Culpeper Basin
| Culpeper Basin | |
|---|---|
| Stratigraphic range: | |
| Type | Rift Valley |
| Unit of | Newark Supergroup |
| Sub-units | (Sedimentary units): Manassas Sandstone, Bull Run Formation, Catharpin Creek Formation, Midland Formation, Turkey Run Formation, Waterfall Formation (Igneous units): Mount Zion Church Basalt, Hickory Grove Basalt, Sander Basalt |
| Area | 2,545 square miles, 4,096 square kilometers |
| Thickness | up to 27,000 feet (8,230 m) |
| Lithology | |
| Primary | Sandstone, Mudstone, Siltstone, Conglomerate |
| Other | Basalt, Diabase |
| Location | |
| Location | Western Piedmont of Virginia and Maryland |
| Coordinates | 39°05′43″N 77°42′16″W / 39.0953°N 77.7044°W |
| Region | Virginia, Maryland |
| Country | United States |
| Extent | 83 miles (134 km) |
Culpeper Basin (Virginia) | |
The Culpeper Basin is one of the Newark Supergroup's Late Triassic–Early Jurassic rift basins, exposed in Northern Virginia and Maryland. Its development is tied to the initial rifting of the supercontinent Pangea (~201 Ma, across the Triassic-Jurassic boundary). Volcanism associated with the Culpeper Basin was part of a much larger event known as the Central Atlantic magmatic province (CAMP), one of the largest flood basalt eruptions in Earth's history.