Purpose: The primary objective of the eastern oil shale drilling was to obtain cores of the Chattanooga shale, from considerable depths and at long distances from its outcrops. Correlation of the cores with outcrop samples showed the effect of weathering on the shale, as well as changes in the stratigraphy. Of secondary interest was acquisition of information on the stratigraphy of the overlying rocks.

From abstract: Uranium assays of all the samples collected by the Geological Survey from the Chattanooga shale in east-central Tennessee and southern Kentucky from 1947 to 1949 are assembled here, and conclusions are drawn concerning the distribution of the uranium. The 1108 assays from 80 localities provide reasonably reliable information on the stratigraphic and regional variations of the uranium content.

From abstract: "In 1953 the Chattanooga shale in the Sequatchie anticline was tested for its uranium content by seven diamond drill cores. Concurrent with the drilling, geologic field work was done to determine the distribution, thickness, and structural setting of the shale." The report contains information regarding location and drainage, geology, the drilling program, subdivisions of the Sequatchie anticline, and unpublished reports.

The following report covers the study of the Chattanooga shale and Maury formation found between the Nashville Basin and the surrounding Highland Rim.

Report discussing the U.S. Geological Survey's investigation aimed at finding a location with an abundance of black shale, and determining the amount of uranium in the shale.

The following report covers a diamond drilling project in December 1952 that was started in order to obtain geologic and mining information and samples of uranium-bearing Chattanooga shale in the Youngs Bend area, near Smithville, Tennessee. This report presents uranium content discovered within the mines.

"The results of an investigation of the Chattanooga shale along the Sequatchie anticline of Tennessee and Alabama are summarized in this report. The project was of an exploratory nature designed to 1) obtain fresh core samples from areas where analyses of outcrop samples showed uranium contents as high or higher than those of the Youngs Bend area in DeKalb County, Tenn.; 2) learn more about the distribution and thickness of the shale in those areas and, if necessary, do some geologic mapping; 3) observe general topographic, drainage, and geologic conditions that would affect the mining of shale."