{{Short description|Geologic formation in the United States}} {{Infobox rockunit | name = White River Formation | image = White River Badlands of South Dakota panorama.jpg | caption = White River Badlands in South Dakota | type = Formation | age = Late Eocene-Early Oligocene (Chadronian-Whitneyan)<br>~{{fossil range|37.2|30.8}} | period = Priabonian | prilithology = Tuffaceous claystone, conglomerate<ref>[https://mrdata.usgs.gov/geology/state/sgmc-unit.php?unit=WYTwr%3B0 USGS: White River Formation]</ref> | otherlithology = | namedfor = White River<br />(Missouri River tributary) | namedby = | region = Colorado,<br />Nebraska,<br />South Dakota,<br />Wyoming | country = United States | coordinates = {{coord|43.2|N|107.1|W|display=inline,title}} | paleocoordinates = {{coord|44.8|N|98.4|W|display=inline}} | unitof = | subunits = Brule Formation,<br />Chadron Formation<ref name=donaldprothero>{{cite book |doi=10.1515/9781400862924.116 |chapter=Eocene-Oligocene Climatic Change in North America: The White River Formation near Douglas, East-Central Wyoming |title=Eocene-Oligocene Climatic and Biotic Evolution |date=1992 |last1=Evanoff |first1=Emmett |last2=Prothero |first2=Donald R. |last3=Lander |first3=R.H. |pages=116–130 |isbn=978-1-4008-6292-4 }}</ref> | underlies = | overlies = Pierre Shale | thickness = {{convert|230|-|300|m|ft|abbr=on}}<ref>[http://www.douglasfossils.com/paleo_geo3.html DouglasFossils.com: Paleontology and Geology of The White River Formation]</ref> | extent = northern Great Plains and central Rocky Mountains | area = | map = {{Location map+ | United States#Wyoming | relief = 1 | width = 250 | float = center | places = {{Location map~ | United States#Wyoming | lat_deg = 43.2 | lon_deg = -107.1 | mark = Orange ff8040 pog.svg | marksize = 12 }} }} | map_caption = }}
The '''White River Formation''' is a geologic formation of the Paleogene Period, in the northern Great Plains and central Rocky Mountains, within the United States.
It has been found in northeastern Colorado, Dawes County in western Nebraska, Badlands of western South Dakota, and Douglas area of southeastern Wyoming.<ref name=donaldprothero/>
== Fossil record == {{For|the formation's prehistoric animals|White River Fauna}} The geologic formation preserves fossils dating back to the Eocene and Oligocene Epochs of the Paleogene Period, during the Cenozoic Era.<ref>{{cite web|title= Fossilworks: Gateway to the Paleobiology Database|author= ((Various Contributors to the Paleobiology Database))|url= https://www.fossilworks.org/|access-date= 17 December 2021|archive-date= 25 March 2022|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20220325060448/http://www.fossilworks.org/cgi-bin/bridge.pl?action=home|url-status= dead}}</ref> It contains the most complete Late Eocene−Priabonian and Early Oligocene−Rupelian vertebrate record in North America.<ref name=donaldprothero/><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Gustafson |first1=Eric |title=Preliminary Biostratigraphy of the White River Group (Oligocene, Chadron and Brule Formations) in the Vicinity of Chadron, Nebraska |date=January 1986 |journal=Transactions of the Nebraska Academy of Sciences |volume=14 |pages=7–19 |url=https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/tnas/209/ }}</ref>
== See also == * {{C|White River Fauna|White River Formation prehistoric fauna}} * Chadronian — Priabonian, Rupelian * Orellan — Rupelian
== References == {{Reflist|33em}}
Category:White River Formation Category:Geologic formations of the United States Category:Paleogene United States Category:Eocene paleontological sites of North America Category:Oligocene paleontological sites of North America Category:Paleogene Colorado Category:Paleogene geology of Nebraska Category:Paleogene geology of South Dakota Category:Paleogene geology of Wyoming Category:Eocene United States Category:Chadronian Category:Orellan Category:Whitneyan Category:Geology of the Rocky Mountains Category:Great Plains Category:Paleontology in South Dakota Category:Paleontology in Wyoming Category:Claystone formations Category:Conglomerate formations of the United States