Southesk Formation
The Southesk Formation is a stratigraphic unit of Late Devonian (late Frasnian) age. It is present on the western edge of the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin in the Rocky Mountains and foothills of Alberta and southeastern British Columbia. It was named for the Southesk River in Jasper National Park by D.J. McLaren in 1955.[2]
| Southesk Formation | |
|---|---|
| Stratigraphic range: | |
| Type | Formation |
| Unit of | Fairholme Group |
| Sub-units | Ronde Member Arcs Member Grotto Member Peechee Member |
| Underlies | Sassenach Formation, Alexo Formation, Palliser Formation, or Crowfoot Formation |
| Overlies | Cairn Formation, or Borsato Formation |
| Thickness | Up to about 300 m (1000 feet)[1] |
| Lithology | |
| Primary | Dolomite |
| Other | Limestone |
| Location | |
| Coordinates | 52°38′00″N 116°58′00″W |
| Region |  Alberta British Columbia |
| Country | .svg.png.webp){kind=small} Canada |
| Type section | |
| Named for | Southesk River |
| Named by | D.J. McLaren, 1955.[2] |
The formation consists primarily of dolomite[1] and it preserves fossils of marine animals such as stromatoporoids and rugose corals.[2]
Lithology and thickness
The Southesk Formation was deposited in reefal environments.[3] It is commonly between 150 and 260 m (490 and 850 feet) thick, and reaches a maximum of about 300 m (1000 feet) in the Flathead area of southeastern British Columbia.[1] It has been subdivided into four members, shown in descending order below.[1]
| Member | Lithology | Max. Thickness | Fossils | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ronde Member | limestone & silty limestone; present only in limited areas | 55 m (180 ft) | not fossiliferous | Glass, p. 1006[1] |
| Arcs Member | light grey, medium-bedded, medium-crystalline dolomite | 74 m (240 ft) | minor branching stromatoporoids, foraminifera, & algae | Glass, p. 62[1] |
| Grotto Member | thick- to thin-bedded, dark brown to grey, variably argillaceous dolomite | 67 m (220 ft) | branching stromatoporoids; tabulate corals | Glass, p. 533[1] |
| Peechee Member | massive, light grey, medium- to coarse-crystalline dolomite; minor limestone & anhydrite | 300 m (980 ft) | bulbous & branching stromatoporoids; tabulate corals | Glass, p. 915[1] |
Distribution and relationship to other units
The Southesk Formation is discontinuously present in the Canadian Rockies from Jasper National Park to the Flathead area of southeastern British Columbia. It is also present in the subsurface beneath the adjacent plains to the east. It conformably overlies the Cairn Formation or, in the Crows Nest Pass area, the Borsato Formation. At its margins it may interfinger with the Perdrix and Mount Hawk Formations. In the mountains it is unconformably overlain by the Sassenach, the Alexo or, rarely, the Palliser Formation. It is overlain by the Crowfoot Formation in the plains.[1][4]
References
- Glass, D.J. (editor) 1997. Lexicon of Canadian Stratigraphy, vol. 4, Western Canada including eastern British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and southern Manitoba, p. 1094. Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists, Calgary, 1423 p. on CD-ROM. ISBN 0-920230-23-7.
- Devonian formations in the Alberta Rocky Mountains between Bow and Athabasca rivers. Geological Survey of Canada, Bulletin 35.
- Weissenberger, J.A.W. and McIlreath, I.A. 1989. Southesk Cairn reef complex, Upper Devonian (Frasnian), Alberta. In: Reefs: Canada and adjacent areas, H.H.J. Geldsetzer, N.P. James and G.E. Tobbutt (eds.), Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists, Memoir 13, p. 535-542.
- Alberta Geological Survey. "Alberta Table of Formations, May 2019" (PDF). Alberta Energy Regulator. Retrieved 24 March 2020.
- Various Contributors to the Paleobiology Database. "Fossilworks: Gateway to the Paleobiology Database". Retrieved 17 December 2021.