Spirit River Formation

Spirit River Formation
Spirit River Formation
Stratigraphic range: middle Albian PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
	Falher graywake and shale
Type	Geological formation
Unit of	Fort St. John Group
Sub-units	Notikewin Member, Falher Member, Wilrich Member
Underlies	Peace River Formation
Overlies	Bluesky Formation
Thickness	up to 348 feet (110 m)
Lithology
Primary	sandstone, shale, siltstone
Other	coal, ironstone, greywacke
Location
Coordinates	55°46′30″N118°54′22″W / 55.775°N 118.906°W
Region	Alberta, British Columbia
Country	Canada
Type section
Named for	Spirit River
Named by	Badgley, 1952

Last updated July 17, 2024

The Spirit River Formation is a stratigraphical unit of middle Albian age in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin.

Lithology

The Spirit River Formation consists, from bottom to top of fine to medium grained argillaceous sandstone, dark shale, ironstone, greywacke, shale, siltstone, coal and dark shale with thin sandstone and siltstone stringers.^[1]

Hydrocarbon production

Gas is produced from channels developed in the Falher Member in northern Alberta.

Hydraulic fracturing in Canada

'Massive' hydraulic fracturing has been widely used in Alberta since the late 1970s to recover gas from low-permeability sandstones of the Spirit River Formation.^[3]^: 1044 Massive hydraulic fracturing has been widely used in Alberta since the late 1970s. The method is currently used in development of the Cardium, Duvernay, Montney and Viking formations in Alberta, Bakken formation in Saskatchewan, Montney and Horn River formations in British Columbia.

Distribution

The Spirit River Formation reaches a maximum thickness of 348 metres (1,140 ft). It is found in the sub-surface in the Peace River Country, in an area stretching from Fort St. John, British Columbia to the Lesser Slave Lake from west to east, and from Grande Prairie, Alberta to Manning, Alberta from south to north.

Relationship to other units

The Spirit River Formation is conformably overlain by the Peace River Formation and conformably underlain by the Bluesky Formation. It grades laterally to the Buckinghorse Formation shales to the north-east, and into the sandy facies of the Malcolm Creek Formation south of the Wapiti River. It is equivalent to the upper Mannville Formation in Central Alberta and to the Clearwater Formation and Grand Rapids Formation in the upper Athabasca River area.^[1]

Subdivisions

The Spirit River Formation is composed of the following sub-divisions from base to top:

Sub-unit	Lithology	Max Thickness	Reference
Notikewin Member	fine to medium grained argillaceous sandstone, dark shale, ironstone	28 metres (90 ft)	^[4]
Falher Member	greywacke, shale, siltstone, coal	215 metres (710 ft)	^[5]
Wilrich Member	dark shales thin sandstone and siltstone stringers	154 metres (510 ft)	^[6]

Related Research Articles

The Bluesky Formation is a stratigraphic unit of Lower Cretaceous age in the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin. It takes the name from the hamlet of Bluesky, and was first described in Shell's Bluesky No. 1 well by Badgley in 1952.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Montney Formation</span>

The Montney Formation is a stratigraphical unit of Lower Triassic age in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin in British Columbia and Alberta.

The Cardium Formation is a stratigraphic unit of Late Cretaceous age in the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin. It takes the name from the fossilized heart-shaped cockle shells in the family Cardiidae present. It was first described along the Bow River banks by James Hector in 1895. It is present throughout western Alberta and in northeastern British Columbia, and it is a major source of petroleum and natural gas.

The Muskwa Formation is a stratigraphical unit of Frasnian age in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin.

The Fernie Formation is a stratigraphic unit of Jurassic age. It is present in the western part of the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin in western Alberta and northeastern British Columbia. It takes its name from the town of Fernie, British Columbia, and was first defined by W.W. Leach in 1914.

The Fort St. John Group is a stratigraphic unit of Lower Cretaceous age in the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin. It takes the name from the city of Fort St. John, British Columbia and was first defined by George Mercer Dawson in 1881.

The Peace River Formation is a stratigraphical unit of middle Albian age in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin.

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

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Redknife Formation</span>

The Redknife Formation is a stratigraphical unit of Devonian age in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin.

The Schooler Creek Group is a stratigraphic unit of Middle to Late Triassic age in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin. It is present in northeastern British Columbia. It was named for Schooler Creek, a left tributary of Williston Lake, and was first described in two oil wells northwest of Fort St. John, by F.H. McLearn in 1921. Exposures along Williston Lake serve as a type locality in outcrop.

The Baldonnel Formation is a stratigraphical unit of Carnian age in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin.

The Clearwater Formation is a stratigraphic unit of Early Cretaceous (Albian) age in the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin in northeastern Alberta, Canada. It was first defined by R.G. McConnell in 1893 and takes its name from the Clearwater River near Fort McMurray.

The Viking Formation is a stratigraphical unit of Cretaceous age in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin.

The Doig Formation is a geologic formation of middle Triassic age in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin. It takes the name from Doig River, a tributary of the Beatton River, and was first described in the Texaco N.F.A. Buick Creek No. 7 well by J.H. Armitage in 1962..

The Horn River Formation is a stratigraphic unit of Devonian age in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin.

The Woodbend Group is a stratigraphical unit of Frasnian age in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin.

