Elk Formation

Elk Formation
Stratigraphic range: Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous
TypeGeological formation
Unit ofKootenay Group
UnderliesCadomin Formation
OverliesMist Mountain Formation
ThicknessMaximum 590 metres (1,940 ft)
Lithology
PrimarySandstone, conglomerate
OtherSiltstone, mudstone, coal
Location
Region British Columbia
 Alberta
Country Canada
Type section
Named forElk River coal mine east of Fernie, British Columbia
Named byC.B. Newmarch, 1953[1]

The Elk Formation is a stratigraphic unit of the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin that is present in southeastern British Columbia and southwestern Alberta.[2] It is probably of Early Cretaceous age, but in some areas its strata could be as old as Late Jurassic. It includes minor thin coal beds and was named for outcrops near the now-abandoned Elk River coal mine east of Fernie, British Columbia.[3]

  1. ^ Newmarch, C.B. (1953). Geology of the Crowsnest coal basin, with special reference to the Fernie area. British Columbia Department of Mines, Bulletin 33.
  2. ^ 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 18: Jurassic and Lowermost Cretaceous strata of the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin". Retrieved 2016-06-20.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  3. ^ Gibson, D.W. 1985. Stratigraphy, sedimentology and depositional environments of the coal-bearing Jurassic-Cretaceous Kootenay Group, Alberta and British Columbia. Geological Survey of Canada, Bulletin 357, 108 p.