MISSISSIPPIAN ALGAL STRUCTURES WITHIN THE BANGOR LIMESTONE FORMATION AT RACCOON MOUNTAIN, CHATTANOOGA, TENNESSEE

Raccoon Mountain Caverns is a privately owned cave system located approximately 6 miles east of Chattanooga, Tennessee. The cave system formed in the Bangor Limestone formation, which was deposited during the Mississippian period. Samples with possible microbial textures were collected from a recently excavated pit near the entrance of the adjoining campground. The samples collected in the lower strata of the pit were markedly different from the overlying dark-gray carbonate strata. They are tan-colored and have irregular, conical to domal shaped layers that appear to be microbial textures. Although the presence of the algal mats at Hugden’s Branch on Raccoon Mountain is mentioned by Bergenback and Lance (1992), the algal textures and associated rocks are not described in the literature for Tennessee. Algal mat fabrics have, however, been identified in Northwest Alabama as part of the lower Banger formation. This research describes the algal textures and their associated strata and compares the fabrics observed at Raccoon Mountain to those described in the Black Warrior Basin of Alabama.