The Battle Formation is a

geologic formation A geological formation, or simply formation, is a body of rock having a consistent set of physical characteristics ( lithology) that distinguishes it from adjacent bodies of rock, and which occupies a particular position in the layers of rock exp ...

Late Cretaceous The Late Cretaceous (100.5–66 Ma) is the younger of two epochs into which the Cretaceous Period is divided in the geologic time scale. Rock strata from this epoch form the Upper Cretaceous Series. The Cretaceous is named after ''creta'', ...

(

Maastrichtian The Maastrichtian () is, in the ICS geologic timescale, the latest age (uppermost stage) of the Late Cretaceous Epoch or Upper Cretaceous Series, the Cretaceous Period or System, and of the Mesozoic Era or Erathem. It spanned the interv ...

) age in the

Western Canada Sedimentary Basin The Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin (WCSB) underlies of Western Canada including southwestern Manitoba, southern Saskatchewan, Alberta, northeastern British Columbia and the southwest corner of the Northwest Territories. This vast sedimentary ...

. It is present throughout much of the

central Alberta Central Alberta is a region located in the Canadian province of Alberta. Central Alberta is the most densely populated rural area in the province. Agriculture and energy are important to the area's economy. Geography Central Alberta is bordere ...

plains, where it is an important

stratigraphic marker Stratigraphy is a branch of geology concerned with the study of rock layers (strata) and layering (stratification). It is primarily used in the study of sedimentary and layered volcanic rocks. Stratigraphy has three related subfields: lithostra ...

in the nonmarine Upper Cretaceous sequence.Hathway, B. 2011. Late Maastrichtians paleovalley systems in west-central Alberta: Mapping the Battle Formation in the subsurface. Bulletin of Canadian Petroleum Geology, vol. 59, no. 3, p. 195-206. It was formally named by G.M. Furnival in 1942Furnival, G.M. 1942. Cypress Lake, Saskatchewan. Geological Survey of Canada, Paper 42-5 and given formation status by E.J.W. Irish in 1970.Irish, E.J.W. 1970. The Edmonton Group of south-central Alberta. Bulletin of Canadian Petroleum Geology, vol. 18, p. 125-155.Glass, D.J. (editor) 1997. Lexicon of Canadian Stratigraphy, vol. 4, Western Canada including eastern British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and southern Manitoba. Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists, Calgary, 1423 p. on CD-ROM. .

Stratigraphy

The Battle Formation forms part of the

Edmonton Group Within the earth science of geology, the Edmonton Group is a Late Cretaceous (Campanian stage) to early Paleocene stratigraphic unit of the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin in the central Alberta plains. It was first described as the Edmonton Form ...

. A marker bed called the Kneehills Tuff is present in the upper part of the formation.

Lithology

The Battle Formation is easily recognized in

outcrop An outcrop or rocky outcrop is a visible exposure of bedrock or ancient superficial deposits on the surface of the Earth. Features Outcrops do not cover the majority of the Earth's land surface because in most places the bedrock or superficia ...

and in geophysical well logs. It consists of distinctive mauve-grey to purplish brown mudstones with minor

siltstone Siltstone, also known as aleurolite, is a clastic sedimentary rock that is composed mostly of silt. It is a form of mudrock with a low clay mineral content, which can be distinguished from shale by its lack of fissility.Blatt ''et al.'' 1980, ...

and rare

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates ...

. The mudstones contain a large component of

volcanic ash Volcanic ash consists of fragments of rock, mineral crystals, and volcanic glass, created during volcanic eruptions and measuring less than 2 mm (0.079 inches) in diameter. The term volcanic ash is also often loosely used to refer ...

that has been altered to

bentonitic Bentonite () is an absorbent swelling clay consisting mostly of montmorillonite (a type of smectite) which can either be Na-montmorillonite or Ca-montmorillonite. Na-montmorillonite has a considerably greater swelling capacity than Ca-mon ...

and montmorillonitic

clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4). Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay part ...

, and they form a porous, popcorn-like crust upon weathering. The Kneehills Tuff bed consists of brown-grey, hard siliceous rock.

Thickness and Distribution

The Battle Formation is reaches thicknesses of up to about , but in some areas it was partially or completely removed by erosion prior to or during the deposition of the overlying Scollard Formation. The Kneehills Tuff occurs as one bed about to thick, or as two or three beds each about to thick in the upper part of the Battle.

Relationship to Other Units

The Battle Formation

unconformably An unconformity is a buried erosional or non-depositional surface separating two rock masses or strata of different ages, indicating that sediment deposition was not continuous. In general, the older layer was exposed to erosion for an interval o ...

overlies the

Whitemud Formation The Whitemud Formation is a geologic formation of Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) age in the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin. it is present through the plains of southern Saskatchewan, southeastern Alberta and south-central Alberta. Named by N.B ...

. It is overlain by the Scollard Formation and the contact is erosional in some areas where basal Scollard paleochannels have cut into or eroded through the Battle. In other areas the contact may be conformable. In the southern Alberta plains it is overlain, apparently conformably, by the

Willow Creek Formation The Willow Creek Formation is a stratigraphic unit of Late Cretaceous to Early Paleocene age in the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin of southwestern Alberta. It was first described by George Mercer Dawson in 1883 along the Willow Creek, a tribut ...

, and in Saskatchewan it is overlain by the

Frenchman Formation The Frenchman Formation is stratigraphic unit of Late Cretaceous (late Maastrichtian) age in the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin. It is present in southern Saskatchewan and the Cypress Hills of southeastern Alberta. The formation was defined by ...

. The Battle Formation is equivalent to part of the

St. Mary River Formation The St. Mary River Formation is a geologic formation of Late Cretaceous (71.9-67 Ma) age of the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin in southwestern Alberta and northwesternmost Montana. It was first described from outcrops along the St. Mary River ...

in the southern Alberta plains and is correlative with part of the

Brazeau Formation The Brazeau Formation is a geologic formation in Alberta. It preserves fossils dating back to the Cretaceous period. See also * List of fossiliferous stratigraphic units in Alberta This is a list of fossiliferous stratigraphic units in Alberta ...

in the foothills of the

Alberta Rockies Alberta's Rockies comprise the Canadian Rockies, Canadian Rocky Mountains in Alberta, Canada. On the southwestern part of the Provinces and territories of Canada, province along the British Columbia border, the List of regions of Canada, region co ...

. It is correlated with the part of the

Fox Hills Formation The Fox Hills Formation is a Cretaceous geologic formation in the northwestern Great Plains of North America. It is present from Alberta on the north to Colorado in the south. Fossil remains of dinosaurs, including tyrannosaurs, as well as larg ...

Montana Montana () is a U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West List of regions of the United States#Census Bureau-designated regions and divisions, division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North ...

and

North Dakota North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the indigenous Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north and by the U.S. states of Minnesota to the east, S ...

Paleontology

The Battle Formation is thought to have been deposited in sediment-starved

lacustrine A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much larger ...

and

marsh A marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous rather than woody plant species.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p Marshes can often be found a ...

environments. It is poorly

fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...

iferous, but

spore In biology, a spore is a unit of sexual or asexual reproduction that may be adapted for dispersal and for survival, often for extended periods of time, in unfavourable conditions. Spores form part of the life cycles of many plants, algae, ...

s, bone fragments, algal remains and carbonized wood have been reported.

References

{{reflist Geologic formations of Canada Geology of Manitoba Geology of Saskatchewan Stratigraphy of Alberta Geology of British Columbia Geology of the Northwest Territories