Unit Name: Fife Lake Formation
Unit Type: Lithostratigraphic
Rank: Formation
Status: Formal
Usage: Currently in use
Age Interval: Llandovery (443.7 - 428.2 ma)
Province/Territory: Saskatchewan

Originator: Jamieson, E.R., 1979; Magathan, E.R., 1987

Type Locality:
Imperial Constance 8-36-3-29W2M well, Saskatchewan, between 2,516.7 and 2,531.4 m (8,257 and 8,305 ft).

Distribution:
Maximum thickness in Saskatchewan is 18 m (59 ft). This unit and its stratigraphic equivalents extend throughout the Williston Basin to their subcrop (or outcrop) edges.

Lithology:
Pale yellowish grey to yellowish brown dolomite to dolomitic limestone. Predominantly interbedded mudstone and skeletal wackestone/packstone. Mudstones are commonly stromatolitic in the middle portion of the sequence. Thin beds of skeletal and oolitic grainstones occur near the top and bottom. A stromatoporoid floatstone is present near the top of the unit in east-central Saskatchewan. As defined by Jamieson (1979) and Magathan (1987) the u marker bed, composed of microcrystalline dolomite with abundant arenaceous and argillaceous laminae is the lowermost bed of the Fife Lake. Near the centre of the Williston Basin in North Dakota minor interbeds of anhydrite occur within the equivalent stratigraphic interval.

Relationship:
The Fife Lake overlies the Strathclair Formation and underlies the Guernsey Formation. The base is defined by the base of the u marker and the top by the base of the u2 marker. These marker beds are thought to indicate disconformities within the sequence. The Fife Lake is equivalent to the lower member of the Brandon Formation, with the exception that King (1964) included the u marker in the underlying Strathclair and the u2 marker in the lower member of the Brandon Formation. Haidl (1987, 1988) adopted King's definition of unit boundaries at the top of marker beds. The Fife Lake is equivalent to the Moose Lake and Atikameg Formation as defined by Stearn (1956) in the Manitoba outcrop belt.

History:
Originally a marker-defined unit within Silurian strata in the subsurface of Saskatchewan (Jamieson, 1979; Haidl, 1987, 1988). Proposed as a formation by Magathan (1987).

Other Citations:
Haidl, 1987, 1988; Jamieson, 1979; Johnson and Lescinsky, 1966; King, 1964; Magathan, 1987; Porter and Fuller, 1959; Stearn, 1956.

Source: CSPG Lexicon of Canadian Stratigraphy, Volume 4, western Canada, including eastern British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and southern Manitoba; D.J. Glass (editor)
Contributor: F.M. Haidl
Entry Reviewed: Yes
Name Set: Lithostratigraphic Lexicon
LastChange: 29 Apr 2003