Survey Peak Formation

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Survey Peak Formation
Stratigraphic range: latest Cambrian to earliest Ordovician ~490–475  Ma
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Type Formation
Underlies Outram Formation
Overlies Mistaya Formation, Lynx Group
ThicknessUp to 519 metres (17023 ft) [1]
Lithology
Primary Limestone
Other Shale, mudstone, siltstone
Location
Coordinates 51°57′16.4″N116°50′59″W / 51.954556°N 116.84972°W / 51.954556; -116.84972 (Survey Peak Formation) Coordinates: 51°57′16.4″N116°50′59″W / 51.954556°N 116.84972°W / 51.954556; -116.84972 (Survey Peak Formation)
Region Canadian Rockies
CountryFlag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada
Type section
Named forSurvey Peak
Named byJ.D. Aitken and B.S. Norford [2]

The Survey Peak Formation is a stratigraphic unit of latest Cambrian to earliest Ordovician age. It is present on the western edge of the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin in the Canadian Rockies of Alberta and British Columbia. [3] It was named for Survey Peak near Mount Erasmus in Banff National Park by J.D. Aitken and B.S. Norford in 1967. [2] The Survey Peak Formation is fossiliferous and includes remains of trilobites and other marine invertebrates, as well as conodonts, stromatolites, and thrombolites. [1] [2]

Contents

Lithology and deposition

The Survey Peak Formation formed as a shallow and at times emergent marine shelf along the western shoreline of the North American Craton during latest Cambrian to earliest Ordovician time. [2] [3] [4] It consists of limestones, calcareous shales and mudstones, and siltstones, and can be subdivided into four informal members: a basal siltstone, overlain in turn by a putty-colored calcareous shale, a limestone and shale unit, and a massive, cliff-forming limestone. [1] [2]

Distribution and stratigraphic relationships

The Survey Peak Formation is present in the Rocky Mountains of Alberta and British Columbia. It thickens westward. [1] [2] It overlies the Mistaya Formation or the top of the Lynx Group, and is overlain by the Outram Formation. [5] The basal contact is conformable but abrupt. The top contact is gradational. [1] [2]

Paleontology

The Survey Peak Formation is considered to be one of the best exposed and most accessible fossiliferous examples of the Cambrian-Ordovician boundary in Canada. [1] It includes several genera of trilobites, as well as brachiopods, conodonts, gastropods, echinoderms, stromatolites, thrombolites, rare graptolites, and others. [1] [2]

Related Research Articles

The Wabamun Formation is a stratigraphic unit of Late Devonian (Famennian) age in the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin. It takes the name from Wabamun Lake and was first described in the Anglo Canadian Wabamun Lake No. 1 well by Imperial Oil in 1950.

The Exshaw Formation is a stratigraphic unit in the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin. It takes the name from the hamlet of Exshaw, Alberta in the Canadian Rockies, and was first described from outcrops on the banks of Jura Creek north of Exshaw by P.S. Warren in 1937. The formation is of Late Devonian to Early Mississippian age as determined by conodont biostratigraphy, and it straddles the Devonian-Carboniferous boundary.

Stephen Formation

The Stephen Formation is a geologic formation exposed in the Canadian Rockies of British Columbia and Alberta, on the western edge of the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin. It consists of shale, thin-bedded limestone, and siltstone that was deposited during Middle Cambrian time. It is famous for the exceptional preservation of soft-bodied fossils: the Burgess Shale biota. The formation overlies the Cathedral escarpment, a submarine cliff; consequently it is divided into two quite separate parts, the 'thin' sequence deposited in the shallower waters atop the escarpment, and the 'thick' sequence deposited in the deeper waters beyond the cliff. Because the 'thick' Stephen Formation represents a distinct lithofacies, some authors suggest it warrants its own name, and dub it the Burgess Shale Formation. The stratigraphy of the Thin Stephen Formation has not been subject to extensive study, so except where explicitly mentioned this article applies mainly to the Thick Stephen Formation.

Palliser Formation geologic formation in the Rockies

The Palliser Formation is a stratigraphic unit of Late Devonian (Famennian) age in the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin. It is a thick sequence of limestone and dolomitic limestone that is present in the Canadian Rockies and foothills of western Alberta. Tall cliffs formed of the Palliser Formation can be seen throughout Banff and Jasper National Parks.

Phosphoria Formation

The Phosphoria Formation of the western United States is a geological formation of Early Permian age. It represents some 15 million years of sedimentation, reaches a thickness of 420 metres (1,380 ft) and covers an area of 350,000 square kilometres (140,000 sq mi).

