imported>Volcanoguy: removed Category:Geologic formations of the United States using HotCat

2025-06-23T22:08:42Z

removed Category:Geologic formations of the United States using HotCat

New page

{{Infobox Rockunit
| name = Smoky Hill Chalk
| image = Toxochelys.jpg
| caption = This fossil of ''[[Prionochelys]]'', an extinct marine turtle, is held in the Smithsonian's [[National Museum of Natural History]]. Many Smoky Hill Chalk vertebrate fossils have found their ways to natural history museums all over the world.
| type = [[Geological member]]
| prilithology = In Kansas, chalky and marly limestones, chalk, and chalky shale; elsewhere, less chalky
| otherlithology =
| namedfor = [[Smoky Hill River]]
| namedby = F.W. Cragin<ref name= Geolex />
| year_ts = 1896<ref name= Geolex />
| region = mid-continental
| country = [[United States]]
| coordinates = {{coord|38|48|09|N|100|56|33|W|region:US-KS_dim:3000|display=inline,title}}
| unitof = [[Niobrara Formation]]
| subunits =
| thickness =
| extent =
| area =
| age = [[Coniacian|Late Coniacian]]-[[Campanian|Early Campanian]]
| period = Santonian
}}
The '''Smoky Hill Chalk Member''' of the [[Niobrara Chalk]] [[Formation (stratigraphy)|formation]] is a [[Cretaceous]] conservation [[Lagerstätte]], or [[fossil]] rich [[geological member]], known primarily for its exceptionally well-preserved [[marine reptile]]s.<ref name=BottjerEtAl>{{cite book | editor-last = Bottjer | editor-first = David J. | editor2-last = Etter | editor2-first = Walter | editor3-last = Hagadorn | editor3-first = James W. |display-editors = 3 | editor4-last = Tang | editor4-first = Carol M. | title = Exceptional Fossil Preservation: A unique View on the Evolution of Marine Life | year = 2002 | publisher = Columbia University Press | isbn = 0-231-10255-0}}</ref> Named for the [[Smoky Hill River]],<ref name= Geolex >{{cite web |title= Geologic Unit: Smoky Hill |website= Geolex - National Geologic Map Database |url= https://ngmdb.usgs.gov/Geolex/UnitRefs/SmokyHillRefs_10308.html |access-date= 2019-10-16 }}</ref> the Smoky Hill Chalk Member is the uppermost of the two structural units of the Niobrara Chalk.<ref name=BottjerEtAl /> It is underlain by the [[Fort Hays Limestone Member]] and overlain by the [[Pierre Shale]].<ref name="BottjerEtAl" /> The Smoky Hill Chalk [[outcrop]]s in parts of northwest [[Kansas]], its most famous localities for fossils, and in southeastern [[Nebraska]]. Large well-known fossils excavated from the Smoky Hill Chalk include marine reptiles such as [[plesiosaur]]s, large [[Osteichthyes|bony fish]] such as ''[[Xiphactinus]]'', [[mosasaur]]s, flying reptiles or [[pterosaur]]s (namely ''[[Pteranodon]]''), flightless marine birds such as ''[[Hesperornis]]'', and [[turtle]]s. Many of the most well-known specimens of the marine reptiles were collected by dinosaur hunter [[Charles H. Sternberg]] and his son [[George F. Sternberg|George]]. The son collected a unique fossil of the giant bony fish ''Xiphactinus audax'' with the skeleton of another bony fish, ''[[Gillicus arcuatus]]'' inside the larger one. Another excellent skeleton of ''Xiphactinus audax'' was collected by [[Edward Drinker Cope]] during the late nineteenth century heyday of American paleontology and its [[Bone Wars]].<ref>{{cite book | last = Schwimmer | first = David R. | title = King of the Crocodylians: The Paleobiology of Deinosuchus | year = 2002 | publisher = Indiana University Press | isbn = 0-253-34087-X}}</ref>

==Viewing and Access==
The general type area, the [[Smoky Hill River]] watershed in [[Logan County, Kansas|Logan]] and [[Gove County, Kansas|Gove]] Counties, has many [[badlands]] eroded into the Smoky Hill Chalk.

;Some natural monuments of Smoky Hill Chalk in Kansas with public daylight access:
* [[Castle Rock (Kansas)|Castle Rock]]
* [[Little Jerusalem Badlands State Park]]
* [[Monument Rocks (Kansas)|Monument Rocks]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*Everhart, M., nd, [http://www.oceansofkansas.com/ Oceans of Kansas Paleontology web page]
*Everhart, M., nd, [http://www.oceansofkansas.com/youngmosasaurs.html Remains of young mosasaurs from the Smoky Hill Chalk]
*Everhart, M., nd, [http://www.oceansofkansas.com/Turtles.html Marine turtles from the Smoky Hill Chalk and Pierre Shale]

[[Category:Cretaceous Kansas]]
[[Category:Chalk formations]]
[[Category:Lagerstätten]]
[[Category:Geologic members of the United States]]

{{Kansas-geologic-formation-stub}}

Smoky Hill Chalk - Revision history

imported>Volcanoguy: removed Category:Geologic formations of the United States using HotCat