Red River Formation

Stratigraphic range: Caradoc to Ashgill

PreꞒ

Type| Geological formation
Sub-units| Fort Garry Member
Selkirk Member
Cat Head Member
Dog Head Member
Underlies| Stony Mountain Formation
Overlies| Winnipeg Formation
Thickness| up to 215 metres (710 ft)[1]
Lithology
Primary| limestone, dolomite
Other| Breccia
Location
Coordinates| 51°56′54″N 98°03′23″W﻿ / ﻿51.9482°N 98.0563°W﻿ / 51.9482; -98.0563﻿ (Red River Formation)
Region| WCSB
Williston Basin
Country|  Canada
United States
Type section
Named for| Red River of the North
Named by| A.F. Foerste
Year defined| 1929

The Red River Formation is a stratigraphical unit of Late Ordovician age in the Williston Basin.

It takes the name from the Red River of the North, and was first described in outcrop in the Tyndall Stone quarries and along the Red River Valley by A.F. Foerste in 1929.[2][3]

## Lithology[edit]

### Subdivisions[edit]

The Red River Formation is composed of the following subdivisions from top to base: [1]

* Fort Garry Member: crystalline and micritic dolomite with an argillaceous dolomite breccia in the middle
* Selkirk Member: fossiliferous, dolomitic limestone
* Cat Head Member: cherty dolomite, becoming calcareous to the south
* Dog Head Member: fossiliferous dolomitic limestone

## Distribution[edit]

The Red River Formation reaches a maximum thickness of 215 metres (710 ft) in the center of the Williston Basin. At the along the Manitoba outcrop belt, it is 150 metres (490 ft) thick and thins out northwards.[1]

## Relationship to other units[edit]

The Red River Formation is slightly unconformably overlain by the Stony Mountain Formation and sharply overlays the Winnipeg Formation in Manitoba, the Deadwood Formation in western Saskatchewan and the Canadian Shield in northern Manitoba.[1]

The lower Red River Formation is equivalent to the Yeoman Formation, while the Fort Garry Member correlates with the Herald Formation.

## References[edit]

1. ^ a b c d Lexicon of Canadian Geologic Units. "Formation". Archived from the original on 2009-04-16. Retrieved 2010-02-01.
2. ^ Foerste, A.F., 1929. The Ordovician and Silurian of the American arctic and sub-arctic regions. Denison Univ. Sci. Lab J., v. 24, p. 27-79.
3. ^ Foerste, A.F., 1929b. The cephalopods of the Red River Formation of southern Manitoba. Denison Univ. Sci. Lab J., v. 24, p. 129-235.

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Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin

Hydrocarbon history|

* Oil sands and heavy oil
* Frontier exploration and development
* Natural gas liquids
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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

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