A recent study of stratigraphic relationships within the Devonian shale of southern West Virginia was accompanied by the sampling of cuttings from selected wells for elemental analyses (Neal, 1979). Observed distributions of major and minor elements provide means for confirming the stratigraphic work and for constructing a depositional model of the Devonian sediments in the study areas and adjacent regions. The sampling procedure exhibits elemental distributions within stratigraphic units over a geographic area, and among stratigraphic units in some of the wells. Possible trends or patterns in element distributions include: 1) abrupt changes at stratigraphic boundaries; 2) agreement between stratigraphic units and elemental distributions; 3) consistent increase cx decrease in elemental percentages through the stratigraphic range studied;4) constant matrix of correlation coefficients among elements throughout the stratigraphic or geographic range; and 5) geographic trends that parallel lithologic facies. Blackburn -e-t al (1977) mapped the distribution of elements in outcrops of Devonian shales in Kentucky. The large number of data in the present study required use of multivariate statistics in addition to the mapping of element distributions.