Blood Reserve Formation

Last updated
Blood Reserve Formation
Stratigraphic range: Campanian
~73–76  Ma
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S
D
C
P
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Pg
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Type Geological formation
Underlies St. Mary River Formation
Overlies Bearpaw Formation
Thicknessup to 30 metres (100 ft) [1]
Lithology
Primary Sandstone
Location
Coordinates 49°29′N112°59′W / 49.48°N 112.99°W / 49.48; -112.99 (Blood Reserve Formation) Coordinates: 49°29′N112°59′W / 49.48°N 112.99°W / 49.48; -112.99 (Blood Reserve Formation)
RegionFlag of Alberta.svg  Alberta
CountryFlag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada
Type section
Named for Blood Indian Reserve No. 148
Named byL.S. Russell [2]
Year defined1932
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Blood Reserve Formation (Canada)
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Blood Reserve Formation (Alberta)
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Paleogeography of the Campanian

The Blood Reserve Formation, also known as the Blood Reserve Sandstone, is a geologic formation of Late Cretaceous (Campanian) age in the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin. [3] It is present in southwestern Alberta, Canada, and was named for Blood Indian Reserve No. 148 by L.S. Russell in 1932. [2] [1] It is an aquifer and a source of fresh groundwater. [4]

Contents

Lithology and environment of deposition

The Blood Reserve Formation consists of hard, cliff-forming, fine- to medium-grained sandstones. They range in colour from light grey to grey-buff on fresh surfaces, and weather to buff, yellow and greenish. [1] They are cemented by calcite and argillaceous minerals. Cross-bedding and irregular calcite concretions are common in the middle and upper portions. [4] Ophiomorpha burrows are common in the lower part. [4]

The Blood Reserve sandstones are interpreted as shoreline, barrier island and tidal inlet deposits. [1] [4] [5]

Thickness and distribution

The Blood Reserve Formation outcrops in a narrow belt that extends from the Canada–United States border where it is about 30 metres (100 ft) thick, to the Oldman River area where it is about 12 metres (40 ft) thick. It dips westward and is present in the subsurface west of the outcrop belt. [4]

Relationship to other units

The Blood Reserve Formation rests conformably on the marine shales and siltstones of the Bearpaw Formation, and is overlain by the floodplain deposits of the St. Mary River Formation. Its contacts with both are sharp. It is a continuation of the Horsethief Sandstone of northern Montana. It is correlated with the Black Eagle Member of the Bearpaw Formation in the Cypress Hills of southeastern Alberta, and with the lower part of the Horseshoe Canyon Formation to the north. [1]

Paleontology

Trace fossils such as Ophiomorpha burrows, fossil wood with Teredolites borings, and rare Macaronichnus burrows have been reported from the Blood Reserve Formation. [4] [5]

Related Research Articles

Bearpaw Formation Geologic formation in North America

The Bearpaw Formation, also called the Bearpaw Shale, is a geologic formation of Late Cretaceous (Campanian) age. It outcrops in the U.S. state of Montana, as well as the Canadian provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan, and was named for the Bear Paw Mountains in Montana. It includes a wide range of marine fossils, as well as the remains of a few dinosaurs. It is known for its fossil ammonites, some of which are mined in Alberta to produce the organic gemstone ammolite.

Red Rock Coulee Nature preserve in Canada

Red Rock Coulee is a Provincial Natural Area in southeastern Alberta, Canada, 54 kilometres (30 mi) south-southwest of the city of Medicine Hat and 26 kilometres (20 mi) south of the hamlet of Seven Persons on Alberta Highway 887. The main feature of this natural landscape is the large spherical reddish boulders (concretions), some of which measure 2.5 metres (10 ft) in diameter. They are scattered across the badlands and coulees, and can be seen along the hiking trails, as well as from the viewpoint on Highway 887.

St. Mary River Formation Geologic formation of the Late Cretaceous in the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin in Alberta and Montana

The St. Mary River Formation is a geologic formation of Late Cretaceous age of the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin in southwestern Alberta and northwesternmost Montana. It was first described from outcrops along the St. Mary River by George Mercer Dawson in 1883, and it takes its name from the river.

The Willow Creek Formation is a stratigraphic unit of Late Cretaceous to Early Paleocene age in the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin of southwestern Alberta. It was first described by George Mercer Dawson in 1883 along the Willow Creek, a tributary of the Oldman River. Williams and Dyer defined the type section in 1930 at the mouth of Willow Creek, east of Fort Macleod.

Cadomin Formation

The Cadomin Formation is a stratigraphic unit of Early Cretaceous age in the western part of the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin. It is extends from southeastern British Columbia through western Alberta to northeastern British Columbia, and it contains significant reservoirs of natural gas in some areas. It was named after the mining town of Cadomin, which is an acronym of "Canadian Dominion Mining".

The Mist Mountain Formation is a geologic formation of latest Jurassic to earliest Cretaceous age in the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin that is present in the southern and central Canadian Rockies. It was named for outcrops along the western spur of Mist Mountain in Alberta by D.W. Gibson in 1979. The Mist Mountain Formation contains economically important coal seams that have been mined in southeastern British Columbia and southwestern Alberta.

Elk Point Group

The Elk Point Group is a stratigraphic unit of Early to Middle Devonian age in the Western Canada and Williston sedimentary basins. It underlies a large area that extends from the southern boundary of the Northwest Territories in Canada to North Dakota in the United States. It has been subdivided into numerous formations, number of which host major petroleum and natural gas reservoirs.

