File:2021_Revised_NPS_Geologic_Stratigraphic_Column_of_the_Grand_Canyon.jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons
geological formation
Sign in to saveAlso known as geologic formation, formation
body of rock identified by lithic characteristics and stratigraphic position; it is usually but not necessarily tabular and is mappable at the Earth's surface or traceable in the subsurface. Smaller than a subgroup
Wikidata facts
- Subclass of
- lithostratigraphic unit
- Main subject
- stratigraphy
- Image
- SEUtahStrat.JPG
Show 4 more facts
- Commons category
- Geologic formations
- topic's main category
- Category:Geologic formations
- different from
- rock formation
- on focus list of Wikimedia project
- Wikipedia:Vital articles/Level/4
Sources (2)
via Wikidata · CC0
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Encyclopedic overview
Figure 1. A geologic cross section of the Grand Canyon.
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 exposed in a geographical region (the stratigraphic column). It is the fundamental unit of lithostratigraphy, the study of strata or rock layers.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “geological formation” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.