List of fossiliferous stratigraphic units in Alberta

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This is a list of fossiliferous stratigraphic units in Alberta, Canada.

Group or formationPeriodStageDominant lithology Depositional
environment
Alberta Group/Waipiabi Formation Late Cretaceous Cenomanian to Santonian shale marine
Alexo Formation Late Devonian Frasnian to Famennian dolomitic limestone marine
Bad Heart Formation Late Cretaceous Turonian shale marine
Banff Formation Mississippian Tournasian limestone marine
Battle Formation (Edmonton Group) Late Cretaceous Maastrichtian mudstone nonmarine
Bearpaw Formation (Edmonton Group) Late Cretaceous Campanian Campanian shale marine
Beaverfoot Formation Ordovician to Silurian Ashgillian to Llandoverian dolomite marine
Beaverhill Lake Group Devonian late Givetian to early Frasnian limestone marine
Beaverhill Lake Group/Slave Point Formation Late Devonian Frasnian limestone marine
Beaverhill Lake Group/Waterways Formation Middle Devonian to Late Devonian late Givetian to Frasnian limestone, calcareous shalemarine
Belcourt Formation Early Permian Asselian to Sakmarian dolomite, limestone marine
Belle Fourche Formation (Colorado Group) Cretaceous Cenomanian shalemarine
Belloy Formation Permian Artinskian to Rodian dolomite, sandstone marine
Belly River Formation (Judith River Formation) Late Cretaceous Campanian sandstone, siltstone nonmarine
Belly River Group/Allison Formation Late Cretaceous Campanian sandstone, siltstone nonmarine
Belly River Group/Dinosaur Park Formation Late Cretaceous Campanian sandstone, siltstone nonmarine
Belly River Group/Foremost Formation Late Cretaceous Campanian sandstone, siltstone nonmarine
Belly River Group/Oldman Formation Late Cretaceous Campanian sandstone, siltstone nonmarine
Bison Creek Formation Late Cambrian shalemarine
Blackstone Formation Late Cretaceous Cenomanian to Turonian shalemarine
Blairmore Group/Luscar Group Early Cretaceous Aptian to Albian sandstone, siltstonenonmarine
Blood Reserve Formation Late Cretaceous Campanian sandstonenonmarine
Brazeau Formation Late Cretaceous Campanian to Maastrichtian sandstone, siltstonenonmarine
Burgess Shale Formation (Stephen Formation) Middle Cambrian shalemarine
Cadomin Formation Early Cretaceous Barremian to Aptian conglomerate, sandstone nonmarine
Cairn Formation Late Devonian Frasnian calcareous dolomite marine
Cardium Formation (Colorado Group) Late Cretaceous Turonian to Coniacian sandstone, siltstonemarine
Clearwater Formation (Mannville Group) Early Cretaceous Albian shalemarine
Coalspur Formation Late Cretaceous to Paleocene Maastrichtian to Danian sandstone, siltstone, coalnonmarine
Colorado Group/Belle Fourche Formation Cretaceous Cenomanian shalemarine
Colorado Group/Cardium Formation Late Cretaceous Turonian to Coniacian sandstone, siltstonemarine
Colorado Group/Second White Speckled Shale Late Cretaceous Cenomanian to Turonian shalemarine
Colorado Group/Westgate Formation Late Cretaceous Turonian shalemarine
Cooking Lake Formation Late Devonian Frasnian limestonemarine
Deadwood Formation Middle to Late Cambrian sandstonemarine
Dessa Dawn Formation (obsolete) Mississippian limestonemarine
Dinosaur Park Formation (Belly River Group) (Judith River Group) Late Cretaceous Campanian sandstone, siltstone nonmarine
Dunvegan Formation Late Cretaceous Cenomanian sandstone, siltstonenonmarine
Duvernay Formation Late Devonian Frasnian bituminous limestone, argillaceous limestone marine
Edmonton Group Late Cretaceous to early Paleocene Campanian to Danian sandstone, siltstonenonmarine
