexton
Taylor
Upper
Middle L
Lower
Gamma Buckner
James Estate
Beta Buckner

TRIASSIC

UPPER

Banks L

Shelfedge barrier reef

Lower

Louann Salt
Werner

LOUISIANA

Units paleontologically zoned

[see AAPG COSUNA Chart
(1988); Swain and Anderson
(Bulletin 45)]

LOWER

+ Intervals also constitute

depositional sequences

Upper

Norphlet
MIDDLE

# Provincial series boundaries do

not correspond precisely with
standard European series boundaries

Jones

Basal

Bossier Fm7

Alpha Buckner
Smackover

LOUARK

Haynesville

Upper

Knowles Fm7

Bossier Shale1

6) The Terms Upper Glen Rose and Pettet are

still used by some geologists, the latter being a
synonym for the Sligo, especially as to porous
zones of that formation.
7) This terminology is presently in use by certian
industry geologists (see Mann and Thomas
1964: Gulf Coast Association of Geological
Societies Transactions 14:143-53).

Sentell p

Sub-Taylor
+

Millerton

COTTON VALLEY

ARK-LA-TEX

Hughes p

UPPER

Napper p

5) Upper parts of the Trinity not preserved over

the highest parts of the Sabine Uplift: these
and older Cretaceous units are absent over
higher elements of the Monroe Uplift (see
AAPG COSUNA Gulf Coast Region
Correlation Chart (1988): columns 7-9
Anderson 1979).

Rodessa Fm

TRINITY5

Rose

Ferry Lake Anhydrite

Pearsall Fm Stuart City Fm

LOWER

Upper
Upper
Rusk Mooringsport Glen6

Terryville
Fm

Goodland

Schuler Fm 7

Fredericksburg

Upper
Lower

3) Washita units preserved beneath the subGulfian unconformity primarily within the
North Louisiana Syncline, subsurface only
(see AAPG COSUNA Gulf Coast Region
Correlation Chart (1988): columns 7-10;
Anderson, E. G. (1979). Basic Mesozoic
Study in Louisiana, the Northern
Coastal Region, and the Gulf Basin
Province. Folio Series No.3. Baton Rouge:
Louisiana Geological Survey.

Hico Fm 7

Denton
Fort Worth
Duck
Creek
Kiamichi

2) Equivalent to the Woodbine of

Texas.

Cotton Valley Group 7

Georgetown

WASHITA

Eagle Ford
Fm

COMANCHE

Middle

Upper
Lower
Eagle Mills

UNDIFFERENTIATED PALEOZOIC

TUSCALOOSA

Upper

CRETACEOUS

Selin Group

Saratoga

1) Formations and members are shelf units.

The right columns shows distal-source facies
(shelfedge or basin) as indicated by explanation.

GULF

Brownstown

Nacatoch

UPPER

Arkadelphia

REMARKS

Euro. Prov.

AUSTIN

ERATHEM SYSTEM SERIES GROUP FORMATION/MEMBER1

Basin facies, distal source

L Ammonite-bearing tongue extending

into areas which are normally shelf
p

New names proposed by Swain,

F. M. and Anderson, E. G. in
Stratigraphy and Ostracoda of the
Northern Gulf Coastal Region.
Baton Rouge: Louisiana Geological
Survey (Bulletin 45).

GEOHYDROLOGIC UNITS OF LOUISIANA

Hydrogeologic Unit
Series

System

Northern Louisiana

Central Louisiana

Southwestern Louisiana
aquifer or confining unit

aquifer or confining unit

aquifer system or confining unit

Pleistocene

Red River alluvial aquifer

or surficial confining unit
Mississippi River alluvial
aquifer or surficial
confining unit
Upland terrace aquifer or
surficial confining unit

Alluvial aquifer,
undifferentiated or
surfical confining unit
Prairie aquifer
Montgomery aquifer
Williana-Bentley aquifer

rice growing
area

Baton Rouge area

Chicot equivalent aquifer

system or surficial
confining unit

Mississippi River
alluvial aquifer or
surficial confining
unit
Shallow sand
"400-foot" sand
"600-foot" sand

Evangeline aquifer or
surficial confining unit

Evangeline equivalent
aquifer system or
surficial confining unit

"800-foot" sand
"1,000-foot" sand
"1,200-foot" sand
"1,500-foot" sand
"1,700-foot" sand

Castor Creek confining unit

unnamed confining unit

Chicot aquifer
system or surficial
confining unit

"200-foot"
sand

Upper sand unit

"500-foot"
sand
"700-foot"
sand

Lower sand unit

Pl

io

Fleming Formation

ce

ne

Red River alluvial deposits

Mississippi River alluvial deposits
Northern Louisiana terrace deposits
Unnamed Pleistocene deposits

Tertiary

Miocene

Castor Creek Member

Williamson Creek Member
Dough Hills Member
Carnahan Bayou Member

units absent

Jasper aquifer
system or surficial
confining unit

Williamson Creek aquifer

Dough Hills confining unit
Carnahan Bayou aquifer
Lena confining unit

unnamed confining unit

Catahoula Formation

Catahoula aquifer

Catahoula equivalent
aquifer system or
surficial confining unit

O
lig

Eocene

Claiborne Group

Vicksburg Group, undifferentiated Vicksburg-Jackson

confining unit
Jackson Group, undifferentiated
Cockfield Formation

Cockfield aquifer or
surficial confining unit

Cook Mountain Formation

Cook Mountain aquifer

or confining unit

Sparta sand

Sparta aquifer or
surficial confining unit

Cane River Formation

Cane River aquifer

or confing unit

Wilcox Group, undifferentiated

Carrizo-Wilcox aquifer or
surficial confining unit
Wilcox aquifer

Midway Group, undifferentiated

Midway confining unit

Carrizo sand

en

c
leo

Pa
1
2
3

"2,000-foot" sand
Jasper equivalent aquifer "2,400-foot" sand
or surficial confining unit "2,800-foot" sand

Lena Member

oc

en

Blounts Creek Member

aquifer or confining unit

aquifer system or
confining unit 1
Lake Charles
area

Quaternary

Southeastern Louisiana

Stratigraphic Unit

The interval containing the four aquifer systems is refered to as the Southern Hills aquifer system.
Clay units separating aquifers in southeastern Louisiana are discontinuous, unnamed, and not listed herein.
The interval containing the four aquifers is refered to as the New Orleans aquifer system.

no freshwater occurs in deeper units

St. Tammany,
Tangipahoa, and
Washington Parishes

New Orleans area and

lower Mississippi River
Parishes 3

Upland terrace aquifer

Upper Pontchatoula
aquifer

Gramercy aquifer
Norco aquifer
Gonzales-New Orleans
aquifer
"1,200-foot" sand

Lower Pontchatoula
aquifer
Big Branch aquifer
Kentwood aquifer
Abita aquifer
Covington aquifer
Slidell aquifer
Tchefuncte aquifer
Hammond aquifer
Amite aquifer
Ramsay aquifer
Franklinton aquifer