The Big Clifty Formation is a

geologic formation A geological formation, or simply formation, is a body of rock having a consistent set of physical characteristics ( lithology) that distinguishes it from adjacent bodies of rock, and which occupies a particular position in the layers of rock exp ...

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

. It preserves

fossils A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...

dating back to the

Carboniferous The Carboniferous ( ) is a Geologic time scale, geologic period and System (stratigraphy), system of the Paleozoic era (geology), era that spans 60 million years, from the end of the Devonian Period Ma (million years ago) to the beginning of the ...

period Period may refer to: Common uses * Period (punctuation) * Era, a length or span of time *Menstruation, commonly referred to as a "period" Arts, entertainment, and media * Period (music), a concept in musical composition * Periodic sentence (o ...

. In Illinois and Kentucky, the Big Clifty is referred to as the

Big Clifty Sandstone The Big Clifty Sandstone is a geologic formation in Illinois and Kentucky. It is a subunit of the Golconda Formation in Kentucky and is correlative with the Fraileys Shale to which it grades to in southern Illinois. The Big Clifty and Golconda ar ...

and has been assigned to the Golconda Formation.

References

Carboniferous Indiana Carboniferous southern paleotropical deposits Geologic formations of Indiana {{Indiana-geologic-formation-stub

See also

References