A STRATIGRAPHIC FRAMEWORK FOR THE CATSKILL FACIES, SOUTHEASTERN NEW YORK AND NORTHEASTERN PENNSYLVANIA

Preliminary examination of the logs of exploratory gas wells within the upper Delaware River valley indicate that the Late Devonian Catskill facies of southeastern New York and northeastern Pennsylvania may be subdivided into seven, regionally extensive, stratigraphic intervals on the basis of gross lithologic properties. These intervals represent five previously recognized formations, (from oldest to youngest) the Delaware River Fm./Oneonta Fm., the Shohola Fm., the Lackawaxen Formation (Fletcher and Woodrow, 1970), and the Stockport Formation (Woodrow and Fletcher (2002); and two new, provisional units here termed the “Damascus” and "Honesdale" intervals. Each interval occupies a known stratigraphic position above the top of the Tully-Gilboa sequence and is traceable in the subsurface along a SE to NW line extending from Port Jervis, N. Y. to Hancock, N. Y. Several thin, dark gray shale layers further divide the largely non-marine sequence and serve as marker beds that permit correlation with the Late Devonian marine sequence of central New York (Genesee, Sonyea, and West Falls Groups). The characterization of these intervals provides the framework for a detailed analysis of the sedimentation patterns of the Catskill facies of this region.