Banff Formation
{{Infobox Rockunit
| name = Banff Formation
| image = MountRundle.jpg
| caption = The Banff Formation is visible on the eastern (left) slope of Mount Rundle.
| type = Geological formation
| age = {{Fossil range|Famennian|Tournaisian}}
| period = Paleozoic
| prilithology = Shale, limestone
| otherlithology = Chert, sandstone, siltstone
| namedfor = Banff, Alberta
| namedby = E.M. Kindle, 1924
| region = Alberta, British Columbia
| country = Canada
| coordinates = {{coord|51|09|54|N|115|31|08|W|name=Banff Formation}}
| unitof =
| subunits = Members A to F
| underlies = Pekisko Formation, Livingstone Formation
| overlies = Palliser Formation, Wabamun Formation, Exshaw Formation
| thickness = up to {{convert|400|m|ft|-1}}{{Cite web|url=http://cgkn1.cgkn.net/weblex/weblex_litho_detail_e.pl?00053:000747|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130221161847/http://cgkn1.cgkn.net/weblex/weblex_litho_detail_e.pl?00053:000747|url-status=dead|archive-date=2013-02-21|title=Banff Formation|author=Lexicon of Canadian Geologic Units|access-date=2009-02-10}}
| extent =
| area =
| map =
| map_caption =
}}
The Banff Formation is a stratigraphic unit of Devonian age in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin.
It takes the name from the town of Banff, Alberta, and was first described on the north-west slope of Mount Rundle, near Banff by E.M. Kindle in 1924.Kindle, E.M., 1924b. Standard Paleozoic section of Rocky Mountains near Banff, Alberta; Pan-American Geologist, vol. 42, no. 2 (September), pp. 113-124.
Lithology
Distribution
The Banff Formation extends from the 49th parallel in southern Alberta and the Kootenays region of British Columbia to north-eastern British Columbia, northern Alberta and the District of Mackenzie in the Northwest Territories. In its southern area, the thickness ranges from {{convert|400|ft|m|-1}} in the Rocky Mountains to {{convert|150|ft|m|-1}} in the sub-surface of the prairies. In the north, it ranges from {{convert|450|ft|m|-1}} in the Peace River Country to {{convert|450|ft|m|-1}} in northern Alberta.
The age of the formation ranges from late Famennian to Tournaisian.
Relationship to other units
The Banff Formation is overlies the Palliser Formation in the Canadian Rockies, the Wabamun Formation in central Alberta, the Exshaw Formation in southern Alberta and in the Fort Nelson area. It is overlain by the Pekisko Formation and the Livingstone Formation in north-central and southern Alberta respectively, and it is followed by the Shunda Formation in north-eastern British Columbia. An unconformity is observed between Banff and the Rundle Group in outcrop.
The Banff Formation is equivalent to the Lodgepole Formation in Montana. It can be correlated with the Besa River Formation in north-eastern British Columbia. In the southeastern Rocky Mountains, part of the formation passes laterally into the Pekisko Formation.
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin|Northwest_Plains=yes|Northeast_Plains=yes|South AB=yes}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:Geologic formations of Alberta
Category:Geologic formations of British Columbia
Category:Devonian British Columbia
Category:Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin
Category:Carboniferous southern paleotropical deposits
Category:Shale formations of Canada
Category:Limestone formations of Canada
Category:Sandstone formations of Canada