The Owen Creek Formation is a stratigraphic unit of Middle 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][4] It consists primarily of dolomite and was named for Owen Creek near Mount Wilson in Banff National Park by B.S. Norford in 1969.[1][2]

Owen Creek Formation
Stratigraphic range: Middle Ordovician
~470–460 Ma
TypeFormation
UnderliesMount Wilson Formation
OverliesSkoki Formation
ThicknessUp to about 199 m (652 feet)[1]
Lithology
PrimaryDolomite
OtherSiltstone, sandstone, mudstone
Location
Coordinates52°00′00″N 116°45′00″W / 52.00000°N 116.75000°W / 52.00000; -116.75000 (Owen Creek Formation)
Region Alberta
 British Columbia
Country Canada
Type section
Named forOwen Creek
Named byB.S. Norford, 1969.[2]

Lithology and thickness

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The Owen Creek Formation consists primarily of dolomite that typically includes minor amounts of quartz silt and very fine sand. There are minor beds of dolomitic mudstone near the base, and beds of dolomitic quartz sandstone and siltstone in the upper part. It has a maximum thickness of about 199 m (652 ft).[1][2]

Distribution and relationship to other units

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The Owen Creek Formation is present in the southern Canadian Rockies and is equivalent to the black shales Glenogle Formation to the west. It is also present in some areas of the central Rockies in northeastern British Columbia. It overlies the Skoki Formation, and unconformably underlies the Mount Wilson Formation.[1][4]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d Glass, D.J. (editor) 1997. Lexicon of Canadian Stratigraphy, vol. 4, Western Canada including eastern British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and southern Manitoba, p. 894. Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists, Calgary, 1423 p. on CD-ROM. ISBN 0-920230-23-7.
  2. ^ a b c Norford, B.S. 1969. Ordovician and Silurian stratigraphy of the southern Rocky Mountains. Geological Survey of Canada, Bulletin 176, p. 21-25, 55-56.
  3. ^ Slind, O.L., Andrews, G.D., Murray, D.L, Norford, B.S., Paterson, D.F., Salas, C.J. and Tawadros, E.E. 1994. The Geological Atlas of the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin (Mossop, G.D. and Shetsen, I., compilers), Chapter 8: Middle Cambrian to Lower Ordovician strata of the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin, p. 87-108. Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists and Alberta Geological Survey, Calgary, Alberta.
  4. ^ a b Alberta Geological Survey. "Alberta Table of Formations, May 2019" (PDF). Alberta Energy Regulator. Retrieved 24 March 2020.