The Niobrara Chalk was recorded in 1857 and named in 1862 by Meek, F.B., and Hayden, F.V.[1] It was first studied during an expedition led by Othniel Charles Marsh of Yale University in 1870. This and following expeditions to the area in 1871 and 1872 yielded the first of many fossil vertebrate remains commonly attributed with the formation. Excavations continued through the following years up to 1879 under the direction of professional fossil collectors such as B. F. Mudge and S. W. Williston appointed by Marsh.
The Smoky Hill Chalk Member of the Niobrara Chalk contains the majority of the fossils found in the formation, and is subdivided into 23 marker beds. Most vertebrates are present from the upper half of the member. Most of the vertebrate remains were collected and described before the stratigraphy of the Niobrara Chalk was fully understood. Specimens were described as being from layers referred to as being either of gray-blue shale or yellow chalk. This dichotomy is not indicative of different stratigraphic units as was previously thought, but rather is seen as a weathering phenomenon that can be found at varying points in the same outcrop.[2]
The Fort Hays Limestone Member consists of somewhat harder, massive limestone beds.[3]
During the time of the deposition of the Niobrara Chalk, much life inhabited the seas of the Western Interior Seaway. By this time in the Late Cretaceous many new lifeforms appeared such as mosasaurs, which were to be some of the last of the aquatic lifeforms to evolve before the end of the Mesozoic. Life of the Niobrara Chalk is comparable to that of the Dakota Formation, although the Dakota Formation, which was deposited during the Cenomanian, predates the chalk by about 10 million years.
Mineral resources
Various exposures of Niobrara Chalk were covered and partially silicified as the Ogallala sediments covered the Neogene plains. Re-exposed during the Quaternary,[4] these cherty materials, known as Smoky Hill Jasper and Smoky Hill silicified chalk, or more recently as Niobrara Jasper or Niobrarite, became source material for stone tools from the earliest human habitation of the High Plains.[5][6]
In some regions, the Niobrara is a commercial hydrocarbon reservoir. Natural gas is produced from the Niobrara in the eastern Denver Basin. Oil is produced from the Niobrara in the North Park Basin, and new fracturing methods are allowing much larger areas to be tapped for oil.[7]
Alvin R. Leonard; Delmar W. Berry (1961). Geology and Ground-water Resources of Southern Ellis County and Parts of Trego and Rush Counties, Kansas, Bulletin 149. University of Kansas Publications, State Geological Survey of Kansas. p.Geomorphology / Stream Development. At the close of Pliocene time, the area from the Rocky Mountains to the Flint Hills was a nearly featureless aggradational plain crossed by streams flowing toward the east. During the formation of this [Ogallala] plain in central Kansas the Cretaceous [Niobrara] rocks were buried under a mantle of debris, ...
Bennett, S. C. 2000. Inferring Stratigraphic Position of Fossil Vertebrates from the Niobrara Chalk of Western Kansas. College of Chiropractic, University of Bridgeport, Bridgeport, CT 06601-2449.
This article uses material from the Wikipedia article Niobrara_Formation, and is written by contributors.
Text is available under a CC BY-SA 4.0 International License; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.