The Red River Formation is a stratigraphical unit of Late Ordovician age in the Williston Basin.
| Red River Formation | |
|---|---|
| Stratigraphic range: | |
| Type | Geological formation |
| Sub-units | Fort Garry Member Selkirk Member Cat Head Member Dog Head Member |
| Underlies | Stony Mountain Formation |
| Overlies | Winnipeg Formation |
| Thickness | up to 215 metres (710 ft)[1] |
| Lithology | |
| Primary | limestone, dolomite |
| Other | Breccia |
| Location | |
| Coordinates | 51°56′54″N 98°03′23″W / 51.9482°N 98.0563°W |
| Region | WCSB Williston Basin |
| Country |  Canada United States |
| Type section | |
| Named for | Red River of the North |
| Named by | A.F. Foerste |
| Year defined | 1929 |
It takes the name from the Red River of the North, and was first described in outcrop in the Tyndall Stone quarries and along the Red River Valley by A.F. Foerste in 1929.[2][3]
Lithology
editSubdivisions
editThe Red River Formation is composed of the following subdivisions from top to base: [1]
- Fort Garry Member: crystalline and micritic dolomite with an argillaceous dolomite breccia in the middle
- Selkirk Member: fossiliferous, dolomitic limestone
- Cat Head Member: cherty dolomite, becoming calcareous to the south
- Dog Head Member: fossiliferous dolomitic limestone
Distribution
editThe Red River Formation reaches a maximum thickness of 215 metres (710 ft) in the center of the Williston Basin. At the along the Manitoba outcrop belt, it is 150 metres (490 ft) thick and thins out northwards.[1]
Relationship to other units
editThe Red River Formation is slightly unconformably overlain by the Stony Mountain Formation and sharply overlays the Winnipeg Formation in Manitoba, the Deadwood Formation in western Saskatchewan and the Canadian Shield in northern Manitoba.[1]
The lower Red River Formation is equivalent to the Yeoman Formation, while the Fort Garry Member correlates with the Herald Formation.
References
edit- ^ a b c d Lexicon of Canadian Geologic Units. "Formation". Archived from the original on 2009-04-16. Retrieved 2010-02-01.
- ^ Foerste, A.F., 1929. The Ordovician and Silurian of the American arctic and sub-arctic regions. Denison Univ. Sci. Lab J., v. 24, p. 27-79.
- ^ Foerste, A.F., 1929b. The cephalopods of the Red River Formation of southern Manitoba. Denison Univ. Sci. Lab J., v. 24, p. 129-235.