Schooler Creek Group

Schooler Creek Group
Stratigraphic range: Ladinian to Norian
Type Geological formation
Sub-units Bocock Formation, Pardonet Formation, Baldonnel Formation, Ludington Formation, Charlie Lake Formation, Halfway Formation
Underlies Fernie, Bullhead, Fort St. John Group
Overlies Toad Formation, Doig Formation
Thickness up to 730 feet (220 m)[1]
Lithology
Primary Limestone, dolostone
Other Siltstone, shale, evaporite
Location
Coordinates 56°16′37″N 120°59′01″W / 56.2769°N 120.9836°WCoordinates: 56°16′37″N 120°59′01″W / 56.2769°N 120.9836°W
Region  Alberta,  British Columbia
Country  Canada
Type section
Named by F.H. McLearn, 1921

The Schooler Creek Group is a stratigraphical unit of Ladinian to Norian age in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin.

It was named for Schooler Creek, a left tributary of the Williston Lake, and was first described north-west of Fort St. John in the Pacific Fort St. John No. 16 and Southern Production No. B-14-1 wells by F.H. McLearn in 1921.[2]

Lithology

The Schooler Creek Group is composed of limestone and dolostone, with subordinate siltstone, shale, sandstone and evaporite.

Distribution

The Schooler Creek Group occurs in outcrops in the Canadian Rockies foothills, and a surface type locality for part of the Group can be found along Williston Lake. In the sub-surface it extends east and north from the Liard River throughout the Peace River Country. It reaches a maximum thickness of 730 feet (220 m) in the foothills.

The Pardonet Formation only occurs in the Canadian Rockies, and has its type locality at Pardonel Hill, on the south shore of the Williston Lake at 56°03′12″N 123°01′08″W / 56.05328°N 123.01889°W.

Relationship to other units

The Schooler Creek Group is unconformably overlain by the Fernie shale or by the Bullhead or Fort St. John Group. It conformably overlies the Toad Formation or the Doig Formation.

Subdivisions

The Schooler Creek Group has the following sub-divisions from top to base:

Sub-unit Age Lithology Thickness Reference
Bocock Formation late Norian aphanitic crystalline and bioclastic limestone 63 metres (210 ft) [3]
Pardonet Formation Norian limestone, silty limestone, siltstone, rare shale 137 metres (450 ft) [4]
Baldonnel Formation Carnian limestone, dolostone, with interbeds of siltstone and very fine grained sandstone 146 metres (480 ft) [5]
Ludington Formation Carnian dolomitic and calcareous siltstone, sandstone, bioclastic limestone 500 metres (1,640 ft) [6]
Charlie Lake Formation Carnian aeolian sandstones, limestone, dolomite and evaporite minerals such as anhydrite. Deposited in a series of sand dunes and sabkah environments similar to the modern Coastal Ergs of Namibia. 550 metres (1,800 ft) [7][8][9][10]
Halfway Formation early Ladinian to Carnian sandstone, with interbeds of siltstone, dolostone and limestone 416 metres (1,360 ft) [11]

References

  1. ↑ Lexicon of Canadian Geologic Units. "Schooler Creek Group". Retrieved 2009-02-10.
  2. ↑ McLearn, F.H., 1921. Mesozoic of upper Peace River, British Columbia Geological Survey of Canada, Summary Report 1920, Part B, p. 1-6.
  3. ↑ Lexicon of Canadian Geologic Units. "Bocock Formation". Retrieved 2009-02-11.
  4. ↑ Lexicon of Canadian Geologic Units. "Pardonet Formation". Retrieved 2009-02-11.
  5. ↑ Lexicon of Canadian Geologic Units. "Baldonnel Formation". Retrieved 2009-02-11.
  6. ↑ Lexicon of Canadian Geologic Units. "Ludington Formation". Retrieved 2009-02-11.
  7. ↑ Lexicon of Canadian Geologic Units. "Charlie Lake Formation". Retrieved 2009-02-11.
  8. ↑ Higgs, R. "Sedimentology and Petroleum Geology of the Artex Member (Charlie Lake Formation), Northeast British Columbia [Abstract]." Bulletin of Canadian Petroleum Geology 38.1 (1990): 166-166.
  9. ↑ Arnold, K.J. Origin and distribution of aeolian sandstones in the Triassic Charlie Lake Formation, northeastern British Columbia. 1996.
  10. ↑ Fefchak, Chelsea (Oct 2, 2011). "Sedimentology of the Charlie Lake Formation". MSc. Thesis, University of Alberta.
  11. ↑ Lexicon of Canadian Geologic Units. "Halfway Formation". Retrieved 2009-02-11.