Report of Investigations--KGS
Surficial Geologic Map of the Flaherty 7.5-Minute Quadrangle, Kentucky
Abstract
The Flaherty 7.5-minute quadrangle is located southwest of Louisville and northwest of Elizabethtown along the boundary between Hardin and Meade Counties. The quadrangle includes mostly the Pennyroyal region of the Mississippian Plateau and also smaller areas of the Mammoth Cave plateau and the highly dissected Dripping Springs escarpment in the western half of the map area (McDowell, 1986). Topography is mostly characterized by pervasive
sinkhole development in a lower elevation and low-relief plain, and high-relief plateaus, ridges, and knobs of the Dripping Springs escarpment scattered along the west side of the quadrangle. Swadley (1963) mapped the bedrock geology of the quadrangle, which was later digitized by Crawford (2002). Mississippian bedrock is exposed throughout the quadrangle and is cut by several normal faults in the south. The St. Louis Limestone and overlying Ste. Genevieve Limestone are the oldest and lowest (stratigraphy and elevation) map units in Flaherty, and underlie the Pennyroyal region. The higher elevation landforms characterizing the Dripping Springs escarpment are predominantly underlain by the Paoli Limestone, Beaver Bend Limestone, and Sample Sandstone, from oldest to youngest respectively. The Mooretown Formation is stratigraphically above the Paoli Limestone and below the Beaver Bend Limestone, and is only exposed along Sand Ridge, a prominent landform in the quadrangle trending northeast to southwest. Previously mapped surficial deposits include alluvium in Otter Creek, Flippin Creek, and a large karst basin, and “slumped sandstone” (colluvium) along Sand Ridge and other smaller areas throughout the quadrangle (Swadley, 1963).
