View source for Onondaga Limestone

{{Short description|Hard limestones rock formation in North America}}
{{other uses|Onondaga (disambiguation)}}
{{Infobox rockunit
| name = Onondaga Limestone
| image = 
| type = [[Geological formation]]
| prilithology = [[Limestone]]
| otherlithology =[[Chert]] 
| namedfor = [[Onondaga, NY]]
| namedby = 
| region = [[Maryland]] ,[[New York (state)|New York]], [[Ohio]], [[Pennsylvania]], [[West Virginia]], [[Ontario]]
| country = [[United States]], [[Canada]]
| coordinates = 
| caption = 
| unitof = 
| subunits = *Seneca
*Moorehouse 
*Nedrow
*Edgecliff
| underlies = [[Hamilton Group]] and [[Marcellus Formation]]
| overlies = [[Helderberg Group]], [[Huntersville Chert]], [[Old Port Formation]], [[Oriskany Sandstone]], and [[Schoharie Formation]]
| thickness = 
| extent = [[Appalachian Basin]] of<br />eastern [[North America]]
| period = Givetian
| age = [[Eifelian]]-[[Givetian]]<br />~{{Fossil range|392|383}}
| map            = The Onondaga Formation.png
| map_caption    = Location of the Onondaga limestone outcrop in New York State, USA and Ontario, Canada
}}
The '''Onondaga Limestone''' is a group of hard [[limestone]]s and [[Dolomite (rock)|dolomite]]s of [[Devonian]] age that forms geographic features in some areas in which it [[outcrop]]s; in others, especially its [[Southern Ontario]] portion, the formation can be less prominent as a local surface feature.{{citation needed|date=May 2009}}<ref>{{Cite web |title=Onondaga Limestone |url=https://mrdata.usgs.gov/geology/state/sgmc-unit.php?unit=NYDou%3B3 |website=United States Geological Survey}}</ref>

In upstate [[New York (state)|New York]] and the Niagara peninsula of southern [[Ontario]] the sedimentary rocks tend to dip downward in a generally southern direction. The Onondaga outcrops in a line that usually forms an [[escarpment]] (the steep face of a [[cuesta]]), because of its resistance to erosion.  The outcrop can be traced from the [[Hudson River]] valley westward along the southern rim of the [[Mohawk River]] valley, passing just south of [[Syracuse, New York|Syracuse]], and along the northern heads of the major [[Finger Lakes]] to [[Buffalo, New York]]. From [[Fort Erie, Ontario]] westward it runs along the north shore of Lake Erie for about 85 km and continues in a west-northwest direction inland for another ~90 km to about Ingersoll and Woodstock, Ontario (as shown in the map on the right). To the west and north these rocks are known as the [[Amherstburg Formation]] of the [[Detroit River Group]].<ref>{{Cite web | title=Upper Silurian--Middle Devonian Core Logging and Bedrock Groundwater Mapping along the Onondaga Escarpment, Southwestern Ontario | url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/304540434 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230314215246/https://www.researchgate.net/publication/304540434_Upper_Silurian--Middle_Devonian_Core_Logging_and_Bedrock_Groundwater_Mapping_along_the_Onondaga_Escarpment_Southwestern_Ontario | access-date=2025-04-27 | archive-date=2023-03-14}}</ref>  Northwest of Ingersoll and Woodstock, across the crest of the Algonquin Arch, the band of outcrop turns more northerly, and strikes north-northwest for about 140 km to the east shore of Lake Huron in the Kincardine area (as shown in the map on the right).  These rocks continue northwestwards under Lake Huron, and reappear in the northern part of the southern peninsula of Michigan, north of Alpena<ref name="auto">{{Cite web | url=https://pubs.usgs.gov/circ/1951/0133/report.pdf | title=Detroit river group in the Michigan basin | website=pubs.usgs.gov}}</ref> (as shown in the map on the right).  To the west, its equivalent, the Detroit River Group,<ref name="auto"/> outcrops near [[Detroit]] and [[Windsor, Ontario|Windsor]] just north of the [[Lake Erie]] shoreline (as shown in the map on the right). The Detroit River Group is not topographically distinct west of Windsor in Michigan, but is noticeable as a steep hill just northwest of [[Leamington, Ontario|Leamington]].

[[File:NY Chittenango Falls.JPG|left|thumb|[[Chittenango Falls]]]]
In several spots it is breached by geologically young [[stream]]s and spectacular waterfalls are formed, such as at [[Chittenango Falls State Park|Chittenango Falls]] just east of Syracuse, Buttermilk Falls at [[Le Roy (village), New York|Le Roy, New York]] and [[Tonawanda Creek|Indian Falls]] west of [[Batavia, New York|Batavia]].

