Re-evaluation the Canadaway group: A revised stratigraphic correlation chart for the upper Devonian of Southwestern New York State

A combination of previous studies and new detailed work suggests that Rickard's (1975) correlation chart for Devonian rocks in New York State should be revised for the Upper Devonian sedimentary rocks of southwestern New York State. The area of concern involves the correlation of the stratigraphic section from Lake Erie to immediately east of the Genesse River. A review of investigations by earlier works (Chadwick 1923, 1935a, 1936; Woodruff 1942; Pepper and de Witt 1950, 1951; Tesmer 1955; Van Tyne 1982, 1983) documents a consistent sequence of units that generally agrees with our own field studies. By integrating stratigraphic sections of Pepper and de Witt (1950, 1951) with outcrop-based, stratigraphic sections we developed in Allegany and Cattaraugus Counties (Jacobi and Fountain 1996; Smith and Jacobi 1998), we propose the following regional correlations, which follow similar correlations proposed by Chadwick (1936), Pepper and deWitt (1950, 1951) and Van Tyne (1982). The Hume Formation is not equivalent to the Dunkirk Formation, but occurs stratigraphically upsection, separated from the Dunkirk Formation by the South Wales and Canaseraga formations. The Forty Bridge Formation should be abandoned and the older term 'Gowanda' used since the Gowanda Formation has the same type section as the Forty Bridge. The Wellsville Formation and Whitesville Formation are equivalent to neither the Gowanda nor the Caneadea formations, but overlie the Cuba Formation. The Whitesville Formation occurs stratigraphically upsection from the Wellsville Formation and is separated from the Wellsville Formation by the Hinsdale Formation.