| Clearwater Formation | |
|---|---|
| Stratigraphic range: | |
| Type | Geological formation |
| Unit of | Mannville Group |
| Sub-units | Wabiskaw Member |
| Underlies | Grand Rapids Formation |
| Overlies | McMurray Formation |
| Thickness | up to 85 metres (280 ft)[1] |
| Lithology | |
| Primary | Shale |
| Other | Sandstone, siltstone |
| Location | |
| Coordinates | 58°00′49″N 111°20′38″W / 58.01365°N 111.34377°W |
| Region | northeastern and central  Alberta |
| Country |  Canada |
| Type section | |
| Named for | Clearwater River |
| Named by | R.G. McConnell, 1893 |
The Clearwater Formation is a stratigraphic unit of Early Cretaceous (Albian) age in the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin in northeastern Alberta, Canada.[2] It was first defined by R.G. McConnell in 1893 and takes its name from the Clearwater River near Fort McMurray.[3]
Impermeable marine shales in the Clearwater Formation provided part of the trapping mechanism for the underlying Athabasca oil sands in the McMurray Formation. Sandstone units in the Clearwater Formation, including the Wabiskaw Member, can contain oilsand and heavy oil resources.[1]
Nearly complete specimens of plesiosaurs and ichthyosaurs, as well as one ankylosaur, have been recovered from the formation during oilsand mining.[4]
- ^ a b 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.
- ^ Mossop, G.D. and Shetsen, I. (compilers), Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists and Alberta Geological Survey (1994). "The Geological Atlas of the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin, Chapter 19: Cretaceous Mannville Group of the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin". Archived from the original on 2016-07-01. Retrieved 2016-06-20.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ McConnell, R.G., 1893. Report on a portion of the district of Athabasca, comprising the country between Peace River and Athabasca River north of Lesser Slave Lake. Geological Survey of Canada, Annual Report (new series), 1890-91, v. 5, Part 1, p. 1-67.
- ^ Henderson, D. (2013). "A one-in-a-billion dinosaur find". The Guardian. Retrieved 2013-11-21.