A few other breaches occur in older valleys, which likely once had waterfalls, but [[erosion]] eventually obliterated them. Such breaches occur at the [[Tully, New York|Tully]] valley, the [[Genesee River]] valley near [[Avon, New York]], and at [[Port Colborne, Ontario]], where the old valley forms a harbor on Lake Erie.

The formation is broken by the only major fault line in western New York, the [[Linden Fault]] just east of Batavia, where the eastern side of the fault has dropped down and the ledge moved southward relative to the western side. On the western side of the fault in [[Genesee County, New York|Genesee County]] the escarpment achieves its greatest prominence. The [[New York State Thruway]] has a rock cut at Batavia which clearly shows the fault and is a popular point for geology class field trips.<ref>{{coord|43|01|19|N|078|08|00|W|type:landmark_scale:5000_region:US-NY}}</ref> The [[Geologic fault|fault]], which runs from [[Attica (village), New York|Attica, New York]] northward to Lake Ontario, is still active and periodically causes minor earthquakes in the area.

The Onondaga Limestone also can be found in other areas where rocks of the same age outcrop, such as in western [[Pennsylvania]] and [[Michigan]] but they do not form prominent geographic features.

A similar and more prominent outcrop known as the [[Niagara Escarpment]] runs parallel and about 25 miles (40 kilometers) to the north through upstate New York, and similarly curves northwestward in southern Ontario toward [[Lake Huron]] and eventually into Michigan's [[Upper Peninsula]] and Wisconsin's [[Door Peninsula]].

Another smaller outcrop known as the [[Portage Escarpment]] lies about {{convert|35|mi|km}} to the south, running along the southern ends of the [[Finger Lakes]] and forming Cascadilla, Ithaca and Buttermilk Falls in [[Ithaca, New York|Ithaca]].

The Onondaga Escarpment contains significant outcrops of [[flint]] (a type of [[chert]]) which bears the escarpment's name. This variety of chert was of great importance to [[First Nations in Canada|First Nations]] peoples throughout [[Southern Ontario]], who used it to make stone tools ([[Stone tool|lithics]]) such as [[projectile point]]s and hide scrapers. This variety of chert, which is of reasonably high-quality and which was highly valued by First Nations peoples, is often a common variety of chert recovered archaeologically from sites relatively adjacent to outcrops; for example, Onondaga-variety chert comprises 95% of all of the flint material from some sites in [[Milton, Ontario]]. The material has also been found as well at some distance from its original source; Onondaga chert has been recovered at the [[Archaic period in the Americas|late archaic]] Duck Lake archaeological site in northern Michigan,<ref name="BNET">{{cite web | last = Hill | first = Mark A. | title = The Duck Lake Site and Implications for Late Archaic Copper Procurement and Production in the Southern Lake Superior Basin | publisher = Midcontinental Journal of Archaeology, Fall 2006 p.17 | year= 2006 | url = http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3904/is_200610/ai_n17196912/pg_1?tag=artBody;col1|access-date = 2008-06-28 }}</ref> circa 400 kilometers from the nearest outcropping of the material. This wide distribution implies either a very large seasonal migration of ancient peoples or long-distance trade routes, with both likely being the case at different times throughout the prehistory of the [[Great Lakes]] region.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Eley|first1=Betty E.|last2=von Bitter|first2=Peter H.|title=Cherts of Southern Ontario|publisher=Royal Ontario Museum|location=Toronto|year=1989|isbn=978-0-88854-341-7}}</ref>

== Description ==
[[File:Syracuse 1884 limestone.jpg|thumb|1884 label for Onondaga Limestone.]]
The Onondaga Limestone is composed of four main subunits. In descending order:<ref name="USGSOnondagaLimestone">{{cite web |url=https://mrdata.usgs.gov/geology/state/sgmc-unit.php?unit=NYDon;2 |title=Onondaga Limestone |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |publisher=[[United States Geological Survey]] |access-date=2015-09-17 }}</ref>
* Seneca Member
* Moorehouse Member
* Nedrow Member
* Edgecliff Member
The Seneca and Moorehouse members are sharply divided by the [[Tioga Bentonites|Tioga-B Bentonite]] layer, which was formed in a very short time period as the result of a large volcanic eruption in what is now the state of Virginia.

