The Saskatchewan Group 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: lithostrat ...

unit of

Frasnian The Frasnian is one of two faunal stages in the Late Devonian Period. It lasted from million years ago to million years ago. It was preceded by the Givetian Stage and followed by the Famennian Stage. Major reef-building was under way during t ...

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 olde ...

in the

Western Canadian 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 takes the name from the province of

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a province in western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North ...

, and was first described in the ''

Mobil Oil Mobil is a petroleum brand owned and operated by American oil and gas corporation ExxonMobil. The brand was formerly owned and operated by an oil and gas corporation of the same name, which itself merged with Exxon to form ExxonMobil in 1999. ...

Woodley Sinclair Cantuar X-2-21'' well by A.D Baillie in 1953.Baillie, A.D., 1953. "Devonian names and correlations of the Williston Basin area;

American Association of Petroleum Geologists The American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG) is one of the world's largest professional geological societies with more than 40,000 members across 129 countries as of 2021. The AAPG works to "advance the science of geology, especially as ...

Bulletin, vol. 37, no. 2 (February), pp. 444-447.

Lithology

The Saskatchewan Group is composed of

carbonate A carbonate is a salt of carbonic acid (H2CO3), characterized by the presence of the carbonate ion, a polyatomic ion with the formula . The word ''carbonate'' may also refer to a carbonate ester, an organic compound containing the carbonat ...

s with thin

evaporite An evaporite () is a water- soluble sedimentary mineral deposit that results from concentration and crystallization by evaporation from an aqueous solution. There are two types of evaporite deposits: marine, which can also be described as oce ...

Distribution

The Saskatchewan Group reaches a maximum thickness of . It is present in the sub-surface throughout the

Williston Basin The Williston Basin is a large intracratonic sedimentary basin in eastern Montana, western North Dakota, South Dakota, southern Saskatchewan, and south-western Manitoba that is known for its rich deposits of petroleum and potash. The basin is a ...

Subdivisions

The Saskatchewan Group contains the following formations, from top to base:

Relationship to other units

The Saskatchewan Group is conformably overlain by the

Three Forks Group The Three Forks Group is a stratigraphical unit of Famennian age in the Williston Basin. It takes the name from the city of Three Forks, Montana, and was first described in outcrop near the city by A.C. Peale in 1893 (for the Three Forks Shale). ...

and conformably overlays the

Manitoba Group The Manitoba Group is a stratigraphical unit of middle to late Devonian age in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin. The group takes its name from the province of Manitoba, and was first defined by A.D. Baillie in 1953. Lithology The Manitob ...

carbonates. It is equivalent to the upper

Beaverhill Lake Formation The Beaverhill Lake Group is a geologic unit of Middle Devonian to Late Devonian (late Givetian to Frasnian) age in the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin that is present in the southwestern Northwest Territories, northeastern British Columbia ...

, the

Woodbend Group The Woodbend Group is a stratigraphical unit of Frasnian age in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin. It was first described in the ''British American Pyrcz No. 1'' well by Imperial Oil geological staff in 1950. Lithology The Formation is co ...

and the lower part of the

Winterburn Group The Winterburn Group is a stratigraphical unit of Frasnian age in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin. It takes the name from Winterburn area located west of Edmonton, and was first described in well ''P.A. Pyrcz No. 1'' by Imperial Oil Limi ...

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 ...

, and with the

Jefferson Group Jefferson may refer to: Names * Jefferson (surname) * Jefferson (given name) People * Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826), third president of the United States * Jefferson (footballer, born 1970), full name Jefferson Tomaz de Souza, Brazilian fo ...

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 ...

References

{{Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin, , South AB=yes, Saskatchewan=yes Geologic groups of Alberta Geologic groups of Saskatchewan Geologic groups of the United States