Formation · Neogene
Yorktown and Pungo River formations (Lee Creek)
Pliocene unit, North Carolina · Virginia
The Lee Creek mine at Aurora, North Carolina, exposed the Miocene Pungo River and Pliocene Yorktown formations and became the richest Cenozoic marine vertebrate site in eastern North America: megalodon and great white teeth, thousands of smaller shark species, whale skulls, seal, bird and turtle bones, and superb Yorktown molluscs. Lee Creek teeth are distinctively grey-blue to tan with sharp serrations, and the museum's spoil piles still produce small teeth for free. Old-stock Lee Creek megalodons with clean provenance are collectible in their own right.
| Country | United States |
|---|---|
| Region | North Carolina, Virginia |
| Age | Pliocene |
| Age range | ~18–3 Ma |
| Group | Chesapeake Group |
| Macrostrat rank | Fm· Macrostrat |
| Macrostrat age | 10.5–3.6 Ma· Macrostrat |
| Lithology | sand, clay, shale, silt, gravel· Macrostrat |
| Environment | coastal indet., deep-water indet., offshore· Macrostrat |
| Macrostrat columns | 8 column(s) sampled from 8 unit(s)· Macrostrat |
| PBDB collections | 123 collections, 1739 occurrences· Paleobiology Database |
Collecting and legality
The Lee Creek (Nutrien) phosphate mine at Aurora has been closed to collectors since 2009 except for rare organised events; the Aurora Fossil Museum maintains public spoil piles where anyone may collect and keep finds. Most Lee Creek material in trade dates from the 1970s–2000s mine-collecting era.
Lithology and setting
The Pungo River Formation is a Miocene phosphatic sand; the overlying Yorktown Formation is a Pliocene shelly marine sand rich in molluscs and vertebrates.
Commonly recorded taxa (PBDB)
Genera most often recorded from this unit in the Paleobiology Database (first 200 occurrences): Chesapecten (10), Astarte (8), Mercenaria (7), Astarte (Ashtarotha) (6), Phocidae (5), Carolinapecten (4), Costaglycymeris (4), Crassinella (4), Gemma (4), Glycymeris (4), Ostrea (4), Balaenoptera (3), Caryocorbula (3), Conradostrea (3), Diodora (3).
Source: Paleobiology Database
Elsewhere
Cite this article
Stratum Study. "Yorktown and Pungo River formations (Lee Creek)" (Formation). Stratum Study pack 2026.09, as of 2026-09-19. https://stratum.black/study/formations/yorktown-and-pungo-river-formations-lee-creek. Accessed 2026-09-20.
@misc{stratum-yorktown-and-pungo-river-formations-lee-,
title = {Yorktown and Pungo River formations (Lee Creek)},
author = {{Stratum Study}},
howpublished = {\url{https://stratum.black/study/formations/yorktown-and-pungo-river-formations-lee-creek}},
year = {2026},
note = {Formation article, Stratum Study pack 2026.09, as of 2026-09-19; sources: stratum, macrostrat, pbdb. Accessed 2026-09-20.}
} Citations carry the pack version and the article's as-of date so they resolve to the same text later. The facts themselves belong to the sources listed below; cite those for the science.