The Chalk Buttes Formation is a geological formation located in the Great Plains region of the United States, primarily spanning across southwestern Nebraska, as well as southeastern Wyoming and northwestern Kansas. This formation, named for the Chalk Buttes escarpment near the town of Bayard in Morrill County, Nebraska, dates back to the Paleocene epoch of the Paleogene period and is characterized by a sequence of eroded chalk, shale, and marl sediments.

The geological deposits that comprise the Chalk Buttes Formation were formed as a result of the sedimentation of marine deposits from the receding Western Interior Seaway, a shallow sea that covered the region approximately 60 million years ago during the Paleocene epoch. The sediments of the Chalk Buttes Formation provide valuable information on the geological and climatic conditions of the region at the time of its formation and are also highly sought after for fossil remains of marine species.

One of the prominent attractions related to the Chalk Buttes Formation is the Chalk Buttes in Bayard, known for preserving remarkable fossil remains of marine life from the Paleocene epoch. Visitors to this area can explore well-exposed sections of chalk buttes offering a unique insight into the geological history of the Great Plains. Furthermore, in the nearby Lake McConaughy State Recreation Area near Ogallala, tourists can discover numerous fossil remains present within the chalk formations from ancient marine life forms.

As a notable feature, the region around the Chalk Buttes Formation, including Lake McConaughy and nearby Kingsley Dam, is home to diverse wildlife, including numerous species of waterfowl. Nearby Lake Ogallala serves as a major habitat for migratory birds traveling through the Central Flyway. As part of natural geological forces active in this geographical location, constant wind and water erosion continue to expose a beautiful representation of geological structures.

To delve into more detailed occurrences, stratigraphic analysis of the Chalk Buttes Formation from cross-sectional cuts as documented in one significant study on Laramie and southern Wyoming, noted local to short-range shifts in sea level between an established Paleocene deep-water seafloor off Denver. Changes here demonstrate corresponding shifts in Western North America shoreline resulting from mass dissolution and tectonic and sea-level evolution on a broad and concurrent action impact with other Paleocene sequences in the Midcontinent-Laramide thrust province.

Moreover, efforts at obtaining three-dimensional spatial characterization using high-resolution Ground-Penetrating Radar also characterized and explained the sediment architecture of sub-decimeter resolution model stratifications at the prominent chalk-beds location, but most significantly utilizing sections that can accommodate high frequency impulse within ranges so obtained have, incidentally led to good estimation of chalk permeability through local fracture models.

Some cross-sectional rock structures located on or near the formation depict comprehensive detailed models for interpreting local sediment patterns of layer transport but similar sediment expressions locally suggest in particular to structural rock movements concurrent for localized evolution and are typically related with sedimentary geology in layered geological units for structural explanations to formulate correct comprehensive geological data of the findings.

Chalk buttes can facilitate effective control of major landforms in one combined well and open exposure of the formations of this pattern within its relevant facades. The particular layered facies, tectonic, evolution and deformation processes have had significant controlling mechanisms on reservoirs through some previous relevant models and findings on which and how this control can arise.