", •••

; : t

CIRCUM-PACIFIC JURASSIC RESEARCH GROUP

l.G.C.P . #171

a guidebook to the Fernie Formation of

southern Alberta and British Columbia

LIBRARY

SEP 2 1 1982 CALGARY

lNST. SEDIMENTARY 5 PETROLEUM GEOLOGY

prepared by

Russe ll L. Hall University of Calgary

and

Nicholas J. Stronach Texaco Research Lab, Calgary

for the

FIRST FIELD CONFERENCE CALGARY, ALBERTA

August 9- 14, 1982

QE681 ISJ.C '"7 ~

-1982 \ ..,

I I I I I I I I I

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PART I. INTRODUCTION: THE FERNIE FORMATION

History of the Name Lithology Relation to other Units Palinspastic Restoration Biostratigraphy Sedimentary Facies Sedimentary Cyclicity Paleogeography Acknowledgements

DESCRIPTION OF LITHOSTRATIGRAPHIC UNITS IN THE FERNIE FORMATION

Nordegg Member Oxytoma Bed Red Deer Member Poker Chip Shale Lille Hember Rock Creek Member Highwood Member Pigeon Creek Hember CorbuZa munda Beds GrYphaea . Bed Grey Beds Ribbon Creek Hember Green Beds Passage Beds

PART II. ROAD LOG

Day I (Rock Creek, Carbondale River) Day 2 (Fording River . Grassy Mountain)

Day 3 (Bighorn Creek, Wi llson Creek) Day 4 (Ribbon Creek. Banff t r affic circle)

PART III . DESCRIPTION OF SECTIONS

Rock Creek Carbondale River Fording River Grassy Mountain Bighorn Creek Willson Creek Ribbon Creek Banff t r affic circle

Bibliogr aphy , .. Plates I - 10

i

1 3 3 3 5 5 8

10 10

11 11 11 11 12 12 14 14 15 15 16 16 17 18

19 20

21 22

27 30 32 35 37 40 42 44

46

,

2

WA PIABI

CA RDI UM

BlAIRMORE

BANff

2 46 02 4681012

'UNIT NOT PRESENT

1----,

ALL FA ULTS IN MOOSE MOUNTAIN

AREA

,

LI VI NGSTONE COLE MAN DYSON lllOUNTA1N BEAR CREEK AND [THERINGTON CR THRUSTS

FIVE MEDI UM SI ZE FAULTS EA CH 50

TO 100 MIL E S LONG

l a o Fault preference versus stratigraphy for Foothills and Front Ranges thrusts, gi ving relative measure of tendency of fault s to gather preferentiall y in spec ifi c units (Dahl strom, 1970)

1c. Paleogeographic map, Lower and Middle Jurassic (162-195 m.y.) (Ziegler, 1969)

FIGURE 1.

., "

" "" . "

------.----.-1b, ' Isopach map (in feet) for total

Jurass ic (McCrossan and Glaister.

I I

I

I I I I

• I I I I I I 11

UA _Ii A&4

3

Commonly- used subdivisions of the Fernie Formation which are briefly discussed below are (from bottom to top, approxi mately) : Nordegg Membes Oxytoma Bed , Red Deer Member, Poker Chip Shale, Lille Member. Rock Creek Member. Pigeon Creek Member, CorbulA munda Beds, Gryphaea Bed , Grey Beds, Green B~ds, Passage Beds. Several intervals -in the Fernie cannot be included in any of the above subd ivisions.

Whil e the type area for the Formation is around Fernie in south­east British Columbia, no specific locality was designated as a type section ; in fact we know of no single section in which all units within the Fernie Formation are exposed .

Lithology

Predominantly brownish, medium- to dark-grey and black shales; some massive with conchoidal fractu r e , others laminated and highly fractured, or papery; recessive . Interbedded units include dark phosphatic sandstones and limestones and black cherty limestones in the lower parts ; resistant, well- bedded siltstones, sandstones and black oolitic limestones, fossil shell accumulations and concretionary bands in the middle parts; and in the upper parts glauconitic sands, concretionary bands and brown-weathering siltstones and sandstones.

Relat i on to other units

In more wester l y sections the Fernie Formation r ests disconformably on Triassic units (Pardonet Formation in the north, Spray River Group elsewhere); farther east it unconformably overlies Paleozoic units. A significant hiatus is indicated during which erosion of Triassic strata occurred. The base of the Fernie Formation often consists of a chert/ phosphatic pebble conglomerate or a layer of shell debris . The oldest dated Fernie strata in central and southern parts of the Rockies are of Sinemurian age, rocks belonging to the basal Hettangian stage being unknown; recently, Hettangian ammonites from the lowermost Fernie have been reported i n northeastern British Columbia (Tozer, 1982).

The "Passage Beds" , representing the uppermost unit of the Fernie. are overlain conformably by the Weary Ridge Member of the Morrissey Formation (Kootenay Group) in southern a r eas ; Gibson (1977) has placed this contact at the base of the first continuous sandstone devoid of the interbedded siltstones and shales which typify the underlying "Passage beds" of the Ferni e Formation. A similar relationship exists between the "Passage Beds" and overlying Nikanassin Formation in the Foothills of central- northern Alberta and also in northeastern Br i tish Columbia with the overl ying Monteith Formation (Minnes Gr oup).

Palinspastic Restoration

Because of the extent of eastwardly-directed t hrusting which has occurred in the Foothil l s and Front Ranges of the Rocky Mountains, any discussions of depositional envir onments , paleogeography and paleoecology '1 must involve reconstructions in which present-day outcrops a r e res t ored to their approximate site of deposit ion farther west. Figure 2 shows such a re;storation (from Stronach, 1981) .

" . .... -.

,

4

.5

0 6

0 8

0 7

03

CANADA -- -----U.S.A.

Ca lg ary.

Fernie.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5. 6 .

7.

8.

.3

.4 Blairmore •• 1

0 4 0 1

0 2

Rock Creek

Carbonda l e River

Ford i ng River

Grassy Mountain

Bighorn Creek

Wi 1150n Creek

Ri bbon Creek

Banff traffic circle

---------"

, FIGURE 2 Palinspastic map with present-day (. ) and pre- orogen i c (0) positi on s of

Fern i e local i ties and leading edges of major thrusts superimposed on present- day posit i ons of towns and politica l boundaries . ~1od;f ; ed after Bally et al. (1966) and Stronach (1981) .

I I

• • J

• • • •

I

I I I I I I I I I I I I I I 1 1 I I "

Biostratigraphy

As noted by Frebold (1957). although the Fernie Formation spans nearly all of Jurassic time , it represents an incomplete depositional record for the Period, in that faunas equivalent to many of the Standard Zones of western Europe are missing . While more recent work by Frebold and others has filled in many of these " faunal gaps" , quite a few Zones are still not represented in the Fernie (Table I).

5

One of the factors contributing to the apparent lack of faunas of certain ages was the development, beginning in Late Bajocian time and extending through at least the entire Bathonian , of an East Pacific realm in the ammonites , with the appearance OL many endemic genera. Thus it has become necessary to establish local ammonite zonal schemes applicable to western North American sequences; correlation with the European Standard Zones is still being worked out for many such l ocal zones.

Establishment of good ammonite faunal sequences and distributions in f ormations such as the Fernie has also become important for comparisons with coeval faunas on the accreted terrains which comprise most of the Cordillera farther west. As recent ly demonstrated by Tipper (1981), northward displacement of faunal boundaries and distributions within these terrains can provide important s upporting evidence for their allochthonous or1g1ns . To achieve this, comparisons need to be made with faunas in the cratonically-derived sequences, such as the Fernie , which have remained in relatively fixed positions.

Sedimentary Facies Sediments of the Fernie Formation have often been dismissed as uniform

dark shale; however, in detail they show a wide range of sedimentary facies deposited in a number of settings . Much of the Fernie Fcrmation is composed of fine-grained mudstones which lack the grain-size variation and conspicuous sedimentary structures upon which interpretation of coarser, sandy facies is based. Consequently, investigation is necessarily of a more multidisciplin­ary nature . Macro- and micropaleontological data, along with measurements of the organic carbon content of the sediment, proved to be the most useful additional r esources in this particular study and allowed the categorisation of the sediments i nto eleven depositional facies (Plate II) .

The most significant observed correlat ion is that between the organic carbon content of the sediment and the associated body and trace fossil assemblages. It is interpreted that the degree of oxygenation of the bottom waters had a profound influence on the nature of the muddy sediments . Mudstones can be classified as "anaerobic" , "dysaerobic" or "aerobic" (Rhoads and Mor se, 1971) depending on the oxygen content of the water. Anaerobic sediments show maximum preservation of organic carbon with minimum biological activity . Fauna is mainly restric t ed t o plankton, with Bositra and Discinisca being the only benthic macrofossils , forms apparently specialised t o this type of extreme environment . Aerobic conditions, on

· the other hand, led to a fully diverse benthic microfauna, preserved burrows and local concentrations of shelly benthos. As a result of high biological activity, organic carbon contents are low and the shales are light greenish-grey or brownish- grey in color . Dysaerobic sediments are intermediate in their organic carbon content and show macrofauna only rarely; microfauna is l ow in diversity and is restr icted to agglutinated fora~!Qifera . In present-day oceans, the boundaries between these three zones ar.e placed at 0 . 1 and l.Oml of oxygen per litre of water ; these values may not have necessarily applied to Jurassic seas.

In general terms, the three- fold classification of mudstone facies is related to the depth of deposit ion . Anaerobic sediments occur in the

STAGE ZONE FERNIE AMMONITE FAUNAS FERNIE UN I TS

TITHONIAN H

r

KIMMERIDGIAN Passage

Beds

Buchia concentriaa, Amoeboceras Pseudocordata Dec ipiens

OXFORDIAN Caus tinigr ae ~reen Beds Plica tilis Cor da tum Cardioceras (Scarburgiceros) a lphaco!'datwn~ Mariae C. mountjoyi, Goliathiceras c f. CI'Qss'Wn" Cryphaea nebrascensis

ibbon

Lamber ti Creek . Member Athle t a

CALLOVIAN Corona tum Jason Calloviense Macrocephalus Im Zayoceras miettense

Discus KepplePites cf . tychonis" Iniskini tea intermedius , prey Beds

Aspidoides Rec t ecostat um

BATHONIAN Morriss ! ~arrenoceras henryi, W. imZayi, W. rierdonense J Cobbanites engleri pl'yphaea Subcontrac t us P4rareineckeia shelikofana, Cobbanites talkeetnanus Bed Progr acilis Paracephalites gLabrescens J P. hashimotoi, P. metastatu8 ~Ol'bula Zigzag Cranocephalitea coatidensus pnmda Beds

Par kinson! Garantiana Subfurcatum Negaaphaeroaera8 rotundum~ Spiroceras orbignyi 3 stephanocerati ds ighwood

BAJOCI AN Humphr iesianum Chondroceraa obZatum, ·C. allani~ Stephanoceras itinaae~ TeZoceras Member Sauzei cJ"iakmayi ; ArkelZoaeraa mclearni Laeviuscula Ovalis Sonninia gracili8, S . modesta3 ?Pe Zekodi tea, ?Wi tche llia Rock Creek '

Member Discites

--'.~-

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

STAGE ZONE FERNIE AMMONI TE FAUNAS FERNIE UNITS

Con cavum

AALENIAN Murchisonae Sci ssum Opalinum

<-, Levesque i Thouar sense ?Granrnoceras Variabilis Phymatoceras .. Haugiaaf f . navis .. H. aff . illustris .. 7Brodieia

lPoker TOARCI AN BHrons ?Peronoceras Fa!cifer Harpoceras exaratwn .. H. cf . f'alcifer .. DactyZioceras co17Ut1Wle, Chip

Shale Tenuicostatum Hildaites cf . serpintinum, Orthodactylites .. ?Whitbyiceras

Spina t um Amaltheu8 stokesi, gibbo8uS ed Deer

Margaritatus A. d. Member PLIENSBACHIAN Davoei

I bex J amesoni Phricodoceras cf. taylori , Rar i cos tatum Eoderooceras, G leviceras, ?Crucilobicerci.s Oxynotum

SI NEMURIAN Obtusum ?Epophioceras nnamed Turneri basal unit Semicostatum Arnioceraa .. Arniotites Bucklandi

Angulata HETTANGIAN Liasicus

Planorbis PBiloceras CPanaphylloceras) calliphyllum

8

deepest water where a lack of wave or current induced circulation impedes oxygen diffusion . However, they appear to occur in two distinct settings . In the Poker Chip Shale. they form a widespread "blanket" facies (seen at Fording River , Rock Creek and Bighorn Creek in the extreme south and north of the area) which passes very rapidly into the higher energy facies of the Rock Creek Member. The contact is well exposed at Rock Creek itself. In contrast, examples of organic enriched sedi ment higher in the sequence, in the lower Highwood Member, are very localised in their distribution, notably in the northwestern part of the area around the Kananaskis Provincial Park . This facies also occurs to a limited extent in the lower Highwood Member at Rock Creek. In both cases , the organic rich shal es are separated from, sands in the CorbuLa munda Beds by a thick , dysaerobic shale sequence . The Poker Chip Shale accumulated on a broad, shallow shelf, where circulation was damped at the edge, allowing the development of stagnant conditions in the shelf interior (Hallam, 1967) . In the Highwood Member , deposition took place in much deeper water and oxygen depletion resulted from a gradual decline in circulation with depth .

Sandstones occur in the Rock Creek Member, the lower Highwood Member (at Willson Creek) , the Pigeon Creek Member and the upper Passage Beds . In contrast to the Pigeon Creek Member and Passage Beds, which are composed of episodically deposited, interbedded sands and shales , the earlier units consist of more massive , continuously 'reworked sands . Grading , partial Bouma sequences , or beds with a hummocky-cross stratified base passing up into a ripple laminated top , imply a storm or ~ediment gravity flow or igin for the sands of the Pigeon Creek Member and Passage Beds . The Rock Creek Member and Highwood Member sandstones were possibly sheets swept onto the shelf and reworked by tidal currents, although locally bioturbation obscures original depositional structures in the latter . No well-preserved exampl es of shoreline sands are to be found in outcrop.

