Geologic units in Niobrara county, Wyoming

Lower Miocene and Upper Oligocene rocks or rocks equivalent to Upper and Lower Miocene rocks and White River Formation (Upper Oligocene-Upper Miocene) at surface, covers 33 % of this area

Lower Miocene and Upper Oligocene rocks--Light-colored soft porous sandstone and underlying white tuffaceous claystone and siltstone. Arikaree Formation in Denver Basin; rocks equivalent to Upper and Lower Miocene rocks and White River Formation--Light-colored sandstone, white tuffaceous blocky claystone, and siltstone. Black Hills.

Lance Formation (Upper Cretaceous) at surface, covers 18 % of this area

(North Wyoming) - Thick-bedded buff sandstone and drab to green shale; thin conglomerate lenses. (South and Northeast Wyoming) - Brown and gray sandstone and shale; thin coal and carbonaceous shale beds.

Fort Union Formation - Tullock Member (Paleocene) at surface, covers 12 % of this area

Soft gray sandstone, gray and brown carbonaceous shale, and thin coal beds.

Pierre Shale (Upper Cretaceous) at surface, covers 12 % of this area

Dark-gray concretionary marine shale; contains several bentonite beds.

White River Formation (Oligocene) at surface, covers 10 % of this area

White to pale-pink blocky tuffaceous claystone and lenticular arkosic conglomerate.

Fox Hills Sandstone (Upper Cretaceous) at surface, covers 4 % of this area

Light-colored sandstone and gray sandy shale containing marine fossils.

Alluvium and Colluvium (Pleistocene-Holocene) at surface, covers 2 % of this area

Clay, silt, sand, and gravel in flood plains, fans, terraces, and slopes.

Carlile Shale (Upper Cretaceous) at surface, covers 2 % of this area

Dark-gray sandy shale; Sage Breaks Member at top; Turner Sandy Member in middle.

Greenhorn Formation and Belle Fourche Shale (Upper Cretaceous) at surface, covers 1 % of this area

Greenhorn Formation - Light-colored limestone, marl, and limy sandstone interbedded with gray concretionary shale. Belle Fourche Shale - Black soft bentonitic concretionary shale. Carlile Shale (Kcl) - Dark-gray sandy shale; Sage Breaks Member at top; Turner Sandy Member in middle.

Niobrara Formation (Late Cretaceous) at surface, covers 1 % of this area

Light-colored limestone and gray to yellow speckled limy shale.

Fort Union Formation - Lebo Member (Paleocene) at surface, covers 1 % of this area

Dark-gray clay shale and concretionary sandstone.

Hartville Formation (Lower Pennsylvanian-Permian) at surface, covers 0.7 % of this area

Red and white sandstone underlain by gray dolomite and limestone, red shale, and red and gray sandstone. Lowermost unit may be Late Mississippian in age.

Cloverly and Morrison Formations or Inyan Kara Group (Upper Jurassic-Lower Cretaceous) at surface, covers 0.7 % of this area

Cloverly Formation (North and South Wyoming) - Rusty sandstone at top, underlain by brightly variegated bentonitic claystone; chert-pebble conglomerate locally at base. Cloverly Formation (Northeast Wyoming - Hartville Uplift) - Rusty to light-gray sandstone containing lenticular chert-pebble conglomerate interbedded with variegated bentonitic claystone. Morrison Formation (North and South Wyoming) - Dully variegated claystone, nodular limestone, and gray silty sandstone. In southern Yellowstone and Jackson Hole areas the presence of Morrison is questionable. Morrison Formation (Northeast Wyoming) - dully variegated siliceous claystone, nodular white limestone, and gray silty sandstone. Inyan Kara Group (Northeast - Black Hills) - Rusty to light-gray sandstone containing lenticular chert-pebble conglomerate interbedded with variegated bentonitic claystone. Includes Fall River and Lakota Formations.

Greenhorn Formation and Belle Fourche and Mowry Shale (Lower Cretaceous) at surface, covers 0.6 % of this area

Greenhorn Formation - Light-colored limestone, marl, and limy sandstone interbedded with gray concretionary shale. Belle Fourche Shale - Black soft bentonitic concretionary shale. Mowry Shale (Kmr) - Silvery-gray hard siliceous shale containing abundant fish scales and bentonite beds.

Niobrara Formation and Carlile Shale (Upper Cretaceous) at surface, covers 0.3 % of this area

Niobrara Formation (Kn) - Light-colored limestone and gray to yellow speckled limy shale. Carlile Shale (Kcl) - Dark-gray sandy shale; Sage Breaks Member at top; Turner Sandy Member in middle.

Guernsey Formation (Upper Devonian-Lower Mississippian) at surface, covers 0.2 % of this area

Blue-gray massive cherty limestone and dolomite. Locally includes unnamed dolomite and sandstone of Devonian and Cambrian(?) age.

Newcastle Sandstone and Skull Creek Shale (Lower Cretaceous) at surface, covers 0.1 % of this area

Newcastle Sandstone - Gray sandstone and sandy shale containing some bentonite and coal. Skull Creek Shale - Black soft fissile shale.

Metasedimentary and metavolcanic rocks (Middle Archean-Late Archaen) at surface, covers < 0.1 % of this area

Amphibolite, hornblende gneiss, biotite gneiss, quartzite, iron-formation, metaconglomerate, marble, and pelitic schist; locally preserved textures and structures suggest origin to be sedimentary or volcanic. Older than 2,875 Ma in Teton Range; older than 3,200 Ma in Granite Mountains; older than 2,600 Ma in Medicine Bow Mountains and Sierra Madre, where it is the Late Archean Phantom Lake Metamorphic Suite 3.

