Roca Formation (United States)

Roca Formation
Stratigraphic range: early Permian
Multicolored Roca Shale, well-exposed along Seth Child Road in Manhattan, Kansas, marked by the Howe limestone below and the Sallyards limestone and Legion shale above.
TypeFormation
Lithology
PrimaryShale and mudstone
OtherLimestone
Location
RegionMidcontinent (Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma)
CountryUnited States
Type section
Named forRoca, Nebraska

The Roca Formation (or Roca Shale) is an early Permian geologic formation (Wolfcampian) with its exposure running north and south through Kansas and extending into Nebraska and Oklahoma, notably comprising varicolored black, brown, gray, green, red, and blue shales, mudstones, and limestone, some of which representing Permian paleosols.