Sedimentary Cyclicity Sedimentary facies are not distributed at random but are ar r anged

I I I I I I I I 1

in five cycles, during eac~ of which a gradual shallowing of depositional 1 conditions took place . In genera l terms , anaerobic mudstones pass up into aerobic mudstones and sandstones . Each cycle r epresents a gradual regression ; the transgressive phases are marked by a cessation or a slowing of sedimentation . Thus, each cycle top consists of a condensed bed (facies K) which shows faunal concentrat ion relative to the rest of the sequence and early diagenetic modifications, notably phosphate or berthierine formation and early calcite cementation . Sedimentar y facies deepen abruptly at the base of the overlying cycle . Cyclicity can be attributed to sudden eustatic sea level rises and/or increments of. subsidence with sediment progradation in the intervening "s tillstand" .

Cycle I encompasses the Poker Chip Shale and the Rock Creek Member . A pebbly phosphate bed with bivalve and belemnite moulds can be seen ' at its top at Rock Creek. Cycle 2 i s thin and consists of a complex of facies at the base of the Highwood Member. It culminates in the regional faunal concentration of the Bajocian Limestone . The rest of the Highwood Member passes up into shallow water sediment of the Corbula munda Beds to form the third sedimentary cycle . It is in this transition that the f ull r ange of anaerobic to aerobic conditions is represented, best seen in che area of Kananaskis Park . In the south, cycle 3 is terminated by the Gryphaea Bed , similar to the Bajocian Limestone at the top of Cycle 2; to the north, however, the cycle ' s top cannot be recognised in the Pigeon Creek Member (e.g. at Ribbon Creek), nor to the southwest in the Grey Beds (e.g. at Fording River). Cycle 4 consists of the

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -rACIES !.I ntOI.OGY 'v.CllOrAt~A mCRO(ALO:;A ORG. C SEDIMEKTAR\' STRUCnrnr. DErO~lTiOSM. tNVIRO~"IE:NT

. .., < • 0-

~ 0

, Drs_nle- r lch Dark guy-bhck

I~ hdlohd. I"';'" Pl ·~Y-"·r.,ry duvall" BaBin o r _he l! .. lth \ 0"

Poker Chip S 'T~~:~r , shalea dhy ahllu. Sparse .,,~. Rat. II l'azln.l t.&l1, ci r eul.tlnn. An ae r obic Lo" "r HI"h""od II ""c. calcaucua 'ou ... I ~:rt o f Ribbon

H H • Rutrlcted Dens~_ 8 r~: , aU oy hl_nite. AR~lutlnned I'· ';'-' cluva~ • Disul muddy s hdf - ?110" • . Upper H1~hvood

ahdn . hd ... . ~" for ... , • • La" Dyner-obl e Pa n of Ribbon Cr uk or slderltlc " diversi t y. l1nober.

" "oncretions

• 00 0

" ". 'd

, Ullht grey Ll~ht ~r .. y - grey A~,lut1nn.d I"'· " Iluddy .hd f. Dyuuoble Cray Bed. uttricted .tl ey aha l ••. f eu • • . LOw

1 ~' ''" .. :;;;; slldu elle . I ,." dl"ut1ty. I >,',.

~ ". 0

" 1 ' '"." ." ' ,,

I D~~k grey -guy I' ·H. I;;;;' , , I~UddY ~~el f. V. r hbly B~ul Hlgtr...:.od l1e .. b"r ,Uty , h.l u. , U ... nlt lc. Local

0 bentonlU.I .

'" 00 • p. ~. 0

" ~ • "

, Cr un·brawn Lith . 8ftr,re"n· IIdelllnilu I'·'~'·' Sh.lu bloturb.ad . Inuddy ahe;:~~~erobIC. Pr oxl_al Corbul. _ undo Beds .hale a brown 'luI l e~. ahe l: OyHer. f<>U_<~IBt ConcretloM bond. I pRrt . " ept a t o .... ·'.eneuted .

InaTbed. o f Nuculid l dhe ... l t y . S. nd. ,,, .. Ilel ., turr ent • . hu l, . od nnd . Vene r Id . ,

, ln t e rbedd.d Paull,,\ 8,,1"lInl .. ,.

for •• ' :~~~lIt I',';',' ~.ndl . rlpplt IShelf or 11 ope . " ept by no .. • I'I"eon Cu"k Hnober t r ey nnds . nd o f jlu y Hne . I::,;' ... h. ".,"

I ~i::~ ·t ed o r .edillent ~ .. vlty • hale. I :~~~: tone .nd

dive r .!n • . Aerobic. shale • .

'" '" • n ". 0 00

, Interbedded P .. alld None I'" I::'" . d,,,_ 1 "-,,->.,, •. P .... ~e Bed. b r Olom u nd . of brOlom f lne _ ed f" ...... . . curr,n .. · ;~~ -a nd I hdu nnd .. on. and dl ve ra1<y.

I , "' _b"

n dl .. " nt "uvHy flo" • . s U ty .halu.

II erey sandstone Thinly bedded I'''' Non. I g:~; ' ! S~ndy , he! f r....,rked by hldal Rock Cruk He mber fine quor u on """ s andstone .

, Bloturb~ted Light &"~y fin e 1'00oe Agglutlnn.d

I" -" E Sandy shelf wi th low eoernl Bua! Hi ~h...,od H_bn. nnd .. one "' fo ...... Lo .. , . udl .. entn l on uu . Aerob i c. 018[11 Rock Cruk ! sl1tstone • . Occ . dlverd.y. , . 11~,.bcr , ,

, Cu"n Berth1trln .. ~r l.ch Bele .. nl ... s 1'lInor I,·'·" Shelf p. rtl.lly s t . rv ed o f Cree n Beds and , t lt s tones und l t onel Ind C ... r op"". aulutin.ted sedillent. lIyunoblc· . uob!c.

I ~!!~: I h.lu. Bivalves f ora. , .

K Cond.mUd. ~h"ll DeMe Ihelly Diverse Unknown 1'·'="" ~ Sh,,1f U l rv"d of udlJol! nt

::::>::.':~ concentrat ions llllcs ton". Local ...lluICI O , .11o"ln~ prolific hund .. , huna . colonh' t lon Ind .Arl y

10

(

Ribbon Creek Member and the Green Beds and is best seen in the southeast of the a r ea at Carbondale River . The Green Beds are an anomalously thick , although sparsely fossiliferous , berthierine- rich, condensed unit . The Passage Beds make up Cycle 5 , consisting of a thick, regressive sequence of sands and shales which culminates in the shoreline facies at the base of the overlying Kootenay Group .

Paleogeography During the early Jurassic, sediment was swept from the southeast

across a shallow shelf t o form the Poker Chip Shale and Rock Creek Member . During deposition of the Bajocian Limestone, however, the northwestern part of the area was deepened substantially and a marked distinction between shelf (CorbuLa munda Beds) and basin (upper High­wood Member) arose in Cycle 3 . Sediment input was still largely from the southeast . During the l ater part of Cycle 3 two westerly sediment influxes were initiated by the first phases of uplift in what is now south-central British Columbia : the Grey Beds in the southwest of the area and the Pigeon Creek Member in the northwest. Thus , quartzarenites characterise the Rock Creek Member, de r ived from mature sour ce areas on low-lying l and to the east, whereas sands more variable in composition occur in the later units. Chert and possibly metamorphic and volcanic clasts have been recognised. Basin infilling by the Passage Beds took place largely from the south and southwest (Hamblin and Walker, 1979) .

Acknowledgements Gratitude is expresse~ ,to Michele Braun for assisting with some

of the typing and Rick Larush for assistance with the illustrations. R. G. Blackadar, Geological Survey of Canada , Ottawa, gave permissi?n to re-publish photographs from G.S.C. publications and provided some copies free of charge. Part of the costs of this guidebook were provided from a Conference Grant from the University of Calgary .

• • • ,

I I I I I I I I I I I I I I

I I I I

DESCRIPTION OF LITHOSTRATIGRAPHIC UNITS

IN THE FERNIE FORMATION

1. Nordegg Member. Sinemurian. This unit is not further discussed as it will not be seen on this fleldtrip .

2. Oxytoma bed. Sinemurian . This unit i s not further discussed as it will not be seen on this fieldtrip .

3 . Red Deer Member. Pliensbachian.

Author : H. Frebolrl , 1969 .

11

Type Locality : Above t he falls on Bighorn Creek, north of the Red Deer River , Ya-Ha- Tinda Ranch . Locality 5 of this fieldtrip.

Lithology : Predominantly dark grey to black shal e with thin , platy, dark grey to black limestones , 1-2 em thick and containing rich bivalve faunas at a few horizons.

Thickness and Distribution: Only known immeaiately to north and south of Red Deer River; between 7 and 8 . 2 m thick in Bighorn and Wigmo r e Creeks . Yields distinct i ve fauna of ammonites (Amaltheus) ~ belemnites and bivalves with some crinoid and fish r emains .

Relation to other Uni ts: Overlies several units of differing age: at Limestone Mountain , the Oxytoma Bed (Lower Sinemurian); in Bighorn Creek, beds with Lower Sinemurian arietitid ammonites ; in Wigmore Creek, shales of Upper Sinemurian age . The contact with the overlying Poker Chip Shale is nowhere exposed.

Fauna and Age: AmaltheuB Btoke8i~ A. cf . gibbosus~ other smooth amaltheids , aptychi , Atl'aatites cf. wittei J bivalves , crinoids and fish remains. Late Pliensba~hian, zone of Amaltheus margari tatus .

4 . Poker Chip Shale . Toarcian .

Author: J. Spivak , 1949 .

Type Locality: Based on wells in the Tur ner Valley a r ea .

Lithology : Black , fissile , calcareous shales weathering to thin, papery sheets . Thin, hard, cemented units with abundant impressions of ammoni tes (Harpoc.eras ~ Daaty l iocera;) J b ivaI ves (Bosi tra) and inarticulate brachi opods . Quartz crystal aggregates and small pyrite cubes at some horizons .

Thickness and Distribution : Although a recessive unit , occurs in out­crop throughout the Foothills and Front Ranges of Alberta , northeastern and southeastern British Columbia. Total thick­ness varies from a minimum of 10- 11 m at Rock Creek near Frank

12

5.

6 .

Relation

Fauna and

and Canyon Creek, Moose Mountain area up to 38 m in Morris Creek and Fiddle River north of Jasper . Identif ied in the subsurface of the eastern Foothills wher e it is said t o r ange in t hickness from 1 . 8 to 14 . 4 m; pinches out eastwar d in southern Alberta by onlap ove~ Mississippian carbonat es .

to other Units : Rests conformably on older Pliensbachian or Sinemurian strata of the basal Fernie (For ding River, Bighorn Creek) or forms the basal unit of the Fer ni e , resting directly and unconformably on Tr iassic or Paleozoic sediments (Morris Cr eek and Fiddle River in Jasper Park and Canyon Cr eek in Moose Mouritain area). This unit is not a l ateral equivalent of the Nordegg Member as sugges t ed by Spivak (1949 ) .

Age : Barpoaeras cf. exaratum, Daatylioaeras aff . commune, ?Phymatoceras , Baugia, ?Grammoceras, Phlyseogrammoceras, Bolcobelus, Bositra, ap tychi. Early , Middle and Late Toarcian all part-ially r epresented.

Lille Member ?Bajocian

Author: F . H. McLearn, 1927 .

Type Locality : Foot of the southern slope of Gr assy Mountain, 7km of Blairmore; grid r eference 861051, Blairmore 1 : 50 ,000 graphic sheet. 82 G/9 . Locality 4 of this fieldtrip .

north t opo-

Lithology : Bed of calcareous grit and coquina, comprised l argely of bival ve shells ; especially abundant are immature specimens of oysters .

Thickness

Relation

Fauna and

and Distribution : 2 . 25 m thick at Grassy locality f r om which t hi s horizon has been

Mountain , r eported .

the sole

to other units : At Grassy Mountain r ests conformably on unfoss­iliferous , platy, gr ey- black siltstone ( ?Rock Creek Member); upper contact unknown.

Age: The bivalves Chlamys mcaonnelli, ammonites have been r ecovered from the Bajocian age is based on s tratigraphic

Grypr.aea unit and

and Ostrea; no its assumed

position a l one .

Rock Creek Member Lower Baj ocian .

Author : P. S . Wa rren , 1934.

Type Locality : Headwater s of Rock Creek on the east slope Range , about 6 km due north- east of Frank ; grid Blairmore 1 : 50,000 topogr aphic sheet , 82 G/9 .

of Livingstone r efer ence 918994 ,

History : Warren (1934) pr oposed the name Rock Creek Member fo r a marker horizon of calcareous sandstone . 1 . S- 9 . lm thick which was be t ween 15 and 45m above the base of the Fern i e . Later in the same paper, Warren refers to a rich and dis tinct i ve fauna with Baj ocian ammonites (Teloceras, Stephanoceras, Sterrmatoceras, Chondroc.eras)

• • '. • • • • • • • • • • • III

• III .. and biva lves , which has since been known as the "Teloceras .fauna" ,

occurring in the Rock Creek Member. I n fact, at the type l ocality . on Rock Creek, ammonites r epresenting the so-called "Teloceras fauna" I

"

I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I

~Lithology :

Thickness

13

are found in large, calcareous concretions in dark, rusty weathering shales of the Highwood Member some 15m above the calcareous sand­stone. Quartz siltstones which Bre equivalent to the Rock Creek Member (as originally defined by Wa~ren) occur at a number of localities: Daisy Creek summit , Livingstone Gap, Sheep River and Fording River . In each case , the "Teloceras fauna" occurs some distance above and not within the siltstone unit . The name "Rock Creek Member" has subsequently been used for a sequence of dark grey, rusty weathering shales with concretions and beds of sandy shales or dark limestones which contains the abundant bivalves , ammonites and belemnites of the "TeZocel'as fauna" (Frebold, 1957). More recently (Frebold, 1976) , the term was further expanded to include a calcareous sandstone with Sonninia along with grey to greyish-brown, rusty weathering shales with concretions immediately underlying the sandstone . As thus defined , it would include all Fernie strata lying between the Poker Chip Shale (Toarcian) and the Grey Beds (Bathonian) and which have yielded faunas of Bajocian age . Thus. the Rock Creek Member. initially defined as a lithc­stratigraphic marker horizon. has been expanded to include a diversity of lithologies and is defined on the basis of contained ammonite faunas. i.e. it has become a biostratigraphic unit . It is suggested that the term should be used as originally applied , and the following des~riptions are fo r that unit .