The Lynx Formation or Lynx Group is a stratigraphic unit of Late Cambrian (Dresbachian) age in the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin. It is present in the Canadian Rockies of Alberta and British Columbia. It was originally described as the Lynx Formation by Charles Doolittle Walcott in 1913, based on and named for outcrops on the slopes of Lynx Mountain on the continental divide east of Mount Robson. It was subdivided into five formations and elevated to group status by J.D. Aitken and R.G. Greggs in 1967. The name Lynx Formation continues to be used in areas where some or all of the subdivisions cannot be distinguished. All of the formations in the Lynx Group include fossil trilobites and some contain the stromatolite Collenia.

Cathedral Formation

The Cathedral Formation is a stratigraphic unit in the southern Canadian Rockies of Alberta and British Columbia, on the western edge of the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin. It is a thick sequence of carbonate rocks of Middle Cambrian age. It was named for Cathedral Mountain in Yoho National Park by Charles Doolittle Walcott, the discoverer of the Burgess shale fossils.

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.

Gog Group

The Gog Group is a stratigraphic unit in the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin. It is present in the western main ranges of the Canadian Rockies in Alberta and British Columbia, and in the Cariboo Mountains and in the central Purcell Mountains in southwestern British Columbia. It was named by C.F. Deiss in 1940 for a type locality near Mount Assiniboine.

The Outram Formation is a stratigraphic unit of Early 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 Mount Outram in Banff National Park by J.D. Aitken and B.S. Norford in 1967. The Outram Formation is fossiliferous and includes remains of trilobites and other marine invertebrates, as well as stromatolites and thrombolites.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Eldon Formation Geologic formation in Canada

The Eldon Formation is a stratigraphic unit that is present on the western edge of the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin in the southern Canadian Rockies of southwestern Alberta and southeastern British Columbia. It is a thick sequence of massive, cliff-forming limestones and dolomites that was named for Eldon Switch on the Canadian Pacific Railway near Castle Mountain in Banff National Park by Charles Doolittle Walcott, who discovered the Burgess Shale fossils. The Eldon Formation was deposited during Middle Cambrian time, and it includes fossil stromatolites. The Eldon forms the scenic cliffs at the top of Castle Mountain, and can also be seen at Mount Yamnuska and other mountains in Banff and Yoho National Parks.

The Pika Formation is a stratigraphic unit of Middle Cambrian 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 Pika Peak near Lake Louise in Banff National Park by C.F. Deiss in 1939. It is fossiliferous and preserves several genera of trilobites. Outcrops of the Pika Formation can be seen in Banff and Jasper National Parks.

The Arctomys Formation is a stratigraphic unit of late Middle Cambrian age. It 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 Arctomys Peak near Mount Erasmus in Banff National Park by Charles Doolittle Walcott in 1920. Outcrops of the Arctomys can be seen in Banff and Jasper National Parks.

The Titkana Formation is a stratigraphic unit of Middle Cambrian age that is present on the western edge of the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin in the northern Canadian Rockies of Alberta and British Columbia. It was named for Titkana Peak near Mount Robson by Charles Doolittle Walcott in 1913. The Titkana Formation is generally unfossiliferous.

The Snake Indian Formation is a stratigraphic unit of Middle Cambrian age that is present on the western edge of the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin in the northern Canadian Rockies of Alberta and British Columbia. It was named for Snake Indian River in Jasper National Park by E.W. Montjoy and J.D. Aitken in 1978. The type locality was established on Chetamon Mountain.

The Earlie Formation is a stratigraphic unit of Middle Cambrian age in the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin that is present beneath the plains of Alberta and eastern Saskatchewan. It was named for Earlie Lake in the County of Vermilion River, Alberta, by D.C. Pugh in 1971, who described the type section based on data from an oil well drilled in that area.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Glass, D.J. (editor) 1997. Lexicon of Canadian Stratigraphy, vol. 4, Western Canada including eastern British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and southern Manitoba. Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists, Calgary, 1423 p. on CD-ROM. ISBN   0-920230-23-7.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Aitken, J.D. and Norford, B.S. 1967. Lower Ordovician Survey Peak and Outram formations, southern Rocky Mountains of Alberta. Bulletin of Canadian Petroleum Geology, vol. 15, p. 150-207.
  3. 1 2 Slind, O.L., Andrews, G.D., Murray, D.L., Norford, B.S., Paterson, D.F., Salas, C.J., and Tawadros, E.E., Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists and Alberta Geological Survey (1994). "The Geological Atlas of the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin (Mossop, G.D. and Shetsen, I., compilers), Chapter 8: Middle Cambrian and Early Ordovician Strata of the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin" . Retrieved 2018-07-13.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  4. Aitken, J.D. 1966. Middle Cambrian to Middle Ordovician cyclic sedimentation, southern Rocky Mountains of Alberta. Bulletin of Canadian Petroleum Geology, vol. 14, no. 6, p. 405-441.
  5. Alberta Geological Survey. "Alberta Table of Formations, May 2019" (PDF). Alberta Energy Regulator. Retrieved 24 March 2020.