Geologic formation in the eastern U.S.
The Cow Branch Formation is a Late Triassic geologic formation in Virginia and North Carolina in the eastern United States . The formation consists of cyclical beds of black and grey lacustrine (lake) mudstone and shale .[ 1] [ 2] [ 3] [ 4] [ 5] It is a konservat-lagerstätte renowned for its exceptionally preserved insect fossils, along with small reptiles,[ 6] fish, and plants.[ 7] [ 8] [ 9] [ 10] Dinosaur tracks have also been reported from the formation.[ 11]
^ Olsen, Paul E.; Remington, Charles L.; Cornet, Bruce; Thomson, Keith S. (1978-08-25). "Cyclic Change in Late Triassic Lacustrine Communities" . Science . 201 (4357): 729–733. Bibcode :1978Sci...201..729O . doi :10.1126/science.201.4357.729 . ISSN 0036-8075 . PMID 17750230 . S2CID 23168710 .
^ Olsen, Paul E.; Schlische, Roy W.; Gore, Pamela J.W. (1989). Tectonic, Depositional, and paleoecological history of Early Mesozoic rift basins, eastern North America: 28th International Geological Congress Field Trip Guidebook T351 (PDF) . Washington D.C.: American Geophysical Union. pp. 1–174. doi :10.1029/FT351 . ISBN 0875906583 .
^ Liutkus, C. M.; Beard, J. S.; Fraser, N. C.; Ragland, P. C. (2010). "Use of fine-scale stratigraphy and chemostratigraphy to evaluate conditions of deposition and preservation of a Triassic Lagerstätte, south-central Virginia" . Journal of Paleolimnology . 44 (2): 645–666. Bibcode :2010JPall..44..645L . doi :10.1007/s10933-010-9445-1 . ISSN 0921-2728 . S2CID 85464908 .
^ Liutkus-Pierce, Cynthia M.; Fraser, Nicholas C.; Heckert, Andrew B. (2014), Bailey, Christopher M.; Coiner, Lorrie V. (eds.), "Stratigraphy, sedimentology, and paleontology of the Upper Triassic Solite Quarry, North Carolina and Virginia" , Elevating Geoscience in the Southeastern United States: New Ideas about Old Terranes—Field Guides for the GSA Southeastern Section Meeting, Blacksburg, Virginia, 2014 , Geological Society of America, pp. 255–269, doi :10.1130/2014.0035(09) , ISBN 978-0-8137-0035-9 , retrieved 2023-12-18
^ Olsen, Paul E.; Reid, Jeffrey C.; Taylor, Kenneth B.; Whiteside, Jessica H.; Kent, Dennis V. (2015). "Revised stratigraphy of Late Triassic age strata of the Dan River Basin (Virginia and North Carolina, USA) based on drill core and outcrop data" . Southeastern Geology . 51 (1): 1–31. doi :10.7916/D82F7MSJ .
^ Olsen, Paul E. (1979). "A new aquatic Eosuchian from the Newark Supergroup (Late Triassic–Early Jurassic) of North Carolina and Virginia" (PDF) . Postilla . 176 : 1–14.
^ Olsen, Paul E. (1988). "8. Paleoecology and Paleoenvironments of the Continental Early Mesozoic Newark Supergroup of Eastern North America" (PDF) . In Manspeizer, Warren (ed.). Triassic-Jurassic Rifting and the Opening of the Atlantic Ocean . Amsterdam: Elsevier. pp. 185–230. doi :10.1016/B978-0-444-42903-2.50013-0 .
^ Fraser, Nicholas C.; Grimaldi, David A.; Olsen, Paul E.; Axsmith, Brian (1996). "A Triassic Lagerstätte from eastern North America" . Nature . 380 (6575): 615–619. Bibcode :1996Natur.380..615F . doi :10.1038/380615a0 . ISSN 0028-0836 . S2CID 4360335 .
^ Fraser, Nicholas C.; Grimaldi, David A. (1999). "A significant Late Triassic Lagerstaette from Virginia, U.S.A" (PDF) . Revista del Museo Civico di Scienze Naturali: Enrico Caffi . 20 : 79–84.
^ Fraser, Nicholas C.; Grimaldi, David A. (2003). "Late Triassic continental faunal change: New perspectives on Triassic insect diversity as revealed by a locality in the Danville basin, Virginia, Newark Supergroup". In LeTourneau, Peter M.; Olsen, Paul E. (eds.). The Great Rift Valleys of Pangea in Eastern North America, Volume 2: Sedimentology, Stratigraphy, and Paleontology . New York: Columbia University Press. pp. 192–205.
^ Weishampel et al., 2004, pp.517-607