Gray or grayish brown, thick-bedded sandstone, sandy shale, and thin interbedded coal. Chert-pebble lag deposit common at top of formation. Virgelle Member (lower part of formation in parts of central Montana): very light gray, gray, or brown sandstone that coarsens upward. Root zone and thin carbonaceous beds at top of member. Delta, coastal plain, tidal flat, and marine shoreface and foreshore. Thickness as much as 150 m (492 ft).
Light brown to light gray, fine- to coarse-grained sandstone with interbeds of gray to black carbonaceous shale, silty shale, and thin coal. Local Parkman Sandstone Member (lower part of formation):yellowish gray to brownish gray and olive green, fine- to medium-grained, cross-bedded sandstone interbedded with yellowish gray, silty shale. Estuarine, brackish, and nearshore marine. Thickness as much as 305 m (1000 ft).
Dark gray to gray shale that weathers brown, with thin, gray sandstone laminae and beds in upper or middle part and calcareous concretions in lower part. Marine. Thickness as much as 170 m (558 ft).
Thin interbeds of yellowish brown sandstone or siltstone and gray shale. Marine shoreface and offshore. Thickness as much as 200 m (656 ft).
Dark gray shale with calcareous concretions and numerous bentonite beds. Upper part calcareous. MacGowan Concretionary Bed (middle part of member): grayish brown concretionary dolostone and limestone with phosphatic pellets, and gray to black chert pebbles. Marine. Thickness as much as 350 m (1,148 ft).
Variable deposits that range from pebble to boulder size and include sand, silt, and clay. Dominantly alluvial terrace, abandoned channel and floodplain, remnant alluvial fan, and local glacial outwash.
Telegraph Creek (Ktc): Thin interbeds of yellowish brown sandstone or siltstone and gray shale. Marine shoreface and offshore. Thickness as much as 200 m (656 ft). Marias River Formation (Kmr) - Kevin Member (Kmk): Dark gray shale with calcareous concretions and numerous bentonite beds. Upper part calcareous. MacGowan Concretionary Bed (middle part of member): grayish brown concretionary dolostone and limestone with phosphatic pellets, and gray to black chert pebbles. Marine. Thickness as much as 350 m (1,148 ft). Ferdig Member (Kmf): Gray and dark gray shale with thin siltstone or sandstone beds at the top. Marine. Thickness as much as 125m (410 ft). Cone Member (Kmc): Calcareous, dark gray shale and thin limestone beds and lenses. Widespread bentonite bed and septarian concretions near base. Shallow marine. Thickness as much as 20 m (66 ft). Floweree Member (Kmfl): Dark gray, noncalcareous shale with interbeds of siltstone. Calcareous concretions and scattered granules of dark gray chert. Shallow marine. Thickness as much as 30 m (98 ft).
Gravel, sand, silt, and clay deposits of stream and river channels, and floodplains.
Syenite
Bootlegger Member (Kbb): Dark gray shale interbedded with sandstone, siltstone, and bentonite beds. Marine. Thickness as much as 100 m (328 ft). Vaughn Member (Kbv): Black carbonaceous shale, light gray, greenish to pinkish bentonitic to tuffaceous siltstone and porcellanite, tuffaceous, arkosic sandstone, thin coal; conglomerate beds in western Montana. Fluvial and coastal delta plain. Thickness as much as 200 m (656 ft). Taft Hill Member (Kbt): Black shale, gray bentonitic siltstone, and glauconitic sandstone. Marine. Thickness as much as 180 m (590 ft). Flood Member (Kblf): Upper part: medium gray, cliff-forming fine- to medium-grained chert-rich, quartzose sandstone, middle part medium to dark gray shale or gray siltstone; lower part: yellowish brown, gray, or olive gray fine-grained sandstone and siltstone with carbonaceous laminae and thin films of coal and dark gray silty, bentonitic shale. Sandstone beds thin eastward. Quartzose basal sandstone in southwestern Montana. Nearshore marine, tidal flat, and lagoon. Thickness as much as 230 m (755 ft).
