... SOUTHESK CAIR N , COMPLEX n _I COM BASH P L A E X V IRETON BASI N LEGEN D F71 DISTRIBUTION OF CARBONATE FACIES (UNSHADED AREA IS SHALY FACIES) 292 DALE R. DOLPHIN and J . E. KLOVAN SURFACE SUBSURFACE WINTERBURN BCALMAR EGP NISKU Z < 0 w MT. HAWK FM . o IRETON FM . N ® PERDRIX FM . ® DU F^RNAY LEDUC FM...

... members of the Cairn and Southesk formations, respectively. The northwestern buildup margin appears to have been localized by the underlying accumulation of carbonate debris within the Maligne and lowermost basin-filling Perdrix formations, while the southeastern buildup margin developed above thick...

...-23 E-24 l - - ~ , RETON FM- ~ ~ .~ ~ I ' I I ~ ~ ' : Z ~ ~ ~ ~ I ~ ~ ' : - - - - ~ ~ " ~ ~ 7 ~ ~ ~ - - o Km I C l leO ' . . . . ' . . . . . . . . L _ - - - - , , ~ ;. j - ~ ~ ~ _ . . . . 7 / I / / / / / / LOWER LEDUC PLATFORM (81OSTROME) / / / / / / ~.u / / / / / I/ / / / / ' / y...

... fac ies - - - " - - - argllaceous fac ies 0 I . . . . 9 0 0 I I I 0 0 biostromol facies upper unnt middle unit I ower unit Mt. Simla Section I I ? ? estimated" _ / Arcs Mb "~ Grotto Mb Peechee Mb "Upper Cairn" Mb Flume Mb Sassenach Southesk Cairn Fm Fm Fm Fig. 6. Ancient Wal l carbonate complex...

... and stromatoporoids (Facies 4 and 5); T SASSENACH Fm. MOUNT HAWK gin. PERDFIIX Fm. / / MALIGNE Fro. d i FLUME Fm. i - -r -r ! / RONDE Mb. ! ARCS Mb, i op ~ ~UME Mb. Fig. 2. Cross-section through the northeastern portion of the Southesk Cairn carbonate complex and associated strata The mea- sured sections do...

... . . . . . . : . . . : . : : COOKING LAK E FM , MALIGN S , 9 FLUME FM . and MBR . ma :\WATERWAYS ;. HILLS FM FM . ,z ELK POIN T o 2 0 GROUP CARBONATE BUILDUP S Fig . 2, Correlation of formations exposed at Ancient Wall, Miette, and Southesk-Cair n with those of the subsurface in Alberta . Both the surface and subsurface carbonate...

... AND BASINAL STRATA OF WEST CENTRAL ALBERTA 13 SOUTHESK CAIRN COMPLEX % / 'VCOOKING LK FM % PLATFORM ED(;E " . ~. BAC KSTEPPI NGt"T i i : :~ LEDUC FM, / i i tPLATFO.M " " , ' ' ", . , ' , ' , ' , FAIRHOLMEi % " ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' * ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' "" ' ' ' ' ' I PLATFORM LEVELS...

..., as well as their possible influence on hydrocarbon migration and trapping. New data from the Southesk-Cairn complex and the surrounding shales show intriguing patterns. Firstly, the data define the regional (background) value of the MAximum Sr Isotope Ratio of BAsinal Shale (MASIRBAS) at 0.7120...

... and upper Redknife members of southern District of Mackenzie, Jean-Marie Member of northeastern British Columbia, upper Southesk and Mount Hawk formations of the Alberta Rockies, and upper Nisku Formation of the Alberta subsurface. Other species apparently confined to this fauna include Smithiphyllum...

... megabreccia beds at the Ancient Wall, Miette and Southesk-Cairn car - bonate complexes was first outlined and interpreted as debris flows b y 'Present address : Dept. of Geology, Sir George Williams University, Montreal , Canada . 5Dept. of Geological Sciences, McGill University, Montreal, Canada . This work...

... al. (2000a) . Devonian rocks exposed in western Alberta and eastern British Columbia range from middle Givetian to Famennian in age. Different formation names are given to basinal and platform rocks ( Fig. 2 ). Major platform carbonate units in the area are the Flume, Cairn, Southesk...

...Harry E. Cook ABSTRACT The Flume Formation exposed in Jasper National Park is a widespread sheet-like carbonate body, 100 to 250 ft thick, which served as a platform for the overlying 1200-ft thick, areally restricted Miette bank of the Cairn and Southesk formations. Platform deposition began...

