Schooler Creek Group

{{Short description|Stratigraphic Group in Western Canada}}

{{Infobox Rockunit

| name = Schooler Creek Group

| type = Geological group

| age = Ladinian to Norian {{Fossil range|235|203| }}

| period = Norian

| prilithology = Limestone, dolomite

| otherlithology = Siltstone, shale, evaporite minerals

| namedby = F.H. McLearn, 1921

| region = {{flag|British Columbia}}

| country = {{flag|Canada}}

| coordinates = {{coord|56.2769|N|120.9836|W|name=Pacific Fort St. John No. 16|display=inline,title}}

| subunits = Bocock Formation, Pardonet Formation, Baldonnel Formation, Ludington Formation, Charlie Lake Formation, Halfway Formation

| underlies = Fernie, Bullhead, Fort St. John Group

| overlies = Toad Formation, Doig Formation

| thickness = up to {{convert|730|ft|m|-1}}{{Cite web|url=http://cgkn1.cgkn.net/weblex/weblex_litho_detail_e.pl?00053:013387 |title=Schooler Creek Group|author=Lexicon of Canadian Geologic Units |accessdate=2009-02-10}}

}}

The Schooler Creek Group is a stratigraphic unit of Middle to Late Triassic (Ladinian to Norian) age in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin. It is present in northeastern British Columbia. It was named for Schooler Creek, a left tributary of Williston Lake, and was first described in two oil wells (Pacific Fort St. John No. 16 and Southern Production No. B-14-1) northwest of Fort St. John, by F.H. McLearn in 1921.McLearn, F.H., 1921. Mesozoic of upper Peace River, British Columbia Geological Survey of Canada, Summary Report 1920, Part B, p. 1-6. Exposures along Williston Lake serve as a type locality in outcrop.

Lithology

The Schooler Creek Group is composed of limestone and dolomite, with subordinate siltstone, shale, sandstone, and evaporite minerals such as gypsum and anhydrite.

Distribution

The Schooler Creek Group outcrops in the foothills of the northern Canadian Rockies in northeastern British Columbia, where it reaches its maximum thickness of {{convert|730|ft|m|-1}}. In the subsurface, it extends throughout the plains of the Peace River Country. The Pardonet Formation has its type locality at Pardonet Hill, on the south shore of the Williston Lake at {{coord|56.05328|-123.01889|name=Pardonel Hill}}.

Relationship to other units

The Schooler Creek Group is unconformably overlain by the Fernie shale, or by the Bullhead or Fort St. John Group. It conformably overlies the Toad Formation or the Doig Formation.

=Subdivisions=

The Schooler Creek Group has the following sub-divisions from top to base:

class="wikitable"
Sub-unitAgeLithologyThicknessReference
Bocock Formationlate Norianaphanitic crystalline and bioclastic limestone{{convert|63|m|ft
1}}

|{{Cite web|url=http://cgkn1.cgkn.net/weblex/weblex_litho_detail_e.pl?00053:001584 |title=Bocock Formation|author=Lexicon of Canadian Geologic Units |accessdate=2009-02-11}}

Pardonet FormationNorianlimestone, silty limestone, siltstone, rare shale{{convert|137|m|ft
1}}

|{{Cite web|url=http://cgkn1.cgkn.net/weblex/weblex_litho_detail_e.pl?00053:011512 |title=Pardonet Formation|author=Lexicon of Canadian Geologic Units |accessdate=2009-02-11}}

Baldonnel FormationCarnianlimestone, dolomite, with interbeds of siltstone and very fine grained sandstone{{convert|146|m|ft
1}}

|{{Cite web|url=http://cgkn1.cgkn.net/weblex/weblex_litho_detail_e.pl?00053:000714 |title=Baldonnel Formation|author=Lexicon of Canadian Geologic Units |accessdate=2009-02-11}}

Ludington FormationCarniandolomitic and calcareous siltstone, sandstone, bioclastic limestone{{convert|500|m|ft
1}}

|{{Cite web|url=http://cgkn1.cgkn.net/weblex/weblex_litho_detail_e.pl?00053:008848 |title=Ludington Formation|author=Lexicon of Canadian Geologic Units |accessdate=2009-02-11}}

Charlie Lake FormationCarnianaeolian sandstones, limestone, dolomite and evaporite minerals such as anhydrite. Deposited in a series of sand dunes and sabkah environments similar to the modern Coastal Ergs of Namibia.{{convert|550|m|ft
1}}

|{{Cite web|url=http://cgkn1.cgkn.net/weblex/weblex_litho_detail_e.pl?00053:002775 |title=Charlie Lake Formation|author=Lexicon of Canadian Geologic Units |accessdate=2009-02-11}}Higgs, R. "Sedimentology and Petroleum Geology of the Artex Member (Charlie Lake Formation), Northeast British Columbia [Abstract]." Bulletin of Canadian Petroleum Geology 38.1 (1990): 166-166.Arnold, K.J. Origin and distribution of aeolian sandstones in the Triassic Charlie Lake Formation, northeastern British Columbia. 1996.{{cite journal|last=Fefchak|first=Chelsea|title=Sedimentology of the Charlie Lake Formation|journal=MSC. Thesis, University of Alberta|date=Oct 2, 2011|hdl=10402/era.27704}}

Halfway Formationearly Ladinian to Carniansandstone, with interbeds of siltstone, dolomite and limestone{{convert|416|m|ft
1}}

|{{Cite web|url=http://cgkn1.cgkn.net/weblex/weblex_litho_detail_e.pl?00053:006138 |title=Halfway Formation|author=Lexicon of Canadian Geologic Units |accessdate=2009-02-11}}

References