Catskill Group

Catskill Group
Stratigraphic range: Devonian
Outcrop of the Irish Valley Member of the Catskill Formation along the Horseshoe Curve, Blair County, Pennsylvania
Typesedimentary
UnderliesRockwell Formation, Huntley Mountain Formation, Pocono Formation, Spechty Kopf Formation
OverliesForeknobs Formation, Lock Haven Formation, Trimmers Rock Formation
ThicknessUp to 10,000 ft (3,000 m)
Lithology
PrimarySandstone
OtherSiltstone, shale
Location
RegionAppalachian Mountains
CountryUnited States
ExtentPennsylvania, New York (state)
Type section
Named forCatskill Mountains, New York

The Devonian Catskill Group or the Catskill Clastic wedge is a unit of mostly terrestrial sedimentary rock found in Pennsylvania and New York. Minor marine layers exist in this thick rock unit (up to 10,000 feet (3,000 m)). It is equivalent to the Hampshire Formation of Maryland, West Virginia, and Virginia.

The Catskill is the largest bedrock unit of the Upper Devonian in northeast Pennsylvania and the Catskill region of New York, from which its name is derived. The Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania are largely underlain by this unit as well. The rocks of the Catskill are predominantly red sandstone, indicating a large-scale terrestrial deposition during the Acadian orogeny. Many beds are cyclical in nature, preserving the record of a dynamic environment during its approximately 20 million years of deposition.