Goliad Formation

The Goliad Formation is a widespread geologic unit across the Texas coastal plain, made up largely of river-deposited sediments laid down during the Middle and Late Miocene and extending into the earliest Pliocene. Formally divided in 1933 into the Lapara Sand, Lagarto Creek Beds, and Labahia Beds, it includes varied rocks such as sand, claystone, limestone, and conglomerate, and thickens markedly toward the basin and offshore. It is important for its rich fossil record, including mammals, reptiles, birds, and fish, and for its practical value as part of the Gulf Coast aquifer system, a host of the Evangeline aquifer beneath Houston, a source of uranium, and a caliche mining unit.

Texas · United States