Resistant grey to grey-brown , quartzose siltstones and sandstones; quartz grains sub rounded to subangular , with calcite cement, some­times poikilotopic, which increases in amount towards the base of the unit. Parallel-bedded, with individual beds averaging Scm in thickness, becoming thicker (lOcm) and coarser upwards . Wavy lamination is common and represents the only internal structure . The top of the Rock Creek Member is marked by two beds of coarser sandstone with pebbles , small phosphatic pellets, oxidised pyritic masses and poorly preserved bivalves. Farther north at Livingstone Gap and Sheep River this unit is more platy bedded and silty, with individual beds averaging 3 em .

and Distribution : This unit forms a cliff in the headwaters of Rock Creek 22m in height; it thins northwards (19m at Livingstone Gap, 4m on Sheep River) and westwards (S . 2m in Lodgepole Creek area, O.25m on Fording Ri ver).

Relation to other Units : Gradational contact with shal es of the underlying Poker Chip Shale ; usually abrupt change to dark shales of over­lying Highwood Member .

Fauna and Age ; Sonninia~ Pleuromya; Early Bajocian . Much farther north in the Cadomin-Jasper area, sandston2s with abundant bivalves , belemnites and annnonites of the TlTeloce1"Qs fauna" have been correlated with the Rock Creek Member ; if such a correlation is accepted , then the Rock Creek Member in the nort hern Foothils and Front Ranges is younger than around the type locality .

14

7.

8 .

Highwood Member . Bajocian - ?Bathonian . • Author : N. J . Stronach, 1981.

Type Locality : Wilkinson Creek, Highwood Range area . •

Lithology: Dark grey , rusty weathering shales with chippy or conchoidal • cleavage; black, papery and organic-rich in part . Near the base of the member are some dark gr ey, bioturbated sands . Characteristic interbeds consist of bands of calcareous concretions , bentonites. belemnites concentrated in a r usty . gypsiferous and goethitic matrix and the Bajoc i an limestone, an i mportant marker horizon .

Thickness and Distribution : Occurs throughout the outcrop belt of the Fernie, ranging f r om 17m in Canyon Creek to 157m in Wilkinson Creek .

Relation to other Units : Sharp contact with the underly.ing sands of the Rock Creek Member , but where this Member is absent it r ests direc t ly on

• the shales of the Poker Chip Shale . Upper contact usually gradational to the overlying green-brown shale of the Pigeon Creek Member or the Corbuta munda Beds . • • • • • •

•

Fauna and Age : Belemnites at many levels, with a rich bivalve- ammonite fauna in the Bajocian Limestone : Chondroceras obZatum~ C. aZUxni , Stephanoceras itinsae belong to the Zone of Chondroeeras oblatum which i s latest Early Bajocian .

Pigeon Creek Member. ?Bathonian .

Author: M. B. B. Crockf ord. 1949 .

Type Locality : Headwaters of Pigeon Creek in tributary flowing down north-east face of Mt . Allan; grid reference 271498 , Canmore 1:50,000 topog­raphic sheet, 82 0/3 E.

Lithology : Regularly interbedded hard, grey calcareous s i ltstones and grey shales ; light brown to pale grey weathering surfaces . Si ltstone beds usually lacking internal structure except towards top of unit where they show some lamination ; individual beds 0 . I - O.4m thick,. becoming thicker towards top of unit. I ntercalated shales finely laminated . This unit as a whole provides a r eSis t ant , well-exposed marker horizon which usually forms small cliffs and waterfalls in

Thickness

str eam sections . I

and Distribution : At the type section i n Pigeon Cr eek, 44m , thinning ~ t o t he south in Evans-Thomas Creek where i t is 20- 25m thick .Known only as far south as Highwood Pass and northwards t o Cascade Valley .

Relation t o other Units : Conformably Member ; overl a in, probabl y Ribbon Creek Member .

overl i es dark grey shales of Highwood conformably, by dark shales of the

" Fauna and Age: No ammonites or other faunal elements have been r ecovered from this unit. Its stratigraphic pOSi tion and presumed equivalence to the Grey Beds wou l d suggest a Bathonian age .

I I 9.

I I I I I I I 10.

I I I I I I

I I I I

15

CorbuLa munda Beds. Bathonian .

Author: F. H. McLearn , 1929 .

Type Locality: South slope of Grassy Mountain , approximately 7km north of Blairmore; grid reference 861051, Blairmore 1 : 50 , 000 t opographic sheet , 82 G/9. Locality 4 of this fieldtrip.

Lithology : Brownish-gr ey , silty shales with green hue; interbeds of coq uina and fine-grained, hard, calcareous sandstones up to 45cm thick; abundant bivalves and some ammonites . Bored and reworked concretions .

Thickness and Distribution : 30m thick at the type l ocal ity with fOSSiliferous , hard , ca l careous bands only in upper 21m . Restricted to southwest e rn Alberta .

Relation to other Uni t s : In par t a l ateral equivalent of the Grey Beds . Capped by the Gryphaea Bed j underlain by grey shales of the Highwood Membe r .

Fauna and Age : Paraaephalites glabresaens~ bivalves belonging t o the Zone of Early Bathonian age .

P. metastatu.s .. PCU'Qcephalites

P. hashimotoi and glabrescens of

Gryphaea Bed . 4

Bathonian .

Author : F . H. McLearn , 1929.

Type Locality : Best exposed in several r oadcut s on the south slope of Grassy Mountain app r oximately 7km north of Blairmorej grid reference 861051, Blairmore 1 : 50 , 000 topographic s heet , 82 G/9. Locality 4 of this trip.

Lithology : Coquina consisting largely of va l ves of Gryphaea impressimarginata but contain i ng many other bivalves which are also common in the underlying Corbula munda Bed s , some ammonites , belemnites.

Thickness and Distr i bution: 1. 2m thick, with sharp upper and lower surfaces. Known only i n the Blairmore area (Grassy Mountain , Carbondale River , Daisy Creek and Rock Creek) .

Rela tion to other Units : Represent s the uppermost fossiliferous horizon of the Corbula munda Bed s and i s conformably overlain by s hales of the Grey Beds , of which it i s cons ide r ed to be, in part, laterally equivalent .

Fauna and Age : Warrenoaeras henryi~ W. imlayi .. W. rierdOnense .. Kepplerites spp . , Cobbanites engleri~ Gryphaea impressimarginata and many other bival ves (refer to Plate 10). This fauna defines the Zone of Warrenoceras henryi which has been equated with the Zones of Warren­oaeras aodyense and Kepplerites aostidensus from the U. S . wes tern interior wh i ch are of mid- Bathonian age .

- -

16

--- --------------------------------

11. Grey Beds. Bathonian .

Author : H. Frebold. 1957 .

Type Locality: Alexander Creek , Brit ish Columbia , approximately Skm no r th of Highway 3. This locality is now difficult of access; another exposure is that on the northwest bank of Fording River, 20km north of Sparwood, B. C. ; grid reference 541296 , Tornado Mountain 1:50 , 000 topographic sheet . 82 G/lS .

Lithology : Med i um grey, blocky to conchoidal-~racturing. non-bedded shales , sometimes with greenish tint , calcareous and silty. In other areas , darker and laminated, with concretions, especially near the top .

Thickness and Distribution : 68.6m at Alexander Creek, 48m on Fording River , 32m at Rock Lake north of Jasper . In the Blairmore region the Grey Beds a r e in part replaced laterally by the Corbula munda Beds and the Gryphaea Bed . Farther north in sections on Evans­Thomas, Ribbon and Pigeon Creeks and in Cascade River valley, the well-bedded siltstones of the Pigeon Creek Member are believed t o be lateral equivalents of the Grey Beds .

Relation to other Units : Lower boundary gradational to darker, ~ore laminated and often rusty weathering shales of the Highwood Member. Overlain conformably , but with sharp lithological change, by the green, berthierine sands of the Green Beds; this boundary represents a significant hiatus in deposition probably corresponding t o most of the Callovian stage.

Fauna and Age : Paracephalites glabrescens~ P. hashimotoi~ Cobbanites cf . C. taZkeetnanus~ Parareineckeia cf. P . shelikofana~ Warrenoceras spp . and Kepplerites cf . K. tychonis have been found in the Grey Beds at various l ocalities in southe rn Alberta and B.C . This fauna r epresents part of the Early and also Late Bathonian . Farther north near Jasper , Kepplerites mclearni and Warrenoceras spp. have been collected from strata corr elated with the Grey Beds . I f such a correlation is valid " then the Grey Beds range through the entire Bathonian and perhaps into the Lower Callovian with the presence of ImZayoceras miettense , a zonal index which is an endemic form not yet found in association with other ammonites , but occurring in strata above the Zone of Kepplerites mcZearni.

12 . Ribbon Cr eek Member . ?Oxfordian

Author : N. J . Stronach, 1981 .

Type Locality : Ribbon Creek, gr id reference 294436, Spray Lakes 1 :50 , 000 t opographic sheet , 82 J/14; neither the base of the unit is exposed here.

Reservoir nor the top

Lithology: Dark gr ey , silty, clayey, shales with lar ge (1m diameter), orange weathering s ideritic concretions; in the south , these concretions are lacking and there a r e bentonite horizons in the lower parts of the section .

Thickness and Distribution : Occurs throughout most of the outcrop belt of the

• • • • • • • • • • • • l •

I I I I I I I

13.

I I I I I I I I I I I I ....... ...

17

Fernie in sou t hern Alberta. at Grassy Mountain and Daisy in Pigeon Creek , near Banff .

Ranges in th ickness from about 18m Creek in the south to S7m farther north

Relation to other Units : In the south the Ribbon Creek Member is overlain by t he Green Beds, but elsewhere it grades upwards into the Passage Beds by the gradual incoming of thin , s ilty s tringers . Abruptly overlies eit her the Gryphaea Bed or , farther north , the Pigeon Creek Member .

Fauna and Age : At the Banff traffic cir cle section, Frebold (1962) recorded "Turbo " ferniensis f r om dark shales now correlated with this Member. which indicates an Oxfordian age . Near Jasper, dark shales with large concretions which are partly interbedded wi th, and also overlie, several beds of gr een , glauconitic sand , have yielded Oxfordian fossils: Cardiaceras~ Buahia concentrica . The straigraphy of this a r ea is not yet c l early understood (Frebold et aZ . ~ 1959).

Green Beds. Oxfordian .

Author : F . H. McLearn , . 1927 .

Type LQcality : McLearn introduced this term in a general descr i ption of the Fernie sequence in the Blairmore a r ea with no mention of a specific l ocali t y . In t his area the Green Beds are best seen i n st rat igr aphic s uccessi on and most eas ily accessible on the north bank of Carbondale Rive r near its junction with Webb Creek , approximately l5km south of Bellpvue ; grid ~eference 894814, Beaver Mines 1 : 50 , 000 topo­graphic s heet. 82 G/8 . Locality 2 of this fieldt r ip .

Lithology : Da r k green t o bright green , berthi erine ("chamosite") sandstone or siltstone with irregular inte r beds of purplish-grey siltstone and grey , ca l careous concretions which weather yellow- brown .

Thickness and Distribu tion: Known t hroughout the Foothills and Front Ranges from the international bord er t o the Peace River area in the sub­surface where it forms an excellent marker horizon l.5-9.lm thick . On Carbondale River 15.8m t hick, t hinning northward and westward . Unknown in outcrop throughout most of southern Albe rta , but occurs again at Willson Cr eek (Locality 6 of this fie ld t r ip) and far t he r north nea r Jasper .

Relation t o othe r Units : Overlie conformably eithe r the Gr ey Beds or the Ribbon Creek Membe r in the south; underlying units farther north not clearly defined . In most o~tcrcip s ec t ions overlain abruptly and conformab l y by the grey shales and sil t y stringers of the Passage Beds.

Fauna and Age : Usually characterised by abundant , large belemnites , fossil wood.. "Turba n f errniensis and Buchia concentrica ~ and have been placed in the Oxfordian . In the section on Rocky River , east of

~:' Jaspe r , several green , glauconitic units with interbedded gr ey . shales have yielded Cardioceras (ScarbwogiaerasJ alphacorda:twn ..

Cardioceras mountjoyi .. Goliathiaeras cf. crassum and Gryphaea neorascensis (Early Oxfordian) and Buahia concentrica (Late Oxfordian or Early Kimmer.idgian) .

•

... 39 .....

18

14 . Passage Beds _ ?Kimmeridgian . I Author: F . H. McLearn. 1927. I Type Locality: Blairmore area . Probably the best exposed and most easily

accessible section is that just east of the Banff traffic circle on Highway 1; grid reference 027740, Banff 1 : 50,000 topographic I sheet , 82 0/4 E. Locality 8 of this fieldtrip .

Lithology:Lower part dark grey shal es fracturing into small blocky to I splinter y f r agments; elongated , yellow- brown weathering concretions often present . Thin (60cm) sil ty bands, weathering brown in color , occur higher in the section producing a r egularly banded or I ribboned appearance . The abundance and thickness of these silts t ones increase upwards through the section . and they consist of coarser , sandier sediment. They exhibit parallel lamination, hummocky and ripple cross- lamination, bioturbation, sale marks and plant debris . I

Thickness and Distribution : The Passage Beds crop out in mos t sections of the Fernie Formation in the Foothills of Alberta and north-easter n B.C. and form t he uppermost unit of this Formation . They range up to 185m in thickness .

Relation to other Units : Conformably overlie the Green Beds where these are present , with abrupt changes in color and rock type ; elsewhere they overlie Grey Beds . In southern Alberta and B.C . t he Passage Beds grade up into the Kootenay Group (basal Weary Ridge Member) and Gibson (1979) has placed the contact at the base of the first continuous sandstone devoid of the interbedded shales and siltstones which a re typical of the PaSsage Beds.