Edmonton Group

Within the earth science of geology, the Edmonton Group is a Late Cretaceous to early Paleocene stratigraphic unit of the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin in the central Alberta plains. It was first described as the Edmonton Formation by Joseph Burr Tyrrell in 1887 based on outcrops along the North Saskatchewan River in and near the city of Edmonton. E.J.W. Irish later elevated the formation to group status and it was subdivided into four separate formations. In ascending order, they are the Horseshoe Canyon, Whitemud, Battle and Scollard Formations. The Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary occurs within the Scollard Formation, based on dinosaurian and microfloral evidence, as well as the presence of the terminal Cretaceous iridium anomaly.

The Ravenscrag Formation is a stratigraphic unit of early Paleocene age in the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin. It was named for the settlement of Ravenscrag, Saskatchewan, and was first described from outcrops at Ravenscrag Butte near the Frenchman River by N.B. Davis in 1918.

The Cypress Hills Formation is a stratigraphic unit of middle Eocene to early Miocene age in the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin. It is named for the Cypress Hills of southeastern Alberta and southwestern Saskatchewan and was first described from outcrops on the slopes of the Cypress Hills in 1930. It is known for preserving a wealth of vertebrate fossils.

Morrissey Formation

The Morrissey Formation is a stratigraphic unit of Late Jurassic (Portlandian) age in the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin. It is named for outcrops on Morrissey Ridge, 16 kilometres (10 mi) southeast of Fernie, British Columbia, and is present in southeastern British Columbia and southwestern Alberta.

The Elk Formation is a stratigraphic unit of the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin that is present in southeastern British Columbia and southwestern Alberta. It is probably of Early Cretaceous age, but in some areas its strata could be as old as Late Jurassic. It includes minor thin coal beds and was named for outcrops near the now-abandoned Elk River coal mine east of Fernie, British Columbia.

Gog Group Stratigraphic unit in the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin

The Gog Group is a stratigraphic unit in the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin. It is present in the western main ranges of the Canadian Rockies in Alberta and British Columbia, and in the Cariboo Mountains and in the central Purcell Mountains in southwestern British Columbia. It was named by C.F. Deiss in 1940 for a type locality near Mount Assiniboine.

The Coalspur Formation is an Upper Cretaceous to lower Palaeocene stratigraphic unit of the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin in the foothills of southwestern Alberta. Its deposition spanned the time interval from latest Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) to early Palaeocene, and it includes sediments that were deposited before, during, and after the Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) extinction event. It includes the economically important coal deposits of the Coalspur Coal Zone, as well as nonmarine plant and animal fossils.

The Blairmore Group, originally named the Blairmore Formation, is a geologic unit of Early Cretaceous age in the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin that is present in southwestern Alberta and southeastern British Columbia. It is subdivided into a series of formations, most of which contain plant fossils. In some areas it contains significant reservoirs of natural gas.

The Mount Whyte Formation is a stratigraphic unit that is present on the western edge of the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin in the southern Canadian Rockies and the adjacent southwestern Alberta plains. It was deposited during Middle Cambrian time and consists of shale interbedded with other siliciclastic rock types and limestones. It was named for Mount Whyte in Banff National Park by Charles Doolittle Walcott, the discoverer of the Burgess shale fossils, and it includes several genera of fossil trilobites.

The Beattie Peaks Formation is a geologic formation of Early Cretaceous (Valanginian) age in the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin that consists primarily of marine mudstone. It is present in the northern foothills of the Canadian Rockies and the adjacent plains in northeastern British Columbia.

The Beaver Mines Formation is a stratigraphic unit of Early Cretaceous (Albian) age in the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin that is present in southwestern Alberta and southeastern British Columbia, Canada. It was established by G.B. Mellon in 1967 who named it for the hamlet of Beaver Mines, Alberta. It contains a variety of plant fossils.

The Luscar Group is a geologic unit of Early Cretaceous age in the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin that is present in the foothills of southwestern Alberta. It is subdivided into a series of formations, some of which contain economically significant coal deposits that have been mined near Cadomin and Luscar. Coal mining in those areas began in the early 1900s and continues near Luscar as of 2016.

The Gladstone Formation is a stratigraphic unit of Early Cretaceous (Aptian) age in the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin. It is present in the foothills of southwestern Alberta and is named for outcrops along Gladstone Creek, a tributary of the Castle River south of the Crowsnest Pass.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Glass, D.J. (editor) 1997. Lexicon of Canadian Stratigraphy, vol. 4, Western Canada including eastern British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and southern Manitoba. Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists, Calgary, 1423 p. on CD-ROM. ISBN   0-920230-23-7.
  2. 1 2 Russell, L.S. 1932. Stratigraphy and structure of the eastern portion of the Blood Indian Reserve, Alberta. Geological Survey of Canada, Summary Report 1931, part B, p. 26-38.
  3. Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists (1994). "The Geological Atlas of the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin, Chapter 24: Upper Cretaceous and Tertiary strata of the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin". Compiled by Mossop, G.D. and Shetsen, I. Archived from the original on 2016-07-01. Retrieved 2016-06-20.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Lerand, M.M. 1983. Sedimentology of the Blood Reserve Sandstone in southern Alberta. Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists Field Trip Guidebook, August 1983, 55 p.
  5. 1 2 Nadon, G. 1988. Tectonic controls on sedimentation within a foreland basin: the Bearpaw, Blood Reserve and St. Mary River Formations, southwestern Alberta. Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists Field Trip Guidebook, September 1988, 84 p.