The Devonian Ohio Shale is a carbonaceous shale unit that occurs in the subsurface throughout the Appalachian Basin and forms outcrops along the western margin of the Appalachian Basin in the vicinity of the Cincinnati Arch. Detailed observations of sedimentary and biogenic structures from four continuous drill-cores and multiple outcrops have allowed the differentiation of seven lithofacies within the Ohio Shale. Each lithofacies documents a specific set of conditions during the deposition of these rocks, responding to the rate of sedimentation, rise and fall of sea level and the paleogeography of the basin. The drill-core descriptions of the Ohio Shale have been integrated with geophysical wireline logs as well as paleontological and sedimentological observations, in order establish a detailed stratigraphical framework for the Ohio Shale. Measured stratigraphic sections show systematic thickness trends of the different units and constrain the depth and shape of the basin at different phases of its evolution. A series of flume experiments were conducted, using mixtures of silt and clay, in order to generate some of the sedimentary structures that are common on the Ohio Shale. The results of the flume experiments are consistent with the notion that a major part of the Ohio Shale was transported and deposited bottom currents that carried flocculated mud in bedload.The Ohio Shale contains up to 27 weight percent total organic carbon, and it has been evaluated as an unconventional hydrocarbon resource since the late 1970's. The different lithofacies of the Ohio Shale have distinct physical and biological characteristics which affect the preservation potential of pores in these rocks. A study of ion-milled samples from different lithofacies of the Ohio Shale indicates that three types of pores are common in the Ohio Shale: phyllosilicate framework pores, organic matter pores and carbonate dissolution pores. This study further indicates that the Ohio Shale records numerous erosional and non-depositional events that compartmentalize its depositional record. In combination, the drill-cores, outcrops and geophysical wire-line logs show multiple deepening and shallowing trends that have been influenced by a combination of eustatic and tectonic events.