The Owen Creek Formation is a stratigraphic unit of Middle Ordovician age. It is present on the western edge of the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin in the Canadian Rockies of Alberta and British Columbia.[3][4] It consists primarily of dolomite and was named for Owen Creek near Mount Wilson in Banff National Park by B.S. Norford in 1969.[1][2]
| Owen Creek Formation | |
|---|---|
| Stratigraphic range: Middle Ordovician ~ | |
| Type | Formation |
| Underlies | Mount Wilson Formation |
| Overlies | Skoki Formation |
| Thickness | Up to about 199 m (652 feet)[1] |
| Lithology | |
| Primary | Dolomite |
| Other | Siltstone, sandstone, mudstone |
| Location | |
| Coordinates | 52°00′00″N 116°45′00″W / 52.00000°N 116.75000°W |
| Region |  Alberta British Columbia |
| Country |  Canada |
| Type section | |
| Named for | Owen Creek |
| Named by | B.S. Norford, 1969.[2] |
Lithology and thickness
editThe Owen Creek Formation consists primarily of dolomite that typically includes minor amounts of quartz silt and very fine sand. There are minor beds of dolomitic mudstone near the base, and beds of dolomitic quartz sandstone and siltstone in the upper part. It has a maximum thickness of about 199 m (652 ft).[1][2]
Distribution and relationship to other units
editThe Owen Creek Formation is present in the southern Canadian Rockies and is equivalent to the black shales Glenogle Formation to the west. It is also present in some areas of the central Rockies in northeastern British Columbia. It overlies the Skoki Formation, and unconformably underlies the Mount Wilson Formation.[1][4]
References
edit- ^ a b c d Glass, D.J. (editor) 1997. Lexicon of Canadian Stratigraphy, vol. 4, Western Canada including eastern British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and southern Manitoba, p. 894. Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists, Calgary, 1423 p. on CD-ROM. ISBN 0-920230-23-7.
- ^ a b c Norford, B.S. 1969. Ordovician and Silurian stratigraphy of the southern Rocky Mountains. Geological Survey of Canada, Bulletin 176, p. 21-25, 55-56.
- ^ Slind, O.L., Andrews, G.D., Murray, D.L, Norford, B.S., Paterson, D.F., Salas, C.J. and Tawadros, E.E. 1994. The Geological Atlas of the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin (Mossop, G.D. and Shetsen, I., compilers), Chapter 8: Middle Cambrian to Lower Ordovician strata of the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin, p. 87-108. Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists and Alberta Geological Survey, Calgary, Alberta.
- ^ a b Alberta Geological Survey. "Alberta Table of Formations, May 2019" (PDF). Alberta Energy Regulator. Retrieved 24 March 2020.