STRATIGRAPHY OF THE UPPER DEVONIAN GENESEE FORMATION, NICHOLAS COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA

The Upper Devonian Genesee Formation in Nicholas County, WV, comprises a 30- to 188-foot-thick interval of terrigenous sediment between the Sonyea Formation and Tully Limestone. These sediments are identified as the West River Member and the Geneseo Member. The Geneseo Member is correlative with the Burket Member of the Harrell Shale in surface exposures. The West River Member ranges in thickness from about 7 to 150 feet whereas the Geneseo Member ranges in thickness from about 23 to 38 feet. The Geneseo is underlain by the Tully Limestone in the north and the Marcellus Shale and other Hamilton Group sediments to the south where the Taghanic unconformity truncates older units. The West River Member everywhere in Nicholas County is underlain by the Geneseo Member. Thinning of the West River Member results from erosion to the south prior to the deposition of the Sonyea Formation. No gas production has been reported from the Genesee Formation in Nicholas County although the Geneseo Member in northernmost Nicholas County is included in the Geneseo (Burket) play developed further to the north.