Fort Union Formation
{{Short description|Geologic formation in the northwestern United States}}
{{Infobox rockunit
| name = Fort Union Formation
| image = Impression of 65 million years old partial fossil leaf of Beringiaphyllum cupanoides and fragments of Sparganium antiquum from Fort Union Formation, Glendive Montana, USA, by Omar Hoftun.JPG
| caption = Fossils from the Fort Union Formation
| type = Geological formation
| age = Maastrichtian-Selandian (Lancian-Clarkforkian)
~{{fossil range|66|58}}
| period = Danian
| prilithology = Sandstone, shale
| otherlithology = Coal
| namedfor =
| namedby =
| region = Montana, North Dakota
Wyoming, Colorado
| country = United States
| coordinates ={{coord|47.0|N|104.6|W|display=inline,title}}
| unitof =
| subunits = Atwell Gulch, China Butte, Ekalaka, Lebo, lower Ludlow, Overland, Rock Bench Quarry, Sentinel Butte, Shotgun, Somber beds, Tongue River, Tullock, upper Ludlow, Polecat Bench Formation
| overlies = Hell Creek Formation, Lance Formation
| underlies = Wasatch Formation
| thickness =
| extent = Powder River Basin
| area =
| map =
| map_caption =
|paleocoordinates={{coord|52.8|N|80.1|W|display=inline}}}}
The Fort Union Formation is a geologic unit containing sandstones, shales, and coal beds in Wyoming, Montana, and parts of adjacent states. In the Powder River Basin, it contains important economic deposits of coal, uranium, and coalbed methane.[http://www.searchanddiscovery.net/documents/2005/ashley/index.htm Wyodak Coal, Tongue River Member of the Fort Union Formation, Powder River Basin, Wyoming: "No-Coal Zones" and Their Effects on Coalbed Methane Production, by Mark Ashley, 2005]
Description
The Fort Union is mostly of Paleocene age and represents a time of extensive swamps as well as fluvial and lacustrine conditions. The rocks are more sandy in southwestern Wyoming and more coal-bearing in northeast Wyoming and southeast Montana, reflecting a general change from rivers and lakes in the west to swamps in the east, but all three environments were present at various times in most locations.Eocene and Paleocene rocks of the southern and central basins, by Robert E. McDonald, in Geologic Atlas of the Rocky Mountain Region, Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists, Denver, CO, 1972: p. 248
Coal in the Fort Union in the Powder River Basin occurs mainly in the Tongue River Member, where as many as 32 coal seams total more than 300 feet in thickness. One such bed, the Wyodak Coal near Gillette, Wyoming, is as much as {{convert|110|ft|m}} thick. Most of the coals in the Fort Union Formation are ranked subbituminous.Cretaceous and Tertiary coals of the Rocky Mountains and Great Plains regions, by R.M. Flores and T.A. Cross, 1991, in Economic Geology, U.S., Geological Society of America, Decade of North American Geology Series, vol. P-2, p. 547-571.File:Coal Stratigraphy Powder River Basin.png
Fossil content
{{Paleobiota-key-compact}}
=Mammals=
==Cimolestans==
==Leptictids==
class="wikitable" align="center" | ||||
colspan="7" align="center" | Leptictids reported from the Fort Union Formation | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Genus | Species | Locality
!Stratigraphic member !Material | Notes | Images |
Prodiacodon
|P. crustulum | Garfield & McCone counties, Montana.{{Cite journal |last=Clemens |first=W. |date=January 9, 2015 |title=(Leptictidae, Mammalia) from the Tullock Member of the Fort Union Formation, Garfield and McCone Counties, Montana, USA |journal=PaleoBios |language=en |volume=32 |issue=1 |pages=1–17|doi=10.5070/P9321025382 |s2cid=55974838 |doi-access=free }} |Fragmentary dentary & isolated teeth. | A leptictid. | |
==Marsupials==
class="wikitable" align="center" | ||||
colspan="7" align="center" | Marsupials reported from the Fort Union Formation | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Genus | Species | Locality
!Stratigraphic member !Material | Notes | Images |
Peradectes
|style="background:#fbdddb;" |P. sp. |style="background:#fbdddb;" | |style="background:#fbdddb;" |Upper & lower molars. |style="background:#fbdddb;" |Reassigned to Swaindelphys. |style="background:#fbdddb;" | | ||||
Swaindelphys
|S. cifellii | |An opossum. | |
==Primatomorphs==
==Ungulates==
=Reptiles=
==Birds==
