Dunvegan Formation

Dunvegan Formation Stratigraphic range: Cenomanian PreЄ Є O S D C P T J K Pg N
Dunvegan Sandstone
Type	Geological formation
Underlies	Smoky Group
Overlies	Fort St. John Group (Shaftesbury Formation)
Thickness	up to 380 feet (120 m)^[1]
Lithology
Primary	Sandstone
Other	Shale
Location
Coordinates	55°55′14″N 118°37′55″W / 55.92043°N 118.63203°W / 55.92043; -118.63203 (Dunvegan Formation)Coordinates: 55°55′14″N 118°37′55″W / 55.92043°N 118.63203°W / 55.92043; -118.63203 (Dunvegan Formation)
Region	Northeast British Columbia Northwest Alberta
Country	Canada
Type section
Named for	Dunvegan, Alberta
Named by	George Mercer Dawson, 1881

The Dunvegan Formation is a stratigraphical unit of Cenomanian age in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin.

It takes the name from the settlement of Dunvegan, Alberta, and was first described in an outcrop on Peace River near Dunvegan by George Mercer Dawson in 1881.^[2]

Lithology

The Dunvegan Formation is composed of marine, and deltaic sandstone with thin shale interbeds in the Peace River Country. East of Dunvegan, Alberta it is of marine origin, and in its western reaches in British Columbia it was deposited in a continental facies, where the sandstone becomes more conglomeratic. During Dunvegan time, a brackish water environment was present in the Wapiti River area and south of Grande Prairie, where the formation is porous.

Hydrocarbon production

The Dunvegan Formation had an initial established recoverable oil reserve of 9.9 million m³, with 3.1 million m³ already produced as of 2008.^[3] Gas reserves totaled 18.7 million m³, with 4.5 million m³ already produced.^[4]

Distribution

The Dunvegan Formation is 180 feet (50 m) thick in its type locality in Peace River Country and up to 380 feet (120 m) in the sub-surface of the Canadian Rockies foothills. It occurs south of Fort Nelson and the Liard River in north-east British Columbia, thins out south of the Peace River Country. South of the Athabasca River, the Dunvegan grades laterally into the Blackstone Formation.

The Dunvegan Formation is exposed in outcrop along and near the Peace River east of the foothills, in the Peace River Country and the Chinchaga area, as well as patches in north-western Alberta and south of the Caribou Mountains.

Relationship to other units

The Dunvegan Formation is conformably overlain by marine shales of the Kaskapau Formation in the Peace River Country and overlies conformably and transitionally the shale of the Fort St. John Group. The relationship between the Dunvegan and the overlying/underlying units is diachronous and the boundaries of the Dunvegan are placed at the first and last appearances of sandstone within the shale-dominated succession.^[5]

References

↑ Lexicon of Canadian Geologic Units. "Dunvegan Formation". Retrieved 2009-02-10.
↑ Dawson, G.M., 1881. Report on the exploration from Port Simpson on the Pacific Coast to Edmonton on the Saskatchewan River, Embracing a portion of the northern part of British Columbia and the Peace River Country, with Maps 150 and 152; Geological Survey of Canada, Report of Progress 1879-1880, Part B, p. 1-77.
↑ Mossop, G.D. and Shetsen, I - Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists (1994). "The Geological Atlas of the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin - Summary of oil reserves and production data". Retrieved 2009-03-06.
↑ Mossop, G.D. and Shetsen, I - Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists (1994). "The Geological Atlas of the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin - Summary of gas reserves and production data". Retrieved 2009-03-06.
↑ Plint, A. Guy (March 2000). "Sequence Stratigraphy and Paleogeography of a Cenomanian Deltaic Complex: the Dunvegan and Lower Kaskapau Formations in Subsurface and Outcrop, Alberta and British Columbia, Canada". Bulletin of Canadian Petroleum Geology. 48 (1): 43–79.

Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin

Hydrocarbon history	Oil sands and heavy oil Frontier exploration and development Natural gas liquids Natural gas

Depositional regions	Southern Alberta Central Alberta Northwestern Alberta Plains South-central Canadian Rockies foothills North-east Plains North-central foothills Liard River Fort Nelson Northern Rocky Mountains Fort St. John Saskatchewan Western Manitoba

Fort Nelson area	Wapiti GRP Kotaneelee FM Dunvegan FM Ft. St. John GRP Sully FM SikanniFM Buckinghorse FM Scatter FM Belloy FM Rundle GRP Debolt FM Shunda FM Pekisko FM Banff FM Exshaw FM Kotcho FM Tetcho FM Trout River FM Kakisa FM Redknife FM Jean Marie MBR Fort Simpson FM Horn River FM Muskwa FM Waterways FM Slave Point FM Watt Mountain FM Muskeg FM Sulphur Point FM Presqu'ile FM Pine Point FM Keg River FM Chinchaga FM Canadian Shield

Northwest plains	Paskapoo FM Scollard FM Wapiti GRP Smoky GRP Puskwaskau FM Badheart FM Muskiki FM Cardium FM Kaskapau FM Pouce Coupe MBR Doe Creek MBR Dunvegan FM Fort St. John GRP Shaftesbury FM Peace River FM Spirit River FM Bullhead GRP Bluesky FM Gething FM Cadomin FM Nikanassin FM Fernie GRP Rock Creek MBR Poker Chip Shale Nordegg MBR Schooler Creek GRP Baldonnel FM Charlie Lake FM Halfway FM Doig FM Montney FM Belloy FM Stoddart GRP Taylor Flat FM Kiskatinaw FM Golata FM Rundle GRP Debolt FM Shunda FM Pekisko FM Banff FM Exshaw FM Wabamun FM Trout River FM Kakisa FM Redknife FM Jean Marie MBR Woodbend GRP Irteton FM Fort Simpson FM Leduc FM Duvernay FM Cooking Lake FM Beaverhill Lake GRP Waterways FM Swan Hills FM Fort Vermilion FM Elk Point GRP Watt Mountain FM Gillwood MBR Presqu’ile FM Sulphur Point FM Pine Point FM Muskeg FM Zama MBR Black Shale Keg River FM Rainbow MBR Chinchaga FM Cold Lake FM Ernestina FM Basal Red Beds Granite Wash Canadian Shield

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