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.