The

Devonian The Devonian ( ) is a period (geology), geologic period and system (stratigraphy), system of the Paleozoic era (geology), era during the Phanerozoic eon (geology), eon, spanning 60.3 million years from the end of the preceding Silurian per ...

Brallier Formation is a mapped

bedrock In geology, bedrock is solid rock that lies under loose material ( regolith) within the crust of Earth or another terrestrial planet. Definition Bedrock is the solid rock that underlies looser surface material. An exposed portion of bed ...

unit in

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

West Virginia West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in the Southern United States, Southern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.The United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau and the Association of American ...

, and

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

Description

The Brallier Formation was described by Charles Butts in 1918 as a fine-grained, siliceous shale with few fine-grained sandstone layers, from outcrops in central Pennsylvania. Others expanded usage of the term to rocks in other states.

Stratigraphy

The Brallier is roughly equivalent to the Scherr Formation. The contact with the underlying Harrell Formation is generally gradational.

Fossils

Hasson and Dennison reported the following fossils from outcrops of the lower Brallier at

Keyser, West Virginia Keyser () is a city in and the county seat of Mineral County, West Virginia, Mineral County, West Virginia. It is part of the Cumberland, MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 4,853 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. ...

, Ridgeville, West Virginia, and

McCoole, Maryland McCoole is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Allegany County, Maryland, United States. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 511. McCoole is located at the intersection of U.S. Route 220 and the east end o ...

:Hasson, Kenneth O., and Dennison, John M., 1978, STRATIGRAPHY OF THE DEVONIAN HARRELL AND MILLBORO SHALES IN PARTS OF PENNSYLVANIA, MARYLAND, WEST VIRGINIA, AND VIRGINIA, Project Final Report for Energy Research and Development Administration Contract #EY-77-C-21-8153, May 197

/ref> *

Bivalvia Bivalvia () or bivalves, in previous centuries referred to as the Lamellibranchiata and Pelecypoda, is a class (biology), class of aquatic animal, aquatic molluscs (marine and freshwater) that have laterally compressed soft bodies enclosed b ...

: ''Buchiola retrostriata'', ''Paracardium doris'', ''Pterochaenia fragilis'' *

Cephalopod A cephalopod is any member of the molluscan Taxonomic rank, class Cephalopoda (Greek language, Greek plural , ; "head-feet") such as a squid, octopus, cuttlefish, or nautilus. These exclusively marine animals are characterized by bilateral symm ...

a: ''Bactrites'', ''Orthoceras filosum'' *Cricoconarida (class of

Mollusca Mollusca is a phylum of protostome, protostomic invertebrate animals, whose members are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 76,000 extant taxon, extant species of molluscs are recognized, making it the second-largest animal phylum ...

): ''Styliolina fissurella'' *

Annelid The annelids (), also known as the segmented worms, are animals that comprise the phylum Annelida (; ). The phylum contains over 22,000 extant species, including ragworms, earthworms, and leeches. The species exist in and have adapted to vario ...

a: ''Pteridichnites biseriatus''

Notable Exposures

Type locality is at a railway station 6 miles northeast of Everett,

Bedford County, Pennsylvania Bedford County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 47,577. The county seat is Bedford. The county is part of the Southwest region of the commonwealth. History 18th century According to ...

. A large exposure is located in

Huntingdon Huntingdon is a market town in the Huntingdonshire district of Cambridgeshire, England. The town was given its town charter by John, King of England, King John in 1205. It was the county town of the historic county of Huntingdonshire. Oliver C ...

, Pennsylvania, along the ramp from U.S. Route 22 west to Route 26 north.Charles Butts, 1945
Hollidaysburg-Huntingdon folio
Pennsylvania, Folios of the Geologic Atlas 227. United States Geological Survey. Brallier Formation Route 26 Huntingdon Pennsylvania.jpg, Part of the exposure at Huntingdon (2017) Brallier shale, Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania (Butc1163).jpg, Another view at Huntingdon (1924) Another good exposure is on the

Pennsylvania Railroad The Pennsylvania Railroad ( reporting mark PRR), legal name as the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, also known as the "Pennsy," was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At its ...

bed just west of Altoona, Pennsylvania.

Age

Relative age dating places the Brallier in the late

References

Geologic formations of Maryland Geologic formations of Pennsylvania Devonian Pennsylvania Geologic formations of Virginia Geologic formations of West Virginia Devonian System of North America Devonian Maryland Devonian geology of Pennsylvania Devonian geology of Virginia Devonian southern paleotemperate deposits Devonian West Virginia Frasnian Stage Famennian Stage Shale formations of the United States Sandstone formations of the United States {{US-geologic-formation-stub