Sanford Formation

{{Infobox rockunit|name=Sanford Formation|region=North Carolina|caption=|type=Formation|age=Late Triassic, Norian|period=Norian|otherlithology=|prilithology=conglomerate, sandstone, mudstone|namedfor=Sanford, North Carolina|namedby=Campbell & Kimball, 1923|image=|coordinates=|country=United States|unitof=Chatham Group|subunits=|underlies=|overlies=Cumnock Formation|thickness=|extent=|area=|map=|map_caption=}}

The Sanford Formation is a Late Triassic (Norian)-age geologic formation in North Carolina. It is mainly found in the Sanford sub-basin of the Deep River Basin, the southernmost of the large Mesozoic basins forming the Newark Supergroup. It is the highest unit of the Chatham Group, overlying the dark lake and swamp sediments of the Cumnock Formation. The Sanford Formation is composed primarily of coarse red sediments such as conglomerates, sandstones, and mudstones. The conglomerate layers contain pebbles of schist and slate, with the occasional large boulders of granite.{{Cite journal|last1=Campbell|first1=Marius R.|last2=Kimball|first2=Kent W.|date=1923|title=The Deep River coal field of North Carolina|url=https://files.nc.gov/ncdeq/Energy%20Mineral%20and%20Land%20Resources/Geological%20Survey/Bulletins_NCGS/NCGS_Bulletin_33_Deep_River_Coal_Field.pdf|journal=North Carolina Geological and Economic Survey Bulletin|volume=33|pages=1–95}}{{Cite journal|last1=Litwin|first1=Ronald J.|last2=Ash|first2=Sidney R.|date=1993-05-03|title=Revision of the biostratigraphy of the Chatham Group (Upper Triassic), Deep River basin, North Carolina, USA|url=https://dx.doi.org/10.1016%2F0034-6667%2893%2990057-2|journal=Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology|language=en|volume=77|issue=1|pages=75–95|doi=10.1016/0034-6667(93)90057-2|issn=0034-6667|url-access=subscription}}

The Sanford Formation is likely equivalent to the Norian-age Passaic Formation of the Newark Basin in the northeastern United States.{{Cite journal|last1=Weems|first1=Robert E.|last2=Tanner|first2=Lawrence H.|last3=Lucas|first3=Spencer G.|date=2016|title=Synthesis and revision of the lithostratigraphic groups and formations in the Upper Permian?–Lower Jurassic Newark Supergroup of eastern North America|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/309853816|journal=Stratigraphy|language=en|volume=13|issue=2}} The lower part of the Sanford Formation has also been closely correlated with middle layers ("Lithofacies Association II") of the Durham sub-basin of the Deep River Basin. Though Sanford-equivalent strata are less clearly differentiable in the Durham sub-basin, they are also much more fossiliferous in that area.{{Cite journal|last1=Huber|first1=Phillip|last2=Lucas|first2=Spencer G.|last3=Hunt|first3=Adrian P.|date=1993|title=Revised age and correlation of the Upper Triassic Chatham Group (Deep River Basin, Newark Supergroup), North Carolina|url=https://southeasterngeology.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Vol.-33-N.-4-October-1993.pdf#page=15|journal=Southeastern Geology|volume=33|issue=4|pages=171–193}}{{Cite journal|last1=Sues|first1=Hans-Dieter|last2=Olsen|first2=Paul E.|last3=Carter|first3=Joseph G.|last4=Scott|first4=Diane M.|date=2003-06-17|title=A new crocodylomorph archosaur from the Upper Triassic of North Carolina|url=https://doc.rero.ch/record/15409/files/PAL_E2760.pdf|journal=Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology|volume=23|issue=2|pages=329–343|doi=10.1671/0272-4634(2003)023[0329:ANCAFT]2.0.CO;2|s2cid=17319720 |issn=0272-4634|url-access=|url-status=|archive-url=|archive-date=}}