Irvine Formation Clay: Source of Bybee Pottery EarthCache

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gary_f_jackson: I’m archiving this cache because this multi-generational business has been closed for some years now.

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Hidden : 1/27/2009
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Bybee Pottery



Bybee Pottery (circa 1922)

Bybee Pottery is located at
P.O. Box 555
610 Waco Loop Road
Waco, Kentucky  40385
Telephone:  (859) 369-5350

Hours of Operation:
Monday through Friday
8:00 am until 3:00 pm
 
Closed For Lunch (12:00 pm 'til 12:30 pm)
Closed Saturday, Sunday and major holidays



The oldest existing pottery west of the Alleghenies — 200 years old — Bybee Pottery is located in the small rural town of Bybee, among the southern hills of Madison County, Kentucky.  The old log building has housed the equipment and business of the Bybee Pottery for over a century.  It stands as a landmark of pioneer days.  Legend states that this pottery was originally established in 1809, and actual sales records prove its existence as a thriving industry as early as 1845.  The pottery was started by Webster Cornelison on land granted to Conrad Cornelison Jr. for service during the Revolutionary War.  The land was farmed until the early 1800s when Webster and dozens of other area businessmen began to take advantage of the abundant clay and coal there — and their proximity to shipping on the nearby Kentucky River — to set up kilns for making and selling stoneware.  It was a booming business until most of those potteries were destroyed during the Civil War.

The process of mining the clay, grinding it in the antique pug mill (a machine like a sausage grinder that cuts and kneads the clay, pressing it out at a smaller aperture perfectly smooth and even in texture), throwing and shaping it by hand into articles of ornamental and practical use on the potter's wheel, is very much the same today as it was over a century ago.  Bybee makes about 3,000 or more pieces each week in this building that dates to 1809.

The clay used by the pottery is found in ample deposits approximately two miles from Bybee on a private farm; public tours are not offered.  This clay is open-pit mined several feet beneath rich Kentucky topsoil.  It is a gray plastic clay, belonging to the Irvine Formation, and having a thickness of 3 feet with 3.5 feet of sandy clay overburden.  It is underlain by quicksand and care has to be taken not to uncover it in digging the clay as it is waterbearing.  History records that this same clay was mined by the first settlers of Kentucky in the late 1700s, then taken to Fort Boonesborough to be used for making crude dishes.

The clay, mixed with water, is ground in the old pug mill and stored in an ancient vault where it is kept moist and pliable.  It is weighed on old balances to secure uniformity, and then thrown by the potter and shaped into the desired form.  Each piece is allowed to dry completely, then it is glazed and fired in a kiln heated to 2200ºF for 16 hours.  Emerging from the kiln, the clay, now a finished piece of pottery, cools for 24 hours before it is ready for sale.

Walter Cornelison, successor to Webster, James Eli, Walter and Earnest Cornelison, is the fifth generation Cornelison to own and operate Bybee Pottery.  Walter's children, Robert, Paula, and James are the sixth generation in Bybee Pottery.

Visitors are welcome to walk around the pottery operation on a self-guided tour as long as care is taken not to touch the pottery as it moves through different stages of production.


WHAT IS CLAY?

Clay is a naturally occurring material composed primarily of fine-grained minerals, which show plasticity through a variable range of water content, and which can be hardened when dried and/or fired.  Clay deposits are mostly composed of clay minerals (phyllosilicate minerals), minerals which impart plasticity and harden when fired and/or dried, and variable amounts of water trapped in the mineral structure by polar attraction.  Organic materials which do not impart plasticity may also be a part of clay deposits.

Clay minerals are typically formed over long periods of time by the gradual chemical weathering of rocks (usually silicate-bearing) by low concentrations of carbonic acid and other diluted solvents.  These solvents (usually acidic) migrate through the weathering rock after leaching through upper weathered layers.  In addition to the weathering process, some clay minerals are formed by hydrothermal activity.  Clay deposits may be formed in place as residual deposits, but thick deposits usually are formed as the result of a secondary sedimentary deposition process after they have been eroded and transported from their original location of formation.  Clay deposits are typically associated with very low energy depositional environments such as large lake and marine deposits.

