Type Locality:

The type section of the Misfortune Formation is Section 13 in map area 105-O/9. The base of the section is at UTM 445500 E and 7054550 N, Zone 9. The Misfortune Formation is named after Misfortune Lake in the southeastern Bonnet Plume Lake map area, west-northwest of the study area (northeastern Niddery Lake map area) (Cecile, 2000).

Distribution:

Occurs within the Selwyn Basin. The Misfortune Formation outcrops in the central and western northeastern Niddery Lake map area (Cecile, 1997a, b, c, d). It is also recognized across northwest Niddery Lake map area (Cecile, 1998a, b, c, 1999) and is likely represented by the Dsh 1 b, 1D1, and Dmc units of Cecile and Abbot (1989, 1992) (Cecile, 2000).

Lithology:

The Misfortune Formation is continuous with and very similar to the Canol Formation. On the northeast, like the Canol, it can be divided into an upper and lower member. At the type section the lower member consists of 170 m of black shale with limonitic weathering and minor siltstone. In the upper part of the lower member are 10 to 20 per cent lithic sandstone with chert, quartz, and argillite clasts. The upper member is a more resistant whitish weathering, black siliceous shale with minor (centimetre to metre scale) lithic sandstone and chert pebble conglomerate. In the northeast of the study area, Misfortune Formation lithologies are similar to the type section but become more siliceous and contains chert successions to the southwest. Like the Canol Formation the Misfortune Formation contains minor carbonate and barite in small and large lenses, and noduels. The Misfortune Formation is thin-bedded, and sandstone beds are moderately sorted (Cecile, 2000).

Relationship:

The Earn Group in the northeast Niddery Lake map area consists of two formations, the Misfortune and the overlying Thor Hills. The lower contact of the Misfortune Formation with the Hailstone Formation is sharp and conformable, and diachronous to the west. The Misfortune Formation is continuous with the Canol Formation. The lateral boundary betweeen the two is defined by the nature of the overlying clastic succession. The underlying shales are Canol Formation where they are overlain by quartzose sandstones of the Imperial Formation and Misfortune Formation where overlain by Thor Hills Formation. This is done to underline the differences between the two clastic packages. In addition real differences develop to the west, where the Misfortune Formation is diachronous and comprises siliceous shale equivalent to the Canol Formation as well as siliceous shale equivalent to the Hailstone Formation. The Misfortune Formation has more beds and units of lithic sandstone and chert pebble conglomerate than the Canol Formation. To the southeast, south, and southwest the Misfortune Formation is correlated with a basal shale, siliceous shale, or chert unit found at the base of most sections of the lower Earn Group of Gordey et al. (1982). Section D of Gordey et al. (1982), located in southeast Niddery Lake map area, was subsequently established as the type Portrait Lake Formation (Gordey and Anderson, 1993). The Misfortune Formation is homotaxial with, and lithologically similar to, the basal 90 m of the lower member of the type Portrait Lake Formatino in southeast Niddery. Cecile and Abbott (1992) also recognized mappable, but discontinuous, correlative units of the Misfortune Formation in the western and southern Niddery Lake map area (map-units Dsh 1 b, 1D1, DMc map-units) (Cecile, 2000).

History:

Underlying a large portion of the southwestern and southern northeastern Niddery Lake map area are "black clastics" similar in age and lithology to the Earn Group. These strata differ from the Portrait Lake and Prevost formations of Gordey and Anderson (1993), in that neither an unconformity nor a distinct Prevost Formation are recognized. After some discussion between the author, S.P. Gordey (pers. comm., 1994), and J.G. Abbott (pers. comm., 1994) it was decided that it was best to proceed with a separate nomenclature for the northeastern Niddery Lake map area. Thus the Earn Group in the northeastern Niddery Lake map area consists of two formations, the Misfortune and the overlying Thor Hills. These two units are generally equivalent to Gordey and Anderson's Portrait Lake Formation (Cecile, 2000).

Remark:

Both the upper Misfortune and Canol formations are interpreted as deep-water, organic-rich shales deposited during the early stage of foredeep basin development ('starved-basin facies') (Cecile, 2000).

References:

Cecile, M.P., 1997a. Geology of the Thor Hills map area (NTS 105-O/15); Geological Survey of Canada, Map 1899A, Scale: 1:50 000.

Cecile, M.P., 1997b. Geology of NTS 105-O/09 and northern part of Keele Peak map area (NTS 105-O/08); Geological Survey of Canada, Map 1902A. Scale: 1:50 000.

Cecile, M.P., 1997c. Geology of the Elmer Creek map area (NTS 105-O/10) and northern part of NTS 105-O/07; Geological Survey of Canada, Map 1901A. Scale: 1:50 000.

Cecile, M.P., 1997d. Geology of the Hailstone Creek map area (NTS 105-O/16); Geological Survey of Canada, MAp 1900A, Scale: 1:50 000.

Cecile, M.P., 1998a. Geology of Einarson Creek (NTS 105-O/13); Geological Survey of Canada, Map 1944A, Scale: 1:50 000.

Cecile, M.P., 1998b. Geology of Marmot Creek (NTS 105-O/14); Geological Survey of Canada, Map 1923A, Scale: 1:50 000.

Cecile, M.P., 1998c. Geology of Arrowhead Lake (NTS 105-O/11); Geological Survey of Canada, Map 1943A, Scale: 1:50 000.

Cecile, M.P., 2000. Geology of the northeastern Niddery Lake map area, east-central Yukon and adjacent Northwest Territories; Geological Survey of Canada, Bulletin 553, 120 p.

Cecile, M.P., and Abbott, J.G., 1989. Geology of the Niddery Lake map area (NTS 105-O); Geological Survey of Canada, Open File 2076.

Cecile, M.P., and Abbott, J.G., 1992. Geology of the Niddery Lake map area (NTS 105-O) at 1:250 000; Geological Survey of Canada, Open File 2465, 1 geological map (Scale 1:250 000) + 1 geological legend.

Gordey, S.P. and Anderson, R.G., 1993. Evolution of the northern Cordilleran miogeocline, Nahanni map area (105I), Yukon Territory and District of Mackenzie; Geological Survey of Canada, Memoir 428, 214 p.

Gordey, S.P., Abbott, J.G., and Orchard, M.J., 1982. Devono-Mississippian (Earn Group) and younger strata in east-central Yukon; in, Current Research, Part B; Geological Survey of Canada, Paper 82-1B, pp. 93-100.