Thermopolis Shale

E938591

Thermopolis Shale is a Cretaceous-age marine shale formation in the Western Interior of North America, notable for its dark, fossil-bearing mudstones deposited in the Western Interior Seaway.

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Statements (43)

Predicate Object
instanceOf Cretaceous stratigraphic unit
geologic formation
shale formation
color dark gray
contains bentonite beds
fossils
siltstone interbeds
containsFossilType ammonites GENERATED
bivalves GENERATED
foraminifera GENERATED
marine invertebrates GENERATED
trace fossils GENERATED
containsMineral clay minerals
feldspar
pyrite
quartz
country United States of America
surface form: United States
depositionalEnvironment marine
depositionalSetting Western Interior Seaway NERFINISHED
exposedIn Colorado NERFINISHED
Montana NERFINISHED
South Dakota NERFINISHED
Wyoming NERFINISHED
fossilPreservation good
geologicAge Cretaceous NERFINISHED
hasEconomicUse hydrocarbon source rock (locally)
seal rock in petroleum systems
isPartOfSequence Cretaceous marine transgressive–regressive cycles
lithology marine shale
mudstone
locatedIn United States of America
surface form: United States

Western Interior of North America NERFINISHED
namedAfter Thermopolis, Wyoming NERFINISHED
overlies Mowry Shale (locally may vary)
partOf Western Interior Seaway succession NERFINISHED
region Rocky Mountain region NERFINISHED
researchUse biostratigraphy
paleoenvironmental reconstruction
sequence stratigraphy
stratigraphicUnitOf Western Interior Basin NERFINISHED
typicalTexture fine-grained
underlies Frontier Formation (locally may vary) NERFINISHED
Muddy Sandstone (locally may vary) NERFINISHED

Referenced by (1)

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

Cloverly Formation underlies Thermopolis Shale