Carlile Shale
| Carlile Shale | |
|---|---|
| Stratigraphic range: Turonian ~ | |
| Rare exposure of the Fairport Chalk member of the Carlile Shale in southern Ellis County, Kansas | |
| Type | Geological formation | 
| Unit of | Colorado Group (lower); or Benton Formation Mancos Group (NM) | 
| Sub-units | Juana Lopez (CO, NM) Codell Sandstone Blue Hill Shale Fairport Chalk | 
| Underlies | Niobrara Formation | 
| Overlies | Greenhorn Limestone | 
| Thickness | 170–230 feet (52–70 m) | 
| Lithology | |
| Primary | Shale, chalky to carbonaceous | 
| Other | Limestone Sandstone Siltstone Septarians Bentonite | 
| Location | |
| Coordinates | 38°22′34″N 104°58′44″W / 38.376°N 104.979°W | 
| Region | Mid-continental | 
| Country | United States | 
| Type section | |
| Named for | Carlile Spring and Carlile Station, 21 mi west of Pueblo, Colorado | 
| Named by | Gilbert | 
| Year defined | 1896 | 
The Carlile Shale is a Turonian age Upper/Late Cretaceous series shale geologic formation in the central-western United States, including in the Great Plains region of Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming.