Eskridge Shale

{{Infobox rockunit

| name = Eskridge Shale

| image = Stag Hill Grenola (Salem Point) Neva Eskridge Cottonwood Florena Morrill Kaw Lake 20130407 112737.jpg

| caption = Fresh excavation of Eskridge Shale (green and red mudstone band and gray marine shale) above the Neva Limestone and below the Cottonwood Limestone, Stag Hill roadcut of K-18 southwest of Manhattan, Kansas, 2013.
File:Eskridge Shale, lowest 10 feet, spectacular paleosols 20161211 214320.jpg.]]

| type = Formation

| age =
Early Permian

| period = Early Permian

| prilithology = mudstone paleosol

| otherlithology = marine shale

| namedfor = Eskridge, Kansas

| namedby =

| region = Kansas, Oklahoma, Nebraska

| country = United States

| coordinates =

| unitof = Council Grove Group

| subunits =

| underlies =

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}}

The Eskridge Shale or Eskridge Formation is an Early Permian geologic formation in Kansas. Its outcrop runs north–south through Kansas, extending into Oklahoma and Nebraska.{{cite web | title = Geologic Unit: Eskridge | series = Geolex — Unit Summary | work = National Geologic Database | publisher = United States Geological Survey | url = https://ngmdb.usgs.gov/Geolex/Units/Eskridge_7659.html |access-date = 2020-12-24 }} While named a shale, it features extensive, spectacular red and green stacked palosol mudstones, these mudstones showing prominent vertical tubular carbonate concretions, possibly from roots or vertebrate burrows.{{citation |title= Geology of the Kansas Flint Hills: Ancient Ice Ages, Sea Levels, and Climate Change |url= https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Lower-Eskridge-Shale-displaying-paleosol-horizons-with-prominent-elongated-carbonate_fig14_310459601 |access-date = 2021-11-28 |author= Keith Miller |quote= The lower paleosol interval of the Eskridge is characterized by the spectacular development of stacked horizons of elongated carbonate nodules (Fig. 23) These are locally tightly packed and take on the appearance of a prismatic ped structure. The carbonate precipitation was likely controlled primarily by roots (ie. the nodules represent rhizocretions), but the influence of burrowing cannot be discounted (Fig. 24). Lungfish and other vertebrate burrows have been recognized at other localities within the lower Eskridge. The thin limestone beds that overly this paleosol interval are characterized by a molluskan fauna dominated by pectinid and myalinid bivalves. }}