Belle Fourche Shale
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The Belle Fourche Formation or Belle Fourche Shale is a fossiliferous early Late-Cretaceous geologic
formation Formation may refer to: Linguistics * Back-formation, the process of creating a new lexeme by removing or affixes * Word formation, the creation of a new word by adding affixes Mathematics and science * Cave formation or speleothem, a secondar ...
classification in
Wyoming Wyoming () is a U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the south ...
. Named for outcrops in
Belle Fourche River The Belle Fourche River (pronounced ''bel FOOSH''; lkt, Šahíyela Wakpá) is a tributary of the Cheyenne River, approximately long, in the U.S. states of Wyoming and South Dakota. It is part of the Mississippi River watershed via the Cheyenn ...
, Wyoming, this unit name is also used in
Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbi ...
,
North Dakota North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the Native Americans in the United States, indigenous Dakota people, Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north a ...
, and
South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota people, Lakota and Dakota peo ...
. The unit records the gradual opening and expansion of the Greenhorn Cycle of the Western Interior Seaway, and as such is lithologically identical to the
Graneros Shale The Graneros Shale is a geologic formation in the United States identified in the Great Plains as well as New Mexico that dates to the Cenomanian Age of the Cretaceous Period. It is defined as the finely sandy argillaceous or clayey ''near-shore/ ...
Formation (that is, it is the same formation under a different name).


See also

*
List of fossiliferous stratigraphic units in Montana This article contains a list of fossil-bearing stratigraphic units in the state of Montana, U.S. Sites See also * Paleontology in Montana References * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fossiliferous stratigraphic units in Montana Montana Stratigraphic u ...
* Paleontology in Montana *
Paleontology in North Dakota Paleontology in North Dakota refers to paleontological research occurring within or conducted by people from the U.S. state of North Dakota. During the early Paleozoic era most of North Dakota was covered by a sea home to brachiopods, corals, and ...
* Paleontology in South Dakota *
Paleontology in Wyoming Paleontology in Wyoming includes research into the prehistoric life of the U.S. state of Wyoming as well as investigations conducted by Wyomingite researchers and institutions into ancient life occurring elsewhere. The fossil record of the US sta ...


References

* Cretaceous Montana Cretaceous geology of North Dakota Cretaceous geology of South Dakota Cretaceous geology of Wyoming {{Cretaceous-stub