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Spray Lakes Group

Coordinates: 50°48′24.1″N 115°15′47.9″W / 50.806694°N 115.263306°W / 50.806694; -115.263306 (Spray Lakes Group)
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Spray Lakes Group
Stratigraphic range: Pennsylvanian
TypeGroup
Sub-unitsKananaskis Formation
Tunnel Mountain Formation
UnderliesIshbel Group
OverliesRundle Group
ThicknessMore than 600 metres
(2000 ft)[1]
Lithology
Primarydolomite, limestone
OtherSandstone, quartzite, chert
Location
Coordinates50°48′24.1″N 115°15′47.9″W / 50.806694°N 115.263306°W / 50.806694; -115.263306 (Spray Lakes Group)
Region Alberta
Country Canada
Type section
Named forSpray Lakes, Alberta
Named byA. McGugan and J.E. Rapson, 1963[2]

The Spray Lakes Group is a stratigraphic unit that is present on the western edge of the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin in the southern Canadian Rockies, and it comprises the Pennsylvanian-age strata of that region.[3] It was named after the Spray Lakes near Banff, Alberta,[1] and fossils of marine invertebrates are found in some of its strata.[4]

Stratigraphy and lithology

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The Spray Lakes Group comprises the quartzose sandstones of the Tunnel Mountain Formation and its equivalents in the lower part, and the dolomites and limestones of the Kananaskis Formation in the upper part. It is unconformably overlain by the Permian-age strata of the Ishbel Group, and underlain by the Late Mississippian strata of the Rundle Group.[1]

Thickness and distribution

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The Spray Lakes Group is present in the southern Canadian Rockies and reaches a maximum thickness of more than 600 metres (2000 feet) in the westernmost front ranges.[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d Glass, D.J. (editor) 1997. Lexicon of Canadian Stratigraphy, vol. 4, Western Canada including eastern British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and southern Manitoba. Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists, Calgary, 1423 p. on CD-ROM. ISBN 0-920230-23-7.
  2. ^ McGugan, A. and Rapson, J.E. 1963. Permian stratigraphy and nomenclature, western Alberta and adjacent regions. Edmonton Geological Society, 5th Annual Field Trip Guidebook, p. 52-64.
  3. ^ Richards, B.C., Barclay, J.E., Bryan, D., Hartling, A., Henderson, C.M., and Hinds, R.C., Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists and Alberta Geological Survey (1994). "The Geological Atlas of the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin (Mossop, G.D. and Shetsen, I., compilers), Chapter 14: Carboniferous Strata of the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin". Retrieved 2018-07-13.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  4. ^ McGugan, A. and Rapson, J.E. 1979. Pennsylvanian and Permian biostratigraphy, micropaleontology, petrography and diagenesis, Kananaskis valley, Alberta. Bulletin of Canadian Petroleum Geology, vol. 27, no. 4, p. 405-417.