# Sanford Formation

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Sanford_Formation
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Sanford_Formation.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanford_Formation
> Source revision: 1296565929
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

Sanford Formation Stratigraphic range: Late Triassic, Norian Type Formation Unit of Chatham Group Overlies Cumnock Formation Lithology Primary conglomerate, sandstone, mudstone Location Region North Carolina Country United States Type section Named for Sanford, North Carolina Named by Campbell & Kimball, 1923

The **Sanford Formation** is a [Late Triassic](/source/Late_Triassic) ([Norian](/source/Norian))-age [geologic formation](/source/Formation_(geology)) in [North Carolina](/source/North_Carolina). It is mainly found in the [Sanford sub-basin](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sanford_sub-basin&action=edit&redlink=1) of the [Deep River Basin](/source/Deep_River_Basin), the southernmost of the large [Mesozoic](/source/Mesozoic) basins forming the [Newark Supergroup](/source/Newark_Supergroup). It is the highest unit of the [Chatham Group](/source/Chatham_Group), overlying the dark lake and swamp sediments of the [Cumnock Formation](/source/Cumnock_Formation). The Sanford Formation is composed primarily of coarse red sediments such as [conglomerates](/source/Conglomerate_(geology)), [sandstones](/source/Sandstone), and [mudstones](/source/Mudstone). The conglomerate layers contain [pebbles](/source/Pebble) of [schist](/source/Schist) and [slate](/source/Slate), with the occasional large boulders of [granite](/source/Granite).[1][2]

The Sanford Formation is likely equivalent to the Norian-age [Passaic Formation](/source/Passaic_Formation) of the [Newark Basin](/source/Newark_Basin) in the northeastern United States.[3] The lower part of the Sanford Formation has also been closely correlated with middle layers ("Lithofacies Association II") of the [Durham sub-basin](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Durham_sub-basin&action=edit&redlink=1) 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.[4][5]

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** Campbell, Marius R.; Kimball, Kent W. (1923). ["The Deep River coal field of North Carolina"](https://files.nc.gov/ncdeq/Energy%20Mineral%20and%20Land%20Resources/Geological%20Survey/Bulletins_NCGS/NCGS_Bulletin_33_Deep_River_Coal_Field.pdf) (PDF). *North Carolina Geological and Economic Survey Bulletin*. **33**: 1–95.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-:3_2-0)** Litwin, Ronald J.; Ash, Sidney R. (1993-05-03). ["Revision of the biostratigraphy of the Chatham Group (Upper Triassic), Deep River basin, North Carolina, USA"](https://dx.doi.org/10.1016%2F0034-6667%2893%2990057-2). *Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology*. **77** (1): 75–95. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1016/0034-6667(93)90057-2](https://doi.org/10.1016%2F0034-6667%2893%2990057-2). [ISSN](/source/ISSN_(identifier)) [0034-6667](https://search.worldcat.org/issn/0034-6667).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-:2_3-0)** Weems, Robert E.; Tanner, Lawrence H.; Lucas, Spencer G. (2016). ["Synthesis and revision of the lithostratigraphic groups and formations in the Upper Permian?–Lower Jurassic Newark Supergroup of eastern North America"](https://www.researchgate.net/publication/309853816). *Stratigraphy*. **13** (2).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** Huber, Phillip; Lucas, Spencer G.; Hunt, Adrian P. (1993). ["Revised age and correlation of the Upper Triassic Chatham Group (Deep River Basin, Newark Supergroup), North Carolina"](https://southeasterngeology.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Vol.-33-N.-4-October-1993.pdf#page=15) (PDF). *Southeastern Geology*. **33** (4): 171–193.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** Sues, Hans-Dieter; Olsen, Paul E.; Carter, Joseph G.; Scott, Diane M. (2003-06-17). ["A new crocodylomorph archosaur from the Upper Triassic of North Carolina"](https://doc.rero.ch/record/15409/files/PAL_E2760.pdf) (PDF). *Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology*. **23** (2): 329–343. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1671/0272-4634(2003)023\[0329:ANCAFT\]2.0.CO;2](https://doi.org/10.1671%2F0272-4634%282003%29023%5B0329%3AANCAFT%5D2.0.CO%3B2). [ISSN](/source/ISSN_(identifier)) [0272-4634](https://search.worldcat.org/issn/0272-4634). [S2CID](/source/S2CID_(identifier)) [17319720](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:17319720).

This article about a specific stratigraphic formation in North Carolina is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by adding missing information.

- [v](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:NorthCarolina-geologic-formation-stub)
- [t](/source/Template_talk%3ANorthCarolina-geologic-formation-stub)
- [e](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:EditPage/Template:NorthCarolina-geologic-formation-stub)

This article related to the Triassic period is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by adding missing information.

- [v](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Triassic-stub)
- [t](/source/Template_talk%3ATriassic-stub)
- [e](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:EditPage/Template:Triassic-stub)

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Sanford Formation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanford_Formation) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanford_Formation?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.