... in Calgary | 4 Medicine Lake " ~ i 5 Wanham c \ ! Evaporite facies ~ I Silty carbonate facies ~ / | A Peace River highland and ) ~ Scale : v~V marginal clastic facies ~ 0 lOOkm | , I J Depositional edge Nisku Fm t . . - . . . . ~- Depos i t iona l l im i t Gramin ia S i l t Fig. 1. The distribution...

... initiated by Northern Hemisphere wind patterns. CORRESPONDENCE: tyler.hauck@aer.ca 07 11 2016 14 02 2017 07 04 2017 Figure 4. Location of samples DP15-76 and DP15-77 on the measured Sassenach Formation (Fm.) section at Morrow Peak west of Cold Sulfur Springs, Alberta, Canada...

...: MISS. i EXSHAW FM i i. :. :i :. i. :i i. i. i. i. i. i. z z : : : ' : . : . : ' : . : . : : . : . : ' / : . : ' : . : . : : . : . : ' : . : . : ' : . : . : : . : ' : ) : : ' ) : it.u ." . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . , . . . . . . . . ; . . . . . i i .i uPpER OBSr CK ~ i~EDUC ' ~d Z MARKERs...

... -< I . ( ° cn " :;r n m m a 1 \ BIOFACIES ANALYSIS, MIETTE REEF COMPLEX 49 7 such as the Leduc and Golden Spike . Stromatoporoids continued to b e the dominant reef-builders and, at the western edge of the shale basin , the Miette Reef initiated in Beaverhill Lake time (see below) continue d to grow throughout later Woodbend time . STRATIGRAPI-IY For the sake of brevity, the term "Miette Reef complex" will be used in this study to refer to the organic-rich mass of the Cairn Formation ex - posed in the Miette Range, and the equivalent off-reef beds in close associa - tion with this carbonate mass . This differs from Mountjoy's definitio n in that he (Mountjoy, 1965) included the entire Southesk and Cairn forma- tions in the Miette Reef . The Cairn Formation is of early Late Devonian age, and its type section occurs on the northern spur of Mount Dalhousie , immediately south of the Southesk and Cairn rivers' junction (McLaren , 1956) . The stratigraphic position is summarized in Figure 4 . Pre- Upper Devonian Stratigi'ap h zy In the study area, the Flume Formation and the lower member of th e Cairn Formation rest unconformably on beds of Middle and Late Cambria n age (Mountjoy 1960) , Further west and north the Devonian rests o n strata which include many of Ordovician age, whereas southwards late Cambrian and possibly Ordovician strata underlie the Devonian sequence . It is apparent that a marked unconformity exists between the basal Uppe r Devonian and the older beds which it truncates, and the truncated edge of the Ordovician probably lies immediately west of the Miette Reef . Upper Devonian Stratigraphy and Correlation s The name Cairn Formation was originally used by Belyea and McLare n (1956) for the Devonian "stromatoporoidal limestone and dolomite unit " developed in the Rocky Mountains and foothills between the Bow an d Athabasca Rivers. This nomenclature was applied only to the organic - rich carbonate masses, whereas equivalent strata without abundant reefal organisms were termed the Flume Formation (equivalent to Lower Cairn ) and Perdrix Formation (equivalent to the Upper Cairn and part of the overlying Southesk Formation) (Fig . 4) . Subsequently, Taylor (1957) separated the Flume Formation into an upper Maligne Formation and a lower Flume (restricted) Formation . Mountjoy (1965) carried usage of the restricted Flume Formation into the reefal Cairn by recognizing a Flume Member at the base of the Cairn Formation, cherty biostromal uni t Flume Member at the base of the Cairn Formation. This member i s everywhere characterized by a well - bedded, cherty biostromal unit abou t 60 to 80 ft thick . In the Miette area, the basal beds of the Devonian are very distinctive . Above a few feet of thin-bedded, slightly argillaceous limestones with rar e stromatoporoids occurs a bed of light-weathering, pure limestone . This easily mappable unit is 15 to 30 ft thick and is recognizable at localitie s well outside the study area, including the Ancient Wall area (Fig . 