| Willow Creek Formation | |
|---|---|
| Stratigraphic range: | |
| Type | Geological formation |
| Underlies | Porcupine Hills Formation |
| Overlies | St. Mary River Formation |
| Lithology | |
| Primary | Shale, sandstone |
| Location | |
| Coordinates | 49°46′19″N 113°22′09″W / 49.77208°N 113.36920°W |
| Approximate paleocoordinates | 57°36′N 87°06′W / 57.6°N 87.1°W |
| Region |  Alberta Montana |
| Country |  Canada United States |
| Extent | Western Canada Sedimentary Basin |
| Type section | |
| Named for | Willow Creek |
| Named by | G.M. Dawson[1] |
| Year defined | 1883 |
  Willow Creek Formation (Canada)  Willow Creek Formation (Alberta) | |
The Willow Creek Formation is a stratigraphic unit of Late Cretaceous to Early Paleocene age in the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin of southwestern Alberta.[2] It was first described by George Mercer Dawson in 1883 along the Willow Creek, a tributary of the Oldman River. Williams and Dyer defined the type section in 1930 at the mouth of Willow Creek, east of Fort Macleod.[3]
The formation straddles the Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) boundary, which divides it into an upper, Early Paleocene member and a lower, Late Cretaceous member.[4] Dinosaur remains are among the fossils that have been recovered from the Late Cretaceous portion.[5]
- ^ Dawson, G.M., 1883. Preliminary report on the geology of the Bow and Belly River region, Northwest Territory, with special reference to the coal deposits. Geological Survey of Canada, Report of Progress for 1880-81-82, Part B.
- ^ Lexicon of Canadian Geologic Units. "Willow Creek Formation". Retrieved 2010-01-01.
- ^ Williams, M.Y. and Dyer, W.S., 1930. Geology of southern Alberta and southwestern Saskatchewan; Geological Survey of Canada, Memoir 163.
- ^ Mossop, G.D. and Shetsen, I., (compilers), Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists (1994). "The Geological Atlas of the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin, Chapter 24: Upper Cretaceous and Tertiary strata of the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin". Retrieved 2013-08-01.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Weishampel, David B; et al. (2004). "Dinosaur distribution (Late Cretaceous, North America)." In: Weishampel, David B.; Dodson, Peter; and Osmólska, Halszka (eds.): The Dinosauria, 2nd, Berkeley: University of California Press. Pp. 574-588. ISBN 0-520-24209-2.