Definition
Clays are distinguished from other fine-grained soils by various differences in composition.  Silts, which are fine-grained soils which do not include clay minerals, tend to have larger particle sizes than clays, but there is some overlap in both particle size and other physical properties, and there are many naturally occurring deposits which include both silts and clays.  The distinction between silt and clay varies by discipline.  Geologists and soil scientists usually consider the separation to occur at a particle size of 2 µm (clays being finer than silts), sedimentologists often use 4-5 µm, and colloid chemists use 1 µm.  Geotechnical engineers distinguish between silts and clays based on the plasticity properties of the soil, as measured by the soils' Atterberg Limits.  ISO 14688 grades clay particles as being smaller than 0.063 mm, and silts larger.

Primary clays, also known as kaolins, are located at the site of formation.  Secondary clay deposits have been moved by erosion and water from their primary location.

Grouping
Depending upon academic source, there are three or four main groups of clays: kaolinite, montmorillonite-smectite, illite, and chlorite.  Chlorites are not always considered a firing type of clay, sometimes being classified as a separate group within the phyllosilicates.  There are approximately thirty different types of "pure" clays in these categories, but most "natural" clays are mixtures of these different types, along with other weathered minerals.

Varve (or varved clay) is clay with visible annual layers, formed by seasonal differences in erosion and organic content.  This type of deposit is common in former glacial lakes.

Quick clay is a unique type of marine clay indigenous to the glaciated terrains of Norway, Canada, Northern Ireland and Sweden.  It is a highly sensitive clay, prone to liquefaction, which has been involved in several deadly landslides.  Clay is also known as poolycositus.

Historical and modern uses
Clays exhibit plasticity when mixed with water in certain proportions.  When dry, clay becomes firm and when fired in a kiln, permanent physical and chemical reactions occur which, amongst other changes, causes the clay to be converted into a ceramic material.   It is because of these properties that clay is used for making pottery items, both practical and decorative.  Different types of clay, when used with different minerals and firing conditions, are used to produce earthenware, stoneware, and porcelain.  Early humans discovered the useful properties of clay in prehistoric times, and one of the earliest artifacts ever uncovered is a drinking vessel made of sun-dried clay.  Depending on the content of the soil, clay can appear in various colors, from a dull gray to a deep orange-red.

Clay tablets were used as the first writing medium, inscribed with cuneiform script through the use of a blunt reed called a stylus.

Clays sintered in fire were the first form of ceramic.  Bricks, cooking pots, art objects, dishware and even musical instruments such as the ocarina can all be shaped from clay before being fired.  Clay is also used in many industrial processes, such as paper making, cement production and chemical filtering.  Clay is also often used in the manufacture of pipes for smoking tobacco.

Clay, being relatively impermeable to water, is also used where natural seals are needed, such as in the cores of dams, or as a barrier in landfills against toxic seepage ('lining' the landfill, preferably in combination with geotextiles).

Recent studies have been carried out to investigate clay's adsorption capacities in various applications, such as the removal of heavy metals from waste water and air purification.


GEOLOGY

Clays are rather widely distributed in Kentucky.  Most common are the residual clays from the weathering of limestone and shale, and they are suitable for the manufacture of common brick and cheap tile.  Alluvial clays of flood plains and terraces are available along the larger streams.  A large fire clay industry centers around the Pottsville clays of Olive Hill, Carter County, and vicinity.  The ball clays, and associated sagger and wad clays of the Holly Springs (lower Eocene) formation of Graves and Ballard County in the Jackson Purchase Region are outstanding.  Here in Madison County in the Knobs Region the Pleistocene Irvine (Tertiary) clays are the basis for a brick, tile, and pottery industry.  The following represents the geology of the strata where Bybee Pottery clay is mined.

High-level fluvial deposits - Irvine Formation
(Tertiary - Quaternary)

Primary Lithology: Silt, clay, and gravel
Silt, clay, and gravel, variegated shades of red and brown.  Unit covers more than 4 square miles on flat upland areas and hilltops east of Muddy Creek; occurs at different levels, the bases of which, in order of diminishing areal extent are: 875, 845, 890, 910, and 930 feet.  Gravels contain quartz pebbles and geodes derived from Pennsylvanian rocks and silicified Lithostrotion corals from Mississippian rocks.