The Duvernay Formation is a stratigraphical unit of Frasnian age in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin.

The Sulphur Mountain Formation is a geologic formation of Early to Middle Triassic age. It is present on the western edge of the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin in the foothills and Rocky Mountains of western Alberta and northeastern British Columbia. It includes marine fossils from the time shortly after the Permian-Triassic extinction event.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fracking in Canada</span>

Fracking in Canada was first used in Alberta in 1953 to extract hydrocarbons from the giant Pembina oil field, the biggest conventional oil field in Alberta, which would have produced very little oil without fracturing. Since then, over 170,000 oil and gas wells have been fractured in Western Canada. Fracking is a process that stimulates natural gas or oil in wellbores to flow more easily by subjecting hydrocarbon reservoirs to pressure through the injection of fluids or gas at depth causing the rock to fracture or to widen existing cracks.

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.

References

1 2 3 Lexicon of Canadian Geologic Units. "Peace River Formation" . Retrieved 2009-02-11.
↑ Badgley, Peter C., 1952. Notes on the subsurface stratigraphy and oil and gas geology of the Lower Cretaceous series in central Alberta (Report and seven figures); Geological Survey of Canada, Paper No. 52-11, 12 p.
↑ Cant, Douglas J.; Ethier, Valerie G. (August 1984). "Lithology-dependent diagenetic control of reservoir properties of conglomerates, Falher member, Elmworth Field, Alberta". Bulletin of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists . 68 (8).
↑ Lexicon of Canadian Geologic Units. "Notikewin Member" . Retrieved 2009-02-11.
↑ Lexicon of Canadian Geologic Units. "Falher Member" . Retrieved 2009-02-11.
↑ Lexicon of Canadian Geologic Units. "Wilrich Member" . Retrieved 2009-02-11.

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[lexicon-1] 1 2 3 Lexicon of Canadian Geologic Units. "Peace River Formation" . Retrieved 2009-02-11.

[2] Badgley, Peter C., 1952. Notes on the subsurface stratigraphy and oil and gas geology of the Lower Cretaceous series in central Alberta (Report and seven figures); Geological Survey of Canada, Paper No. 52-11, 12 p.

[3] Cant, Douglas J.; Ethier, Valerie G. (August 1984). "Lithology-dependent diagenetic control of reservoir properties of conglomerates, Falher member, Elmworth Field, Alberta". Bulletin of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists . 68 (8).

[4] Lexicon of Canadian Geologic Units. "Notikewin Member" . Retrieved 2009-02-11.

[5] Lexicon of Canadian Geologic Units. "Falher Member" . Retrieved 2009-02-11.

[6] Lexicon of Canadian Geologic Units. "Wilrich Member" . Retrieved 2009-02-11.

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v t e Western Canada Sedimentary Basin
Hydrocarbon history	Oil sands and heavy oil Frontier exploration and development Natural gas liquids Natural gas
Depositional regions	Southern Alberta Central Alberta Northwestern Alberta Plains South-central Canadian Rockies foothills North-east Plains North-central foothills Liard River Fort Nelson Northern Rocky Mountains Fort St. John Saskatchewan Western Manitoba
Northwest plains	Paskapoo FM Scollard FM Wapiti GRP Smoky GRP Puskwaskau FM Badheart FM Muskiki FM Cardium FM Kaskapau FM Pouce Coupe MBR Doe Creek MBR Dunvegan FM Fort St. John GRP Shaftesbury FM Peace River FM Spirit River FM Bullhead GRP Bluesky FM Gething FM Cadomin FM Nikanassin FM Fernie GRP Rock Creek MBR Poker Chip Shale Nordegg MBR Schooler Creek GRP Baldonnel FM Charlie Lake FM Halfway FM Doig FM Montney FM Belloy FM Stoddart GRP Taylor Flat FM Kiskatinaw FM Golata FM Rundle GRP Debolt FM Shunda FM Pekisko FM Banff FM Exshaw FM Wabamun FM Trout River FM Kakisa FM Redknife FM Jean Marie MBR Woodbend GRP Irteton FM Fort Simpson FM Leduc FM Duvernay FM Cooking Lake FM Beaverhill Lake GRP Waterways FM Swan Hills FM Fort Vermilion FM Elk Point GRP Watt Mountain FM Gillwood MBR Presqu’ile FM Sulphur Point FM Pine Point FM Muskeg FM Zama MBR Black Shale Keg River FM Rainbow MBR Chinchaga FM Cold Lake FM Ernestina FM Basal Red Beds Granite Wash Canadian Shield

Spirit River Formation
Stratigraphic range: middle Albian PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Falher graywake and shale
Type	Geological formation
Unit of	Fort St. John Group
Sub-units	Notikewin Member, Falher Member, Wilrich Member
Underlies	Peace River Formation
Overlies	Bluesky Formation
Thickness	up to 348 feet (110 m)^[1]
Lithology
Primary	sandstone, shale, siltstone
Other	coal, ironstone, greywacke
Location
Coordinates	55°46′30″N118°54′22″W / 55.775°N 118.906°W / 55.775; -118.906
Region	Alberta, British Columbia
Country	Canada
Type section
Named for	Spirit River
Named by	Badgley, 1952