The geology of Shropshire is very diverse with a large number of periods being represented at outcrop. The bedrock consists principally of sedimentary rocks of Palaeozoic and Mesozoic age, surrounding restricted areas of Precambrian metasedimentary and metavolcanic rocks. The county hosts in its Quaternary deposits and landforms, a significant record of recent glaciation. The exploitation of the Coal Measures and other Carboniferous age strata in the Ironbridge area made it one of the birthplaces of the Industrial Revolution. There is also a large amount of mineral wealth in the county, including lead and baryte. Quarrying is still active, with limestone for cement manufacture and concrete aggregate, sandstone, greywacke and dolerite for road aggregate, and sand and gravel for aggregate and drainage filters. Groundwater is an equally important economic resource.
The Glen Canyon Group is a geologic group of formations that is spread across the U.S. states of Nevada, Utah, northern Arizona, north west New Mexico and western Colorado. It is called the Glen Canyon Sandstone in the Green River Basin of Colorado and Utah.
The Laramie Formation is a geologic formation of the Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) age, named by Clarence King in 1876 for exposures in northeastern Colorado, in the United States. It was deposited on a coastal plain and in coastal swamps that flanked the Western Interior Seaway. It contains coal, clay and uranium deposits, as well as plant and animal fossils, including dinosaur remains.
The Bushveld Sandstone is a geological formation dating to roughly between 201 and 189 million years ago and covering the Carnian to Norian stages. The Bushveld Sandstone is found in Transvaal, South Africa, and is a member of the Stormberg Group. As its name suggests, it consists mainly of sandstone. Fossils of the prosauropod dinosaur Massospondylus have been recovered from the Bushveld Sandstone.
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 Triassic Stockton Formation is a mapped bedrock unit in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York. It is named after Stockton, New Jersey, where it was first described. It is laterally equivalent to the New Oxford Formation in the Gettysburg Basin of Pennsylvania and Maryland.
The Santa Rosa Formation is a geologic formation exposed in New Mexico that was deposited in the Carnian Age of the late Triassic Period.
The Chacarilla Formation is an Oxfordian to Early Cretaceous geologic formation of the Tarapacá Basin in northern Chile, close to the border with Bolivia. The marine and fluvial formation preserves several dinosaur trackways and has been declared a Natural Sanctuary in 2004.
The Feltville Formation is a mapped bedrock unit primarily in New Jersey, with one known outlier in Pennsylvania and another one in New York. It is named for the Deserted Village of Feltville in Watchung Reservation, New Jersey, which is near where its type section was described by paleontologist Paul E. Olsen.
The Boonton Formation is a mapped bedrock unit in New Jersey, formerly divided between the Boonton and Whitehall beds of the defunct Brunswick Formation. It is named for the town of Boonton, New Jersey, which is near where its type section was described by paleontologist Paul E. Olsen.
The Gettysburg Formation is a mapped bedrock unit consisting primarily of sandstones, conglomerates, and shales.
The Hammer Creek Formation is a mapped bedrock unit consisting primarily of conglomerate, coarse sandstone, and shale.
Paleontology in Virginia refers to paleontological research occurring within or conducted by people from the U.S. state of Virginia. The geologic column in Virginia spans from the Cambrian to the Quaternary. During the early part of the Paleozoic, Virginia was covered by a warm shallow sea. This sea would come to be inhabited by creatures like brachiopods, bryozoans, corals, and nautiloids. The state was briefly out of the sea during the Ordovician, but by the Silurian it was once again submerged. During this second period of inundation the state was home to brachiopods, trilobites and entire reef systems. During the mid-to-late Carboniferous the state gradually became a swampy environment.
Paleontology in Maryland refers to paleontological research occurring within or conducted by people from the U.S. state of Maryland. The invertebrate fossils of Maryland are similar to those of neighboring Delaware. For most of the early Paleozoic era, Maryland was covered by a shallow sea, although it was above sea level for portions of the Ordovician and Devonian. The ancient marine life of Maryland included brachiopods and bryozoans while horsetails and scale trees grew on land. By the end of the era, the sea had left the state completely. In the early Mesozoic, Pangaea was splitting up. The same geologic forces that divided the supercontinent formed massive lakes. Dinosaur footprints were preserved along their shores. During the Cretaceous, the state was home to dinosaurs. During the early part of the Cenozoic era, the state was alternatingly submerged by sea water or exposed. During the Ice Age, mastodons lived in the state.
Paleontology in Pennsylvania refers to paleontological research occurring within or conducted by people from the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. The geologic column of Pennsylvania spans from the Precambrian to Quaternary. During the early part of the Paleozoic, Pennsylvania was submerged by a warm, shallow sea. This sea would come to be inhabited by creatures like brachiopods, bryozoans, crinoids, graptolites, and trilobites. The armored fish Palaeaspis appeared during the Silurian. By the Devonian the state was home to other kinds of fishes. On land, some of the world's oldest tetrapods left behind footprints that would later fossilize. Some of Pennsylvania's most important fossil finds were made in the state's Devonian rocks. Carboniferous Pennsylvania was a swampy environment covered by a wide variety of plants. The latter half of the period was called the Pennsylvanian in honor of the state's rich contemporary rock record. By the end of the Paleozoic the state was no longer so swampy. During the Mesozoic the state was home to dinosaurs and other kinds of reptiles, who left behind fossil footprints. Little is known about the early to mid Cenozoic of Pennsylvania, but during the Ice Age it seemed to have a tundra-like environment. Local Delaware people used to smoke mixtures of fossil bones and tobacco for good luck and to have wishes granted. By the late 1800s Pennsylvania was the site of formal scientific investigation of fossils. Around this time Hadrosaurus foulkii of neighboring New Jersey became the first mounted dinosaur skeleton exhibit at the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia. The Devonian trilobite Phacops rana is the Pennsylvania state fossil.
The Culpeper Basin is one of the Newark Supergroup's Triassic rift basins. It lies east of the Appalachian Mountains and extends from the Madison County—Orange County line in Virginia to Frederick, Maryland. A diverse group of sedimentary rocks including siltstone, sandstone, and conglomerate within the basin were intruded by igneous rocks, which caused thermal metamorphism at the contact with sedimentary rock.
The Midland Formation is a Mesozoic geological formation in the Culpeper Basin of Virginia. It is a sedimentary unit which formed in a short period of time between the first two basalt flows in the basin: the Hickory Grove and Mount Zion Church basalts. The most common rocks in the formation are dark reddish interbedded sandstones and siltstones, representative of fluvial (stream) environments. Rare but fossiliferous calcareous shale and limestone also occurs, representing recurring lacustrine (lake) conditions. The Midland Formation is considered equivalent to the Shuttle Meadow Formation of the Hartford Basin, the Feltville Formation of the Newark Basin, and the Bendersville Formation of the Gettysburg Basin. Some sources prefer to classify the Midland Formation as part of the Shuttle Meadow Formation.
The Sloan Canyon Formation is a late Triassic geologic formation exposed in northeastern New Mexico. Fossil theropod tracks have been reported from the formation.
The Sheep Pen Sandstone is a late Triassic geologic formation exposed in northeastern New Mexico. Fossil theropod tracks have been reported from the formation.
The Ledger Formation or Ledger Dolomite is a geologic formation in Pennsylvania, United States.
