Pekin Formation

Pekin Formation
Stratigraphic range: Late Carnian, ~231 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
Weathered claystones from the Pekin Formation
Type	Geological formation
Unit of	Chatham Group
Underlies	Cumnock Formation
Thickness	542–1,240 metres (1,778–4,068 ft)
Lithology
Primary	Sandstone
Other	Siltstone, shale, conglomerate
Location
Region	North Carolina
Country	United States
Extent	Sanford Sub-basin, Deep River Basin
Type section
Named for	The village of Pekin, Montgomery County
Named by	Campbell & Kimball
Year defined	1923
Pekin Formation (North Carolina)

The Pekin Formation is a Late Triassic (Carnian) geological formation in North Carolina. The Pekin Formation is specific to the Sanford Sub-Basin of the Deep River Basin of North Carolina, although it may be equivalent to the Stockton Formation of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York. The Pekin Formation was deposited in a rift basin along the Atlantic margin of North America during the breakup of the supercontinent Pangaea during the Late Triassic. The most common rocks in the Pekin Formation are red to brown sandstones, representing a terrestrial fluvial (riverine) and floodplain environment in a hot, humid climate. It has yielded both abundant plant and animal fossils, including some of the oldest potential dinosaur footprints in the world and the large predatory crocodylomorph Carnufex carolinensis.