Fauna and Age : No dateable macrofauna has been recovered from t he Passage Beds but from the stratigraphic position of the uni t, between Oxfordian Green Beds and t he basal Kootenay which has produced s pecimens of Titanites oaaidentaZis of Portlandian age , the Passage Beds are usually assigned a Kimmeridgian age .

~

•

I J

I I I I I I

I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I

Dista nce km

(cumulative)

0.0

70.5

79.0

95.5

104 .8

108 .6

123.0

141. 2

141. 2

142.3

CIRCUM-PAC IF IC JURASSIC RESEARCH GROUP FIELD CONFERENCE FERNI E FORMATION

PART II. RDAD LOG

DAY 1

19

On Highway 2 proceed south trom just west of Fort Macleod (161 km) ; this point .

CaLgary to junction with Highway 3 distance measurements begin trom

Turn right (west) onto Highway 3 . Proceed through Peigan Indian Reservation at fu>oaket" r.1ith Oldman River and Porcupine Bills to the right (north) .

TUrn right (north) onto North Burmis Road (gravel) . Gently folded Cretaceous sediments on the right, Livingstone Range on left . At 77 . 5 km pass Milvain Ranch on the left; permission required for acceS8 to Rock Creek section .

Turn left through gate onto trail leading past gas plant; continue westward up Rock Creek (several gates and care needed on some sections and creek crossings) . Park vehicles at top of steep descent to croBsing of Rock Creek~ approximately 4 Jon along trail; walk up hill westward to reach exposed Fernie section in creek to your right .

LOCALITY 1. Rock Creek secti on , Ferni e Formati on Descri ption of sect i on begins page

Return to Highway 3.

TUrn right (west) onto Highway 3 and proceed to village of Bellevue .

TUrn left (south) onto road leading to Hillcrest Mines~ cross Crowsnest River and continue straight through village (trailer park on the right) .

1ttke right fork onto gravel road through Texas gate immediately after passing Falls Creek greenhouses on the left . Continue south on this road towcz.rds Lynx Creek Recreational area . In roadcuts along the descent down the eastern side of Webb Creek valley are various exposures of the Fernie Formation~ many strongly defor,med (includes Gl'yphaea bed~ Bathonian grey shales~ Green Beds and Passage Beds) . At foot of hill the road swings sharply toward the west (right) to follow north bank of Carbondale River.

PaI'k on track Zeading into abandoned gravel pit on right .

LOCALITY 2. Carbondal e River section, Fern ie Formation Descri pt i on of sect i on beg ins page

Return to Highway 3 at Bellevue . , . TuPn Zeft (weBt) onto HigJ.,Jay 3

General interest stop at scene of Frank Slide

Continue west to BLairmore; end of road log f or day 1

20

Di st ance km

(cumulative ) 9. 0

15.8

20 . 8

25.0

37. 5

43. 0

56.6

59.4

123 . 4

132. 9

DAY 2

Travel west on Highway 3 from Blairmore~ passing through town of Coleman . Distance measurements begin from centre of BZairmore .

PulZ of! on right side of road to ' view Crowsnest Mountain klippe to the north . Lewis Thrust has placed Devono- Mississippian rocks on Upper cretaceous .

Cross trace of Lewis Thrust .

Summit of Crowsnest Pa88~ which marks the Alberta-British Columbia border . "Discovered" by Palliser Expedition in 1860. From here water flows west into the Pacific Ocean~ north- east into Hudson ' s Bay .

basal Just after crossing bridge over Carbon Creek~ small outcrops Fernie Formation (Sinemurian) on either side of road.

of

• •

• • Turn right (north) onto road to Elk VaUey and Elkford; strip mine I

workings of B. C. Coal to north. and south of road are in Kootenay Formation . ' (Lower Cretaceous and uppermost Jurassic) . Cross Elk River .

T- intersection; turn left onto Elkford road .

TUrn right (east) onto road leading to Line Creek mine of Crowsnest Resources . Immediately after crossing bridge over Elk River, turn left onto gravel forestry road .

Immediately after crossing bridge over Fording River~ turn right onto narrow track leading up steep incline and following north/west bank of Fording River; proceed approximately 2.3 km along this track to second cleared area . Lower Fernie section exposed at base of very steep bank to the right (Toarcian) While Bajocian-Bathonian strata are exposed in next meander downstream .

LOCALITY 3. Fording Ri ver secti on, Descript ion of section

Return to Blairmore .

Ferni e Formati on begins page

In Blairmore, turn left (north) at the traffic lights onto 29th St~eet, .cro~s bridge over Crowsnest River~ then follow gravel road up sl~ght ~ncltne to left~ through gate onto old mine property . Bear left around abandoned mine buildings and coal dwnps~ then curve sharply to right and follow main track up hill with more abandoned buildings in trees

• • • • • Ii

" to right . Continue on this road to the foot of Grassy Mountain .

FOur-way sharp curve to leading off to

intersection of tracks; turn left and follow up hill the right and park at junction with next small track the left (133 .6 km)

around .

LOCALITY 4. Grassy Mountain section, Ferni e Formation Descri pt ion of sect ion begins page

,~" Return to Highway ;3 at Blairmore, then to Calgary . End of road log for day 2 .

•

I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I

Distance km

(cumulative)

13.0

94.4

94.5

97 . 7

11 4.5

117 . 2

139.9

165. 9

171.7

21

DAY 3 Travel west on Highway lA from Calgary to Cochrane . ~oceed

straight through town; at intersection with Highway 22 keep stpaight ahead on Highway lA . Distance measurements begin from this point .

TUrn right (north) onto Nordegg Forestry Trunk Road3 Route 9403

just after passing gas plant on the left .

Mountain Aire Lodge and bridge over Red Deer River.

TUrn left (west) onto narrow road leading to Ya - Ha Tinda ranch .

Take left fork .

Gate into Ya - Ha Tinda ranch .

Bridge over Bighorn Creek; park vehicles here and follow trail up east side of creek along gorge to base of Bighorn Falls (cut into Triassic Sulphur Mountain Formation of the Spray River Group) . Ascend trail to top of falls and beginning of Fernie section .

LOCALITY 5. Bighorn Creek sect i on. Description of section

Fernie Format ion begi ns page

Return to Route 940 at the Red Deer R~ver crossing .

TUrn left (nor th) onto Route 940 and proceed with care .

TUrn left onto road leading to Shell gas plant .

Immediately a~er hairpin bend to the left~ park at bottom of hill and descend into valley of Willson Creek; cross where convenient and proceed downstream to large exposure of grey shales .

LO CALITY 6. Will son Creek section. Description of section

Fernie Formation begins page

Return to Route 940 and then to Calgary . End of road log for '"'Y 3.

22

,

Distance km

(cumulative )

44. 5

63 . 0

85 .6

111.4

120.9 148:2 160

. \r ...

DAY 4

Travel west on Higmxz.y 1 from . Calgary toward Banff. Distance measurements begin from bridge over the Bow River on Highway 1 on the western outskirts of Calgary .

Descend onto Morley Flats where depositional features such as drumlin8~ eskers and kame terraces are visible .

TUrn of! south onto Kananaskis Forestry Trunk road (Route 40)

TUrn right (west) onto road leading to Ribbon creek Recreational area and follow to parking lot just beyond Youth Hostel (approximately l.6 km) . Follow trail up north side of Ribbon Creek from the parking lot through Triassic Sulphur Mountain FOP!mation of Spray River Group to Bajocian limestone of the Fernie Formation .

LOCALITY 7. Ri bbon Creek secti on, Fern; e Format; on Description of secti on begi ns page

Retu:rn to Hig'hway 1 .

Turn left (west) onto Highway 1 and proceed toward Banff.

General interest stop to view McConnell Thrust and Mount Yamnuska . Enter Banff National Park

I

I I I I I I

Park on right hand side of road just before bridge over Cascade I River.

LOCALITY 8 . Banff traffic circl e section, Fernie Formation I Descri ption of section begins Eage

NO HAMM ERS AT THI S OUTCROP PEASE Return to Calgary; end of road log for day 4.

I

I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I

, ( , (

, BAN F F t ... ,

• "

" Qeer .. , , , .. LAKE , LOUISE ,

NAT IONAL ;;

,

q, " • • " I ~ , ' . ..

~ BANFF

......... : " ....... '

..... ". . -L PAR K,l -, _ CANMORE , , rJ I: -. ... r! .~ ~ ..

