Matanuska Formation

The Matanuska Formation is a thick Cretaceous sequence exposed across south-central Alaska that preserves more than 3 kilometers of sedimentary strata from the Albian through the Maastrichtian. Its rocks record long shifts between land-influenced and open-marine environments and contain a rich mix of marine fossils, plant remains, and petrified wood. It is especially important for preserving both terrestrial and marine life in one record, including dinosaur remains found in marine mudstones. Its best-known discovery, the juvenile Talkeetna Mountains Hadrosaur, was the first associated skeleton of an individual dinosaur found in Alaska and has been considered an important biogeographic link between North America and Asia.

Eureka Roadhouse, Alaska · United States