Rhinestreet Formation facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Rhinestreet Formation Stratigraphic range: Late Devonian Frasnian ~380–381Ma PreЄ Є O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
Type	Formation
Unit of	West Falls Group
Sub-units	Belpre Ash Bed
Underlies	Angola Formation
Overlies	Cashaqua Shale
Lithology
Primary	Black Shale
Other	Shale, Oil Shale
Location
Region	New York  Ohio  Pennsylvania
Country	United States  Canada
Type section
Named for	Exposures along Rhinestreet north from Naples, Ontario Co., NY.
Named by	Clarke (1903)

The Rhinestreet Shale is a special type of rock layer found in a big bowl-shaped area called the Appalachian Basin. This rock layer formed a very long time ago, during the Devonian period. The Rhinestreet is mostly a dark rock called Black Shale because it contains a lot of ancient plant and animal material. In places like Ohio and Kentucky, you can even see this rock layer at the surface where the land gently rises.

What is Rhinestreet Shale?

The Rhinestreet Shale is mostly made of black shale. This means it's very dark and rich in organic material, like tiny bits of old plants and animals. More than 85% of this rock layer is black shale.

You can also find thin layers of gray shale mixed in. There are also hard, rounded lumps of rock called concretions scattered throughout the Rhinestreet Shale.

How the Rhinestreet Shale Formed

Over millions of years, the Rhinestreet Shale experienced some interesting changes. First, a huge event called the Alleghanian orogeny caused mountains to form. This mountain-building pushed and squeezed the rocks, making them crack.

Later, as more and more dirt and sand piled on top, the Rhinestreet Shale got buried very deep. This heavy weight caused the rocks to crack even more. Sometimes, water trapped in the rocks was pushed into these cracks, making them bigger. This process is a natural form of "hydraulic fracturing."