Smackover Formation
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The Smackover Formation is a
geologic formation A geological formation, or simply formation, is a body of rock having a consistent set of physical characteristics ( lithology) that distinguishes it from adjacent bodies of rock, and which occupies a particular position in the layers of rock exp ...
in
Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...
. It preserves
fossils A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved in ...
dating back to the Jurassic period. The Smackover Formation consists of oolitic limestones and silty limestones.


Mineral resources

The Smackover Formation has been a prolific source of petroleum. The 1922 discovery of the Smackover oil field, after which the Smackover Formation is named, resulted in a sizeable oil boom in southern Arkansas. In addition to being a petroleum reservoir, as of 2015, the brine from the Smackover Formation is the only source of commercial bromine in the United States. A 2022 report estimated that the lithium brine in the formation has "sufficient lithium to produce enough
batteries Battery most often refers to: * Electric battery, a device that provides electrical power * Battery (crime), a crime involving unlawful physical contact Battery may also refer to: Energy source *Automotive battery, a device to provide power t ...
for 50 million
electric vehicles An electric vehicle (EV) is a vehicle that uses one or more electric motors for propulsion. It can be powered by a collector system, with electricity from extravehicular sources, or it can be powered autonomously by a battery (sometimes cha ...
."


See also

* List of fossiliferous stratigraphic units in Arkansas *
Paleontology in Arkansas Paleontology in Arkansas refers to paleontological research occurring within or conducted by people from the United States, U.S. state of Arkansas. The fossil Fossil record, record of Arkansas spans from the Ordovician to the Eocene. Nearly all of ...
* Smackover, Arkansas *
Bromine production in the United States __NOTOC__ Bromine production in the United States of 225,000 tonnes in 2013 made that country the second-largest producer of bromine, after Israel. The US supplied 29 percent of world production. Since 2007, all US bromine has been produced by two ...
* Lithium production *
Brine mining Brine mining is the extraction of useful materials ( elements or compounds) which are naturally dissolved in brine. The brine may be seawater, other surface water, groundwater, or hyper-saline solutions from several industries (e.g., textile indu ...


References

Jurassic Arkansas Oxfordian Stage {{Jurassic-stub