Fort Payne Formation Explained

Fort Payne Chert
Type:Formation
Age:Viséan
Period:Visean
Prilithology:limestone
Region:Appalachia and Southeastern United States
Country:United States
Underlies:Tuscumbia Limestone and Ullin Formation
Overlies:Maccrady Formation and Springville Formation
Extent:Illinois, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, Tennessee, and Virginia

The Fort Payne Formation, or Fort Payne Chert, is a geologic formation found in the southeastern region of the United States.[1] It is a Mississippian Period cherty limestone, that overlies the Chattanooga Shale (or locally the Maury Formation), and underlies the St. Louis Limestone (lower Tuscumbia Limestone in Alabama). To the north, it grades into the siltstone Borden Formation.[1] It preserves fossils dating back to the Carboniferous period.[2]

Eugene Allen Smith named the Fort Payne Formation for outcrops at Fort Payne, Alabama.

See also

Notes and References

  1. http://mrdata.usgs.gov/geology/state/sgmc-unit.php?unit=TNMfp%3B10 USGS.gov: Fort Payne Formation
  2. Web site: Fossilworks: Gateway to the Paleobiology Database. ((Various Contributors to the Paleobiology Database)). 17 December 2021. 25 March 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220325060448/http://www.fossilworks.org/cgi-bin/bridge.pl?action=home. dead.