I ~\ 0" " . \

t" ....... · <? ._ , ~O

~~~~~~~SU~NDRE Red Oeer

\ ~ ~, : KANANASKIS I PROVINCIAL ; PAR K

'..1"'-'1 , BRITISH

, , COLUMBIA

, \ ~ , \ ,

< , I

3 [' .", •

I ,

J

FIGuaE 3. General locality m~p

ALBERTA ,

J • I

1. Rock Creek 2 . Carbondale River 3 . Fording River 4 . Grassy Mountain 5 . Bighorn Creek 6 . Willson Creek 7 . Ribbon Creek 8 . Banff Traffic Circle

100 10203040 I , I I I I I !

kilo .... !.,.

23

24

LOCALITY 1. Rock Creek, Alberta. Grid Reference 918994, Blairmore 1:50,000 tapa sheet, 82 G/9 .

LOCALITY 3. Fording River, British Columbia. Grid References: (a) 543297, (b) 543297 and (c) 540295, Tornado Mountain 1:50,000 tapa sheet, 82 G/15.

FIGURE 4. Detailed locality maps

LOCALITY 2. Carbondale River, Alberta. • Grid References: (a) 897813 and (b) 893814, Beaver Mines 1:50,000 tapa sheet, 82 G/8 .

LOCALITy 4. Grassy Mountain, Alberta. Grid Reference 862052, Blairmore 1:50,000 tapa sheet, 82 G/9.

I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I

H

R N C H

LOCALITY 5. Bighorn Creek, Alberta. Grid References: <aJ OOB330, (bJ 010333 and (cJ 016336, Barrier Mountain 1:50,000 tapa sheet, B2 0/12.

LOCAL ITY 7. Ribbon Creek, Alberta. Grid Reference 298437, Spray Lakes Reservoir 1:50,000 tapa sheet, 82 J/14.

FIGURE 4 (cont 'd)

. . 25

LOCALITY 6. Willson Creek, Alberta. Grid Reference 171418, Limestone Mountain 1:50,000 tapa sheet, 82 0/14.

LOCALITY B. Banff traffic circle, Alberta. Grid References 029737 to 035733, Banff 1:50,000 tapa sheet, 82 0/4.

I I I I I I I I I

I I I I I I

CIRCUM-PACIFIC JURASSIC RESEARCH GROUP FIELD CONFERENCE

PART III. DESCRIPTION OF SECTIONS

DAY 1, LOCALITY 1. ROCK CREEK , ALBERTA (Fig . 5a ,b; P1.1a- c)

Introduction: The geology of the Fernie Formation at this locality i s quite complex structurally and has been described in detail by Hall and Stbnach (1981). Nearly all of the usually r ecognized units , within the Fernie Formation crop out in the head of Rock Creek on the eastern flank of the Livingstone Range in southwestern Alberta . The area lies ahove (west of) the Livingstone thrust and is overthrust from the west by the Rocky Mountain Formation (Carboniferous), which forms the Livingstone Range. The Jurassic rocks occur in a broad , southward-plunging anticline wi t h a tight , over turned syncline in the footwall beneath t he overthrust Carboniferous strata . The regional geology has been d.epicted by Norris (1955).

Stratigr aphy : The l owest unit within the Fernie at this locality is a fossiliferous sandstone, with coarse shelly debris and bone f r ag­~ents, which forms the core of the anticlinal structure . Above this are the typical paper y black shales of the Poker Chip Shale with abundant Bositra and Harpoceras (Toarcian). The main anticlinal structure is clearly outlined by the resistant, fine sandsto~e con­stituting the Rock Creek Member sensu stricto ; this is the type lo­cality of this unit as defined by by Warren (1934). Next comes a continuous sequence of dark grey and brown shales with concretionar y bands and some cemented siltstone beds , over 50 m thick, and in which are found several f ossil horizons yielding Bajoc i an faunas . In the southern part of the area are isolated outcrops representing several units in the upper Fernie : the Grey Beds (with i mpressions of Keppler­itea cf . K. tyahonis of late Bathonian age , PlateS) , the Gryphaea Bed (Bathonian), the Gr een Beds (Oxfordian), and the Passage Beds, which form the top of the Fernie.

A detailed section through t he middle parts of the Fernie at Rock Creek is shown in Fig . bb ; it was measured on the south bank of Rock Creek.

Near the base of the section is the Rock Creek Member sensu ~tric­~ , a fine-grained quartz arenite with irregular, wispy cross lamina­tion . It is parallel-bedded with two beds near the top, each 0 . 6 -0.7 m thick, characterized by a well- developed cal cite cement and phos­phatic and pyritic gr ains; the t opmost part becomes shaly and is poorly consolidated . This resistant unit forms a cliff about 22 m high imme­diately north of Rock Creek . (Plate 1). Some poorly preserved Pleuromya and a faint impression of a keeled ammonite with gently falcoid ribbing (Plate 5) are the only fossils known from this locality.

Immediately above the sandstones of the Rock Creek Member are blocky .~ grey-brown shal es with slight rusty coloring on weathered sur-

27

faces, representing the Highwood Member . Twelve metres above the~

2B

•

50

•

---] f/

" . 0

. l,o:'

m =====J

PASSAGE BEDS

GREEN BEDS

dark grey shales with i nterbeds of si l t and very fine sand, lO-20mm thick

at top green berthierine sand, purple silts; irregular platy calcareous concretions

interbedded cl eavage and

? OXFORDIAN

• • • • •

_--::-:-::-:=--::-:-::-:-c-_-=b..:.e l ow, light blue- grey, spli ntery sha l es • RIBBON CREEK dark grey, pl aty sha l es, Boeitm, KeppZeritee .

MEMBER cf. tyohonie LATE BATHONIAN --G~ry=p7h~ae~a-"B~EnD-~g~re'Y ca lcareous. fossi liferous , concretionary.

BATHONIAN

(disturbed, covered interva l )

(see deta iled, enlarged section, Figure 5h )

calcareous , phosphatic sand with poorly preserved bivalves, gastropods , vertebrate bones ? SINEMURIAN

• • • • II

• • • • ..

FIGU RE 5a Stratigraph i c section , Rock Creek

I I I I I I I I I I I I

o •

• o

10

20

JO

"

•• v

.. ~

Cor bula rrrunda BEDS

- --- ---- ---------

29

light grey-brown sha l es with bluish weat hering; conchoidal cl eavage becoming platy upwa rd s with l Omm silty stri ngers ; Cobbanites ? BATHONIAN

_____________________ l arge, yellow-weathering siderit i c concret i ons

nucu lid bi va l ves - fish

- Spirocer as3 Megasphaeroceras , stephano­cerati ds, Bositra, Retr oceramus dark grey to brownish shales, limonitic.

HIGHWOOD MEMBER platy-blocky cleavage at base and top; more platy-papery cleavage im midd l e

LATE EARLY AND EARLY LATE BAJOCIAN

- Retroaeramus, Lios t r ea

Bajoci an Li mestone - stephanoceratids, belemnites, Rhizocorallium, Chondrites

ROCK CREEK MEMB ER

POKER CHI P SHALE

li ght grey-grey. calcareous. phosphatic sandstones , parallel bedded, lOO-200mm beds. Becomes phosphatic-limonitic near top with Pleuromya

dark grey sha les, papery-platy cleavage, occas i ona l calcareous beds and concreti ons . Abu ndant Bositra~

Harpoceras

FIGURE 5b Detailed stratigraphic secti on, Rock Creek

Creek Member occur numerous gr ey , dense , cal careous concretions up to 40 em in diameter and bearing poorly preserved impressions of large stephanoceras; belemnites, small procerithiid gastropods, and Inoceramus a r e also fai rly common at this leve l . It is clear at this locality that ammonites representin g the l ate earl y Bajocian zone of Chondroceras obZatwn (or the "Teloceras fauna " of various authors) occur well above the Rock Creek Member ~ stricto (Plate Ib).

Above this concretionary horizon the shales become darker and mor e platy, with occasional harder . cal car eous- cemented, flaggy beds about 10 em thick. From one s uch bed 25 m ahove the top of the Rock Creek Member comes the l a t e Bajocian fauna r epres enting the zone of Megasphaeroaeras rotundum (Plate lb). In addition t o the zonal index, it includes Bpiroaeras cf. S . orbignyi3 s tephanocer at ids , a few bivalves (Bositra3 inoceramids), belemnites and possible ammonite jaH structures, all preserved as flattened impressions . A similar hard band 3 m highe r in the secti on has yielded impressions of s t ephanoceratids , bivalves, and a small, comple t e specimen of a primitive Leptolepid fish (M.V . Wilson , personal communication, 1982). Further excavation by Mark Wilson this summe r has produced abundan t fish r emains as well as additional spiroceras and other ammonite and inoceramid fragments . A diverse microfauna of radio­larians, ost r acods and foraros has also been r ecover ed from this part of the section including Haplophragmoides 3 Verneuilinoides (agglutinated), Marginulinopsis 3 Astacolus3 Dentalina3 Trocihammina3

Nodosaria3 Lenticulina and aitharina. Toward the top of the section are two horizons of large (80 em), orange-weathering s i deritic concr et i ons; from a calcareous concretion 46 m above the top of the Rock Creek Member sensu stricto comes the fragmentary specimen of Cobbanites cf . C. talkeetnanus of l atest Bajocian or earl y Bathonian age. Her e the surrounding mudstones are lighter in color with a bluish tint on weathered s urfaces and there a r e occa­sional thin (10- 20 mm) , silty stringers . This part of the section represents the Corbuta munda Beds.

DAY 1, LOCALITY 2 CARBONDALE RIVER, ALBERTA

(Fig. 6 ; P lo l d,e )

Introduction : Th i s expos ure of the Fernie Formation a long the north bank of the Carbondale Rive r i s on the nose and limbs of a major, southward- plunging anticline. While the Gryphaea Bed, Ribbon Cr eek Member, Green Beds and Passage Beds are all presen t in this section , they a r e intensely deformed by small drag f olds and repeated by several thrust faults .

Stratigraphy: The lowest unit exposed is the Bathonian Gryphaea Bed which occur s here in a small anticlinal structure plunging southward into the creek (Plate leI) . It con tai ns abundant specimens of Gryphaea impressimarginata and belemnites.

Farther upstream, beyond a disturbed zone in gr ey shales , i s , an apparently continuous sequence through dark s hales of the Ribbon Creek Member which have yielded abundant specimens of the agglutinated foram Haplophragmoides . Above a r e light gr ey , bluish to greenish,

•

..

.­II • .-.­i •

r I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I

50 PASSAGE BEDS = ~~,

31

dark grey sha l es with platy cl eavage; in terbeds of si ltstone and very fine sandstone, l O- 15mm thick

I---L, =' ." <J C:, If; ---------- + green, berthieri ne sands with calcar-"- . 0 d · I ~~ eOU5 concretl ons up to . 3m in lameter;

--o-i---1 m

FIGURE 6

GREEN BEDS alternat ing purpl e, s ilty shales . Be 1 emn i tes, "Turbo /I fernien8is~ Buahia aoncentrica OXFORDIAN li ght blue -grey shale , calcareous, with sp li ntery cl eavage; l arge calcareous

___________ ~c~o~n~cretions

RIBBON CREEK MEMBER

Gryphaea BED

dark grey to blue -grey shale. concho idal cleavage, ca l careous concretions . Inoceramids

grey, cal careous, fossiliferous s i l t stone and fine sandstone; bel emnites, Gryphaea impre88i marginata BATHONIAN

.~ , '

"1" "," Strat i graphic secti on, Carbondale River.

-32

splintery shales with large calcareous concretions grading upward into dark green, berthierine-rich, friab l e sands of the Green beds . Yellow-brown weathering calcareous concretions and purple silty shales occur as interbeds . These beds have Yielded Buchia aoncentrica, (Plate 8j ,k) , the gastropod "Turbo " ferniensis, belemnites and abundant Haplophragmoides . The Passage beds here overlie the Green beds with sharp contact , marked by a distinct color change to grey shales with platy c l eavage and thin , silty to sandy interbeds appear . Immediately upstream the Passage Beds are deformed by a series of folds (Plate I e ). Farther upstream, at the mouth of Webb Creek which enters from the north, is a repetition of the Gr een beds containing many large belem­nites and wood fragments .

DAY 2, LOCALITY 3 . FORDING RIVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA (Fig. 7a, 7b; PI. If- h, 2a )

Introduction : The Fernie Formation cr ops out along both banks of the Fording River , upstream and downstream from the mou th of Line Creek . The best, and most easily accessibl e , sect ions are on the west bank,

o where the Fernie occurs in very broad folds whose limbs dip at 10 or l ess . Parts of these sect ions have been discussed in several publica­tions by Fr ebold (1957, 1963, 1969 , 1976).

Stratigraphy: Basal Fernie strata (Sinemurian) here r est conformably on the Spray River Group silt stones of Triassic age; this exposure was made at the entr ance to an old phosphate prospect (Plate I g) which is now mostly covered . Frebold (196 9). reported that the lowermost Jurassic consisted of a 2m thick phosphatic unit topped by a thin concretionary limestone. From this came many poorly pr eserved arietitids , incl uding Arnioceras, gastropods and bivalves (especially PZeuromya) . It was correlated with the upper part of the Bucklandi and l ower part of the Semicostatum Zones of the Lower Sinemurian . The Upper Sinemurian Densinodulum Subzone is here represented by approximately 2. 4 m of al t ernating shales and cal careous beds which have yielded one poorl y preserved eoderoceratid, with Atractites at the top.

In the r iver bank nearby, the main sect ion begins in the Poker Chip Shale of early Toarcian age ; no strata of Pliensbachian age are known and the cont act with the underlying Sinemurian strata is now covered . Along the west bank of the river approximately 9 m of almost flat lying, dark gr ey, soft shales of t he Poker Chip Shale are continuously exposed (Plate I f) . They have platy to papery c l eavage with some flaggy , calcareous layers and have yielded nume r ous flattened impres­sions of Harpoceras , ?OrthodactyZites, Dacty Zioceras , Phymatoceratinae (i ncluding Haugia) and Bositra at various horizons (Plate 5a- c). No detailed faunal succession has been worked ou t , but both Lower and Middle Toarci an str ata appear to be represented . These shales have also y ielded abundant specimens of t he radiolarian Eucyrtidium, the agglutinated forams Haplophragmoides , AmnodisCU8 and FlabeZlcurunina., as wel~ . as the calcareous forms NodOsaria and LinguZina .

Th~: .. overlying Rock Cr eek Member is r epresented by a gradual coarsening upwards , with development of a more flaggy cleavage . It is topped by a · lim~nitic bed rich in belemnites. Frebold (1976) reported Sonninia sp. from s iltstones in t h is unit (Plate Ih). It is believed

• .. • •

• .-, .-

\ .

I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I

50

6

5

4 3 2

0 1

--

50

,

,-

o+--m

"

<2>

<2> o ,-,~l

GREY BEDS

Corbu'La rrrunda BEDS

