Elk Basin is a valley on the border of Montana and Wyoming in the United States. It is an active

oil field A petroleum reservoir or oil and gas reservoir is a subsurface accumulation of hydrocarbons contained in porous or fractured rock formations. Such reservoirs form when kerogen (ancient plant matter) is created in surrounding rock by the presence ...

with hundreds of derricks operating in it. Geologically, it is a breached anticline formed by a deep subsurface thrust fault. Most of the rocks at the surface are Cretaceous in age, including the Lance Formation,

Meeteetse Formation The Meeteetse Formation is a Late Cretaceous geologic Formation (geology), formation occurring in Wyoming. The formation is described by W.G. Pierce as gray to white clayey sand, drab sandstone, gray and brown shale, and bentonite, bentonitic cl ...

, Mesaverde Formation,

Cody Shale The Cody Shale is a Late Cretaceous geologic formation. It is mapped in Wyoming, Idaho, and 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 an ...

, and Frontier Formation.

Teaching Geology

As the rock

strata In geology and related fields, a stratum ( : strata) is a layer of rock or sediment characterized by certain lithologic properties or attributes that distinguish it from adjacent layers from which it is separated by visible surfaces known as ei ...

in the basin are mostly exposed and relatively easy to identify, Elk Basin has long been used as a place for geology students to learn to practice

geologic map A geologic map or geological map is a special-purpose map made to show various geological features. Rock units or geologic strata are shown by color or symbols. Bedding planes and structural features such as faults, folds, are shown with st ...

ping. Often mapping classes are supported by the Yellowstone Bighorn Research Association,Yellowstone Bighorn Research Association
/ref> located in Red Lodge, Montana.

References

{{coord, 44, 59, 50, N, 108, 52, 10, W, display=title, region:US_source:GoogleEarth Landforms of Carbon County, Montana Landforms of Montana Landforms of Park County, Wyoming Valleys of Wyoming Oil fields in Wyoming