The DeGray Dam spillway cut displays perhaps the best exposed section of the upper Jackfork formation (Pennsylvanian) in the Ouachita Mountains of Arkansas and Oklahoma. Comprising more than 321 m (1,050 ft) of interbedded sandstone and shale, this deep-water succession was originally interpreted as a sequence of alternating proximal and distal turbidites, and subsequently as outer-fan depositional lobes. Recent detailed facies analysis, however, demonstrates that the succession represents a mid-fan association of channel and interchannel deposits.

Channelized intervals consist of stacked thinning-upward and/or amalgamated packages characterized by Mutti and Ricci Lucchi facies A, B, C, and G. Associated interchannel intervals consist of facies C, D, E, and G beds that are randomly interbedded or form thickening-upward packages that superficially resemble depositional lobes. These lobe-like packages, which are generally less than 4 m (13 ft) thick, are interpreted as crevasse-splay deposits. A similar association of channel and interchannel deposits can also be observed in nearby outcrops of the underlying lower Jackfork.

A longitudinal submarine fan system, analogous to the present-day Bengal fan, is visualized as the overall depositional setting for the Jackfork formation.

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