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Benton Shale
Stratigraphic range: Cretaceous
Gray shale (Benton Shale, Upper Cretaceous; Red Rock Canyon Open Space, Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA) 6.jpg
Gray shale (Benton Shale; Colorado Springs, Colorado)
Type Formation
Underlies Niobrara Formation
Overlies Dakota Sandstone
Lithology
Primary Shale
Other Limestone, sandstone, bentonite
Location
Region Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota, Colorado, Nebraska
Country United States
Type section
Named for Fort Benton, Montana

The Benton Shale (also Benton Formation or Benton Group) is a geologic formation in Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota, Colorado, Kansas, and Nebraska. It preserves fossils dating to the Cretaceous Period. The term Benton Limestone has also been used to refer to the chalky portions of the strata, especially the upper beds of the strata presently classified as Greenhorn Limestone. The Benton classification is obsolete in some regions, having been replaced by the ascending sequence Graneros Shale, Greenhorn Limestone, and Carlile Shale.

The classification derives its name from Fort Benton, a small city in Montana on the Upper Missouri River.

  • Concretionary cone-in-cone structures (Benton Shale, Upper Cretaceous; Red Rock Canyon Open Space, Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA) 13

    Concretionary cone-in-cone structures in Benton Shale

  • Gray shale (Benton Shale, Upper Cretaceous; Red Rock Canyon Open Space, Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA) 1

    Gray shale (Benton Shale)

  • Gray shale & bentonites (Benton Shale, Upper Cretaceous; Red Rock Canyon Open Space, Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA) 5

    Gray shale and bentonites (Benton Shale)

Images for kids

  • Gray shale (Benton Shale, Upper Cretaceous; Red Rock Canyon Open Space, Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA) 6

    Gray Benton Shale

  • No. 51. The 'Hog Back' at Ellis, Kansas. (7008429651)

    Benton Group outcrop identified in Kansas by F.V. Hayden in 1871

  • Greenhorn Limestone on Interstate 70 in Kansas

    Chalk rhythmites in "old Benton" Greenhorn member in Kansas

  • Fairport Chalk Member of the Carlile Formation in Ellis County, Kansas 01

    Chalk rhythmites in "old Benton" Lower Carlile member in Kansas

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