The White River Formation is a geologic formation of the Paleogene Period, in the northern Great Plains and central Rocky Mountains, within the United States.
| White River Formation | |
|---|---|
| Stratigraphic range: Late Eocene-Early Oligocene (Chadronian-Whitneyan) ~ | |
 White River Badlands in South Dakota | |
| Type | Formation |
| Sub-units | Brule Formation, Chadron Formation[1] |
| Overlies | Pierre Shale |
| Thickness | 230–300 m (750–980 ft)[2] |
| Lithology | |
| Primary | Tuffaceous claystone, conglomerate[3] |
| Location | |
| Coordinates | 43°12′N 107°06′W / 43.2°N 107.1°W |
| Approximate paleocoordinates | 44°48′N 98°24′W / 44.8°N 98.4°W |
| Region | Colorado, Nebraska, South Dakota, Wyoming |
| Country | United States |
| Extent | northern Great Plains and central Rocky Mountains |
| Type section | |
| Named for | White River (Missouri River tributary) |
  White River Formation (the United States)  White River Formation (Wyoming) | |
It has been found in northeastern Colorado, Dawes County in western Nebraska, Badlands of western South Dakota, and Douglas area of southeastern Wyoming.[1]
Fossil record
editThe geologic formation preserves fossils dating back to the Eocene and Oligocene Epochs of the Paleogene Period, during the Cenozoic Era.[4] It contains the most complete Late Eocene−Priabonian and Early Oligocene−Rupelian vertebrate record in North America.[1][5]
See also
editReferences
edit- 1 2 3 Evanoff, Emmett; Prothero, Donald R.; Lander, R.H. (1992). "Eocene-Oligocene Climatic Change in North America: The White River Formation near Douglas, East-Central Wyoming". Eocene-Oligocene Climatic and Biotic Evolution. pp. 116–130. doi:10.1515/9781400862924.116. ISBN 978-1-4008-6292-4.
- ↑ DouglasFossils.com: Paleontology and Geology of The White River Formation
- ↑ USGS: White River Formation
- ↑ Various Contributors to the Paleobiology Database. "Fossilworks: Gateway to the Paleobiology Database". Archived from the original on 25 March 2022. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
- ↑ Gustafson, Eric (January 1986). "Preliminary Biostratigraphy of the White River Group (Oligocene, Chadron and Brule Formations) in the Vicinity of Chadron, Nebraska". Transactions of the Nebraska Academy of Sciences. 14: 7–19.