HIGHWOOO MEMBER

BAJOC IAN LI I,IESTONE

33

li ght grey t o grey shal es with platy and concho i da l cleavage; ca l careous bands , O. 2-0.6m th i ck, yellow-brown weathering · ?Lil"loetia

Cobbanites cf. taZkeetnanu.s~ Pca>ar'eineckeia cf . BheZikofana~ nuculid bival ves

?EARLY BATHONIAN

(see enlargement in FI GURE 11)

ROCK CREE K MEMBERj

POKER CH IP SHALE

phosphat i c si ltstones , sha les, ool itic and cal careous; Arnioceras, At;ractites, plesio-saur vertebrae SINEMU RIAN

SPRAY RIVER GROUP bedded sil tstones TRIASS IC

FIGURE 7a Strat i graphic secti on, Fording Ri ver

34

o

40

30 0

0

0

,

20

0

6

DO 6 <0 <J

! 10 6

1 6

6 ,;f!

-' . o m

Cor bul a munda BEDS

HIGHWOOD MEMBER

Bajocian Li mestone

l ight grey-brown, calcareous sha l es with bluish weathering surfaces, irregu l ar pl aty cleavage; occas i onal large, calcareous concretions

C1"anooephalites cf. oostidensus EARLY BATHONIAN

dark grey. papery to pl aty sha le s, often yell ow-weathering. f ine sand. Bentonites up to 50mm thick, be l emnite bands and calcareous concreti ons up to 2m long

• • • • " • " • • •

Stephanooeras~ oysters in calcareous con cret i O~.' l atest EARLY BAJDC IAh

, ----------------------d7a-crk grey, calcareous , platy , becoming flaggy III

ROCK CREEK MEMBER

POKER CH IP SHALE

upwards; limonitic, bel emn ite -ri ch bed at top L.

Sonninia (1) EARLY BAJOCIA~

dark grey, pl aty to papery shal e, with flaggy, .­calcareuus l ayers; Harpooeras~ Daotyliooeras~ I ?OrthodaotyZite8~ Haugia., Bositl'a .,

EARLY AND MIDDLE TOARCIAN

• FIGURE 7b Detai l ed stratigraph i c secti on, Fording Ri ver

I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I

------------

to represent an offshore, deeper water facies of the Rock Creek Member seen at its type locality farther east (LOCALITY 1).

The succeeding Highwood Member is 25 m tbick, consisting of dark grey shales with papery to platy cleavage, often yellow­weathering and with thin interbeds of limonitic, bentonitic or belem­nite-rich character. Near the middle of the section some large calcareous concretions enclose poorly preserved Stephanoceras (Zone of Chondroeeras oblatum~ late Early Bajocian), while near the top a single fragment of Granocephalites costidensus (Early Bathonian) has been found (Plate 7a). Othe r specimens were co l lected from l oose concretions at the base of the slope . The radiolarians Eucyrtidium and Spumellina are fairly common, as is Haplophragmoides.

. There is a sharp color change from grey to light grey-brown shales with bluish weathering surfaces at the base of the corbuZa munda Beds ; no ammonites have been found in this unit but it carries a rich microfauna. Agglutinated forams include Haplophragmoides , Ammobaculites, Lituotuba, Reophax and Trochammina while the cal­careous genera LentimtUna, MarginuUnopsis, Astacolus Citharina

• • and Dental~na are present. Approximately 40 m of Grey Beds are exposed in the west bank of

the next meander downstream; unfortunate ly this part of the section cannot be re l ated stratigraphically to the Sinemurian - Lower Bathonian part of the section described above from just upstream. The Grey Beds here consist of dark to light grey shales with platy, blocky and conchoidal fra cture. At fairly regular intervals (4 - 6 m apart) throughout these shales there are thin, resistant, brown weathering , calcareous beds (numbered 1 t o 6 up section; Plate 2a). Along a band only 10 em thick in the grey shales between resistant beds 3 and 4 occur tiny, pyritized nuc1eii of Cobbanites cf. talkeetnanus and Parareineckeia cf. shelikofana (Plate 7a,c,e . f) which indicate a probable Early Bathonian age (Hall. in prep., Imlay, 1980) . Frebo1d (1963) also reported Warrenoceras in this section. Microfaunal

35

elements recovered f rom these beds include EUcyr tidium, Haplophragmoides, Ammobaculites, Ammodiscus and Marginulinopsis . From an undetermined locality near the Fording River bridge Frebold (1963) also recorded Paracephalites glabrescens . and P. hashimotoi from the Grey Beds indi -cating the presence of Lower Bathonian strata .

DAY 2, LOCALITY 4. GRASSY MOUNTAIN, ALBERTA (Fig . 8 . Pl. 2b,2c ) •

Introduction: On the south slope of Grassy Mountain several units from the middle and upper parts of the Fernie Formation crop out in short exposures along a number of disused roads leading to the old coal s trip mines in the overlying Kootenay Group (Plate 2c) . On this trip we will only examine one sec tion which exposes the upper parts of the CorbuZa munda Beds and the Gryphaea Bed (Plate 2b).

Strati~raphy: At the junction with a sideroad leading off to the west from the ~ain road up Grassy Mountain, at C on Plate 2c, are exposed several thin, calcareous beds in grey shales with a green-brown hue. These belong to the CorbuZa munda Beds and the uppe r 10.5 m represent

36

o. o. " •

00-j 0 •

! G

'" •

• •

• (3l;i~ V-10

• •

•

0 •

• • o.

JO 0'" ~ ;;:

0

'0

., ••

• ~

~ •

• o •

o. o. 0

0 =~

t jru •

I

'" 0

<:.- :

0

Gryphaea BED

COl'bu Za munda BEDS

• • Warrenoceras spp ., Cobbanites engler i 3 Gryphaea impre88Umargina~ grey, ca l careous , foss iliferous ~ s iltstone ; diverse fauna restric-ted to l ower a. 8m of unit

EAR LY OR MIODLE BATHONIAN'"

grey- brawn-green shales with platy III cleavage; i nterbedded shell y si lt-~ stones -fine sandstones, calcareous, a. 3m thick beds . Paraaephalites ~ spp. in upper l O.5m

EARLY BATHONIA

grey -green-brown shales, conchoida to platy cleavage , with l Ocm diameter concretions, calcareous and some bored, rotated .

•

• • grey-green -brown shales wi th 0.3 - • O.6m thick beds of she l ly, cal ca r­eous silts tone and fine sandstone

FIGURE 8 Detailed strati graphic sections, Grassy Hounta i n

.. • 1$

I I I I I I I I I I I I I

I

I I

the type locality of the Zone of Raraeephalites g~bre8cen8 (Plate 7g, i) . which was original ly placed in the very late Bathonian or early Callovian (Frebold, 1963) , but is now regarded as Early Bath­onian (Imlay . 1980b). being equivalent to ·t he Zone of Parucephalites sawtoothensis in the upper Sawtooth Formation of the U. S. western interior . Difficulties arise in accuratel y dating this and other zones because so fa r they contain only endemic forms be l onging to a separate faunal province .

The agglutinated foram genera Haplophragmoides~ Ammobaculites~ Saccammina and Ammodiscus have been obtained f r om this part of the section, with such calcareous forms as A8tacolus~ Dentalina, Len­tiaulina, Marginulinopsis, Nodosaria, Lagena and VaginuZinopsis .

At the top of this shale sequence, after a short cover ed inter­val, is an outcrop of t he Gryphoea bed , here a coquina rich in bi­valves (Plate 11) which marks t he termination of depositional cycle 3 . It has also yielded quite a diverse ammonite fauna: Warreno­ceras nenryi (Plate 7h) , W. imZayi~ W. rierdonen8e~ KeppZerites spp . (Plate Bb), Cobbanites engZeri (Plate Ba), LiZZoetia imZayi and XenocephaZites cf. bearpawensis (Frebold, 1.957, 1963) . This fauna characterises the Zone of Warrenoceras henryi which is now given a mid- Bathonian age (Imlay, 1980b) . The bivalves of t he Gryphaea bed represent an epifaunal, byssate community (Stronach ' s (1981) Assemblage II) with a trophic nucleus domi nated by : Qxytoma (2B-56%) byssate, non-siphonate, suspension feeder Gryphaea (15-20%) reclin i ng, non-siphonate, suspension feeder Entolium (14 - 18%) r eclining, non- siphonate, suspension feeder

-Frotocardia (15%) shallow infaunal, s i phonate , suspension feeder Upwards through the Gryphaea Bed at this locality there is an

incr easing proportion of o.xytoma and the addition of Frotocardia to the trophic nucleus, so t hat the community becomes more distal in character as in outcrops f urther north. This is regarded as replace­ment of a high stress community by a low stress one, in response to deepening of the water during the t ransg r ession marking the onset of cycl e 4 (Stronach , 1981) . Other bivalves present include Modiolus~ Liostrea~ Fronoella~ Pleuromya and !1;yophoreZLa .

Frebold (1963) r eported the Late Bathonian Kepplerites aff . K tychonis(Plate 8e) about 6 m above the Gryphaea Bed on Grassy Moun­tain and it has recently been found at a similar stra tigraphic level at Rock Cr eek (Plate 8g) .

37

DAY 3, LOCALITY 5 BIGHORN CREEK, ALBERTA (Fig . 9a,b; pl . 2d , e; 3a- c)

Introduction: Bighorn Falls are formed over the resis t ant silts t ones of t he Tr i assic Sulphur Mountain Formation (Spr ay River Group) . Up­stream, the lower and middle par ts of the Fernie are exposed along bo t h sides of the Creek i n a very broad syncline and have been very l it t le disturbed.

Str atigr aphy : Lying disconformably on the unfossil iferous. well bedded ~ calcareous siltstones of t he Triassic is an 8 cm thick , gr ey- black, shel ly bed which contains large bivalves , smooth pleur o­tomariid gastropods, some rhynchonellid br achiopods and whorl frag­men t s of arietitid ammoni t es (Plate 2d) . This bed has been correlated

38 m 55

50

45

40

35

30

25

20

15

5

• • • •

0Q""C::>C .. _

--.

I-=----~ i

co". .. d

~.

Highwood Member Shale, IIrey_ brown, . of t , pl .. ty

Shoo"' , gr.y. w!.;t l.h wuthering

Shle. ~.Y

sn.1., , •• I, lan l , ,ed-brown ?L Bajocian

Shale, grey to blac k , soh . linil. to blocky ' bJight yellow to dark ,ed­brOWtl "'"th,rlng

Silts tone, grey . celca.eolls

Poker Chi p Sha le

Shale. dark II'.Y. 110ft. dark brown wnlhe, ing , p lely to II&pery

H. rpoce,., .". ,alUm, Declylioc . r •• L To",elen

---'R"e:'d"Oee r Member DKl ylioc er • •

Shale , g.ey to bllck. celcereoua: platy to pap..-), . Interbeds of rlll, tanl , Ii.,. black .il' I IGna

Amell".u" a ' oIenl, A. ?, ibbollu, AI,ac,".' c t, . m.1

U. F'1 ie nsbac lli.n

o~ L. S inemu,i .. n

Siltstone , g.ay to black. calcara .... l : • - - :. ____ -;;:'.:ri:'~ly and highly fo ni /iter-ou,, : A. iel il ide

Spray River Group Slttttone, eoarae. r.ti,tant

Tria .. i.c

FIGU RE 9. ·Deta il ed stratigraphi e sect ion , Bi gho rn Creek

• .. • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

D

I I I I I I I I I I

I I

m 20

15

10

5

o .l=o====="

• •

• • •

--

?Grey Beds

Shale. grey: grey_b'Dwn we athering: blocky

1Jo$/,, _, rhynchone lfids : "alce,,,,,,,, shale

In{skirt/I., ,,/, I. Inl.,mH;us ?Eu,yceph.litinae U. Bathonian

Sh.le , black , pape'y

Shale. black . platey

FIGURE 9b Detailed stratigraphic section, Bi ghorn Creek

,~ ..

.. c_ ... 39

40

with the Bu~klandi-Semicostatum Zones (Frebold, 1969) of the Lower inemarian and is followed by a covered interval of about 8 m.

Upstream in the bed of Bighorn Creek and on the east bank (Plate 2e). a r e outc r ops of h.ard, black, platy limestones and yellow-brown weathering, calcareous siltstones of th~ Red -Deer Member (Frebold, 1969) . Approximately 3 . 7m above the base of the member is a bed packed with crushed bivalve shells _ Amaltheus stokesi has been col­lected from the lower beds which have been correlated with t he Late Pliensbachian Margaritatus Zone ; aptychi and fish f r agments also occur. In black pla t y shales 9.3 m above the base of the member (Plate 2e), a very large dactylioceratid was found and these may r epresent t he lowest beds of the overlying Poker Chip Shale .

In cutbanks of the next two meanders upstream, on the west and east sides of the creek r espectively , are excellent exposures of the Toarcian Poker Chip Shale (Plate 3a). Once again, the detailed paleontology and biostratigraphy of this part of the sequence have not been clearly established . Harpoceras~ DactyZioceras~ PhZyseo­grammo ceras~ Brodieia?~ Whitbyiceras and HiZdaites cf . &serpenti­formis have all been r ecorded·, all as completely flattened impressions. accompanied by bivalves , fish scales and rare belemni t es . The Poker Chip Shale on the east bank is approximately 10 m thick, consis ting of the typical dark grey to bl ack, silty shales with platy and papery cleavage and occasional hard, cemented bands. These grade upwards into the grey shales of the Highwood Member which is 4t least 20 m thick (Plate 3a). These shales are sof t, with characteristic yellow and red-brown weathering and thin interbeds of calcarerous concretions {up to 1 m long and 23 cm thick) , smaller black phosphatic nodules and pebbles, badly weathered belemnites and rosettes and blades of gypsum. Near the top of the sequence are four whitish-orange, thin, soft clay bands. probably bentonitic. No ammonites have been found in this part of the section; it is presumed to correlate with the top of the Lower Bajocian which is nearly always characterised by interbedded belemnite-rich horizons and yellow clay layers within red-brown weathering, grey shales. Note that there is no develop­ment of the sandy facies of the Rock Creek Member in this area .

In the cutbank of the next meander ups tream on the east bank is a shale cliff (Plate 3c) , f r om which f r agments of Bathonian ammonites have been recovered. At water level is a band rich in belemnites (Plate 3b) . The black, platy a~d papery shales have some thin yellow­red-brown weathering bands; the second of these is 5.5 m above the belemnite bed . Another 1 m above this is the horizon which has yielded fragments identified as Iniskinites cf . intermedius (Plate 8i); also present are fragments of various ?Eurycephalitinae

Bositra and other bivalves. All occur as completely flattened impressions. Another I m above this fossiliferous layer are three hard, calcareous beds with shaly partings containing Bositra and small rhynchonellid brachiopods. Grey, blOCkY shales continue to the top of the exposure, with three interbedded or ange- brown clay bands.

DAY 3 t;"LOCALITY 6 WILLSQN CREEK, ALBERTA (Fig. 10 : Pl. 3d-f)

Introduction : Middle and upper parts of the Fer nie and part of the overlying Kootenay are brought to the surface by a southeastward

• .. • • • • • • • •

---------

r 41 .. ", ,

m Passage Beds

I 45 shale. dark grey. hard. with minor brownish .... ". siltstone stringers.

