The Spirit River Formation is a

stratigraphical 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: lithostrati ...

unit of middle Albian

age Age or AGE may refer to: Time and its effects * Age, the amount of time someone or something has been alive or has existed ** East Asian age reckoning, an Asian system of marking age starting at 1 * Ageing or aging, the process of becoming older ...

in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin. It takes the name from the Spirit River, and was first described in

Imperial Oil Imperial Oil Limited (French: ''Compagnie Pétrolière Impériale Ltée'') is a Canadian petroleum company. It is Canada's second-biggest integrated oil company. It is majority owned by American oil company ExxonMobil with around 69.6 percent ...

Spirit River No. 1 well by Badgley in 1952.

Lithology

The Spirit River Formation consists, from bottom to top of fine to medium grained argillaceous sandstone, dark

shale Shale is a fine-grained, clastic sedimentary rock formed from mud that is a mix of flakes of clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4) and tiny fragments (silt-sized particles) of other minerals, especial ...

, ironstone, greywacke,

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, p ...

, coal and dark

with thin sandstone and

stringers.

Hydrocarbon production

Gas is produced from channels developed in the Falher Member in northern Alberta.

Hydraulic fracturing in Canada

'Massive' hydraulic fracturing has been widely used in Alberta since the late 1970s to recover gas from low-permeability sandstones of the Spirit River Formation. Massive hydraulic fracturing has been widely used in Alberta since the late 1970s. The method is currently used in development of the Cardium, Duvernay,

Montney Montney is an unincorporated locality located in British Columbia about north of Fort St. John, near Beatton Provincial Park. It lies at an elevation of , along the BC Rail tracks. The settlement gives the name to the Montney Formation, a gas ...

and Viking formations in Alberta, Bakken formation in Saskatchewan,

and

Horn River The Horn River is a river in the Northwest Territories of Canada. It is a major tributary of the Mackenzie River. The river gives the name to the Horn River Formation, a shale deposit of the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin. The Horn River ...

formations in British Columbia.

Distribution

The Spirit River Formation reaches a maximum thickness of . It is found in the sub-surface in the Peace River Country, in an area stretching from

Fort St. John, British Columbia Fort St. John is a city located in northeastern British Columbia, Canada. The most populous municipality in the Peace River Regional District, the city encompasses a total area of about with 20,155 residents recorded in the 2016 Census. Located ...

to the Lesser Slave Lake from west to east, and from Grande Prairie, Alberta to Manning, Alberta from south to north.

Relationship to other units

The Spirit River Formation is conformably overlain by the

Peace River Formation The Peace River Formation is a stratigraphical unit of middle Albian age in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin. It takes the name from the Peace River, and was first described on the banks of the river, downstream from the Smoky River conflue ...

and conformably underlain by the

Bluesky Formation The Bluesky Formation is a stratigraphic unit of Lower Cretaceous age in the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin. It takes the name from the hamlet of Bluesky, and was first described in Shell's ''Bluesky No. 1'' well by Badgley in 1952. Lithology ...

. It grades laterally to the Buckinghorse Formation shales to the north-east, and into the sandy

facies In geology, a facies ( , ; same pronunciation and spelling in the plural) is a body of rock with specified characteristics, which can be any observable attribute of rocks (such as their overall appearance, composition, or condition of formatio ...

of the

Malcolm Creek Formation Malcolm, Malcom, Máel Coluim, or Maol Choluim may refer to: People * Malcolm (given name), includes a list of people and fictional characters * Clan Malcolm * Maol Choluim de Innerpeffray, 14th-century bishop-elect of Dunkeld Nobility * Máel C ...

south of the Wapiti River. It is equivalent to the upper Mannville Formation in Central Alberta and to the

Clearwater Formation The Clearwater Formation is a Stratigraphy, stratigraphic unit of Early Cretaceous (Albian) Geochronology, age in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin, Western Canada Sedimentary Basin in northeastern Alberta, Canada. It was first defined by R.G. ...

and Grand Rapids Formation in the upper Athabasca River area.

Subdivisions

The Spirit River Formation is composed of the following sub-divisions from base to top:

References

Stratigraphy of Alberta Stratigraphy of British Columbia {{Canada-geologic-formation-stub