Bed — Glossary — Stratum Strata

The smallest formal lithostratigraphic unit: a single distinctive layer within a member or formation, usually named only when it is a marker or economically or scientifically important (a bone bed, a coal, an ash bed).

Sources

International Commission on Stratigraphy — International Stratigraphic Guide (abridged)
North American Commission on Stratigraphic Nomenclature — North American Stratigraphic Code (2005)

Cite this article

Stratum Strata. "Bed" (Glossary). Stratum Strata pack 2026.09, as of 2026-09-16. https://stratum.black/strata/glossary/bed. Accessed 2026-09-21.

BibTeX · CSL-JSON

@misc{stratum-bed,
  title        = {Bed},
  author       = {{Stratum Strata}},
  howpublished = {\url{https://stratum.black/strata/glossary/bed}},
  year         = {2026},
  note         = {Glossary article, Stratum Strata pack 2026.09, as of 2026-09-16; sources: stratum. Accessed 2026-09-21.}
}

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.