? Odordian

I Green Beds

40 sandstone. dark green. soft. with brown nod-

I siltstones . grey. resistant,

yellow-weathering

I Shale. dark grey, silty

with siltstone dykes.

35 bioturbation

I Cobbsniles , Iniskiniles,

I 3 Keppferiles cr. K.lychonis

30 Siltst one . calcareous U. Bathonian

Shale, dark grey. h"rd ,

I splintery

I 25

• 2 Siltstone. calcareous, yellow-weathering

I Shale, da rk grey_brown, splintery, platy at top

20

I • 1 Siltstone, calc areous, yellow- weat he ring

I Shale. grey. splintery to

15 blocky

• I

• = • - . -~ ~

Shale. dark grey. soft . abundant yellDw

I 10 weathering

I Shales. cemented and ~~- concretionary: rusty -- brown and yellow wea_ ~ thering . ?ChondrocereS

~ 5 l. Bajocian

• • .. -..... Shale . grey with yellow

~ weathering . soft

~kCreek Member 0 Sandstone. mottled grey

I and yellow. massive : black pebbles at top

I FIGUR E 10 Detail ed strati graphi c sec'~i on, Will son Creek .J

-42

plunging anticline along a steep cutbank on the north side of Willson Creek. just north of the Shell gas plant.

Stratigraphy: At the base of this section is a yellow-brown weather­ing hard unbedded sandstone with small. blac~, phosphatic pebbles which probably represents the Rock Creek Member.

Above this basal sand is a sequence of black. dark grey and brown­ish shales with platy to blocky cleavage and in the lower parts, red­brown weathered surfaces. Throughout this sequence, approximately 38 m 1n thickness, is a series of thin interbeds made up variously of calcareous concretions, white to orange-yellow, sticky, bento­nitic clays and belemnites (Plate 3d) . One of the latter. 6 . 5 m above the basal sand is a spectacular "belemnite battefield" up to 0.6 m thick (Plate 3f). Several fragments of ?Chondroceras from this part of the section again indicate a late Early Bajocian age. Careful tracing of most of these distinctive interbeds indicates the presence of many minor contortions in these strata. Also present are three conspicuous, resistant, yellow-brown weathering, calcareous beds, 0.3-0.5 m thick which provide good markers (Plate 3e) ; these occur at 17m, 23 . 6m and 30m above the basal sand . In blocky siltstones immediately overlying the uppermost of these markers, very poorly preserved, squashed and f r agmented ammonites have been collected . They include KeppZerites cf.tychonis, K.epplerites sp.,Cobbanites sp. and Iniskinitea sp . (Plate 8d,f ,h) suggesting a Late Bathonian age (Imlay. 1980).

About 8.5 m above this horizon in an exposure of typical Green Beds lithology: soft, friable, dark green sands with brown-weather­ing siltstone , presumed to be of Oxfordian age. Above are grey to brown, platy shales with thin siltstone stringers appearing after 1.5m; these coarsen and thicken upwards app r oaching the base of the Kootenay .

DAY 4 , LOCALITY 7 RIBBON CREEK , ALBERTA (Fig. ll)

Introduction: Although several members of the Fernie Forma tion are exposed along the north bank of Ribbon Creek there are frequent, thick covered intervals and some internal structural dislocations .

Stratigraphy: The underlying Sulphur Mountain Formation of the Triassic Spray River Group is well exposed at an old quarry (now l argely filled in) and the bank of Rlbbon Creek just beyond the park­ing lot west of the youth hostel .

Above a covered interval of approximately sam there is a small outcrop of the Bajocian limestone and the enclosing shales of the Highwood Member in the creek and adjacent to the trail. The Bajocian limestone, here a . 75m thick, is a dark grey, resistant limestone with phosphatic and kaolinitic ouids and rests on a thin bentonite horizon . At its base is a layer with abundant be l emnites and the whole unit has an abundant and diverse fauna of bivalves and ammonites.

The .bivalve community is predominantly epifaunal, dominated by: EhtoZium 67% reclining. non-siphonate, suspension feeder Liostrea 8% cemented, non-siphonate, suspension feeder

•

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

r I I I I I I I I I I t I I I I

o

100

o m

FIGURE 11

PASSAGE BEDS

RIBBON CREEK MEMBER

PIGEON CREEK MEMBER

43

dark grey sha les with platy cleavage; l O-20mm thick siltstones, micac~ous, with plant fragments

dark grey shales with 1m d i am~t~r. orange-brown weathering. siderit;c concretions

light grey shales with platy cleavage, si l tstone and fine sandstone interbeds, locally calcareous

poorly exposed dark grey-black platy-papery shales with O.75m

HIGHWOOD MEMBER thick grey, oolitic l imestone with abundant belemnites, biva l ves and

Chondrocer(1S ob"latwn., C. aUani., Stephanoaeras i tinsae., Te loce_rall warreni. 1 a tes t EARLY BAJOC IAN

SPRAY RIVER GROUP

Stratigraphic section, Ribbon Creek

TR IASSIC

44

Astarte 5% shallow iofaunal , non-siphonate suspension feeder Pronoella 5% shallow iofaunal, siphonate suspension feed er The community belongs to assemblage I of Stronach (1981) . Other bivalves present includ~ Pleuromya~ MYophoreZZa~ Camptonectes" Retroceramus, Idonearca, CucuZlaea and ~radia (Flates 9,10) .

The associated ammonite fauna belongs to the Zone of Chondroceras oblatum (Hall and Westermann, 1980) which is correlated with the middle and upper parts of the Humphriesianum Zone . Chondroceras obZatwn, C. allani, Stephanoaeras itinsae c! and ~ S . (stemmatoceras) dowlingi and Teloceras crickmayi have all been collected in this bed .

This conspicuous unit , with its characteristic molluscan fauna, 1s one of the most persistent horizons in the Fernie and provides an invaluable marker horizon over a wide area and marks the top of depositional cycle 2.

DAY 4, LOCALITY 8 BANFF TRAFF I C CIRCLE , ALBERTA (P1 3g, 3h)

Introduction: This locality is within Banff National Park so collecting or the use of hammers on the .

outcr op a r e not permitted . Middle and upper parts of Fernie are exposed in this section and along nearby parts of Cascade River . On the hhghway the lowest unit seen is the Pigeon Creek Member. while the top of the section has continuous exposure from the Passage Beds into the overlying Kootenay. This whole section, which is over 380m thick, is part of. the overturned southwest limb of a syncline in the footwall of the Rundle Thrust. The lower part of this section is severely deformed . Mt . Rundle and Cascade Mountain are formed by Paleozoic C2rbonates brought to the surface by the Rundle Thrust .

Stratigraphy: At the westermost end of the roadcut are interbedded dark grey, resistant siltstones and grey shale~. r epresenting the Pigeon Creek Member . Feeding . traces , burrows, sale markings and some small bivalve impressions occur in the sil t stones .

The succeeding Grey Beds here consist of deformed, dark grey, splintery shales with thin siltstone. bands and some large , flattened concret i ons f r om which Frebo l d (1962) r ecorded Warrenoceras sp . and Kepplerites sp . indicating a mid-Bathonian age .

The following black shales have yielded specimens of "Turbo /I ferniensis~ suggesting an Oxfordian age for this par t of the section which would now be correlated with the Ribbon Creek Member.

After another zone of intensely deformed shales and fine sand­stones comes a sequence of regularly alternating shales and resistant f i ne sandstone beds, each up to O.5m thick. from which Amoeboceras was recorded by Frebold (1962) .

In contrast to this lower part of the section just described, the remainder seems to have suffer ed little deformation. It consists of an anomalously thick section (perhaps 260m) of the Passage Beds, with r y·thmically alternating grey-brown shales and brownish silts and fine ·sands . Upwards through the sect ion, the proportion, grain­size and thickness of these sandstones increase till the massive­bedded brown weathe r ing sandstones marking the base of the Kootenay are r eached . Throughout, the sandy beds are characterised by

• • • .. • • • • • • • • • • • •

I

o o

I I I I

u

u

intense bioturbation, sol e markings, plant debris and current struc­tures. Two fossil tree trunks are also present in the section . The Passage Beds have recently been interpreted as turbidites generated by storms (Hamblin and Walker, 1979), while the Kootenay r epresents a north-easterly prograding beach and fluvial complex .

45

I

I I I I I I I

[

l l

-----------

BIBLIOGRAPHY

(for completeness , t his bibliography includes a few papers that are not referred to in the text of the fieldtrip guide)

BALLY. A. W. et al . 1966 . Structure , seismic data and orogenic evolution

47

of the southern Canadian Rocky Mountains . Bulletin of Canadian Society of Petroleum Geology~ 14:337-381 .

CROCKFORD, M. B. B. 1949 . Geology of the Ribbon Creek area , Alberta. Research Council of Alberta> Report 52 , 67 p .

DAHLSTROM, C. D. A. 1970 . Structural geology in the eastern margin of the Canadian Rocky Mountains . Bulletin of Canadian Petroeum Geology, 18, 332-406 .

FREBOLD. H. 1957. The Jurassic Fernie Group in the Canadian Rocky Mountains ~'

and Foothills . Geological Survey of Canada, Memoir 287, 197 p .

1962. The Devonian-Jurass~c contact and the subdivision of the Fernie Group in the Banff area , Alberta. Geological Survey of Canada~ Paper 62-3, 19 p.

1963 . Ammonite faunas of the the Fernie Group in {oJestern Canada . Bulletin 93, 33 p .

Upper Middle Jurassic beds of Geological Survey of Canada~

1969 . Subdivision and facies of Lower Jurassic rocks in the southern Canadian Rocky Mountains and Foothills. Geological Association of Canada~ Proceeding8~ 20 :76 - 89 .

1976 . The Toarcian and Lower Middle Bajocian beds and ammonites in the Fernie Group of southeastern Brit ish Columbia and parts of Alberta . Geological Survey of Canada 3 Paper 75-39 , 33 p.

------>Ccc~ . et al . 1959 . The Oxfordian beds of the Jur assic Fernie Group , ~ Alberta and British Columbia . Geological Survey of Canada3 Bulletin 53 , 47 p .

and TIPPER , H.W. 1970. Status of the Jurassic in the Cordillera of British Columbia, Alberta and southern Yukon . Journal of Earth Sciences~ 7 :1-21.

Canadian Canadian

GIBSON, D.W. 1977. Sedimentary facies in the Jura-Cretaceous Kootenay Formation, Crowsnest Pass area, southwestern Alberta and southeastern British Columbia. Bulletin of Canadian Petroleum Geology~ 25 :767-791.

1979. The Morrissey and Mist Mountain Formations - newly defined lithostratigraphic units of the Jura- Cretaceous Kootenay Group , Alberta and British Columbia . Bulletin of Canadian Petroleum Geology~ 27 :1 83-208 .

HALL , R. L. 1982 . Bathonian (Middle Jurassic) ammonites f r om the Fernie Formation in the Canadian Rocky Mountains . (in preparation)

- ---::-=-L· . and WESTERMANN .• G. E . G. 1980. Lower Bajocian (Jurassic) cephalopod faunas f r om western Canada and proposed assemblage zones for the Lower Bajocian of North America. Palaeontographica Amerieana~ 9, number 52 , 93 p .

___________ and STRONACH, N.J. 1981. rirst r ecord of Late Bajocian (Jurassic)

48

ammonites in the Fernie Formation , Al berta . Canadian Journal of Earth Scienaes 3 18:919-925 .

HAMBLIN , A.P . and WALKER , R.C. 1979 . Storm-dominated shallow marine deposits! The Fernie-Kootenay (Jurassic) transition, southern Rocky Mountains . Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences~ 16 : 1673-1690.

HENDERSON, J . F . 1944 . Tay River map area, Alberta . Geological Survey of Canada~ Paper 44-26, 5 p .

IMLAY . R. W. Alaska. 42 p .

1980a . Middle Jurassic (Bathonian) ammonites from southern United States Geological Survey> Professional Paper 1091,

1980b. Jurassic paleobiogeography of the conterminous United States in its continental setting. United States Geological Survey~ Professional Paper 1062 , 134 p .

LEACH, W.W. 1903 . The Balirmore-Frank coalfields . Geological Survey of Canada~ Summary Report for 1902~ 169A-181A.

1912. Geology of the Blairmore map area, Alberta . Geological Survey of Canada~ Summary Report for 19l1~ 192-200 .

1914 . Blairmore map area, Alberta. Geological Survey of Canada, Report for 19l2~ Map 107A, p . 234 .

MCCROSSAN , R.G. and GLAISTER, R.P . 1964 . Geological Hi story of Western Canada . Alberta Society of Petroleum Geologists, Calgary .

MCEVOY , J . and LEACH, W. W. 1902 . Geological and coalfields , East Kootenay District, B. C. map 130A.

topographic map of Crowsnest Geological Survey of Can.ada~

MCLEARN, F .B . 1927 . Some Canadian Jurassic faunas . Royal Society of Canada~ TPansactions~ series 3, section 4 , 21 : 61- 73 .

1929 . Stratigraphic paleontol ogy , Blairmore region , Alberta . National MUseum of Canada~ Bulletin 58 , number 50 : 80-107 .

NORRIS, n.K. 1955 . Blairmore. Geological Survey of Canada, Preliminary map 55-18 .

I • •

• • • • ..

SPIVAK , J . 1949 . Jurassic sections in Foothills of Alberta and northeastern . " Br itish Columbia. American Association of Petroleum Geologists, Bulletin 33 , 533- 546.

STRONACH, N.J. 1981. Sedimentology and paleoecology of a shale basin : the Fernie Formation of t he southern Rocky Mountains , Canada . Unpublished Ph . D. thesis~ University of Calgary~ 398 p .

TIPPER, H.W. 1981 . Offset of an Upper Pliensbachian geographic zonation in the North American Cordillera by transcurrent movement. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, 18 :1788- 1792.

TOZER, E.T. 1982 . Late Tr iassic (Upper Norian) and ear liest Jurassic (Hettangian) rocks and ammonoid faunas, Halway River and Pine Pass map areas , B.C. Geological Survey of Canada~ Paper 82-1A : 385- 39l .

WARREN, P ... .s . 1934 . Present status of the Fernie Shale . American Journal of Science~ 27:56-70 .

ZIEGLER, P .A. 1969 . The deve l opment of sedimentary basins in Western and Arctic Canada. Alberta Society of Petroleum Geologists , Calgary .

a.

b.

c.

d.

e.

f.

g.

h.

EXPLANATION OF PLATE 1

General northward view of Jurassic outcrops in headwaters of Rock Creek, showing anticline in resistant sandstones of Rock Creek Member (Locality 1). i lowermost Fernie consisting of dark, sandy coquina bed,{?S;nemurian) . ii - type section, Rock Creek Member (Lower Bajocian).

