Unit Name: Meadow Lake Formation
Unit Type: Lithostratigraphic
Rank: Formation
Status: Formal
Usage: Currently in use
Age Interval: Eifelian (397.5 - 391.8 ma)
Province/Territory: Saskatchewan
Originator: Van Hees, H., 1956, p. 29-39. Formally defined as a formation by Fuzesy, L.M., 1980b, p. 7.
Type Locality:
D.M.R. Smoothstone No. 12-77 well (Lsd. W7-34-73-6W3M), in Saskatchewan, between 53.9 and 109.1 m (177 and 358 ft).
Lithology:
Grey to buff colored carbonates (predominately dolomite) with mudstone interbeds. Limestone is present in the lower part of the upper member, and some sandstones occur near the base of the formation. Brecciated carbonate zones occur locally in the upper member.
Relationship:
Rests unconformably upon Cambrian sandstones of the Deadwood Formation or Siluro-Ordovician carbonates, and is conformably overlain by carbonates of the Winnipegosis Formation. East of the Meadow Lake escarpment the only equivalent strata are the dolomitic mudstones of the Ashern Formation, which correspond to the mudstones at the top of the Meadow Lake Formation. In Alberta strata equivalent to the lower Meadow Lake are carbonates and evaporites of the Lotsberg Formation; the upper Meadow Lake is correlative with the Ernestina Lake and Contact Rapids formations.
History:
Van Hees (1956) described strata from a borehole near the town of Meadow Lake as the Meadow Lake beds. The type locality was the Seaboard Meadow Lake Crown No. 1 well, in 13-31-61-15W3M, Saskatchewan, between 610.8 and 698 m (2,004 and 2,290 ft). These beds comprise the sediments which lie between the post-Cambrian unconformity and the Ashern Formation. Fuzesy's (1980b) definition included the Ashern with the upper Meadow Lake because he did not recognize the Ashern as a separate formation west of the Meadow Lake escarpment (Fuzesy, 1980b, fig. 1). He divided the Meadow Lake into upper and lower members.
Other Citations:
Buller, 1958; Crickmay, 1954; Fuzesy, 1980b; Van Hees, 1956, 1958.
Source: CSPG Lexicon of Canadian Stratigraphy, Volume 4, western Canada, including eastern British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and southern Manitoba; D.J. Glass (editor)
Contributor: K.R. Milner; C.E. Dunn
Entry Reviewed: Yes
Name Set: Lithostratigraphic Lexicon
LastChange: 29 Apr 2003