REVIEW OF THE UPPER MISSISSIPPIAN MAYES GROUP (MERAMECIAN AND CHESTERIAN) OF NORTHEASTERN OKLAHOMA

Work by Dr. George Huffman in 1958 resulted in the establishment of the Mayes Group of northeastern Oklahoma, stratigraphically situated between the Keokuk Formation below and the Fayetteville Formation above. The Keokuk Formation (Osagean) is a limestone and interbedded chert unit, the top of which represents a regional unconformity with significant paleotopographical relief. The Mayes Group was divided into two formations, the "Moorefield Formation" (Meramecian) and the overlying Hindsville Formation (Chesterian). The "Moorefield Formation" is considered time-correlative to the Moorefield Formation of Arkansas, although significantly different in lithology. The "Moorefield Formation" of Oklahoma is further divided into the Tahlequah, Bayou Manard, Lindsey Bridge, and Ordnance Plant members. The overall composition of the "Moorefield Formation" is dominated by fine to very coarse, argillaceous, silty, and bioclastic limestone, calcareous shale, and calcareous siltstone. The Hindsville Formation is considered equivalent to the Hindsville Limestone member of the Batesville Sandstone of northern Arkansas. The Hindsville Formation of the Mayes Group is composed of fine to very coarse-grained bioclastic limestone and calcareous shale and overlies the Ordnance Plant Member with apparent unconformity.

Five exposures spanning the uppermost Keokuk Formation through the Mayes Group were examined as par of a larger regional study of the Mississippian System of the southern Ozarks. Included in this group of locations are the type sections for all four members of the "Moorefield Formation". The preliminary results suggest a more complex depositional history for this interval.