Outcrop of the formation along the northwest wall of Solite Quarry Pit B in North Carolina
Type
Geological formation
Unit of
Dan River Group
Thickness
1900 m
Location
Coordinates
36°24′N80°00′W / 36.4°N 80.0°W / 36.4; -80.0
Approximate paleocoordinates
5°30′N20°24′W / 5.5°N 20.4°W / 5.5; -20.4
Region
Virginia
Country
United States
Type section
Named by
Thayer, 1970
Cow Branch Formation (the United States)
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Cow Branch Formation (North Carolina)
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The Cow Branch Formation is a Late Triassic geologic formation in Virginia and North Carolina in the eastern United States. The formation consists of cyclical beds of black and grey lacustrine (lake) mudstone and shale.[1][2][3][4][5] It is a konservat-lagerstätte renowned for its exceptionally preserved insect fossils, along with small reptiles,[6] fish, and plants.[7][8][9][10] Dinosaur tracks have also been reported from the formation.[11]
^Olsen, Paul E.; Remington, Charles L.; Cornet, Bruce; Thomson, Keith S. (1978-08-25). "Cyclic Change in Late Triassic Lacustrine Communities". Science. 201 (4357): 729–733. doi:10.1126/science.201.4357.729. ISSN 0036-8075. PMID 17750230. S2CID 23168710.
^Olsen, Paul E.; Schlische, Roy W.; Gore, Pamela J.W. (1989). Tectonic, Depositional, and paleoecological history of Early Mesozoic rift basins, eastern North America: 28th International Geological Congress Field Trip Guidebook T351(PDF). Washington D.C.: American Geophysical Union. pp. 1–174. doi:10.1029/FT351. ISBN 0875906583.
^Liutkus, C. M.; Beard, J. S.; Fraser, N. C.; Ragland, P. C. (2010). "Use of fine-scale stratigraphy and chemostratigraphy to evaluate conditions of deposition and preservation of a Triassic Lagerstätte, south-central Virginia". Journal of Paleolimnology. 44 (2): 645–666. Bibcode:2010JPall..44..645L. doi:10.1007/s10933-010-9445-1. ISSN 0921-2728. S2CID 85464908.
^Liutkus-Pierce, Cynthia M.; Fraser, Nicholas C.; Heckert, Andrew B. (2014), Bailey, Christopher M.; Coiner, Lorrie V. (eds.), "Stratigraphy, sedimentology, and paleontology of the Upper Triassic Solite Quarry, North Carolina and Virginia", Elevating Geoscience in the Southeastern United States: New Ideas about Old Terranes—Field Guides for the GSA Southeastern Section Meeting, Blacksburg, Virginia, 2014, Geological Society of America, pp. 255–269, doi:10.1130/2014.0035(09), ISBN 978-0-8137-0035-9, retrieved 2023-12-18
^Olsen, Paul E.; Reid, Jeffrey C.; Taylor, Kenneth B.; Whiteside, Jessica H.; Kent, Dennis V. (2015). "Revised stratigraphy of Late Triassic age strata of the Dan River Basin (Virginia and North Carolina, USA) based on drill core and outcrop data". Southeastern Geology. 51 (1): 1–31. doi:10.7916/D82F7MSJ.
^Olsen, Paul E. (1979). "A new aquatic Eosuchian from the Newark Supergroup (Late Triassic–Early Jurassic) of North Carolina and Virginia" (PDF). Postilla. 176: 1–14.
^Olsen, Paul E. (1988). "8. Paleoecology and Paleoenvironments of the Continental Early Mesozoic Newark Supergroup of Eastern North America" (PDF). In Manspeizer, Warren (ed.). Triassic-Jurassic Rifting and the Opening of the Atlantic Ocean. Amsterdam: Elsevier. pp. 185–230. doi:10.1016/B978-0-444-42903-2.50013-0.
^Fraser, Nicholas C.; Grimaldi, David A.; Olsen, Paul E.; Axsmith, Brian (1996). "A Triassic Lagerstätte from eastern North America". Nature. 380 (6575): 615–619. Bibcode:1996Natur.380..615F. doi:10.1038/380615a0. ISSN 0028-0836. S2CID 4360335.
^Fraser, Nicholas C.; Grimaldi, David A. (1999). "A significant Late Triassic Lagerstaette from Virginia, U.S.A" (PDF). Revista del Museo Civico di Scienze Naturali: Enrico Caffi. 20: 79–84.
^Fraser, Nicholas C.; Grimaldi, David A. (2003). "Late Triassic continental faunal change: New perspectives on Triassic insect diversity as revealed by a locality in the Danville basin, Virginia, Newark Supergroup". In LeTourneau, Peter M.; Olsen, Paul E. (eds.). The Great Rift Valleys of Pangea in Eastern North America, Volume 2: Sedimentology, Stratigraphy, and Paleontology. New York: Columbia University Press. pp. 192–205.
^Weishampel et al., 2004, pp.517-607
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