Relative age dating of the Onondaga places its formation in the Eifelian to Givetian [[Faunal stage|stage]] of the [[Middle Devonian]] period, or 391.9 to 383.7  [[Annum|Ma]].<ref name=paleo>{{cite web |url=https://paleodb.org/cgi-bin/bridge.pl?action=displayStrata&group_hint=&group_formation_member=Onondaga |title=Onondaga Formation |access-date=2008-05-26 |work=The Paleobiology Database}}</ref> Radiometric dating of a sample from the bentonite at the top of the Onondaga placed it at 390 ± 0.5 Ma.<ref name="isbn0-231-08248-7">{{cite book |author1=Anstey, Robert L. |author2=Erwin, Douglas H. |title=New approaches to speciation in the fossil record |publisher=Columbia University Press |location=New York |year=1995 |isbn=0-231-08248-7 }}</ref> The formation is time equivalent with the [[Floresta Formation]] of the [[Altiplano Cundiboyacense]], Colombia.<ref name=Giroud_p168>Giroud López, 2014, p.168</ref>

== Onondaga limestone dimension stone ==
Onondaga limestone<ref name="USGSOnondagaLimestone"/><ref name="NYSGA1994">{{cite journal |last1=Brett |first1=Carlton E. |last2=Ver Straeten |first2=Charles A. |date=1994 |title=Stratigraphy and Facies Relationships of the Eifelian Onondaga Limestone (Middle Devonian) in Western and West Central New York State |url=http://www.nysga-online.net/download/1990s-nysga-guidebooks/ |journal=Field Trip Guidebook |publisher=New York State Geological Association |pages=221–227 |access-date=18 September 2015}}</ref> was quarried as [[dimension stone]] for construction of limestone buildings.

The following buildings contain structural Onondaga limestone:
* [[Brooklyn Bridge]] (cable anchorages and towers below the water line) in [[Brooklyn, New York]]<ref>{{cite book |last1=New York Bridge Company |title=Report of the chief engineer of the New York & Brooklyn Bridge : nos. 1-[7]-- 1870-1877. |date=1870–1877 |publisher=Eagle Book and Job Dept. |location=Brooklyn, NY |url=https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/005968903 |access-date=1 May 2020}}</ref>
* [[Genesee County Courthouse]] in [[Batavia, New York]]
* [[Gridley Building]] of [[Syracuse, New York]]
* [[Hall of Languages, Syracuse University]], Syracuse, New York
* [[White Memorial Building (Syracuse, New York)|White Memorial Building]], Syracuse, New York

== References ==
{{reflist}}

=== Bibliography ===
* {{cite conference |last=Giroud López |first=Marie Joëlle |year=2014 |title=El Mar en la Localidad Tipo del Devónico Medio, del Municipio de Floresta - Boyacá, Colombia  |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/288668021 |publisher=[[Havana University|Universidad de La Habana]] |pages=1–174 |access-date=2017-03-31}}

== Further reading ==
{{Portal|Geology}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Engelbrecht |first1=William |last2=Jamieson |first2=Bruce |date=2016 |title=St. Lawrence Iroquoian Projectile Points: A Regional Perspective |journal=Archaeology of Eastern North America |publisher=Eastern States Archaeological Federation |volume=44 |pages=81–98 |jstor=44808365}} Discusses use of Onondaga chert for toolmaking by indigenous peoples.
* {{cite web 
|url=https://mrdata.usgs.gov/geology/state/sgmc-unit.php?unit=NYDob%3B4
|title=Onondaga and Bois Blanc Limestones
|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> 
|publisher=[[United States Geological Survey]]
|access-date=2015-09-25}}

== External links ==
* [https://www.angelfire.com/ny4/waterfalls/chittenangofalls.html Photo of Chittenango Falls]

{{coord|43|-79|region:US-NY_dim:600km_type:landmark|display=title}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2017}}

{{Chronostratigraphy of New York}}
{{Chronostratigraphy of Ohio}}
{{Chronostratigraphy of Pennsylvania}}
{{Stratigraphic column of West Virginia}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Onondaga (Geological Formation)}}
[[Category:Onondaga limestone| 01]]
[[Category:Devonian Canada]]
[[Category:Devonian geology of New York (state)]]
[[Category:Devonian Ontario]]
[[Category:Devonian geology of Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:Devonian Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:Devonian geology of Virginia]]
[[Category:Devonian United States]]
[[Category:Eifelian Stage]]
[[Category:Givetian Stage]]
[[Category:Limestone formations of the United States]]
[[Category:Devonian southern paleotemperate deposits]]
[[Category:Building stone]]
[[Category:Cliff-formers]]
[[Category:Escarpments of Canada]]
[[Category:Escarpments of the United States]]
[[Category:Geography of Syracuse, New York]]
[[Category:Landforms of Onondaga County, New York]]
[[Category:Rock formations of New York (state)]]
[[Category:Chert formations]]