3) to the north and the Sunwapta Pass area to the southwest . Because of it s unique character and widespread nature the light unit is here named fo r the first time. The name Utopia Member is given because it is typicall y developed on Utopia Mountain in the Miette Range . Above the Utopia Member, which often has a red oxidized and brecciated upper surface suggesting an unconformity, a few feet of shaly beds, corn- 498 J, P. A. NOBLE MISSISSIPPIAN F EXSHAW FM. A M E N PALLISER FM. D N E I A V N 0 ' N, : :MT.HAW'K FMi A I G F R A S N I A N F A I R H 0 0 U L P M E SASSENACH FM . . . . . , . . . :7 / / / / / t K SOUTHESK "~ : i : . . : . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ~CiiR,j// : . ' . ' . : '. " ' . " , . . :FL.UME. F M. : :K/~U,E i.iBR " . . . : . ' . . . . :K//Z CAMBRIAN Fig. 4, BASINAL FACIES REEFAL FACIES STRATIGRAPHIC LIMITS OF SECTION STUDIED BY THE WRITER Stratigraphic Relationships of the Cairn Formation monly recessive, contrast sharply in their weather ing characteristics with the resistant Utopia Member . Above this recessive unit are the carbonates of the F lume Member and Cairn Format ion in the reefa] sections and the F lume, Ma l igne and Per- drix format ions in the career sections. Paleontologic evidence bear ing on the age of these format ions and their correlation with sections in other areas has been worked out by McLaren (1956, 1962), ma in ly on the basis of rhynchonel l id brachiopod index fossils (Fig. 5). The fauna collected by the writer in the Miette area tends to substantiate McLaren 's conclusions. It is clear that McLaren 's (1962) lowermost zone (zone of Ladogiodes pclcc and L. kakiuaens,is), is absent in the Miette area. though it is p1"esent in the Anc ient Wal l area just a few miles to the north, where the writer made good collections of these index fossils in the summer of ]L963. Apparent ly the basal Upper Devon ian beds onlapped f rom the north onto the Miette area during the initial Upper Devonian transgression. The restricted Flume Formation is not very fossiliferous but includes Allctnar{ct aZlani (Warren), which has been de- scribed by McLaren from Medicine Lake to the west and found by the writer to be confined to the Flume Member of the Miette Reef. According to McLaren (1962) this is supporting evidence for the absence of the earliest Upper Devonian beds, and the Flume (restricted) Formation in the Miette area should, therefore, be equated with the upper Waterways For- mation of northeasten~ Alberta. Though the Maligne and Perdrix formations (and the equivalent Cairn) are not abundantly fossiliferous, paleontologic evidence suggests that they are approximately equivalent o the Cc~Z~i~cta ~atb{Zis ct~hc~bascensis BIOFACIES ANALYSIS, MIETTE REEF COMPLEX 499 and C.v . insculpta zones respectively. Both these index fossils have bee n found by the writer in the Cairn Formation of the Miette Reef above the Flume Member. All the above-mentioned rhynchonellid zones have been assigned by 11MIcLaren to the Lower Frasnian . Correlation with the Subsurface Devonian Several attempts have been made to correlate outcrop sections of th e Cairn Formation and younger strata with the subsurface reefs of centra l Alberta . The correlation of the Flume (restricted) Formation with the Water - ways Formation also means correlation with the subsurface Beaverhil l Lake Formation, for the latter can be followed via good well control from subsurface to the outcropping Waterways section of northeast Albert a (Murray, 1965) . 3 ROCKY MOUNTAINS CENTRAL ALBERT A SUBSURFACE McLAREN~ S RHYNCHONELLID ZONES NISKU FM. SOUTH MT. HAW K ES K FM . FM. IRETO N FM . Calvinario voriabilis alberfensis o o w LEDUC ° CAIRN PERDU w FM . DUVERNAY FM . FM . ° ° FM . Calvinaria voriabilis insculpt a LL t MALIGNE FM COOKING Calvinario voriabilis altabascems LAKE FM. Y FLUME (restricted) WATERWAY S SWAN / F M\FM. ma HILLSOadogioides FM. par Fig . 