A partial ornithurine coracoid bone found in this formation is identical to others found in the older Hell Creek Formation. At present, this unnamed species is the only known individual bird species that have survived the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event.Longrich, N.R., Tokaryk, T. and Field, D.J. (2011). "Mass extinction of birds at the Cretaceous–Paleogene (K–Pg) boundary." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 108(37): 15253-15257. {{doi|10.1073/pnas.1110395108}}
class="wikitable" align="center" | ||||
colspan="7" align="center" | Birds reported from the Fort Union Formation | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Genus | Species | Locality
!Stratigraphic member !Material | Notes | Images |
Lithornis
|L. celetius |Bangtail Quarry, Sedan Quadrangle, Park County, Montana.{{Cite journal |last=Houde |first=Peter W. |date=1988 |title=Paleognathous Birds from the Early Tertiary of the Northern Hemisphere |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/4087644 |journal=The Auk |volume=107 |issue=2 |pages=455–456 |doi=10.2307/4087644 |jstor=4087644 |issn=0004-8038|url-access=subscription }} | | |A lithornithid. |
==Crocodilians==
class="wikitable" align="center" | ||||
colspan="7" align="center" | Crocodilians reported from the Fort Union Formation | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Genus | Species | Location
!Stratigraphic member !Material | Notes | Images |
Allognathosuchus
|A. sp. | Princeton Quarry, Park County, Wyoming.{{Cite journal |last=Estes |first=Richard |date=1975 |title=Lower Vertebrates from the Fort Union Formation, Late Paleocene, Big Horn Basin, Wyoming |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3891523 |journal=Herpetologica |volume=31 |issue=4 |pages=365–385 |jstor=3891523 |issn=0018-0831}} | |Anterior end of left dentary (PU 16988). |A crocodilian. |
==Squamates==
class="wikitable" align="center" | ||||
colspan="7" align="center" | Squamates reported from the Fort Union Formation | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Genus | Species | Locality
!Stratigraphic member !Material | Notes | Images |
Anguidae
|Genus & species indeterminate |Swain Quarry, Carbon County, Wyoming. | |An anguid lizard. | | ||||
cf. Anguidae
| |Swain Quarry, Carbon County, Wyoming. | |Provisionally referred to anguid lizards based on size & shape. | | ||||
Contogenys
|cf. C. sloani |Swain Quarry, Carbon County, Wyoming.{{Cite journal |last=Sullivan |first=Robert M. |date=January 1982 |title=Fossil lizards from Swain Quarry "Fort Union Formation," middle Paleocene (Torrejonian), Carbon County, Wyoming |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/289505965 |journal=Journal of Paleontology |volume=56 |issue=4 |pages=996–1010}} | |Posterior part of a right maxilla (AMNH 12069). |A skink. | | ||||
rowspan=2|Exostinus
|E. cf. E. lancensis |Swain Quarry, Carbon County, Wyoming. | |A xenosaurid lizard. | | ||||
E. rugosus
|Princeton & Schaff quarries, Park County, Wyoming. | |A xenosaurid lizard. | | ||||
Glyptosaurinae
|Genus & species indeterminate |Swain Quarry, Carbon County, Wyoming. | |A glyptosaurine lizard. | | ||||
Glyptosaurinae or Odaxosaurinae
|Genus & species indeterminate |Swain Quarry, Carbon County, Wyoming. | |Fragmentary jaw elements & osteoderms. |Indeterminate lizard remains. | | ||||
Machaerosaurus
|M. torrejonensis |Swain Quarry, Carbon County, Wyoming. | |An anguid lizard also known from the Nacimiento Formation. | | ||||
Odaxosaurus
|O. piger |Swain Quarry, Carbon County, Wyoming. | |Many fragmentary jaw remains. |An anguid lizard. | | ||||
Oligodontosaurus
|O. wyomingensis | |A left mandible (PU 14246). |An amphisbaenian. | | ||||
Palaeosaniwa
|cf. P. canadensis |Swain Quarry, Carbon County, Wyoming. | |Medial part of left dentary (AMNH 15957). |A large anguimorph lizard. | | ||||
Palaeoxantusia
|P. fera |Swain Quarry, Carbon County, Wyoming. | |A night lizard. | | ||||
Pancelosaurus
|P. piger |Princeton, Fritz & Schaff quarries, Park County, Wyoming. | |An anguid lizard. | | ||||
rowspan=2|Provaranosaurus
|P. acutus |Princeton Quarry, Park County, Wyoming. | |PU 14243 (left maxilla), 14561 (anterior portion of left dentary) & 17145 ( fragment of left maxilla). |A palaeovaranid lizard. | | ||||
cf. P. sp.