Kootenai Formation (Kk, Kku, Kkm, Kkl): Red, maroon, and olive gray mudstone, tan or gray siltstone, calcareous concretions, limestone beds, and several prominent sandstone beds that include the Greybull Member (top of the formation in south-central Montana) and the Sunburst Member (middle to lower part of the formation in northwest-central Montana), both dominantly quartzose sandstone. Basal Cutbank or Pryor Conglomerate. Alluvial plain with local marine influence in the north. Thickness as much as 335 m (1,099 ft).
Swift Formation (Jsw): Orangish brown, glauconitic, flaggy-bedded, commonly fossiliferous, fine-grained sandstone or sandy coquina with subordinate dark gray shale interbeds; chert pebbles common. In west-central and northwestern Montana, a dark gray, noncalcareous, micaceous shale forms the lower part of the formation, commonly with a basal chert-pebble conglomerate or conglomeratic sandstone as much as 3 m (10 ft) thick. Shallow marine. Thickness as much as 70 m (230 ft). Rierdon Formation (Jr): Gray, locally fossiliferous limestone that may contain floating grains of quartz sand, interbedded with greenish gray limy shale. Lagoonal and marine shelf. Thickness as much as 105 m (344 ft). Sawtooth Formation: Western Montana: dark gray, platy to shaly, dense limestone with local basal conglomerate. Central Montana: upper calcareous siltstone, middle dark gray shale with thin limestone interbeds, and lower fine-grained sandstone. Three local members Bowes, Firemoon, and Tampico, in descending order. Bowes Member: dark gray to medium gray, calcareous mudstone, limestone, and quartzose sandstone. Firemoon Member: dark to medium gray, limestone and calcareous mudstone. Tampico Member: very light gray, well-sorted quartz sandstone and siltstone, and chert-pebble conglomerate. Shallow marine. Thickness as much as 205 m (673 ft). Piper Formation (Jp): Upper part: red mudstone and gypsum; middle part: gray shale, limestone, and dolomite; lower part: red mudstone and gypsum. Marine and restricted coastal evaporite basins. Thickness as much as 75 m (246 ft).
Mission Canyon Formation (Mmc): Gray, massive limestone with chert beds and nodules, and solution breccia zones. Shallow marine. Thickness as much as 520 m (1,706 ft). Lodgepole Formation (Ml): Woodhurst Member (upper part of formation): light gray, well-bedded limestone, typically with much dark chert, interbedded with thinner calcareous mudstone beds. Paine Member (middle part of formation):dark gray, thin-bedded, silty or fossiliferous limestone. Cottonwood Canyon Member (lower part of formation): black shale with basal conglomeratic lag deposit. Shallow marine. Thickness as much as 305 m (1000 ft). In Northwest Montana - Castle Reef Formation: Medium to light gray, thick-bedded limestone or dolomite. Sun River Member (upper part of formation): light gray dolomite with thick fossiliferous lenses. Shallow marine. Thickness as much as 300 m (984 ft). Allan Mountain Formation: Dark gray, thinly bedded limestone with thin mudstone and shale partings, and nodular chert. Shallow marine. Thickness as much as 200 m (656 ft).
Marias River Formation (Kmr) - Kevin Member (Kmk): Dark gray shale with calcareous concretions and numerous bentonite beds. Upper part calcareous. MacGowan Concretionary Bed (middle part of member): grayish brown concretionary dolostone and limestone with phosphatic pellets, and gray to black chert pebbles. Marine. Thickness as much as 350 m (1,148 ft). Ferdig Member (Kmf): Gray and dark gray shale with thin siltstone or sandstone beds at the top. Marine. Thickness as much as 125m (410 ft). Cone Member (Kmc): Calcareous, dark gray shale and thin limestone beds and lenses. Widespread bentonite bed and septarian concretions near base. Shallow marine. Thickness as much as 20 m (66 ft). Floweree Member (Kmfl): Dark gray, noncalcareous shale with interbeds of siltstone. Calcareous concretions and scattered granules of dark gray chert. Shallow marine. Thickness as much as 30 m (98 ft).
White to light grayish pink, typically vuggy and finely crystalline, locally banded limestone. Light gray to white, thick-bedded, vuggy limestone.
Lamprophyre