Southward view along plunging anticline at Rock Creek, with li mb of over­turned syncline at top right causing repetition of Rock Creek Member (Lower Bajocian) with Poker Chip Shale (Toarcian) above. From Hal l and Stronach (1981).

; large calcareous concretions with impressi ons of Stephanoceras 9 encl osed in red-brown weathering shales of Highwood Member (Lower Bajocian).

i; - thin cemented bands in dark shales with spirocera8~ Megasphaeroceras 3

stephanoceratids and fish (Upper Bajocian). iii- Bositra and Harpoaeras dark. papery shales of Poker Chip Shale

(Toarcian).

Type section of the Rock Creek Member. headwaters of Rock Creek.

Small, southward plunging anticline formed in Gryphaea Bed on Carbondale River (Bathonian) at Locality 2.

Folded Passage Beds on Carbonda l e Ri ver.

West bank of Fording River. looking south at Localities 3a, 3b . i papery, dark sha les of Poker Chip Sha lewith Harpoceratids (Toarcian) .

;i resistant siltstones with Sonninia , distal part of Rock Creek Member (Lower Bajocian). ·

iii shales with bentonitic clays and concretions bearing Stephanoceras (upper Lower Bajocian) and, above, CranocephaZites aostidensus (Lower Bathonian).

Entrance to old phosphate mi ne at Fording River (Locality 3a) from Frebold (1969).

A - Lower Sinemurian phosphate bed above Triassic Spray River Group. B - Upper Sinemurian shales with limestone bands. C - Lower Toarcian Poker Chip Sha le Fording River, Locality 3b, from Frebold, 1976.

T - Poker Chip Shale (Toarcian). G greyish -brown sha les. S thin siltstone with Sonninia . Rock Creek Member (Lower Bajocian) H concretions with Stephanoaeras (upper Lower Bajocian) .

• • • • • ~

• • • • -• • • • ,

• I

~

u U

D

D

m

m

I I I I ~

~

~

~

~

I I I

, , ,

PLA TI: 1

----------------------------------~

EXPLANATION OF PLATE 2

a. West bank of Fording River, Locality 3c. i position of Cobbanites - Parureineckeia horizon in grey shales

between brown weathering calcareous bands 3 and 4. b. Grassy Mountain, south slope, Locality 4.

i shales and cemented siltstone bands of upper Corbula munda Beds; type locality for the Lower to ?Middle Bathonian Zone of Paraaephalites glabresoens (Frebo1d, 1963).

ii - Gryphaea Bed; type locality for the Middle Bathonian Zone of Warrenoaeras henryi (Frebold, 1963).

c. Panoramic view of south slope of Grassy Mountain from Frebold (1963) showing numerous outcrops of Fernie strata. The section shown in Plate 2b (above) ; s located immediately left (west) of C.

d.

e.

Bighorn Creek, Locality 5. Basal part of the Fernie Format i on resting on the well-bedded siltstones of the Sulphur Mountain Formation of the Spray River Group (Triassic). i coquina with bi valves, gastropods and Ar i etit i d ammonite fragments

(Lower Sinemurian). i; platy~ s i lty shales on west bank bel onging to the overlying Red Deer

Member (Upper Pliensbachian). Bighorn Creek, same locality as in Plate 2d . i Lower Sinemurian coquina bed. ii Red Deer Member (type section) with AmaZtheus stokesi (Upper

Pliensbachian) . iii black, platy shales on top of Red Deer Member which have yielded

large Dactylioceratids.

,.

~

• • • • • • • • • • ~

I ~

PLATE 2

D

n U

U

U .'.

r l [

U

U

D

IJ

C

l

J

- - --.-~~~~~~~~~~~~--:-

a.

EXPLANATION OF PLATE 3

Bighorn Creek. upstream from part of section shown in Plate 2e. •

; black, platy sha les of the Poker Chip Sha l e containing numerous flattened, but wel l preserved, specimens of Daat~liocera83 Harpocera83

Bositra3 Inoceramids and aptychi (Lower Toarcian).

i; red-brown weathering. grey, si l ty sha les of the Highwood Member with benton i tic clay bands, "abundant belemn i tes and gypsum, (? Lower Bajocian). Locality 4b.

b. Upper surface of belemnite bed at river leve l i n the secti on shown in Plate 3c, Bighorn Creek, Local i ty 3c.

c. Bighorn Creek, Locality 3e, on east bank and upstream from the section shown i n Plate 3a .

i bel emnite bed (see Pl ate 3b). ;i pos i tion of thin zone yie ldi ng flattened, fragmenta l I niskinites and

Eurycephalitinae.

d. IHllson Creek, Locality 6.

e.

f .

g.

h.

i massive, yellow-brown weathering sandstone with black, phosphatic .pebbles; probab ly Rock Creek Member.

ii top surface of "belemnite batt lefi e ld " with ?Chonilroceras (? Lower ,

iii iv

Bajoc ian) .

Green Beds (?Oxford i an) . Passage Beds . .t·

Willson Creek; en l argement of part of Plate 3d showing marker beds of yellow­brown weatherin g. ca l careous s iltstones (numbered 1. 2 and 3) . i belemnite battlefield. i i horizon immediately above Bed 3 yi eld i ng fragments of Kepplerites cf.

tychonis~ KeppZerites sp .• CobbaniteB sp . • and Ini skini tes sp. (Upper Bathonian) .

Top surface of Lower Bajocian "be l emnite battlefield tl at Wi ll son Creek (shown i n Plates 3d , 3e) . Banff traffi c circle . Locality 8. Partial section from Frebold. 1962. showi ng part of the Passage Beds with interbedded shales and bioturbated sil tstones .

Banff traffic circle, Local ity 8. Partial secti on from Frebold, 1962. P. - Grey Beds (Bathonian) B - black shales with "Turbo " fern:iensis (Oxfordian) C sha l es and sand stones with Amoeboaeras (U pper Oxfordian - Kimmeridgian)

• • • • • • • • • • •

I' ~

u

~

u u· ~ . ...,.....

~

m

I I I I ~

m

ID

~

U jU

l U

PLAT

- ------------------------

EXPLANATION OF PLATE 4

(all figures xl unless otherwise . i ndicated)

a . Amaltheus sp. indet. aff. A. gibbosus (Schlothe i m). Bighorn Creek , Upper Pliensbachian . From Frebold (1969), Plate 1, fi9. 12.

b. Amaltheus sp. indet. Bighorn Creek, Upper Pliensbachian . From Frebold (1969), Plate 1, fig. 11.

c . DactyZioceras (Orthodac tylites) sp . Bighorn Creek, Lower Toarcian, Exaratum Subzone. From Frebold (1976), Plate 4, fig. 1.

d. DactyZioceras (Orthodactyli tes) sp . Bighorn Creek , Lower Toarcian, Exaratum Subzone. From Frebold (1976), Pl ate 4, fig. 2.

e. Harpoceras exaratum (Young and Bird). Bi ghorn Creek, Lower Toarcian , Exaratum Subzone . . From Frebo 1 d (1976) , PLate 5, fi g. 1.

f. Harpoceras cf. H. falcifer (Sowerby). Bighorn Creek, Lower Toarcian, Falcifer Subzone. From Frebold (1976), Plate 5, fig. 2.

g. Brodieia ? sp. Bighorn Creek , t~idd l e Toarc ian. From Frebold (1976) , Plate 6, fig. 3.

h. Brodieia ? sp . Bi ghorn Cr eek, Mi ddl e Toarcian . From Frebold (1976) , Plate 7, fig . 6.

;. Whitbyiceras? sp. Bighorn 'Creek, Lower Toarcian, Falc ifer Subzone. From Frebold (1976) , Plate 5, fi g. 3. . .

j. Hi ldai tes cf. H. serpentiformis Buckman. Bighorn Creek, Lower Toarcian, Fa l ci fer Subzone. From Frebold (1976), Plate 5, fi g. 4.

k. Hildaites cf. B. serpentiformis Buckman. Bighorn Creek, Lower Toarcian, Fa l ci fer Subzone . From Frebold (1976), Plate 5, fig. 5.

•

• • • • • • • • I

• • • • • •

u

c ~

u ~ .

U (\

JI.

~

~I

H

~

~

~

l j

I i

PLATE 4

- -- .......... -. - -. -. .

a.

b.

c.

d.

e.

f.

g.

EXPLANATION OF PLATE 5

(all figures xl unless otherwise i ndicated)

Hildaites sp. nov. ? From Frebold (1976) ,

fording River, Lower Toarcian, Falcifer Subzone . Plate 7, f i g. 1.

Haugia sp. fordi ng River, ~1iddle Toarcian, Variabilis Zone. From Frebold (1976). Plate 7, fig. 9.

Haugia sp. Fording River, Midd l e Toarcian, Var;abi1is Zone. From Frebold (1976 ), Plate 7, fig. 8.

Sonninia gracilis (Whiteaves). "$owerbyi II Zone. From Frebold

Lake Minnewanka area, Lower Bajocian, (1976), Plate 8, fig. 2.

unidentifi ed ammonite from top of Rock Creek Member at its type locality. Rock Creek.

Stephanoceras itinsae (McLearn ) 9. Ribbon Creek, Lower Bajocian, Zone of Chondroaeras obZatwn (= middle to upper Humphriesianum Zone). From Frebold (1957), Plate 23 , fig . lao

stephanoceras itinsae (McLearn) f. above . From Frebold (1957),

., . '. ~'-':

Q . Inner whorls of same specimen as in Plate 23, fig. lb .

I I

• • • • I I I

• I I I I I I I I I

I PLATE 5

I I (

I I I I f ~

U Ii

JI

[i

[ ,

[

U

U

U

a.

b.

EXPLANATION OF PLATE 6

(all figures xl unless otherwise indicated)

Stephanoaeras (StemmatocerasJ dOwZingi (McLearn). Ribbon Creek, Lower Bajocian, Zone of Chondroeeras obZatwn (= middl e and upper Humphries ian um Zone). From Frebold (1957), Plate 24, fig. l a.

Chondroceras oblatum (Whiteaves) ~. Ribbon Creek , Lower Bajocian, Zone of Chondroceras obl.a:twn (= midd le and upper Humphr;esianum Zone) . From Hall and Westermann (1980), Plate 14, fig. 6a.

c, d. Stephanoceras itinsae (Mc Learn) OW. Ribbon Creek , Lower Bajocian, Zone of Chondroceras obZatum (= middle and upper Humphr;esianum Zone), From Hall and Westermann (1980), PLate 8 , fig. 7a, b.

e.

f.

Megasphaeroceras cf. M. rotundum Imlay. Rock Creek, Upper Bajocian, Zone of Me~a8phaerocera8 rotundum (= Subfurcatum Zone). From Hal' and Stronach (1981), Plate 1, fi9. 2a.

Spir oceras cf. S . orbignyi (Baug;er and Sauze). Zone of Megasphaer oeer as rotundum (= Subfurcatum

~ Stronach (1981), Plate 1, fig . l a .

Rock Creek, Upper Zone). From Hall

Bajocian, and

g, h.Stephanoceratidae gen. et sp. indet. Rock Creek, Upper Bajocian, Zone of Megasl?haeroceras ro,tundwn (= Subfurcatum Zone). From Ha11 and Stronach (1981), Plate 1,fi gs. Sf, e.

i. .,

Cobbanites cf. C. taZkeetnanus Imlay. Rock Creek, ?Bathonian. From Hall and Stronach (1981), Plate 1, fig. 3.

..

• • I I I I I

I I , I I

IT PLATE 6

m m I I

.' I I I f [

I I I I [

r ,

[

[

a, b.

c, d.

e , f.

g.

h.

i.

EXPLANATION OF PLATE 7

(a ll f igures xl un l ess otherwi se indicated)

CranocephaZites cf. c. costidensus Imlay. Fording River, Lower Bathonian, Zone of CranoaephaZites costidensus (= Zigzag Zone). From Hall (1982).

Parareineckeia cf . P. sheZikofana (Imlay) . Fording River, Bathonian . From Hall (1982). x 2.

Cobbanites cf . c. taZkeetnanus Imlay . Fording River, Bathonian. From Hall (1982) . x 2.

ParacephaZites gZabrescens Buckman. Zone of ParacephaZit es gZabr escens . fig. 3a.

Grassy Mounta in, Lower Bathonian, From Frebo1d (1963), Plate 2,

Warrenoceras henryi (Meek and Hayden). Bathonian, Zone of Warrenoceras henryi . fig. 1.

Grassy Mountain, Lower or Middle From Frebo1d (1963), Plate 6,

ParacephaZites hashimotoi Frebold. From Frebo1d (1957), Plate 38, fig.

i' .

·'1,' _l,,0'

Adanac mine road, Lower Bathonian? 1e .

I I I I I I I I I I I I

I

r I I I I .

I I I I I I ~

~

~

~

u

u u u

PLATE 7

'. , C ,,":1. •

, /,.f;" a

. . , h . . .

a .

b.

c.

d .

e .

f.

g .

h.

i .

j, k.

EXPLANATION OF PLATE 8

(a ll figures xl unless otherwi se i ndicated)

Cobbanites engleri (Frebold). Zone of Warrenoaer as henryi .

Grassy Mountain. Lower or ~1iddle Bathonian , From Frebold (1957) , Plate 40, fi9. lao

Kepplerites sp . Adanac mine road. Lower or Middle Bathonian, Zone of Warrenoceras henryi . From Frebold (1963), Plate 9, fig. 2.

Cryphaea impressimarginata McLearn. Adanac mi ne road, Lower or Mi ddle Bathonian, Zone of Warr enoceras henryi . From Frebold (1957) , Plate 40, fig. 3.

Kepplerites sp . Willson Creek, Upper Bathonian. From Hal l (1982) .

Kepplerites aff. K. tychonis Ravn. From Frebo ld (1963), Plate 9, fig .

Grassy Mountain, Upper Bathonian . 3.

KeppZerites cf. K. tychonis Ravn . Hillson Creek, Upper Bathonian. From Ha ll (1982).

, Kepplerites cf. K. tychoni s Ravn . Rock Creek , Upper Bathonian. From Ha ll (1982) .

. Iniskinites Bathonian.

Iniski nites Bathonian.

cf . I . intermedius From Hall (1982) .

cf. I . inter.mediuR From Hall (1 982).

(Imlay) . Wi ll son .Creek, Midd le or Upper

(Imlay) . Bighorn Creek, Middle or Upper

Buahia aonoentriaa (Sowerby ). Ca rbondale River. Oxfordian. From Frebold (1957), Plate 38, figs. 4a, b.

~ r~ II II II

• • • • • • J J J

I

-------------

r PLATE 8

I I I I I I I I I I I I

.~ . , ', ..

~. : . :.' . . ' . . f" ~;: ? .' ,,_ , , .... \ ... l? "

, ,'tf';). ... ":' ': '. . " , II !., '. , _ . '

" .. _f!. . . '

1. 2. 3.

4. 5.

6.

7.

8. 9.

10.

11. 12.

13.

14.

15.

16 .

17.

18 . 19 . 20.

21.

EXPLANATION OF PLATE 9

(al l figures shown xl )

PZeur omya burnsi Warren r.V.

Pleuromya simplex Warren r.V.

Platymya r oakymontana Imlay r.v . Pleuromya burnsi Warren l.v. Pleuromya simplex Warren l. v. Procerithiwn s p.

Thracia convexa Warren r. v. Thracia dubia Warren r. v.

Quenstedtia ferniensis Warren r.Y . Quenstedtia f erniensis Warren r.v. PronoelZa ?cinnabarensis (Stanton) r.v. Cucullaea e longata Warren r.v. CucuUaea eZongata Warren r. v.

Cucullaea elongata ~Jarren r.v.

Grammatodon haguei (Meek) r . v.

Pronoella cinnabarens is (Stanton) r. v. '

Entolium parviaur e Warren Astarte ?packar di \,h i te 1. v. MYophorella ex . gr . M. aawsoni (Wh i teaves) Idonearca r ockymontana (Warren) r.v . PZagiostoma alber t ense Warren 1. v.

r.v.

Benthi c macrofauna from the Bajoci an Limestone . 1-16 are spec; es common in the infaunal assemblage III, while 17-21 are species common in the Entolium-dominated assemblage I.

r.v. = r i ght valve l.v. = left valve

(from Stronach, 1981)

'7 '. ,. -.",'~

1)

11.

• II fJ 11 II

'i i

II 'I

I I I 1 I I

1

f I I I I I I I I I I I

• 12

, . ' . , , " . . . ~ ~~ .. -..... -'r'" ' .

-:--.. .. .., . '.-

PLATE 9 .

; . '-- ! . • • " . "- . . .1 i . . '\

-.::. . /;:-;> ~ .

l.

2. 3.

4. 5.

6. 7. 8.

9. 10.

EXPLANATION OF PLATE 10

(a ll figures shown xl )

Retroeeramus ferniensis

Liostrea strigeZicuZa

Liostrea strigeZieula

(War ren) l. v. (White) l ower va l ve

(White) lower va l ve

Camptonectes albertensis Warren l. v. Oxytoma blai~oren8i8 McLearn 1. Y. Modiolus rosii McLearn l .v. Entolium leachi McLearn EntoZium Zeachi McLearn ~otoaardia schuaherti McLearn r.Y . cluster of Gryphaea impres8imarginata i n li fe pos i tion; l ower va l ves visibl e .

Benthic macrofauna from the Bajocian Li mestone and the Gryphaea Bed . 1-4 are species common in t he byssate epifaunally-domi nated assembl age IV of the Bajocian limestone; 5-1 0 are species common in t he Gryphaea Bed (assemblage II).

r.v. = r i ght va l ve l. v. = left valve

(from Stronach, 1981)

I I I I I

I

I

• I I

•