|Swain Quarry, Carbon County, Wyoming. | |3 partial dentaries (AMNH 14306, 14307 & 14309). |A palaeovaranid lizard. | | ||||
Rhineuridae
|Unidentified genus & species |Fritz Quarry, Park County, Wyoming. | |An almost complete right dentary & a broken vertebra (PU 18627). |An amphisbaenian. | | ||||
Saniwa
|cf. S. sp. |Swain Quarry, Carbon County, Wyoming. | |2 trunk vertebrae (AMNH 15960 & 16003). |A varanid. | | ||||
Swainiguanoides
|S. milleri |Swain Quarry, Carbon County, Wyoming. | |An iguanid. | |
==Testudines==
=Amphibians=
class="wikitable" align="center" | ||||
colspan="7" align="center" | Amphibians reported from the Fort Union Formation | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Genus | Species | Locality
!Stratigraphic member !Material | Notes | Images |
Amphiuma
|A. jepseni | |PU 14666 (partial vertebral column), 14668 (partial skull) & 16788 (dislocated vertebrae). |An aquatic salamander. | | ||||
Anura
| |PU 14662 (distal end of right radioulna), 14663 (proximal end of left radioulna), 14669 (phalanx), 13372 (right maxilla). |A frog. | | ||||
Discoglossidae
|Undescribed genus & species | |Distal end of right humerus (PU 14670). |A frog similar to undescribed discoglossid remains from the Hell Creek Formation. | | ||||
Eorhinophrynus
|E. sp. |Princeton & Fritz quarries, Park County, Wyoming. | |Humeri & vertebrae. |A burrowing toad. | | ||||
Opisthotriton
|O. kayi |Princeton Quarry, Park County, Wyoming. | |A salamander. | | ||||
Scapherpeton
|S. tectum | Princeton & Schaff quarries, Park County, Wyoming. | |PU 20583 (3 broken vertebrae, an atlas, an ilium & a rib) & PU 19500 (a humerus). | A salamander. |
=Fish=
=Invertebrates=
==Bivalves==
==Gastropods==
class="wikitable" align="center" | ||||
colspan="7" align="center" | Gastropods reported from the Fort Union Formation | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Genus | Species | Locality
!Stratigraphic member !Material | Notes | Images |
rowspan=2|Acroloxus
|A.? minutus |A river limpet. | | ||||
A. sp. indet.
|A river limpet. | | ||||
rowspan="4" |Clenchiella
|C. n. sp. A |A clenchiellid. | | ||||
C. n. sp. A?
|A clenchiellid. | | ||||
C. cf. C. n. sp. A
|A clenchiellid. | | ||||
C. sp. indet.
|A clenchiellid. | | ||||
rowspan="7" |Hydrobia
|H. anthonyi |A hydrobiid. | | ||||
H. sp. A
|A hydrobiid. | | ||||
H. cf. H. sp. A
|A hydrobiid. | | ||||
H. sp. B?
|A hydrobiid. | | ||||
H. sp. C?
|A hydrobiid. | | ||||
H. sp. indet.
|A hydrobiid. | | ||||
H.? sp. indet.
|A hydrobiid. | | ||||
rowspan="6" |Lioplacodes
|L. multistriata | A viviparid. | | ||||
L. tenuicarinata
|A viviparid. | | ||||
L. tenuicarinata?
|A viviparid. | | ||||
L. limneaformis
|A viviparid. | | ||||
L. sp. indet.
|A viviparid. | | ||||
L.? sp. indet.
