Frontier Formation Stratigraphic range: Cenomanian-Coniacian | |
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![]() Frontier Formation in Utah (Dinosaur National Monument) | |
Type | Geological formation |
Sub-units | Torchlight Sandstone Member, Peay Sandstone Member |
Underlies | Cody Shale |
Overlies | Mowry Shale, Thermopolis Shale |
Lithology | |
Primary | Sandstone |
Other | Shale |
Location | |
Region | North America |
Country | United States |
Extent | see text |
Type section | |
Named by | W. C. Knight, 1902 [1] |
The Frontier Formation is a sedimentary geological formation whose strata date back to the Late Cretaceous. The formation's extents are: northwest Colorado, southeast Idaho, southern Montana, northern Utah, and western Wyoming. It occurs in many sedimentary basins and uplifted areas.
The formation is described by W.G. Pierce as thick, lenticular, grey sandstone, gray shale, carbonaceous shale, and bentonite. [2]
Dinosaur remains are among the fossils that have been recovered from the formation. [3]
The Maastrichtian is, in the ICS geologic timescale, the latest age of the Late Cretaceous Epoch or Upper Cretaceous Series, the Cretaceous Period or System, and of the Mesozoic Era or Erathem. It spanned the interval from 72.1 to 66 million years ago. The Maastrichtian was preceded by the Campanian and succeeded by the Danian.
The Lance (Creek) Formation is a division of Late Cretaceous rocks in the western United States. Named after Lance Creek, Wyoming, the microvertebrate fossils and dinosaurs represent important components of the latest Mesozoic vertebrate faunas. The Lance Formation is Late Maastrichtian in age, and shares much fauna with the Hell Creek Formation of Montana and North Dakota, the Frenchman Formation of southwest Saskatchewan, and the lower part of the Scollard Formation of Alberta.
The Horseshoe Canyon Formation is a stratigraphic unit of the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin in southwestern Alberta. It takes its name from Horseshoe Canyon, an area of badlands near Drumheller.
The Scollard Formation is an Upper Cretaceous to lower Palaeocene stratigraphic unit of the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin in southwestern Alberta. Its deposition spanned the time interval from latest Cretaceous to early Paleocene, and it includes sediments that were deposited before, during, and after the Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) extinction event. It is significant for its fossil record, and it includes the economically important coal deposits of the Ardley coal zone.
The Cloverly Formation is a geological formation of Early Cretaceous age that is present in parts of Montana, Wyoming, Colorado and Utah in the western United States. It was named for a post office on the eastern side of the Bighorn Basin in Wyoming by N.H. Darton in 1904. The sedimentary rocks of formation were deposited in floodplain environments and contain vertebrate fossils, including a diverse assemblage of dinosaur remains. In 1973, the Cloverly Formation Site was designated as a National Natural Landmark by the National Park Service.
The Bearpaw Formation, also called the Bearpaw Shale, is a geologic formation of Late Cretaceous (Campanian) age. It outcrops in the U.S. state of Montana, as well as the Canadian provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan, and was named for the Bear Paw Mountains in Montana. It includes a wide range of marine fossils, as well as the remains of a few dinosaurs. It is known for its fossil ammonites, some of which are mined in Alberta to produce the organic gemstone ammolite.
The Arundel Formation, also known as the Arundel Clay, is a clay-rich sedimentary rock formation, within the Potomac Group, found in Maryland of the United States of America. It is of Aptian age. This rock unit had been economically important as a source of iron ore, but is now more notable for its dinosaur fossils. It consists of clay lenses within depressions in the upper part of the Patuxent Formation that may represent oxbow swamp facies. It is named for Anne Arundel County, Maryland.
The Milk River Formation is a sandstone-dominated stratigraphic unit of the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin in southern Alberta, Canada. It was deposited in near-shore to coastal environments during Late Cretaceous time. Based on uranium-lead dating, palynology and stratigraphic relationships, deposition occurred between ~84.1 and 83.6 Ma.
The Wayan Formation is a geological formation in Idaho whose strata date back to the latest Early Cretaceous and the earliest Late Cretaceous. Dinosaur, other reptile, mammal, and micro and macro-floral remains are among the fossils that have been recovered from the formation. The lack of extensive outcrops, limited geographic extent, and extreme structural deformation have limited paleontological explorations of the Wayan.
The Belly River Group is a stratigraphical unit of Late Cretaceous age in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin.
The Foremost Formation is a stratigraphic unit of Late Cretaceous (Campanian) age that underlies much of southern Alberta, Canada. It was named for outcrops in Chin Coulee near the town of Foremost and is known primarily for its dinosaur remains and other fossils.
The St. Mary River Formation is a geologic formation of Late Cretaceous age of the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin in southwestern Alberta and northwesternmost Montana. It was first described from outcrops along the St. Mary River by George Mercer Dawson in 1883, and it takes its name from the river.
The Willow Creek Formation is a stratigraphic unit of Late Cretaceous to Early Paleocene age in the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin of southwestern Alberta. It was first described by George Mercer Dawson in 1883 along the Willow Creek, a tributary of the Oldman River. Williams and Dyer defined the type section in 1930 at the mouth of Willow Creek, east of Fort Macleod.
The Point Loma Formation is a sedimentary geological formation in Southern California. The strata date back to the Late Cretaceous epochs of the Cretaceous period, during the Mesozoic Era.
The Eagle Sandstone, originally the Eagle Formation, is a geological formation in Montana whose strata date back to the Late Cretaceous. It is a light to brownish gray to pale yellow-orange, fine-grained sandstone. It contains areas of crossbedding and local shale members. It contains large sandy calcareous concretions. Its thickness varies from 100 to 350 feet due to the lens nature of the individual sandstone layers and local interbedded sandy shale layers.
The Claggett Shale is a geological formation in Montana whose strata date back to the Late Cretaceous. Dinosaur remains are among the fossils that have been recovered from the formation.
The Almond Formation is a geological formation of Late Cretaceous age in Wyoming. It was deposited in marsh, deltaic, lagoonal, estuarine, and shallow marine environments along the western shore of the Western Interior Seaway. It consists primarily of fine- to medium-grained sandstone, siltstone, shale, and coal. Fossils from the Almond Formation include remains of dinosaurs and plants.
The Meeteetse Formation is a Late Cretaceous geologic formation occurring in Wyoming.
The Mowry Shale is an Early Cretaceous geologic formation. The formation was named for Mowrie Creek, northwest of Buffalo in Johnson County, Wyoming.
The Mesaverde Group is a Late Cretaceous stratigraphic group found in areas of Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming, in the Western United States.