Oakland Anticlinal Belt (Discarded)

Part of the La Salle Anticlinorium

Location

Mainly in western Clark and Edgar Counties

References

Mylius 1923, 1927, Clegg 1959, 1965b

Description

The Oakland Anticlinal Belt was named by Mylius (1923) before drilling had revealed the full extent and nature of the La Salle Anticlinorium. Mylius recognized that the anticlines in Clark and Edgar Counties lie almost in line with major anticlines in La Salle County to the northwest and Lawrence County to the south. He also saw no continuous anticline, but rather a series of subparallel or branching folds in eastern Illinois. Mylius (1923) chose to distinguish the group of anticlines in Clark and Edgar Counties from those farther north and south, to which the relationships were yet unclear.

The character of the La Salle Anticlinorium was well established by the time Clegg reported on the subsurface geology of eastern Illinois. Clegg chose to retain the names Oakland Anticlinal Belt and the equally awkward Bellair-Champaign Uplift probably more for the sake of continuity than to serve any useful purpose. The group of structures at Oakland lacks natural boundaries and does not differ in form, size, or orientation from other elements of the La Salle Anticlinorium. The name Oakland Anticlinal Belt has outlived its original usefulness and should be discarded.