Sylvania Sandstone of Northwestern Ohio

INTRODUCTION The Sylvania is a white, quartz sandstone near the Silurian-Devonian systemic boundary in the region around the west end of Lake Erie. The lower Paleozoic rocks of this region are almost entirely limestones and shales, and, therefore, this sandstone unit early attracted attention. It was first differentiated in 1869 by Newberry,1 who called it the Oriskany, from the sandstone at the same general horizon in New York ( see Table 1, col. 1). Newberry stated that it had been “identified in a number of localities, principally in the northwestern quarter of the State,” and on a “Preliminary Geological Map of Ohio” he included a narrow band of Oriskany sandstone everywhere at the base of the Corniferous (Columbus) limestone. In a later report, Newberry 2 again correlated this sandstone with the Oriskany, and listed outcrops at several localities, among which is Sylvania Township in Lucas County. Newberry’s Oriskany included two separate . . .