Edmonton Group/Battle Formation Late Cretaceous Maastrichtian mudstone nonmarine
Edmonton Group/Horseshoe Canyon Formation Late Cretaceous Campanian to early Maastrichtian sandstone, siltstone, coalnonmarine
Edmonton Group/Scollard Formation Late Cretaceous to early Paleocene Maastrichtian to Danian sandstone, siltstone, coalnonmarine
Edmonton Group/Whitemud Formation Late Cretaceous Maastrichtian sandstone, siltstone, claystonenonmarine
Etherington Formation Mississippian Serpukhovian dolomitic limestone marine
Exshaw Formation Late Devonian to Early Mississippian late Famennian to middle Tournasian shalemarine
Fairholme Group Late Devonian Frasnian dolomite marine
Fairholme Group/Mount Hawk Formation Devonian Frasnian dolomite marine
Fernie Formation Jurassic Hettangian to middle Tithonian shale, siltstonemarine
Flume Formation Late Devonian Frasnian dolomite marine
Foremost Formation (Belly River Group) Late Cretaceous Campanian sandstone, siltstone nonmarine
Fort St. John Group Cretaceous Albian to Cenomanian sandstone, siltstone, shalenonmarine and marine
Fort St. John Group/Shaftesbury Formation Cretaceous Albian to Cenomanian shalemarine
Gates Formation Early Cretaceous Albian sandstone, siltstone, coalnonmarine
Ghost River Formation (obsolete) Cambrian to Middle Devonian
Gog Group Early Cambrian quartzose sandstone, conglomerate
Grand Rapids Formation (Mannville Group) Early Cretaceous Albian sandstone, siltstonenonmarine
Hasler Formation Early Cretaceous Albian shalemarine
Horseshoe Canyon Formation (Edmonton Group) Late Cretaceous Campanian to early Maastrichtian sandstone, siltstone, coalnonmarine
Ireton Formation Late Devonian Frasnian shalemarine
Judith River Formation (Belly River Formation) Late Cretaceous Campanian sandstone, siltstone nonmarine
Judith River Group/Dinosaur Park Formation Late Cretaceous Campanian sandstone, siltstone nonmarine
Kananaskis Formation Late Carboniferous Late Pennsylvanian limestone, dolomite, chert marine
Kaskapau Formation Late Cretaceous Cenomanian to Turonian shalemarine
Lea Park Formation Late Cretaceous Campanian shalemarine
Leduc Formation Late Devonian Frasnian dolomitemarine
Livingstone Formation (Rundle Group) Mississippian Tournasian to Visean dolomitic limestonemarine
Loon River Formation (obsolete) Early Cretaceous Albian shalemarine
Lyell Formation Late Cambrian Dresbachian limestone, dolomitemarine
Mannville Group Early Cretaceous Barremian to Albian sandstone, siltstone, shalenonmarine and marine
Mannville Group/Clearwater Formation Early Cretaceous Albian shalemarine
Mannville Group/Grand Rapids Formation Early Cretaceous Albian sandstone, siltstonenonmarine
Mannville Group/McMurray Formation Early Cretaceous late Barremian to Aptian sandstone, siltstonenonmarine, marginal marine
McMurray Formation (Mannville Group) Early Cretaceous late Barremian to Aptian sandstone, siltstonenonmarine, marginal marine
Mikkwa Formation Middle Devonian Givetian dolomitic limestonemarine
Milk River Formation Late Cretaceous Santonian to Campanian sandstone, siltstonenonmarine
Mistaya Formation Late Cambrian limestonemarine
Montney Formation Early Triassic Olenekian siltstone, shalemarine
Mount Hawk Formation (Fairholme Group) Late Devonian Frasnian to Famennian dolomite, limestonemarine
Mount Head Formation (Rundle Group) Mississippian Visean dolomitic limestonemarine
Mowitch Formation Permian Guadalupian sandstone, calcareous sandstonemarine
Mural Formation Early Cambrian limestone, dolomitemarine
Nikanassin Formation Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous Portlandian to Barremian sandstone, siltstonenonmarine