|A viviparid. | | ||||
Valvata?
|V.? sp. indet. |A valvatid. | | ||||
rowspan="4" |Viviparus
|V. raynoldsanus |A viviparid. | | ||||
V. raynoldsanus?
|A viviparid. | | ||||
V. cf. V. raynoldsanus
|A viviparid. | | ||||
V. sp.
|A viviparid. | |
=Plants=
class="wikitable" align="center" | ||||
colspan="7" align="center" | Plants reported from the Fort Union Formation | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Genus | Species | Locality
!Stratigraphic member !Material | Notes | Images |
Aesculus
|A. hickeyi |Custer National Forest, Powder River County, Montana.{{Cite journal |last1=Manchester |first1=Steven R. |last2=Foster |first2=Alyssa |last3=Lott |first3=Terry A. |date=2023-05-12 |title=The Paleocene Horse Creek florule, Tongue River Member of the Fort Union Formation, southeastern Montana, USA |url=https://acpa.botany.pl/The-Paleocene-Horse-Creek-florule-Tongue-River-Member-of-the-Fort-Union-Formation,162170,0,2.html |journal=Acta Palaeobotanica |volume=63 |issue=1 |language=english |pages=32–53 |doi=10.35535/acpa-2023-0003 |issn=0001-6594|doi-access=free }} |A horse chestnut. | | ||||
Amersinia
|A. obtrullata |Custer National Forest, Powder River County, Montana. |A nyssaceaen, may be produced by the same plant as Beringiaphyllum cupanioides. | | ||||
Beringiaphyllum
|B. cupanioides |Custer National Forest, Powder River County, Montana. |A nyssaceaen, may be produced by the same plant as Amersinia obtrullata. | | ||||
Browniea
|B. serrata |Mexican Hat locality & Custer National Forest, Powder River County, Montana. |Lebo Member & Tongue River Member. |Leaves showing signs of insect damage. |A nyssaceaen. | | ||||
Cercidiphyllum
|C. genetrix |Leaves showing signs of insect damage. |A katsura tree. | | ||||
Cornus
|C. swingii |Custer National Forest, Powder River County, Montana. |A dogwood. | | ||||
Davidia
|D. antiqua |Custer National Forest, Powder River County, Montana. |A dove tree. | | ||||
Cf. Dennstaedtia
|Cf. D. americana |Custer National Forest, Powder River County, Montana. |A single specimen of sterile foliage (UF 18969-34532). |A fern. | | ||||
rowspan=2|Dicotylophyllum
|D. hansonium |Williston Basin, North Dakota.{{Cite journal |last1=Peppe |first1=Daniel J. |last2=Hickey |first2=Leo J. |date=November 2014 |title=Fort Union Formation Fossil Leaves (Paleocene, Williston Basin, North Dakota, USA) Indicate Evolutionary Relationships Between Paleocene and Eocene Plant Species |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/274312501 |journal=Bulletin of the Peabody Museum of Natural History |volume=55 |issue=2 |pages=171–189 |doi=10.3374/014.055.0209 |bibcode=2014BPMNH..55..171P |s2cid=129724520 |issn=0079-032X}} |A dicot. | | ||||
D. horsecreekium
|Williston Basin, North Dakota. |A dicot. | | ||||
Eostangeria
|E. pseudopteris | Sweetwater County, Wyoming.{{Cite journal |last1=Kvaček |first1=Zlatko |last2=Manchester |first2=Steven R. |date=1999 |title=Eostangeria Barthel (Extinct Cycadales) from the Paleogene of Western North America and Europe |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/240563782 |journal=International Journal of Plant Sciences |volume=160 |issue=3 |pages=621–629 |doi=10.1086/314152 |bibcode=1999IJPlS.160..621K |s2cid=83978433 |issn=1058-5893}} | A cycad. | | ||||
Equisetum
|E. sp. |Custer National Forest, Powder River County, Montana. |A single stem (UF 18969-60476A). |A horsetail. | | ||||
"Ficus"
|"F." artocarpoides |Leaves with signs of hole feeding and insect mining. |A fig-tree. | | ||||
Glyptostrobus
