Unit Name: Earlie Formation
Unit Type: Lithostratigraphic
Rank: Formation
Status: Formal
Usage: Currently in use
Age Interval: Middle Cambrian (513 - 499 ma)
Province/Territory: Alberta; Saskatchewan

Originator: Pugh, D.C., 1971, p. 6-8.

Type Locality:
Husky DH Lloydminster 10-15-49-1W4M, in Alberta, between 1,656.9 and 1,497.2 m (5,436 and 4,912 ft).

Distribution:
Maximum thickness of 172 m (564 ft) in the Lloydminster area of eastern Alberta. Thins westward to less than 60 m (197 ft) before thickening farther west into an equivalent carbonate-shale succession. Thins eastward to zero in Saskatchewan.

Lithology:
Interbedded glauconitic siltstones and fine-grained sandstones and shales.

Relationship:
Conformably overlies Basal sandstone unit the lower contact placed at the topmost bed of coarse grained sandstone, seen as sharp increase in gamma radiation passing upward. Conformably overlain by Deadwood Formation, upper contact placed at the top of the stratigraphically highest glauconitic sandstone. Top sandstone is part of the clastic equivalent of the Pika Formation, called the Pika marker, which marks the Middle Cambrian-Upper Cambrian boundary. Lateral equivalent to the west is the succession of Mount Whyte, Cathedral, Stephen, Eldon and Pika formations.

History:
Replaced informal designation 'Lower fine clastic unit' (Aitken, 1968).

Other Citations:
Aitken, 1968; Pugh, 1971.

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.C. Pugh
Entry Reviewed: Yes
Name Set: Lithostratigraphic Lexicon
LastChange: 16 May 2004