5 . Correlation Chart Rocky Mountains Central Alberta . In addition, the Maligne Formation has been equated to the Cooking Lake Formation, whereas the Perdrix and Upper Cairn formations corre- late with the Duvernay Formation and the lower Leduc reefs of the centra l Alberta subsurface (McLaren 1962) . Correlations are summarized i n Figure 5 . In addition to the brachiopod and lithologic evidence cited above, furthe r evidence for this correlation comes from a study of the stromatoporoids . Though detailed work on the stromatoporoids has not yet been completed , it appears that a few generalizations can already be made . 3Editor's Note : The reader is referred to Leavitt and Fishbuch, Bull . Can . Petrol- eum Geology, v . 16, no. 3, 1968, for a more recent revision of this terminology . 500 J. P. A. NOBLE S .I LOCATION OF SECTIO N -IDT- ISOPACH THICKNESS (FEET) SCALE 0 FCOO 8000 FEET R. 27 W. 5 M . R.25 W. 5 M. Fig . 6 . Section Location Map and Total Reef Isopach Miette Reef . 1. Several genera and species common in the lower Beaverhill Lake of the Swan Hills area are absent or rare in the Miette Reefs . The genera Syringostroma., Hermatostroma and Parallelopora for instance, are com- mon in the reefal lower Swan Hills Formation (Fig . 5) but apparently absent from the Cairn Formation at Miette (Fischbuch, 1969 ; Noble, 1965) . 2. The Upper Swan Hills stromatoporoid fauna has certain affinities wit h that of the lower Cairn of the Miette Reef . Certain species of Trupetos- troma and An.ostylostroma are common to both these stratigraphic zone s and, in addition, these genera seem to be particularly abundant at thes e levels . 3. There are marked affinities between the stromatoporoid fauna of th e lower Leduc reefs (for example, at Redwater Fig . 3) and the fauna o f the upper Cairn Formation at Miette . For example, several species of Hammatostroma and Actinostroma are abundant in both the upper Cairn Formation and the Lower Leduc Reefs (Klovan, 1964) . This correlation, if correct, indicates that the Cairn Reefs of the moun- tains may have grown on a Flume Member platform at essentially th e same time that the Leduc reefs were growing on the Beaverhill Lake BIOFACIE~g ANALYSIS, MIETTE REEF COMPLEX 501 R27WSM R26WSM -1 +- \1 i \ 7 .I eke S . i i jS i S 3 _L "7 - - - - ~ - . ,~ , - -A S~CTFON LOCATION MAP ' ~ I / / " 99 o R ~ SECTI ON (3 ? m m m . . . . . . '~ !: i : : i Q (3 0 0 ~ 0 y (3 °L(3 I _ °° t ° (3 ) HEAVILY DOLOMITIZEO m m m ~ m m m m m m m m rn o 0 o ? o o a (3 (3 21 20 t9 27 26 17 .. 7~ . ~ l (3 " I:1 (3 (3 (3 (3 (3 (3 (3 (3 ~ (3 1(3 (3 ® N_AL _- _ . . o ~" ,.iR A~SGR o °PLATFORM ~ ~ (3 (3 ~ (3 (3 Q (3 DATUM: TOP OF UTOPIA MEMBER NW-SE CROSS SECT ION A-A' 1+2 ® J / E SIVE o ~ c (3 I (3 (3 5!I SCALE MILES o > c :, I BASE SOUTH-ESK FM. c, ~ o o o o ' roP CAIRN FM. i=:a d~ :- :1-: - MATURE PHASE ~ - - - P_H-A_S E . . . . ; ~ PHASE ~- - - - - - - o o ~ - - - C - 2 o o o ~ ~ ] 0 m m I- 9 ' _ m - - - - - - E m c o II m v iv FACIES KEY [~ Hemispherical Strom Focies TobuJor Strom Focies Bronching Strom. Facies...

... of the Ireton Formation were coeval with and postdated Leduc reef development. SURFACE SUBSURFACE ARCS ~o / ! ! ! ! i ! ! '~NISKU FM. S O~- JM o ~" -o -o ~ HA 1 E O ~ o ° : IRETON Z (5 O FM. < zw o < ~, : [E ;U ~ iO ~PERDRIX Z ~ ° : FM. :° =O"o"l'U u. °° : : : : i i~ FM" ! : :ooOooOooO!! i \oo°°i°U:P°P~°RCAIRN...

... (pp 339 - 342) i .ithology This Pape r 1923, pp . X159-60 Z z Z zO Messines Fm . Atessincs Fm . Pairholmc Gp . FeMIROOM 's' AMMO t=, r-i l w~ Owen Creek Pm . _ (Nortord, in press ) Z `. i Skoki Y 330 (Walcott , licoU 19 1928) OTrImarip . ay. tel. ~ ~C i 3Q Sarbach Pro . Sarbach In) - 1453 1Z Outran...