Unit Name: Wapiti Formation
Unit Type: Lithostratigraphic
Rank: Formation
Status: Formal
Usage: Currently in use
Age Interval: Late Cretaceous (99.6 - 65.5 ma)
Age Justification: No fossils have been reported. Coal and carbonaceous material is present.
Province/Territory: Alberta; British Columbia
Originator: Dawson, 1881.
Type Locality:
Presumably along the lower part of Wapiti River and downstream along Smoky River in Alberta.
Distribution:
Occurs on erosional remnants between the Beaver and Liard rivers in northeastern British Columbia, on several small hills west of the Liard River and south of the Kotaneelee River, and the Liard Syncline between the Liard and Petitot rivers in District of Mackenzie. The upper beds are eroded, and the maximum thickness remaining is in the order of a few hundred metres.
Lithology:
Medium- to coarse-grained, feldspathic, calcareous, buff weathering sandstone which is thin-bedded to massive. Some thin conglomerate and minor coal seams are present in the region of the Liard River in northeastern British Columbia and District of Mackenzie.
Relationship:
Lies gradationally on marine shales of the Kotaneelee Formation. The upper surface is erosional.
Other Citations:
Dawson, 1881; Hage, 1945; Stott, 1960.
References:
Dawson, G.M., 1881. Report on the exploration from Port Simpson on the Pacific Coast to Edmonton on the Saskatchewan River, Embracing a portion of the northern part of British Columbia and the Peace River country, with Maps 150 and 152; Geological Survey of Canada, Report of Progress 1879-1880, Part B, p. 1-77.
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.W. Morrow; D.F. Stott
Entry Reviewed: Yes
Name Set: Lithostratigraphic Lexicon
LastChange: 05 Feb 2009