The initial carbonate sedimentation of the Shady began on the southern shelf of
Laurentia and formed on top of the
siliciclastic sequence that now make up the rocks of the
Chilhowee Group.[12] These carbonate sediments formed a carbonate ramp that over time developed into a rimmed carbonate shelf.[10][11]
Economic Importance
Austinville-Ivanhoe District
Lead and zinc ore bodies of the Austinville-Ivanhoe District occur in the Shady Dolomite in the vicinity of
Austinville, Virginia. They are classified as
Mississippi Valley Type deposits. The main ore minerals include
sphalerite,
galena, and
hemimorphite. Formation of the ore deposits likely occurred when warm and saline groundwater moved through the Shady in the Late
Paleozoic during the
Alleghanian orogeny.[13][14]
Mining of the deposit began in 1756 both on the surface and underground.[15] Over 21,000 tons of lead were mined from the district through the 1860s.[15] During the
American Civil War, lead from these mines was used to make ammunition for the
Confederate States of America.[16] Following the war, the Bertha Mineral Company took over the mining operations mined zinc from oxidized ores of
hemimorphite.[8] The New Jersey Zinc Company acquired the site in 1902 and mined both lead and zinc through 1981.[8][15] Since the 1980s, dolostone been quarried and taken from existing
tailings piles on the site for agricultural use.[8][15]
^Kobluk, David R. (1985). "Biota Preserved within Cavities in Cambrian Epiphyton Mounds, Upper Shady Dolomite, Southwestern Virginia". Journal of Paleontology. 59 (5): 1158–1172.
ISSN0022-3360.
JSTOR1305009.
^Willoughby, Ralph (1977). Paleontology and stratigraphy of the Shady Formation near Austinville. Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacks- burg, Virginia. p. 189. {{
cite book}}: |work= ignored (
help)
^Keith, Arthur, (1903) Description of the Cranberry quadrangle [North Carolina-Tennessee]: U. S. Geological Survey Geology Atlas, Folio 90.