Dakota Formation

E274880

The Dakota Formation is a widespread Cretaceous sedimentary rock unit in North America, noted for its sandstone deposits that record the advance of the Western Interior Seaway and preserve abundant plant and dinosaur fossils.

Try in SPARQL Jump to: Surface forms Statements Referenced by

All labels observed (1)

Label Occurrences
Dakota Formation canonical 2

Statements (48)

Predicate Object
instanceOf geologic formation
sedimentary rock unit
age Early Late Cretaceous
Late Early Cretaceous
color typically yellowish to brown
contains coal beds in some areas
containsFossilsOf dinosaurs
fish
invertebrates
plants
containsResource groundwater
petroleum reservoirs
uranium deposits
continent North America
country Canada
United States of America
surface form: United States
depositionalEnvironment deltaic
fluvial
nearshore marine
fossilType dinosaur tracks
leaf impressions
pollen and spores
geologicPeriod Cretaceous
geologicProvince Western Interior Basin
hasMember Juniata Member
Mesa Verde equivalent units
Tererro Member
lithology mudstone
sandstone
siltstone
namedAfter Dakota Territory
notedFor abundant plant impressions
high-quality sandstone aquifers
important dinosaur tracksites
overlies Kiowa Formation
Morrison Formation
records advance of the Western Interior Seaway
region Colorado Plateau
Great Plains
Rocky Mountain region
researchField paleontology
sedimentology
stratigraphy
stratigraphicUnitOf Western Interior Seaway margin
thickness varies from a few meters to over 200 meters
underlies Benton Group
Graneros Shale
usedAs building stone in some regions

Referenced by (2)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Morrison Formation underlies Dakota Formation
Western Interior Basin includesFormation Dakota Formation