Gravel, pediment, and fan deposits (Pleistocene-Holocene) at surface, covers < 0.1 % of this area

Mostly locally derived clasts. Includes some glacial deposits along east flank of Wind River Range. Locally includes some Tertiary gravels.

Granitic rocks of 2,600-Ma Age Group (Late Archean) at surface, covers < 0.1 % of this area

Teton Range--Mount Owen Quartz Monzonite. Age 2,500+/- Ma; may be of Early Proterozoic age. Gros Ventre and Washakie Ranges--Granitic rocks. Yellowstone National Park, Owl Creek, Granite, and Seminoe Mountains, Rawlins uplift, and Medicine Bow Mountains--Granite. Wind River Range--Granodiorite to porphyritic and equigranular granite. Sierra Madre--Granite and granodiorite. Laramie Mountains--Granite, amphibolite, and minor amounts of metasedimentary rocks. Hartville uplift--Granite and quartz monzonite. Black Hills uplift--Granite and minor amounts of metasedimentary rocks.

Sundance Formation (Middle Jurassic-Upper Jurassic) at surface, covers < 0.1 % of this area

Greenish-gray glauconitic sandstone and shale, underlain by red and gray nonglauconitic sandstone and shale.

Carlile Shale (Upper Cretaceous) at surface, covers < 0.1 % of this area

Dark-gray to black, silty to sandy shale with several zones of septarian, fossiliferous, carbonate concretions. Contains up to three sandstone units in the upper portion of the formation and sandy calcareous marl at the base. Thickness up to 330 ft (100 m).

Arikaree Group (Miocene to Oligocene) at surface, covers < 0.1 % of this area

Consists mainly of gray, fine, loose to compact sand that has layers of hard, fine-grained dark-gray concretions which vary from few in to 15 in and often have tabular form. Includes a large amount of volcanic ash mixed in with the sand. Contains a number of channels filled with coarse conglomerate along ridge south of North Platte River. About 500 ft thick.

Granitic rocks of 2,000-Ma Age Group (Early Proterozoic) at surface, covers < 0.1 % of this area

Medicine Bow Mountains--Gaps Intrusion 3 (granitic). Hartville uplift--Granite and quartz monzonite of Flattop Butte 6; age 2,150+/- Ma.

Goose Egg Formation (Permian-Lower Triassic) at surface, covers < 0.1 % of this area

Red sandstone and siltstone, white gypsum, halite, and purple to white dolomite and limestone.

Pierre Shale (Upper Cretaceous) at surface, covers < 0.1 % of this area

Blue-gray to dark-gray, fissile to blocky shale with persistent beds of bentonite, black organic shale, and light-brown chalky shale. Contains minor sandstone, conglomerate, and abundant carbonate and ferruginous concretions. Thickness up to 1,000 ft (305 m).

Belle Fourche Shale (Late Cretaceous) at surface, covers < 0.1 % of this area

Dark-gray to black bentonitic shale containing minor limestone lenses, bentonite layers, fossiliferous calcarenite, and large, ferruginous, carbonate concretions. Thickness 150-350 ft (46-107 m).

Niobrara Formation (Upper Cretaceous) at surface, covers < 0.1 % of this area

White to dark-gray argillaceous chalk, marl, and shale. Weathers yellow to orange. Contains thin, laterally continuous bentonite beds, chalky carbonaceous shale, minor sand, and small concretions. Thickness up to 150 ft (46 m).

Mowry Shale (Lower Cretaceous) at surface, covers < 0.1 % of this area

Silvery-gray hard siliceous shale containing abundant fish scales and bentonite beds.

Sundance and Gypsum Spring Formations (Middle Jurassic-Upper Jurassic) at surface, covers < 0.1 % of this area

Sundance Formation (Js) - Greenish-gray glauconitic sandstone and shale, underlain by red and gray nonglauconitic sandstone and shale. Gypsum Spring Formation - Interbedded red shale, dolomite, and gypsum. In north Wyoming wedges out south in T. 39 N.

Pierre Shale (Late Cretaceous) at surface, covers < 0.1 % of this area

Mostly medium to dark-gray, brownish-gray, and black, fissle clay shale. Locally grades to thin beds of calcareous, silty shale or claystone, marl, shaly sandstone, and sandy shale. Locally contains thin seams of gypsum and sparse selenite crystals. Approx. max thickness 1970 ft.

Granitic rocks of 1,700-Ma Age Group (Early Proterozoic) at surface, covers < 0.1 % of this area

Granitic rocks of 1,700-Ma Group

White River Group (Oligocene) at surface, covers < 0.1 % of this area

Clay, some claystone, silt and siltstone. Predominantly greenish gray and volcaniclastic. Other occurrences are greenish gray to white and bentonitic. Local channel sandstone at base. Aprox thickness 195 ft.

Alluvium (Quaternary) at surface, covers < 0.1 % of this area

Clay to boulder-size clasts with locally abundant organic material. Thickness up to 75 ft (23m).

Greenhorn Formation (Upper Cretaceous) at surface, covers < 0.1 % of this area

Gray shale, mudstone, marl, calcarenite, and shaly limestone grading upward into light-gray to tan, alternating marl and thin-bedded, fossiliferous limestone. Thickness up to 40 ft (12 m).

Eolian Deposits (Quaternary) at surface, covers < 0.1 % of this area

(loess and sand dune) Silt to medium-grained sand. Deposited as sand sheets and barchan, linear, and dome-like dunes and as veneer on uplands. Thickness up to 300 ft (91m).

Terrace Deposits (Quaternary) at surface, covers < 0.1 % of this area

Clay to boulder-size clasts deposited as pediments, paleochannels, and terrace fills of former flood plains. Thickness up to 75 ft (23m).