Survey Peak Formation
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| Survey Peak Formation | |
|---|---|
| Stratigraphic range: latest Cambrian to earliest Ordovician ~ | |
| Type | Formation |
| Underlies | Outram Formation |
| Overlies | Mistaya Formation, Lynx Group |
| Thickness | Up to 519 metres (17023 ft)[1] |
| Lithology | |
| Primary | Limestone |
| Other | Shale, mudstone, siltstone |
| Location | |
| Coordinates | 51°57′16.4″N 116°50′59″W / 51.954556°N 116.84972°W |
| Region | Canadian Rockies |
| Country | Canada |
| Type section | |
| Named for | Survey Peak |
| Named by | J.D. Aitken and B.S. Norford[2] |
The Survey Peak Formation is a stratigraphic unit of latest Cambrian to earliest Ordovician age. It is present on the western edge of the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin in the Canadian Rockies of Alberta and British Columbia.[3] It was named for Survey Peak near Mount Erasmus in Banff National Park by J.D. Aitken and B.S. Norford in 1967.[2] The Survey Peak Formation is fossiliferous and includes remains of trilobites and other marine invertebrates, as well as conodonts, stromatolites, and thrombolites.[1][2]
The Survey Peak Formation formed as a shallow and at times emergent marine shelf along the western shoreline of the North American Craton during latest Cambrian to earliest Ordovician time.[2][3][4] It consists of limestones, calcareous shales and mudstones, and siltstones, and can be subdivided into four informal members: a basal siltstone, overlain in turn by a putty-colored calcareous shale, a limestone and shale unit, and a massive, cliff-forming limestone.[1][2]