Red River Formation

Last updated
Red River Formation
Stratigraphic range: Caradoc to Ashgill
Type Geological formation
Sub-units Fort Garry Member
Selkirk Member
Cat Head Member
Dog Head Member
Underlies Stony Mountain Formation
Overlies Winnipeg Formation
Thicknessup to 215 metres (710 ft) [1]
Lithology
Primary limestone, dolomite
Other Breccia
Location
Coordinates 51°56′54″N98°03′23″W / 51.9482°N 98.0563°W / 51.9482; -98.0563 (Red River Formation)
Region WCSB
Williston Basin
CountryFlag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada
Flag of the United States.svg  United States
Type section
Named for Red River of the North
Named byA.F. Foerste
Year defined1929

The Red River Formation is a stratigraphical unit of Late Ordovician age in the Williston Basin.

Contents

It takes the name from the Red River of the North, and was first described in outcrop in the Tyndall Stone quarries and along the Red River Valley by A.F. Foerste in 1929. [2] [3]

Lithology

Subdivisions

The Red River Formation is composed of the following subdivisions from top to base: [1]

Distribution

The Red River Formation reaches a maximum thickness of 215 metres (710 ft) in the center of the Williston Basin. At the along the Manitoba outcrop belt, it is 150 metres (490 ft) thick and thins out northwards. [1]

Relationship to other units

The Red River Formation is slightly unconformably overlain by the Stony Mountain Formation and sharply overlays the Winnipeg Formation in Manitoba, the Deadwood Formation in western Saskatchewan and the Canadian Shield in northern Manitoba. [1]

The lower Red River Formation is equivalent to the Yeoman Formation, while the Fort Garry Member correlates with the Herald Formation.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tyndall stone</span>

Tyndall Stone is a registered trademark name by Gillis Quarries Ltd. Tyndall Stone is a dolomitic limestone that is quarried from the Selkirk Member of the Ordovician Red River Formation in the vicinity of Garson and Tyndall, Manitoba, Canada. It is a cream-coloured limestone with a pervasive mottling of darker dolomite. The mottling gives the rock a tapestry-like effect, and it is popular for use as a building and ornamental stone.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Williston Basin</span> Sedimentary basin in Montana, United States

The Williston Basin is a large intracratonic sedimentary basin in eastern Montana, western North Dakota, South Dakota, southern Saskatchewan, and south-western Manitoba that is known for its rich deposits of petroleum and potash. The basin is a geologic structural basin but not a topographic depression; it is transected by the Missouri River. The oval-shaped depression extends approximately 475 miles (764 km) north-south and 300 miles (480 km) east-west.

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

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.

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

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elk Point Group</span>

The Elk Point Group is a stratigraphic unit of Early to Middle Devonian age in the Western Canada and Williston sedimentary basins. It underlies a large area that extends from the southern boundary of the Northwest Territories in Canada to North Dakota in the United States. It has been subdivided into numerous formations, number of which host major petroleum and natural gas reservoirs.

The Manitoba Group is a stratigraphical unit of middle to late Devonian age in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin.

The Stonewall Formation is a stratigraphical unit of Late Ordovician to Early Silurian age in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin.

The Stony Mountain Formation is a stratigraphical unit of Ashgill age in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin.

The Liard Formation is a stratigraphic unit of Middle Triassic to Late Triassic age in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin that is present in northeastern British Columbia. It takes its name from the Liard River, and was first described from outcrops on the southern bank of that river, near Hell Gate Rapids in the Grand Canyon of the Liard, by E.D. Kindle in 1946.

The Herald Formation is a stratigraphical unit of Late Ordovician age in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin.

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

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

The Cairn Formation is a geologic formation of Late Devonian (Frasnian) age in the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin. It was named for the Cairn River near its junction with the Southesk River in Jasper National Park by D.J. McLaren in 1955.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prairie Evaporite Formation</span> Geologic formation of Givetian age

The Prairie Evaporite Formation, also known as the Prairie Formation, is a geologic formation of Middle Devonian (Givetian) age that consists primarily of halite and other evaporite minerals. It is present beneath the plains of northern and eastern Alberta, southern Saskatchewan and southwestern Manitoba in Canada, and it extends into northwestern North Dakota and northeastern Montana in the United States.

The La Loche Formation is a geologic formation of early Middle Devonian (Eifelian) age in the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin. It is present in northeastern Alberta and northwestern Saskatchewan and was first described by A. W. Norris in 1963, who named it for a Roman Catholic Mission at Lac La Loche. Its type section is located at Contact Rapids on the Clearwater River in Saskatchewan, northwest of Lac La Loche. It is not fossiliferous.

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spray River Group</span>

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 Bertie Group or Bertie Limestone, also referred to as the Bertie Dolomite and the Bertie Formation, is an upper Silurian geologic group and Lagerstätte in southern Ontario, Canada, and western New York State, United States. Details of the type locality and of stratigraphic nomenclature for this unit as used by the U.S. Geological Survey are available on-line at the National Geologic Map Database. The formation comprises dolomites, limestones and shales and reaches a thickness of 495 feet (151 m) in the subsurface, while in outcrop the group can be 60 feet (18 m) thick.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Lexicon of Canadian Geologic Units. "Formation". Archived from the original on 2009-04-16. Retrieved 2010-02-01.
  2. Foerste, A.F., 1929. The Ordovician and Silurian of the American arctic and sub-arctic regions. Denison Univ. Sci. Lab J., v. 24, p. 27-79.
  3. Foerste, A.F., 1929b. The cephalopods of the Red River Formation of southern Manitoba. Denison Univ. Sci. Lab J., v. 24, p. 129-235.