Name/Title
S11.12.010Description
The sandstone cliff site of Ohio's only fatal landslide on United States Highway 52, west of Hanging Rock, Lawrence County, Ohio. The landslide killed James A. Spence of Ironton on December 24, 1986. Joints in the sandstone are visible in the outcrop. The massive sandstone responsible for the main mass of rockfall ranges up to 60 feet thick and is stratigraphically below the Vanport limestone. The rocks involved in the fall are assigned to either the Upper Pottsville or the Lower Allegheny Group undivided. This area has shale, siltstone, sandstone, conglomerate, limestone, and coal lithologies. Bedrock is from the Pennsylvanian Geologic Period. The image comes from the files of the Ohio Department of Transportation.
For more information, see: Fatal Rockfall in Ohio by Michael C. Hansen (Ohio Geological Survey, Ohio Geology Newsletter, Winter 1987) pages 5-6.
The exact location came from a map in Michael C. Hansen's research file for the Ohio Geology Newsletter article about the December 24, 1986, event.
This slide image included in the USGS National Digital Catalog for NGGDPP Grant G15AP00115 in FY2015.Context
Sandstone cliff along highway. US 52 west of Hanging Rock in Lawrence County,Ohio.