Shadow Lake Formation

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Shadow Lake formation
Stratigraphic range: Middle Ordovician
Type Geological formation
Unit of Black River & Simcoe Groups
Underlies Gull River Formation
Overlies Grenville basement
Loysburg Formation
Thickness0–10 m (0–33 ft) [1]
Lithology
Primary Sandstone, conglomerate
Other Siltstone, shale
Location
Region Ontario
Pennsylvania
CountryFlag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada
Flag of the United States.svg  United States
Type section
Named for Shadow Lake
Named byLiberty
Year defined1969

The Shadow Lake formation is a geological unit that crops out in Southern Ontario, Canada and northern Pennsylvania, United States. [2] The shaly sections act as a caprock to petroleum reservoirs.

Southern Ontario Primary region in Ontario, Canada

Southern Ontario is a primary region of the province of Ontario, Canada, the other primary region being Northern Ontario. It is the most densely populated and southernmost region in Canada. The exact northern boundary of Southern Ontario is disputed, however the core region is situated south of Algonquin Park, the latter being in an area of transition between coniferous forest north of the French and Mattawa Rivers and southern deciduous forest. It covers between 14 and 15% of the province, depending on the inclusion of the Parry Sound and Muskoka districts which also lie in the transitional area between northern and southern forest regions. With more than 12.7 million people, the region is home to approximately one-third of Canada's population of 35.1 million.

Canada Country in North America

Canada is a country in the northern part of North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic to the Pacific and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering 9.98 million square kilometres, making it the world's second-largest country by total area. Canada's southern border with the United States is the world's longest bi-national land border. Its capital is Ottawa, and its three largest metropolitan areas are Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver. As a whole, Canada is sparsely populated, the majority of its land area being dominated by forest and tundra. Consequently, its population is highly urbanized, with over 80 percent of its inhabitants concentrated in large and medium-sized cities, many near the southern border. Canada's climate varies widely across its vast area, ranging from arctic weather in the north, to hot summers in the southern regions, with four distinct seasons.

Pennsylvania State of the United States of America

Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state located in the northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The Appalachian Mountains run through its middle. The Commonwealth is bordered by Delaware to the southeast, Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, Lake Erie and the Canadian province of Ontario to the northwest, New York to the north, and New Jersey to the east.

Contents

Description

The oldest Paleozoic strata in the north Lake Simcoe area consist of the mainly siliciclastic sediments of the Shadow Lake Formation. These strata lie unconformably and sharply on the Precambrian Grenville basement, however, this basal contact is rarely exposed. The Shadow Lake Formation is poorly exposed, typically occurring in small isolated outcrops along a low escarpment capped by the more resistant carbonate beds of the overlying Gull River Formation. Trending roughly east--west across the study area and ringing Paleozoic outliers, this escarpment marks the edge of the Paleozoic outcrop belt. [1]

The PaleozoicEra is the earliest of three geologic eras of the Phanerozoic Eon. It is the longest of the Phanerozoic eras, lasting from 541 to 251.902 million years ago, and is subdivided into six geologic periods : the Cambrian, Ordovician, Silurian, Devonian, Carboniferous, and Permian. The Paleozoic comes after the Neoproterozoic Era of the Proterozoic Eon and is followed by the Mesozoic Era.

The Shadow Lake Formation consists of non-fossiliferous, red, maroon and green, poorly sorted, argillaceous, arkosic sandstones and conglomerates, arenaceous (sandy) siliciclastic mudstones (shales) and siltstones, and minor argillaceous dolostones and limestones. These rock types are commonly interbedded and gradational with each other. [1]

Sandstone A clastic sedimentary rock composed mostly of sand-sized particles

Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized mineral particles or rock fragments.

Conglomerate (geology) A coarse-grained clastic sedimentary rock with mainly rounded to subangular clasts

Conglomerate is a coarse-grained clastic sedimentary rock that is composed of a substantial fraction of rounded to subangular gravel-size clasts, e.g., granules, pebbles, cobbles, and boulders, larger than 2 mm (0.079 in) in diameter. Conglomerates form by the consolidation and lithification of gravel. Conglomerates typically contain finer grained sediment, e.g., either sand, silt, clay or combination of them, called matrix by geologists, filling their interstices and are often cemented by calcium carbonate, iron oxide, silica, or hardened clay.

Mudstone Fine grained sedimentary rock whose original constituents were clays or muds

Mudstone, a type of mudrock, is a fine-grained sedimentary rock whose original constituents were clays or muds. Grain size is up to 0.063 millimetres (0.0025 in) with individual grains too small to be distinguished without a microscope. With increased pressure over time, the platy clay minerals may become aligned, with the appearance of fissility or parallel layering. This finely bedded material that splits readily into thin layers is called shale, as distinct from mudstone. The lack of fissility or layering in mudstone may be due to either original texture or the disruption of layering by burrowing organisms in the sediment prior to lithification. Mud rocks such as mudstone and shale account for some 65% of all sedimentary rocks. Mudstone looks like hardened clay and, depending upon the circumstances under which it was formed, it may show cracks or fissures, like a sun-baked clay deposit.

The Shadow Lake Formation, originally named by Okulitch (1939) based on outcrops north of Coboconk, was redefined by Liberty (1969). Okulitch included dolomitic limestones in the top of Shadow Lake Formation, whereas Liberty assigned these strata to the overlying Gull River Formation. [1]

Coboconk Village in Ontario, Canada

Coboconk is a community in the city of Kawartha Lakes, in the south-central portion of the Canadian province of Ontario. The village lies at the junction of Highway 35 and former Highway 48, on the northern tip of Balsam Lake, the highest point on the Trent–Severn Waterway. Coboconk has a prominent role in the logging, limestone, and tourism industries of the Kawartha Lakes region over the past 150 years.

Gull River Formation

The Gull River Formation is a geological formation of Middle Ordovician age, which outcrops in Ontario, Canada. Lithologically, the formation is dominated by light grey to brown limestones and greenish gray dolostones with thin shale and sandstone interlayers.

The siliciclastic sediments of the Shadow Lake Formation are gradationally overlain by impure carbonates of the Gull River Formation. The upper contact of the Shadow Lake Formation is placed where its mainly siliciclastic sediments give way to mainly carbonate sediments (typically argillaceous dolostones) of the lower Gull River Formation. Natural weathering accentuates this contact, making it appear sharp in outcrop, whereas in drill core this contact can be difficult to pick out. [1]

In Ontario, the Shadow Lake Formation ranges from 0 to 10 metres (0 to 33 ft) in thickness, and averages approximately 6 metres (20 ft) in thickness. [1]

The formation also crops out in Pennsylvania, where it is unconformably overlying the Loysburg Formation. [3]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Armstrong, 2000, p.8
  2. "Geology of the Southwestern Ontario District". Ontario Ministry of Northern Development and Mines. 25 November 2011. Retrieved 14 April 2012.
  3. 1992 - Ryder - Stratigraphic framework of Cambrian and Ordovician rocks in the Central Appalachian Basin from Lake County, Ohio to Juniata County, Pennsylvania - USGS

Bibliography