Mannville Group

Last updated
Mannville Group
Stratigraphic range: Early Cretaceous
Type Geological group
Sub-units Glauconitic Sandstone, Ostracod Beds, Ellerslie Member, Grand Rapids Formation, Clearwater Formation, McMurray Formation, Waseca Sand, Sparky Sand, General Petroleum Sand, Rex Sand, Lloydminster Sand, Cummings Member, Dina Member, Pense Formation, Cantuar Formation, Success Formation
Underlies Colorado Group
Overlies Rundle Group, Banff Formation, Wabamun Formation
Thicknessup to 145 metres (480 ft) [1]
Lithology
Primary Sandstone
Other Shale
Location
Coordinates 53°18′31″N111°09′15″W / 53.3087°N 111.1541°W / 53.3087; -111.1541 (Northwest Mannville 1 well)
Region Alberta, Saskatchewan
Country Canada
Type section
Named for Mannville, Alberta
Named byNauss, 1945

The Mannville Group is a stratigraphical unit of Cretaceous age in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin.

Contents

It takes the name from the town of Mannville, Alberta, and was first described in the Northwest Mannville 1 well by A.W. Nauss in 1945. [2]

Lithology

The Mannville Group consists of interbedded continental sand and shale in the base, followed by a calcareous sandstone member, marine shale, glauconitic sandstone and salt and pepper sandstone. An additional non-marine sequence is present in north-eastern Alberta.

Hydrocarbon production

Bitumen is produced from the McMurray Formation at the Athabasca Oil Sands. Heavy Oil is produced from the Wabiskaw Member of the Clearwater Formation in the Wabasca oil field, and from multiple formations in the Lloydminster and Provost areas in eastern Alberta and western Saskatchewan. Natural gas is extracted from the Ostracod and Glauconite beds in southern Alberta, and light oil is extracted from the Ellerslie Member in central and southern Alberta. Multiple oil fields [3] and gas fields [4] tap into the Manville Group.

Total gas reserves amount to 316,799 x 106m³ in the Lower Mannville and 644,774 x 106m³ in the Upper Mannville. [5] Recoverable oil reserves amount to 105.64 x 106m³ in the Lower Mannville and 199.20 x 106m³ in the Upper Mannville. [6]

Distribution

The Mannville Group reaches a thickness of 145 feet (40 m) in its type locality. It occurs in the sub-surface in central Alberta, extending east-west from Edmonton to Lloydminster and north-south from the Deep Basin to the United States border. It is present in the sub-surface in west-central and southern Saskatchewan.

Relationship to other units

The Mannville Group is discomformably overlain by the Joli Fou Formation shale of the Colorado Group. It rests unconformably on the older Paleozoic carbonates.

It is correlated with the lower Blairmore Group in the Canadian Rockies foothills and to the Bullhead Group and the Spirit River Formation of the Fort St. John Group in north-western Alberta. It is also equivalent to the Cantuar Formation in Saskatchewan and the Swan River Formation in Manitoba.

Subunits

The Mannville Group includes the following sub-units:

Central and southern Alberta

Subdivision Sub-unit Age LithologyMax
Thickness		Reference
UpperUpper Mannvillemarine shale and sandstone
Glauconitic Sandstone Early Cretaceous very fine to medium grained quartz sandstone with siderite and glauconite 35 m (110 ft) [7]
Lower Mannville
Ostracod BedsEarly CretaceousUnit A: shale and fossiliferous limestone
Unit B: argillaceous limestone with ostracod fossils
Unit C: dark shale with siltstone and sandstone interbed
Unit D: fine to medium grained lithic calcareous sandstone with kaolinite and chert 		40 m (130 ft) [8]
Ellerslie MemberEarly CretaceousUpper: fine grained sand with sandy shale and shaley sand lenses
Lower: medium grained quartz sand, siltstone, coal 		40 m (130 ft)
30 m (100 ft)		 [9]
Detrital BedsEarly CretaceousChert pebbles, lithic sandstone, shale, siltstone70 m (230 ft) [10]
  • In southern Alberta, the Ellerslie Member is replaced by the Sunburst Member, Taber Sandstone, and Cutbank Sandstone.