|G. europaeus |A conifer. | | ||||
Juglandiphyllites
|J. glabra |Mexican Hat locality, Montana. |Leaves with insect damage and probable lepidopteran leaf mines. |A member of the walnut family. | | ||||
rowspan=2|Lauraceae
|Species 1 |Mexican Hat locality, Montana. |Leaf with piercing and sucking marks from insects. | | | ||||
Species 2
|Mexican Hat locality, Montana. |Leaves showing signs of insect damage. | | | ||||
Macginistemon
|M. mikanoides |Custer National Forest, Powder River County, Montana. |A platanaceaen. | | ||||
rowspan="2" |Macginitiea
|M. gracilis |Custer National Forest, Powder River County, Montana. |A fragmentary leaf (UF 18969-38380). |A platanaceaen. | | ||||
M. nascens
|Williston Basin, North Dakota. |A platanaceaen. | | ||||
rowspan="2" |Meliosma
|M. thriviensis |Williston Basin, North Dakota. |A sabiaceaen. | | ||||
M. vandaelium
|Williston Basin, North Dakota. |A sabiaceaen. | | ||||
Nordenskioeldia
|N. borealis |Custer National Forest, Powder River County, Montana. |A trochodendrale. | | ||||
Paleonelumbo
|P. macroloba |Mexican Hat locality, Montana. |A nelumbonaceaen. | | ||||
Paranymphaea
|P. crassifolia |Mexican Hat locality, Montana. |A nymphaeaceaen. | | ||||
Phyllites
|P. demoresii |Custer National Forest, Powder River County, Montana. | | | ||||
rowspan="2" |Platanus
|P. raynoldsii |Mexican Hat locality, Montana. |Leaves showing signs of insect damage. |A plane-tree. | | ||||
P. sp.
|Custer National Forest, Powder River County, Montana. |A plane-tree. | | ||||
Polyptera
|P. manningii |Mexican Hat locality, Montana. |A member of the walnut family. | | ||||
"Populus"
|"P". nebrascensis |Mexican Hat locality, Montana. |Leaves showing signs of insect damage. |A poplar. | | ||||
Porosia
|P. verrucosa |Custer National Forest, Powder River County, Montana. |A rutaceaen. | | ||||
Taxodium
|T. olrikii |Custer National Forest, Powder River County, Montana. |A cypress tree. | | ||||
rowspan="2" |Ternstromites
|cf. T. aureavallis |Mexican Hat locality, Montana. |Leaf with a gall at the intersection of primary and secondary veins. |A theaceaen. | | ||||
T. paucimissouriensis
|Williston Basin, North Dakota. |Ludlow & Tongue River Members. |A theaceaen. | | ||||
Trochodendroides
|T. genetrix |Custer National Forest, Powder River County, Montana. |A saxifrage. | | ||||
Ulmites
|U. microphylla |Custer National Forest, Powder River County, Montana. |An ulmaceaen. | | ||||
Zizyphoides
|Z. flabella |Mexican Hat locality, Montana & Custer National Forest, Powder River County, Montana. |Lebo Member & Tongue River Member. |Leaves showing signs of insect damage. |A trochodendrale. | |
See also
- List of fossiliferous stratigraphic units in Colorado
- List of fossiliferous stratigraphic units in Montana
- List of fossiliferous stratigraphic units in North Dakota
- List of fossiliferous stratigraphic units in Wyoming
- Uranium mining in Wyoming
- Guaduas Formation, contemporaneous coal-bearing formation of northern South America
References
{{reflist}}
{{Chronostratigraphy of Colorado|Cenozoic state=expanded}}
Category:Geologic formations of Montana
Category:Geologic formations of North Dakota
Category:Geologic formations of Wyoming
Category:Cretaceous geology of North Dakota
Category:Cretaceous geology of Wyoming
Category:Paleogene geology of North Dakota
Category:Paleogene geology of Wyoming
Category:Maastrichtian Stage of North America
Category:Cretaceous–Paleogene boundary
Category:Paleontology in Wyoming
Category:Sandstone formations of the United States