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John W. Hosterman

Publications and source records attributed to John W. Hosterman.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
USGS1984

Ball clay and bentonite deposits of the central and western Gulf of Mexico Coastal Plain, United States

The Gulf of Mexico Coastal Plain produces approximately 85 percent of the ball clay used in the United States. The best commercial-grade clay deposits are composed of poorly crystalline kaolinite and small amounts of Md illite and (or) smectite. Sand and silt and iron oxide minerals are virtually absent, but quartz is present in the clay-size fraction. The best grade ball clays are found as lenses limited to the Wilcox Group (Paleocene and lower Eocene) and Claiborne Group (middle Eocene). Reserves of ball clay are sufficient for the present, but because of the lenticular nature of the clay bodies, close-spaced drilling, detailed sampling, mineralogic analyses, and ceramic testing are needed to prove future reserves. Approximately 11 percent of the total bentonite produced in the United States comes from the Gulf Coast region. The commercial-grade bentonites are composed primarily of smectite with little or no Md illite and kaolinite. The nonclay impurities are quartz, feldspar, muscovite, biotite, calcite, dolomite, gypsum, and heulandite. Commercial bentonites occur in the Upper Cretaceous formations in Alabama and Mississippi, in Paleocene formations in Mississippi and Tennessee, and in Eocene and Miocene formations in Texas. The demand for low-swelling bentonite of the Gulf Coastal Plain has not increased along with the demand for swelling bentonite; therefore the reserves are adequate.

Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississipp↗
USGS1981

Clay mineralogy of Devonian shales in the Appalachian Basin

A study of the clay mineralogy of the Devonian black shales of the Appalachian basin was undertaken to help predict areas for potential gas resources. More than 2,100 samples from 84 drill holes representing 11 shale units were analyzed for clay mineralogy or whole—rock mineralogy or both. Approximately 1,300 samples were from drill cores and about 800 samples were from drill cuttings. Illite (2M) recrystallized during diagenesis is more or less uniformly present throughout all shale units. Chlorite formed during low grade metamorphism is least abundant in the younger units and more abundant in the older units. Illite—smectite mixed—layer clay, which supplied the material for the formation of chlorite, is most abundant in the younger units and least abundant in the older units. Illite—chlorite mixed—layer clay occurs as a trace in all shale units. Kaolinite, the only unaltered detrital clay mineral, occurs in about 25 to 30 percent of the samples. The source of the kaolinite appears to have been to the east and northeast of the basin of deposition. The color of the shale units is primarily due to the organic content; however, those shales that contain calcite are darker than those that do not for equal amounts of organic carbon.

Appalachian Basin↗
USGS1976

Sediment-filled pots in upland gravels of Maryland and Virginia

Pot-shaped depressions filled with sandy clayey silt are found in "Upland" gravels (previously termed Brandywine) of probable Miocene age, in northeastern Maryland and in Virginia near Washington, D.C. The pots are about 7 ft (2m) deep and commonly are about as wide. In plan, many are strongly elliptical. Sides are steep or even bulbous, and the filling in some pots shows faint stratification paralleling the sides. Strata in the enclosing gravel commonly bend downward and are thinner beside and below the pots. The gravel deposits are remnants of alluvial deposits of the ancestral Susquehanna and Potomac Rivers. All the pots are at the present gravel surface. We suggest that the pots originated when seasonal frost in an overlying layer of sandy clayey silt provided a confining upper layer. The freezing plane in the silt moved downward, reaching the gravel at some points before others. Water in the gravel moved toward the freezing plane by capillarity or by cryostatic head, forming ice lenses in the silt. Each winter, ice growth forced unfrozen clayey silt a short distance downward and outward into the gravel, increasing the irregularity of the silt-gravel contact and promoting more rapid movement. The pots probably reflect some centuries of growth, probably during the Illinoian Glaciation.

Maryland, Virginia↗
USGS1963

Structure-contour map of the Olive Hill Clay Bed in northeastern Kentucky

The gently dipping Olive Hill Clay Bed of Crider (1913) crops out in belt about 15 miles \vidc and 60 miles long from the Ohio River near Portsmouth, Ohio, south-southwesterly to Frenchburg, Ky. (see inset map). The purpose of the structure-contour map presented here is to aid exploration by showing the elevations at which the Olive Hill Clay Bed occurs. The strudure contours indicate the depths that mu;,t be reached in prospecting for the clay. The approximate depth of the clay at any one point is the difference between elevations of the structure and topographic contours. The clay has been thoroughly prospected along its out.crop belt and in most areas \Vhe re it lies under overburden less than 200 feet thick. The depth of the clay bed increase,; eastward from the outcrop belt, and large potential resources are likely to occur at depths greater than 200 feet.

Kentucky↗
USGS1954

Stanford clay deposit, Latah County, Idaho

The Stanford clay deposit, Latah County, Idaho, is about 4 miles northwest of Deary, Idaho. During World War II, the area was studied by the U. S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the U. S. Bureau of Mines. The Bureau of Mines hand-augered 10 holes and made chemical analyses on the samples for available alumina and available ferric oxide, and also measured the ignition loss. The deposit contains three types of clay: granitic residual clay derived from the weathering of Cretaceous granodiorite in place; basaltic residual clay derived from the weathering of Tertiary Columbia River basalts in place; and transported clays of the Latah formation derived from the weathered debris of the granodiorite and older rocks. Only the transported clays are considered as a potential source of available alumina and ceramic-grade clay in the Stanford deposit. The Stanford deposit averages 24.8 percent available alumina and 2 percent available ferric oxide. Transported clays containing more than 15 percent available alumina and less than 5% percent available ferric oxide would be suitable for many ceramic products and some may meet the requirements of high-heat or super-heat duties. Therefore, the clays are usable for ceramic structural ware such as bricks, terra cotta, and drain tile.

Idaho↗