# Prairie Bluff Chalk

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Formation in Alabama and Mississippi, United States

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Prairie Bluff Chalk Stratigraphic range: Cretaceous Prairie Bluff Chalk Formation (Starkville, Mississippi) Type Formation Unit of Selma Group[1] Lithology Primary Chalk Location Region Alabama, Mississippi[1] Country United States

The **Prairie Bluff Chalk** is a [geologic formation](/source/Formation_(geology)) in [Alabama](/source/Alabama) and [Mississippi](/source/Mississippi). It preserves [fossils](/source/Fossils) dating back to the [Cretaceous](/source/Cretaceous) [period](/source/Period_(geology)).[2][3]

The [chalk](/source/Chalk) was formed by [marine sediments](/source/Pelagic_sediments) deposited along the eastern edge of the [Mississippi embayment](/source/Mississippi_embayment) during the [Maastrichtian](/source/Maastrichtian_(geological_period)) [stage](/source/Stage_(stratigraphy)) of the [Late Cretaceous](/source/Late_Cretaceous). It is a unit of the [Selma Group](/source/Selma_Group) and marks the end of the Cretaceous in Alabama. Evidence has been found within the formation at Braggs, [Moscow](/source/Moscow%2C_Marengo_County%2C_Alabama), and [Millers Ferry](/source/Millers_Ferry%2C_Alabama) in Alabama indicating an instantaneous to brief erosional event, most likely a tsunami, at the [Cretaceous–Paleogene boundary](/source/Cretaceous%E2%80%93Paleogene_boundary) (K–T boundary). It is hypothesized that this event, along with [faulting](/source/Fault_(geology)) and [liquification](/source/Soil_liquefaction) of the Prairie Bluff Chalk, is related to the [meteorite](/source/Meteorite) impact at the [Chicxulub crater](/source/Chicxulub_crater) site, directly south, across the [Gulf of Mexico](/source/Gulf_of_Mexico), from the formation.[4]

## See also

- [Paleontology portal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Paleontology)

- [List of fossil sites](/source/List_of_fossil_sites) - [List of fossiliferous stratigraphic units in Alabama](/source/List_of_fossiliferous_stratigraphic_units_in_Alabama) - [List of fossiliferous stratigraphic units in Mississippi](/source/List_of_fossiliferous_stratigraphic_units_in_Mississippi)

- [Paleontology in Alabama](/source/Paleontology_in_Alabama)

- [Paleontology in Mississippi](/source/Paleontology_in_Mississippi)

## References

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-geolex_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-geolex_1-1) ["Geolex — Unit Summary: Prairie Bluff Chalk"](https://ngmdb.usgs.gov/Geolex/Units/PrairieBluff_3405.html). [United States Geological Survey](/source/United_States_Geological_Survey). Retrieved 14 November 2019.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** Various Contributors to the Paleobiology Database. ["Fossilworks: Gateway to the Paleobiology Database"](https://www.fossilworks.org). Retrieved 17 December 2021.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** ["Selma Group; Prairie Bluff Chalk (ALKpb;1)"](https://mrdata.usgs.gov/geology/state/sgmc-unit.php?unit=ALKpb;1). *mrdata.usgs.gov*. Retrieved 2018-06-08.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-KTEVENT_4-0)** Ryder, Graham (1996). [*The Cretaceous-Tertiary Event and Other Catastrophes in Earth History*](https://books.google.com/books?id=kAup0TOL09gC&dq=%22Prairie+Bluff+Chalk%22&pg=PA272). Boulder, Colorado: Geological Society of America. pp. 271–273. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-8137-2307-8](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-8137-2307-8).

## External links

- [Microfossils: Images of Foraminifera from the Prairie Bluff FM at Starkville, MS from www.foraminifera.eu](http://www.foraminifera.eu/starkville.html)

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