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Elk Point Group
The Elk Point Group is a stratigraphic unit of Early to Middle Devonian age in the Western Canada and Williston sedimentary basins. It underlies a large area that extends from the southern boundary of the Northwest Territories in Canada to North Dakota in the United States. It has been subdivided into numerous formations, number of which host major petroleum and natural gas reservoirs.
The formations of the Elk Point Group are composed primarily of carbonate rocks (dolomite and limestone) and evaporitic rocks (halite, anhydrite and potash), with lesser amounts of dolomitic mudstone and shale.
Some of the carbonate formations of the Elk Point Group contain rich assemblages of marine invertebrate fossils, including many species of brachiopods, gastropods, bivalves, cephalopods, crinoids, ostracods and corals. The evaporitic formations are unfossiliferous or contain a few spores and algal remains.
The formations of the Elk Point Group were deposited in a marine embayment that stretched from an open ocean in the present-day Northwest Territories of Canada to North Dakota in the United States, covering an area roughly half as large as that covered by today's Mediterranean Sea. At times of low water levels and excessive evaporation, halite and other evaporite minerals were deposited in sabkha, supratidal flat and coastal lagoon environments, and at times of higher water levels carbonate platform sedimentation and reef growth were dominant.
The Elk Point Group extends from the southern boundary of the Northwest Territories through northwestern British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and southwestern Manitoba in Canada, and continues into eastern Montana and North Dakota in the United States. It reaches a maximum thickness of about 610 metres (2,000 ft) in eastern Alberta.
The Elk Point Group was named for the town of Elk Point, Alberta by J.R. McGehee in 1949. Core from a well that was drilled near Elk Point has been designated as the type section (Anglo-Canadian Elk Point No. 11, 2-11-57-5W4). The group is subdivided into the Lower and Upper Elk Point Group, each of which is further subdivided into formations according to the dominant lithologies, as shown in the tables below.
The Lower Elk Point Group comprises all strata lying below the Winnipegosis Formation (in the south) or the Keg River Formation (in the north) and is present only in the deepest parts of the basin. The Upper Elk Point Group, which is present throughout the basin, includes those formations and all overlying formations to the base of the Manitoba Group (in the south) or the Beaverhill Lake Group (in the north).
In northern Alberta and central Alberta, the Elk Point Group contains the following subdivisions, from top to base:
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Elk Point Group
The Elk Point Group is a stratigraphic unit of Early to Middle Devonian age in the Western Canada and Williston sedimentary basins. It underlies a large area that extends from the southern boundary of the Northwest Territories in Canada to North Dakota in the United States. It has been subdivided into numerous formations, number of which host major petroleum and natural gas reservoirs.
The formations of the Elk Point Group are composed primarily of carbonate rocks (dolomite and limestone) and evaporitic rocks (halite, anhydrite and potash), with lesser amounts of dolomitic mudstone and shale.
Some of the carbonate formations of the Elk Point Group contain rich assemblages of marine invertebrate fossils, including many species of brachiopods, gastropods, bivalves, cephalopods, crinoids, ostracods and corals. The evaporitic formations are unfossiliferous or contain a few spores and algal remains.
The formations of the Elk Point Group were deposited in a marine embayment that stretched from an open ocean in the present-day Northwest Territories of Canada to North Dakota in the United States, covering an area roughly half as large as that covered by today's Mediterranean Sea. At times of low water levels and excessive evaporation, halite and other evaporite minerals were deposited in sabkha, supratidal flat and coastal lagoon environments, and at times of higher water levels carbonate platform sedimentation and reef growth were dominant.
The Elk Point Group extends from the southern boundary of the Northwest Territories through northwestern British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and southwestern Manitoba in Canada, and continues into eastern Montana and North Dakota in the United States. It reaches a maximum thickness of about 610 metres (2,000 ft) in eastern Alberta.
The Elk Point Group was named for the town of Elk Point, Alberta by J.R. McGehee in 1949. Core from a well that was drilled near Elk Point has been designated as the type section (Anglo-Canadian Elk Point No. 11, 2-11-57-5W4). The group is subdivided into the Lower and Upper Elk Point Group, each of which is further subdivided into formations according to the dominant lithologies, as shown in the tables below.
The Lower Elk Point Group comprises all strata lying below the Winnipegosis Formation (in the south) or the Keg River Formation (in the north) and is present only in the deepest parts of the basin. The Upper Elk Point Group, which is present throughout the basin, includes those formations and all overlying formations to the base of the Manitoba Group (in the south) or the Beaverhill Lake Group (in the north).
In northern Alberta and central Alberta, the Elk Point Group contains the following subdivisions, from top to base: