Ellis Group

Last updated
Ellis Group
Stratigraphic range: Bajocian-Oxfordian
Type Geological group
Sub-units Swift, Rierdon, Piper & Sawtooth Formations
Underlies Mannville Group
Overlies Rundle Group & Shaunavon Formation
Thicknessup to 150 m (490 ft) [1]
Lithology
Primary Shale, sandstone
Other Siltstone, limestone
Location
Coordinates 48°00′N108°36′W / 48.0°N 108.6°W / 48.0; -108.6
Approximate paleocoordinates 40°54′N49°12′W / 40.9°N 49.2°W / 40.9; -49.2
Region Alberta, Saskatchewan
Montana, Wyoming
CountryFlag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada
Flag of the United States.svg  United States
Extent WCSB
Type section
Named for Fort Ellis
Named byA.C. Peale
Year defined1893
Canada relief map 2.svg
Blue pog.svg
Ellis Group (Canada)
Gypsum bed in the Piper Formation, Big Horn Basin of Wyoming. Piper Formation Wyoming.jpg
Gypsum bed in the Piper Formation, Big Horn Basin of Wyoming.

The Ellis Group is a stratigraphical unit of Bajocian-Oxfordian age in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Montana and Wyoming in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin. It takes the name from Fort Ellis, Montana, and was first described in outcrop in the Rocky Creek Canyon by A.C. Peale in 1893. [2]

Contents

Lithology

The Ellis Group is composed of shale and sandstones deposited in a marine and transitional environment. [1]

Hydrocarbon production

Oil is produced from the Sawtooth Formation in southeastern Alberta.

Distribution

The Ellis Group laterally occurs in the subsurface in southern Alberta and northern and central Montana. [1] It is typically 80 metres (260 ft), but thickens on either side of the Sweetgrass Arch and reaches up to 150 metres (490 ft) in southeastern Alberta.

Subdivisions

The Ellis Group includes the following formations, from top to bottom:

Sub-unit Age LithologyMax.
Thickness
Notes
Swift Formation Oxfordian marine shale, transitional shale, siltstone and sandstone 41 m (130 ft)
[3]
Rierdon Formation Bathonian to Callovian marine shale and limestone 60 m (200 ft)
[4]
Sawtooth Formation Bajocian to Bathonian quartzose sandstone with shale 41 m (130 ft)
[5]
Piper Formation Middle Jurassic sandy limestone (top)
papery shale
siltstone and shale
grey limestone
white gypsum (base)
23 m (80 ft)
[6]

Relationship to other units

The Ellis Group is unconformably overlain by the shales and sandstones of the Mannville Group and rests on the carbonates of the Rundle Group. It grades westwards to the shales of the Fernie Group, and eastwards to the shale, sandstones and limestones of the Vanguard and Shaunavon Formations. [1]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Lexicon of Canadian Geologic Units. "Ellis Group". Archived from the original on 2013-02-21. Retrieved 2010-01-01.
  2. Peale, A.C., 1893. The Paleozoic section in the vicinity of Three Forks, Montana. United States Geological Survey, Bulletin 110, p.9-56.
  3. Lexicon of Canadian Geologic Units. "Swift Formation". Archived from the original on 2012-07-09. Retrieved 2010-01-03.
  4. Lexicon of Canadian Geologic Units. "Rierdon Formation". Archived from the original on 2012-07-07. Retrieved 2010-01-03.
  5. Lexicon of Canadian Geologic Units. "Sawtooth Formation". Archived from the original on 2012-07-07. Retrieved 2010-01-03.
  6. Lexicon of Canadian Geologic Units. "Piper Formation". Archived from the original on 2012-07-08. Retrieved 2010-01-03.