Unit Name: Presqu'ile Formation
Unit Type: Lithostratigraphic
Rank: Formation
Status: Formal
Usage: Currently in use
Age Interval: Givetian (391.8 - 385.3 ma)
Age Justification: Corals, brachiopods, stromatoporoids, gastropods, cephalopods, crinoids and Amphipora (Skall, 1975).
Province/Territory: Northwest Territories

Originator: Cameron, 1918; restricted by Norris, 1965, and Skall, 1975.

Type Locality:
Vicinity of Pine Point ore bodies, Great Slave Lake, N.W.T., 60°50'N, 114°28'W.

Distribution:
Up to 67 m (145 ft) thick in the Pine Point area (narrow usage); up to 300 m (915 ft) (broad usage).

Locality Data:
Thickness(m): Maximum 300.

Lithology:
Coarse crystalline dolomite (narrow usage); carbonate rocks (broad usage).

Relationship:
The term Presqu'ile has been used in several ways, the most common are: 1) that part of the Shekelie Barrier complex, excluding the forereef facies, from the top of the Keg River platform to the Watt Mountain Formation, i.e. carbonate rocks equivalent to the Muskeg Formation (Campbell, 1950; McCamis and Griffith, 1967; Morrow, 1973); 2) dolomite of the barrier-complex equivalent to only the upper part, i.e. the Bistcho Member of the Muskeg Formation (Belyea and Norris, 1962; Gray and Kassube, 1963); 3) as a diagenetic facies, meaning coarsely recrystallized dolomite, with no time-stratigraphic connotation (Belyea, 1971; Skall, 1975; Williams, 1977c); and 4) the barrier-complex as a paleogeographic feature (Jackson and Folinsbee, 1969; Maiklem, 1971).

Other Citations:
Law, 1955a, 1955b.

References:
Belyea, H.R. and Norris, A.W., 1962. Middle Devonian and older Palaeozoic formations of southern District of Mackenzie and adjacent areas; Geological Survey of Canada, Paper 62-15, 82 p.
Belyea, H.R., 1971. Middle Devonian tectonic history of the Tathlina Uplift, southern District of Mackenzie and northern Alberta, Canada; Geological Survey of Canada, Paper 70-14, 38 p.
Cameron, A.E., 1918. Explorations in the vicinity of Great Slave Lake; Geological Survey of Canada, Summary Report 1917, Part C, pp. 21-28.
Campbell, N.L., 1950. The Middle Devonian in the Pine Point area, Northwest Territories: Proceedings of the Geological Association of Canada, vol. 3, pp. 87-96.
Gray, F.F. and Kassube, J.R., 1963. Geology and stratigraphy of Clarke Lake Gas Field, British Columbia; America Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG), AAPG Bulletin, vol. 47, no. 3 (March), pp. 467-483.
Jackson, S.A. and Folinsbee, R.E., 1969. The Pine Point lead-zinc deposits, Northwest Territories, Canada: Introduction and paleoecology of the Presqu¿ile Reef. Economic Geology, v. 64, p. 711-717.
Law, James, 1955a. Geology of northwestern Alberta and adjacent areas; American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG), Bulletin of the AAPG, vol. 39, no. 10 (October), pp. 1927-1975.
Law, James, 1955b. Reply to Discussion [of Hunt, C.W., 1955. Discussion; American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin (AAPG), Bulletin of the AAPG, vol. 39, no. 10 (October), pp. 1975-1977]: American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin (AAPG), Bulletin of the AAPG, vol. 39, no. 10, pp. 1977-1978.
Maiklem, W.R., 1971. Evaporative drawdown, a mechanism for water-level lowering and diagenesis in the Elk Point Basin; Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists (CSPG), Bulletin of Canadian Petroleum Geology, vol. 19, no. 2 (June), pp. 485-501.
McCamis, John G. and Griffith, Lawrence S., 1967. Middle Devonian facies relationships, Zama area, Alberta; Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists (CSPG), Bulletin of Canadian Petroleum Geology, vol. 15, no. 4 (December), pp. 434-467.
Morrow, D.W., 1973a. The Presqu'ile Complex - implications for Middle Devonian paleogeography of northern Alberta and British Columbia; Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists, Bulletin of Canadian Petroleum Geology, vol. 21, pp. 421-434.
Norris, A.W., 1965a. Stratigraphy of Middle Devonian and older Paleozoic rocks of the Great Slave Lake region, Northwest Territories; Geological Survey of Canada, Memoir 322, 180 p.
Skall, H., 1975. The paleoenvironment of the Pine Point lead-zinc district, pp. 22-47: in An issue devoted to Canadian mineral deposits, Economic Geology, vol. 70, no. 1, pp. 1-253.
Williams, G.K., 1977c. The Hay River Formation and its relationship to adjacent formations, Slave River map-area, N.W.T.; Geological Survey of Canada, Paper 75-12, 17 p.

Source: CSPG Lexicon of Canadian Stratigraphy, Volume 2, Yukon Territory and District of Mackenzie; L.V. Hills, E.V. Sangster and L.B. Suneby (editor)
Contributor: G.K. Williams; D.W. Morrow
Entry Reviewed: Yes
Name Set: Lithostratigraphic Lexicon
LastChange: 17 Mar 2011