Fort Payne Formation

The Fort Payne Formation, or Fort Payne Chert, is a geologic formation found in the southeastern region of the United States.^[1] It is a Mississippian Period cherty limestone, that overlies the Chattanooga Shale (or locally the Maury Formation), and underlies the St. Louis Limestone (lower Tuscumbia Limestone in Alabama). To the north, it grades into the siltstone Borden Formation.^[1] It preserves fossils dating back to the Carboniferous period.^[2]

Fort Payne Chert
Stratigraphic range: Viséan
Chertified fossiliferous limestone from the Fort Payne Formation (Kentucky)
Type	Formation
Underlies	Tuscumbia Limestone and Ullin Formation
Overlies	Maccrady Formation and Springville Formation
Lithology
Primary	limestone
Location
Region	Appalachia and Southeastern United States
Country	United States
Extent	Illinois, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, Tennessee, and Virginia

Eugene Allen Smith named the Fort Payne Formation for outcrops at Fort Payne, Alabama.

See also

• Carboniferous United States
• Carboniferous stratigraphic units of North America
• Mississippian (geologic period)
• List of fossiliferous stratigraphic units in Kentucky