Nisku Formation Late Devonian Frasnian dolomitemarine
Nordegg Formation (Fernie Group) Jurassic limestonemarine
Norquay Formation (obsolete) Permian
Oldman Formation (Belly River Group) Late Cretaceous Campanian sandstone, siltstonenonmarine
Outram Formation Early Ordovician limestone, shalemarine
Pakowki Formation Late Cretaceous Campanian shale, siltstonemarine
Palliser Formation Late Devonian Famennian limestonemarine
Paskapoo Formation late Paleocene Thanetian sandstone, siltstonenonmarine
Peace River Formation Early Cretaceous Albian sandstone, siltstone, shalemarine and nonmarine
Peechee Formation late Devonian Frasnian dolomite, calcareous dolomitemarine
Perdrix Formation Late Devonian Frasnian calcareous shalemarine
Porcupine Hills Formation late Paleocene Danian sandstone, siltstone, shalenonmarine
Puskwaskau Formation Late Cretaceous Santonian to Campanian shalemarine
Ranger Canyon Formation Permian Guadalupian to Lopingian sandstone, dolomitemarine
Rocky Mountain Group Permian dolomite, sandstonemarine
Rundle Group/Etherington Formation Mississippian Serpukhovian dolomitic limestonemarine
Rundle Group/Livingstone Formation Mississippian Tournasian to Visean dolomitic limestonemarine
Rundle Group/Mount Head Formation Mississippian Visean dolomitic limestonemarine
Rundle Group/Tunnel Mountain Formation Mississippian sandstone, dolomitic sandstonemarine
Scollard Formation (Edmonton Group) Late Cretaceous to early Paleocene Maastrichtian to Danian sandstone, siltstone, coalnonmarine
Second White Speckled Shale (Colorado Group) Late Cretaceous Cenomanian to Turonian shalemarine
Shaftesbury Formation Cretaceous Albian to Cenomanian shalemarine
Simla Formation Late Devonian Frasnian siltstone, dolomitic limestonemarine
Skoki Formation Middle Ordovician dolomitemarine
Slave Point Formation (Beaverhill Lake Group) Middle Devonian Givetian limestonemarine
Smoky Group/Bad Heart Formation Late Cretaceous Turonian shalemarine
Smoky Group/Kaskapau Formation Late Cretaceous Cenomanian to Turonian shalemarine
Southesk Formation Late Devonian Frasnian dolomitemarine
Spray River Formation Triassic siltstone, shale, dolomitemarine and nonmarine
St. Mary River Formation Late Cretaceous Campanian to Maastrichtian sandstone, siltstonenonmarine
Stephen Formation Middle Cambrian shalemarine
Sulphur Mountain Formation Triassic siltstone, dolomite, shalemarine
Survey Peak Formation Late Cambrian to Early Ordovician calcareous shale, limestonemarine
Swan Hills Formation Middle Devonian late Givetian limestonemarine
Tunnel Mountain Formation (Rundle Group) Mississippian sandstone, dolomitic sandstonemarine
Two Medicine Formation Late Cretaceous Campanian claystone, sandstonenonmarine
Wabamun Formation Late Devonian Famennian limestone, dolomitemarine
Wapiabi Formation Late Cretaceous Coniacian to Campanian shale, siltstonemarine
Wapiti Formation Late Cretaceous Campanian to Maastrichtian sandstone, siltstonenonmarine
Waterways Formation (Beaverhill Lake Group) Middle Devonian to Late Devonian late Givetian to Frasnian limestone, calcareous shalemarine
Westgate Formation (Colorado Group) Late Cretaceous Turonian shalemarine
Whitemud Formation (Edmonton Group) Late Cretaceous Maastrichtian sandstone, claystonenonmarine
Willow Creek Formation Late Cretaceous Maastrichtian to Paleocene sandstone, siltstonenonmarine
Woodbend Group/Duvernay Formation Late Devonian Frasnian bituminous limestone, argillaceous limestonemarine
Woodbend Group/Leduc Formation Late Devonian Frasnian dolomitemarine
Yahatinda Formation Middle Devonian Givetian dolomitic sandstone, conglomerate, mudstonenonmarine and marine