Economic: clay, sand, gravel
Residual and alluvial clays are abundant.  Residual clays result from the weathering of all rock units except the Garrard Siltstone and consequently cover much of the bedrock in the region.  Alluvial clay occurs in the Irvine Formation and in alluvium along the Kentucky River and its tributaries.  Some silt-free clay in the Irvine Formation is amenable to pottery making.  It occurs in lenses which are interbedded with impure clay, silt, and sand; its discovery is chiefly a matter of chance.  The Bybee clay pit has produced pottery clay from the Irvine Formation for nearly 100 years.  Much clay from the weathering of the Crab Orchard Formation is suitable for making bricks.  A large but unexplored source is in the area south of the community of Union City.  There, the Crab Orchard is almost completely weathered to clay and is distributed over broad flat areas where it could be cheaply strip mined.

Hydrology
Potable water is obtained from springs and wells in all formations except the Crab Orchard Formation and the Garrard Siltstone.  Small perennial springs are particularly common at the base of the Boyle Dolomite.  Wells in valley bottoms and along upland streams generally yield 100 to 500 gallons of hard water per day.  Wells bottomed below stream level may contain salt and hydrogen sulfide.  Wells on steep slopes and wells on ridge tops with the exception of those in the Irvine Formation generally are dry.  Small springs in the Irvine Formation yield soft water, and wells in thicker deposits of this formation yield from 100 to 500 gallons of soft water per day.

New Albany Shale
(Middle Devonian - Lower Mississippian)

Primary Lithology: Shale and dolomite
Shale and dolomite: Shale, grayish-black; weathers light gray, fissile; in bedding sets less than 1 to 6 inches thick near base to 10 feet thick near top; carbonaceous.  Dolomite, medium-dark-gray to grayish-brown and moderate yellowish-brown, very fine to fine-grained; contains sparse rounded quartz grains and trace of carbonaceous material; occurs as layers less than 1 inch to 2 feet thick; thicker and more numerous near base of formation.  Base has sharp, apparently conformable contact with underlying unit.

Boyle Dolomite (also Boyle Limestone, Boyle Formation)
(Middle Devonian - Upper Devonian)

Primary Lithology: Dolomite, limestone, and sandstone
Dolomite, limestone, and sandstone: Dolomite, light-gray; generally weathered grayish orange to dark yellowish orange; very fine to medium grained; argillaceous; most beds indistinct, 1/4 to 2 inches thick, grouped in sets as much as 4 feet thick; abundant irregular chert nodules in upper 8 feet, mostly concentrated in discontinuous layers, some nodules as much as 1 foot long.  Gently crossbedded dolomite containing abundant well rounded fine to medium grains of quartz and small pebbles of white and dark-green claystone near base of sections which are more than 15 feet thick.  Limestone, light-gray, to pale-orangish-gray, very fine grained with few calcite augen; wavy indistinct beds about 2 inches thick; commonly occurs below chert-bearing dolomite in an interval as much as 3 feet thick.  Sandstone, light-brown, grayish-orange, and pale-yellowish-brown, fine-grained, dolomitic, calcareous, silty, argillaceous, abundant well rounded fine to medium grains of quartz, few small pebbles of white and dark-green claystone; thin uneven beds 1/8 to 2 inches thick in bedding sets as much as 1 foot thick; occurs at base of sections which are more than 25 feet thick; maximum thickness about 6 feet.  Locally fossiliferous, corals most abundant in calcareous layers and in upper part of formation; brachiopods more abundant in lower part of formation; fauna includes sponges, corals, bryozoans, brachiopods, crinoids, gastropods, and trilobites.  Contact with underlying unit is an unconformity which is exposed at only a few places and appears to be sharp and conformable.
Hydrology
Potable water is obtained from springs and wells in all formations except the Crab Orchard Formation and the Garrard Siltstone.  Small perennial springs are particularly common at the base of the Boyle Dolomite.  Wells in valley bottoms and along upland streams generally yield 100 to 500 gallons of hard water per day.  Wells bottomed below stream level may contain salt and hydrogen sulfide.  Wells on steep slopes and wells on ridge tops with the exception of those in the Irvine Formation generally are dry.  Small springs in the Irvine Formation yield soft water, and wells in thicker deposits of this formation yield from 100 to 500 gallons of soft water per day.

