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geological formation
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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
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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.