Related Research Articles

Deadwood Formation

The Deadwood Formation is a geologic formation of the Williston Basin and Western Canada Sedimentary Basin. It is present in parts of North and South Dakota and Montana in the United States, and in parts of Alberta, Saskatchewan, and southwestern corner of Manitoba in Canada. It is of Late Cambrian to Early Ordovician age and was named for exposures in Whitewood Creek near Deadwood, South Dakota. It is a significant aquifer in some areas, and its conglomerates yielded significant quantities of gold in the Black Hills of South Dakota.

Tunnel Mountain Formation

The Tunnel Mountain Formation is a geologic formation that is present on the western edge of the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin in the Canadian Rockies of western Alberta. Named after Tunnel Mountain near Banff, it was deposited during the Early Pennsylvanian sub-period of the Carboniferous period.

The Alexo Formation a stratigraphic unit of Late Devonian age. It is present on the western edge of the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin in the central Rocky Mountains and foothills of Alberta. The formation consists primarily of dolomite. It is locally fossiliferous and includes remains of marine animals such as brachiopods and conodonts.

The Mount Hawk Formation is a stratigraphic unit of Late Devonian age. It is present on the western edge of the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin in the Rocky Mountains and foothills of Alberta. It consists primarily of limestone and mudstone, and was named for Hawk Mountain in Jasper National Park by R. de Wit and D.J. McLaren in 1950.

The Perdrix Formation is a geologic formation of Late Devonian (Frasnian) age in the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin. It named for Roche à Perdrix in Jasper National Park, Alberta, by P.E. Raymond in 1930. It includes fossils of marine animals.

The Southesk Formation is a stratigraphic unit of Late Devonian age. It is present on the western edge of the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin in the Rocky Mountains and foothills of Alberta and southeastern British Columbia. It was named for the Southesk River in Jasper National Park by D.J. McLaren in 1955.

The Skoki Formation is a stratigraphic unit of Early to Middle Ordovician age that is present on the western edge of the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin in the Canadian Rockies of Alberta and British Columbia. It was named for Skoki Mountain near Lake Louise in Banff National Park by Charles Doolittle Walcott in 1928. The Skoki Formation is fossiliferous and includes remains of brachiopods and other marine invertebrates, as well as conodonts and oncolites.

Coalspur Formation

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.

Beattie Peaks Formation

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.

Monach Formation

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

Monteith Formation

The Monteith Formation is a geologic formation of Early Cretaceous (Valanginian) age in the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin that consists primarily of sandstone. It is present in the northern foothills of the Canadian Rockies and the adjacent plains in northeastern British Columbia and west-central Alberta.

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 Miette Group is an assemblage of metamorphosed sedimentary rocks of latest Precambrian (Neoproterozoic) age. It is present in the Canadian Cordillera from the Lake Louise area of Alberta to the Yukon. The Meiette rocks include Ediacaran fossils, stromatolites, and trace fossils.

The Kootenay Group, originally called the Kootenay Formation, is a geologic unit of latest Jurassic to earliest Cretaceous age in the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin that is present in the southern and central Canadian Rockies and foothills. It includes economically important deposits of high-rank bituminous and semi-anthracite coal, as well as plant fossils and dinosaur trackways.

Bickford Formation

The Bickford Formation is a geologic formation of Early Cretaceous (Valanginian) age in the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin that consists primarily of nonmarine sediments. It is present in the northern foothills of the Canadian Rockies in northeastern British Columbia.

Toad Formation, Grayling Formation, and Toad-Grayling Formation are obsolete names for the strata of the Early to Middle Triassic Doig and Montney Formations. They were applied in the foothills and Rocky Mountains of northeastern British Columbia, on the western edge of the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin. Although the names are considered obsolete, their usage persists.

Spray River Group

The Spray River Group is a stratigraphic unit of Triassic age. It is present on the western edge of the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin in the foothills and Rocky Mountains of western Alberta. It was originally described as the Spray River Formation by E.M. Kindle in 1924 and was later raised to group status. Its type section is located in the Spray River gorge at the southern end of Sulphur Mountain.

The Kananaskis Formation is a geologic formation that is present on the western edge of the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin in the southern Canadian Rockies of western Alberta. Named after the Kananaskis Range near Banff, it was deposited during the Late Pennsylvanian sub-period of the Carboniferous period. Some of its strata host fossils of marine invertebrates.

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