Athabasca region

Sub-unit Age LithologyMax
Thickness		Reference
Grand Rapids Formation Albian bitumenous fine to medium sand (A, B and C sands, separated by silt and shale)125 m (410 ft) [11]
Clearwater Formation Albianblack and green shales and sand85 m (280 ft) [12]
Wabiskaw MemberAlbian glauconitic sands with black fissile shale35 m (110 ft) [13]
McMurray Formation late Barremian to Aptianfine grained bituminous sands60 m (200 ft) [14]

Lloydminster region

Sub-unit Age LithologyMax
Thickness		Reference
Colony Sand Early Cretaceous friable glauconitic and argillaceous sandstone 15 m (50 ft) [15]
McLaren MemberEarly Cretaceousvery fine grained sandstone and shale18 m (60 ft) [16]
Waseca SandEarly Cretaceoussand with silt and shale25 m (80 ft) [17]
Sparky SandEarly Cretaceoussand and shale12 m (40 ft) [18]
General Petroleum SandEarly Cretaceousvery fine to fine grained quartzose sand15 m (50 ft) [19]
Rex SandEarly Cretaceousvery fine to fine grained quartzose sand with silt and shale14 m (50 ft) [20]
Lloydminster SandEarly Cretaceousunconsolidated quartz sand with silt30 m (100 ft) [21]
Cummings MemberEarly Cretaceousshale with beds of salt-and-pepper sandstone27 m (90 ft) [22]
Dina MemberEarly Cretaceousquartz sandstone with siltstone and shale60 m (200 ft) [23]

Southern Saskatchewan

Sub-unit Age LithologyMax
Thickness		Reference
Pense FormationAlbianfine grained sandstone, clay, shaly silt36 m (120 ft) [24]
Cantuar FormationAptian to Albian mudstone and sandstone120 m (390 ft) [25]
Success Formation Jurassic to Lower Cretaceous quartzose sandstone and siltstone75 m (250 ft) [26]

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References

  1. ↑ Lexicon of Canadian Geologic Units. "Mannville Group" . Retrieved 2009-03-01.
  2. ↑ Nauss, Arthur William, 1945. Cretaceous stratigraphy of Vermilion area, Alberta, Canada; American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG), AAPG Bulletin, vol. 29, no. 11 (November), pp. 1605-1629.
  3. ↑ Alberta Geological Survey. "Oil Production from the Lower Mannville" . Retrieved 2009-03-02.
  4. ↑ Alberta Geological Survey. "Gas Production from the Lower Mannville" . Retrieved 2009-03-02.
  5. ↑ Alberta Geological Survey. "Gas Production from the Upper Mannville" . Retrieved 2009-03-02.
  6. ↑ Alberta Geological Survey. "Oil Production from the Upper Mannville" . Retrieved 2009-03-02.
  7. ↑ Lexicon of Canadian Geologic Units. "Glauconitic" . Retrieved 2009-03-01.
  8. ↑ Lexicon of Canadian Geologic Units. "Ostracod" . Retrieved 2009-03-01.
  9. ↑ Lexicon of Canadian Geologic Units. "Ellerslie". Archived from the original on 2012-07-12. Retrieved 2009-03-01.
  10. ↑ Lexicon of Canadian Geologic Units. "Detrital" . Retrieved 2009-03-01.
  11. ↑ Lexicon of Canadian Geologic Units. "Grand Rapids" . Retrieved 2009-03-01.
  12. ↑ Lexicon of Canadian Geologic Units. "Clearwater" . Retrieved 2009-03-01.
  13. ↑ Lexicon of Canadian Geologic Units. "Wabiskaw" . Retrieved 2009-03-01.
  14. ↑ Lexicon of Canadian Geologic Units. "McMurray". Archived from the original on 2012-07-26. Retrieved 2009-03-01.
  15. ↑ Lexicon of Canadian Geologic Units. "Colony Sand" . Retrieved 2010-01-09.
  16. ↑ Lexicon of Canadian Geologic Units. "McLaren Member" . Retrieved 2010-01-03.
  17. ↑ Lexicon of Canadian Geologic Units. "Waseca" . Retrieved 2009-03-01.
  18. ↑ Lexicon of Canadian Geologic Units. "Sparky" . Retrieved 2009-03-01.
  19. ↑ Lexicon of Canadian Geologic Units. "General Petroleum" . Retrieved 2009-03-01.
  20. ↑ Lexicon of Canadian Geologic Units. "Rex" . Retrieved 2009-03-01.
  21. ↑ Lexicon of Canadian Geologic Units. "Lloydminster" . Retrieved 2009-03-01.
  22. ↑ Lexicon of Canadian Geologic Units. "Cummings" . Retrieved 2009-03-01.
  23. ↑ Lexicon of Canadian Geologic Units. "Dina" . Retrieved 2009-03-01.
  24. ↑ Lexicon of Canadian Geologic Units. "Pense Formation" . Retrieved 2010-01-03.
  25. ↑ Lexicon of Canadian Geologic Units. "Cantuar Formation" . Retrieved 2010-01-03.
  26. ↑ Lexicon of Canadian Geologic Units. "Success Formation" . Retrieved 2010-01-03.
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