Mecca Quarry Shale Member of Linton Formation of Carbondale Group here named in Parke Co., IN. Consists of evenly bedded sheety alternating gray and black carbonaceous shale lying upon Coal IIIA and beneath a marine shale and limestone that have been correlated with Oak Grove member in IL and Velpen Limestone Member in IN. In type section, on inch above base of member, is bed of soft gray shale and 3 in thick containing calcareous concretions that may be several ft in length and more than a foot in thickness. Bottom layer of the Mecca Quarry is commonly a thin transgression shell breccia, consisting of pyritized broken shells in black carbonaceous clayey matrix without bedding.

Source: GNU records (USGS DDS-6; Reston GNULEX).

Indiana Geological Survey drillhole SDH 306 is herein designated the reference core for the Houchin Creek Coal Member of the Petersburg Formation; the Survant Coal, Velpen Limestone, Mecca Quarry Shale, and Colchester Coal Members of the Linton Formation; the Seelyville Coal Member of the Staunton Formation; and the boundary between the Petersburg and Linton Formations. SDH 306 is located near the type section of the Survant Coal Member, in SW1/4 NE1/4 sec. 2, T2S, R7W, Pike Co., southern IN. Though name was shortened to Mecca Shale Member by Wier (1965) and that name adopted for usage in Indiana by Ault (IN Shaver and others, 1986), authors here prefer original name Mecca Quarry as it has priority and is used elsewhere in the Illinois basin. Unit is correlated by its distinctive black-shale lithology, fossils, and stratigraphic position above the Colchester Coal Member. Measures 3.8 ft in the SDH 306 core.

Source: GNU records (USGS DDS-6; Reston GNULEX).