Crab Orchard Formation and Brassfield Dolomite
(Middle Silurian - Middle Silurian)

Crab Orchard Formation
Primary Lithology: Shale and dolomite
Shale and dolomite: Shale, dusky-yellow-green to grayish-olive, thin- and even-bedded, very plastic and swells when moist.  Dolomite, light-gray; weathers dark yellowish brown; fine and medium grained.  Fine-grained dolomite in few thin beds, commonly less than 1/4 inch thick, in upper part of unit.  Medium-grained dolomite is bioclastic and occurs in beds as much as 4 inches thick in lower part of unit.  Beds of medium-grained dolomite thin and in part pinch out into shale westward in the south-central part of quadrangle.  Conformable and intertongues with underlying unit through a thickness of 2 feet.  Unconformity at base of Boyle Dolomite locally truncates beds as low as the medium-grained dolomite in lower part of unit.  Where basal part of formation is predominantly dolomite it was mapped with Brassfield Dolomite.
Economic (clay, sand, gravel)
Residual and alluvial clays are abundant.  Residual clays result from the weathering of all rock units except the Garrard Siltstone and consequently cover much of the bedrock in the region.  Alluvial clay occurs in the Irvine Formation and in alluvium along the Kentucky River and its tributaries.  Some silt-free clay in the Irvine Formation is amenable to pottery making.  It occurs in lenses which are interbedded with impure clay, silt, and sand; its discovery is chiefly a matter of chance.  The Bybee clay pit has produced pottery clay from the Irvine Formation for nearly 100 years.  Much clay from the weathering of the Crab Orchard Formation is suitable for making bricks.  A large but unexplored source is in the area south of the community of Union City.  There, the Crab Orchard is almost completely weathered to clay and is distributed over broad flat areas where it could be cheaply strip mined.

Brassfield Dolomite
Primary Lithology: Dolomite and shale
Dolomite and shale: Dolomite, light-gray, fine-grained in lower half, grading upward into medium-grained bioclastic dolomite at top; in indistinct uneven beds, 2 to 8 inches thick; beds commonly in sets as much as 6 feet thick near base.  Shale, grayish-green, thin-bedded; occurs as partings in lower half of unit, makes up 10 to 30 percent of upper half of unit.  Cogwheel-shaped crinoid columnals as much as 1 inch in diameter, the brachiopod Cryptothyrella, and a horn coral Cyathophyllum? are common near top of unit.  Poorly preserved horn corals are common in basal few inches.  Contact with underlying unit sharp and conformable.


DIRECTIONS
From Richmond, proceed east on Irvine Road (Hwy. 52).




DO NOT LOG AS A FIND UNTIL YOU HAVE A PICTURE READY TO POST.  To get credit for this EC, post a photo of you (I do not accept pictures of just a hand) at the posted coordinates with the Bybee Pottery building in the background (like my photo above) and please answer the following questions.
  1. What early Kentucky settlement used this local clay to make crude dishes?
  2. How many pieces of pottery are made here each week?
  3. At what level is the deepest Irvine Formation clay layer found?
  4. What is the elevation of the Bybee Pottery building?

Do not wait for my reply to log your find.  I will contact you if there is a problem.  Logs with no photo of the actual EarthCacher/Geocacher (face must be included) logging the find or failure to answer questions will result in a log deletion.  Exceptions will be considered if you contact me first (I realize sometimes we forget our cameras or the batteries die).  Logs with no photos will be deleted without notice.  I have used sources available to me by using google search to get information for this earth cache.  I am by no means a geologist.  I use books, the Internet, and ask questions about geology just like 99.9 percent of the geocachers who create these great Earth Caches.

Reference:
  • Little Bit of Bybee,
  • Kentucky Geological Survey,
  • http://www.wikipedia.org/, and
  • The Clay Deposits of Kentucky: An Economic Consideration of the Pottery, Brick, and Tile Clays, Fire Clays, and Shales of Kentucky, with Notes on Their Industrial Development By Heinrich Ries, Kentucky Geological Survey, Published by Kentucky Geological Survey, 1922.
Thanks to Jimmy Cornelison, a sixth-generation member of the Bybee Pottery making Cornelison family, for permission to place this EarthCache.  Thanks also to Dave&BeccaG for permission to place this EarthCache near their traditional geocache, 'Hello Good/Bybee,' (GC1EYED).

Congratulations to   Ammosuperman   for the FTF!

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