Suggested Citation
O'Neill, B. J., Jr., and Barnes, J. H., 1981, Properties and uses of shales and clays, south-central Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania Geological Survey, 4th ser., Mineral Resource Report 79, 201 p. [Available online.]
Description
This report (along with Mineral Resource Reports 51, 63, 71, and 77) was part of a cooperative study with the U.S. Bureau of Mines to evaluate clays and shales for commercial use. The study included collecting and testing shales and clays to determine their chemistry, mineralogy, and physical properties relevant to their practical applications. This report considered 143 samples from Bedford, Blair, Centre, Fulton, Huntingdon, Juniata, Mifflin, Perry, Snyder, and Union Counties in the Ridge and Valley physiographic province. For each sample, the location, stratigraphic unit and thickness, results of physical and firing tests, semiquantitative mineralogy as determined by X-ray diffraction, major and minor oxides as determined by atomic absorption, and preliminary evaluations of potential uses are reported. A 1:250,000-scale map and cross section show the bedrock geology, and the locations from which the samples were collected are also shown on the map.