Unit Name: Buckinghorse Formation
Unit Type: Lithostratigraphic
Rank: Formation
Status: Formal
Usage: Currently in use
Age Interval: Albian (112 - 99.6 ma)
Age Justification: Contains fauna of the generalized Arcthoplites and Beudanticeras affine zone of Albian age. Also contains a relatively unstudied assemblage of Foraminifera.
Province/Territory: British Columbia
Originator: Hage, 1944.
Type Locality:
Intermittent outcrops along Buckinghorse River west of the Alaska Highway bridge, northeastern British Columbia; 57°24'N, 122°55'W.
Distribution:
In northeastern British Columbia the Buckinghorse Formation extends northwesterly in a broad, low lying belt along the eastern edge of the foothills between the Halfway and Muskwa rivers. In the type region it is about 1,000 m (3,300 ft) thick.
Locality Data:
Thickness(m): Typical 1000.
Lithology:
Moderately recessive dark grey to black, silty marine mudstone with some units of fine-grained marine sandstone. Large sideritic concretions occur in basal and upper parts.
Relationship:
The Buckinghorse Formation is equivalent to the Garbutt, Scatter and Lepine formations occurring in the vicinity of Liard River. In the type region the Buckinghorse lies on the Lower Cretaceous Gething Formation. Elsewhere it lies with marked unconformity on beds ranging in age from Triassic to Mississippian. It is overlain by the Sikanni Formation. To the south it is equivalent to the Moosebar, Hasler and Commotion formations.
History:
Although the name was used for shales west of Liard Range, it is no longer used in Yukon Territory and District of Mackenzie. More recent studies utilize the Garbutt, Scatter and Lepine formations.
Other Citations:
Anan-Yorke and Stelck, 1978; Stott, 1960a.
References:
Anan-Yorke, R. and Stelck, C.R., 1978. Microfloras from Upper Albian Neogastroplites zone, Sikanni Chief River, northeastern British Columbia, in, Western and Arctic Canadian biostratigraphy, Stelck, C.R. and Chatterton, B.D.E. (Eds.); Geological Association of Canada, Special Paper 18, pp. 473-493.
Hage, C.O., 1944. Geology adjacent to the Alaska Highway between Fort St. John and Fort Nelson, British Columbia, Geological Survey of Canada, Paper 44-30, 22 p. + Preliminary Map 44-30A, "Alaska Highway, Fort St. John to Fort Nelson, British Columbia".
Stott, D.F., 1960a. Cretaceous rocks between Smoky and Pine rivers, Rocky Mountain Foothills, Alberta and British Columbia; Geological Survey of Canada, Paper 60-16.
Source: CSPG Lexicon of Canadian Stratigraphy, Volume 4, western Canada, including eastern British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and southern Manitoba; D.J. Glass (editor)
Contributor: D.F. Stott; L.V. Hills; D.W. Morrow
Entry Reviewed: Yes
Name Set: Lithostratigraphic Lexicon
LastChange: 20 Jul 2009