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Kakisa Formation

Coordinates: 60°47′06″N 121°04′37″W / 60.785°N 121.077°W / 60.785; -121.077 (Kakisa Formation)
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Kakisa Formation
Stratigraphic range: Frasnian
TypeGeological formation
UnderliesTrout River Formation
OverliesRedknife Formation, Fort Simpson Formation
Thicknessup to 57 metres (190 ft)[1]
Lithology
PrimaryLimestone
Location
Coordinates60°47′06″N 121°04′37″W / 60.785°N 121.077°W / 60.785; -121.077 (Kakisa Formation)
Region British Columbia
 Northwest Territories
Country Canada
Type section
Named forKakisa River
Named byH.R. Belyea, D.J. McLaren, 1962

The Kakisa Formation is a stratigraphical unit of Frasnian age in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin.

It takes the name from the Kakisa River, a tributary of the Mackenzie River, and was first described in outcrop on the banks of the Trout River by H.R. Belyea and D.J. McLaren in 1962.[2]

Lithology

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The Kakisa Formation is composed of silty and dolomitic limestone. [1] Reef builders such as corals and stromatoporoids can be identified in the formation. It is reefoid in its northern extent, where its thickness is variable.

Distribution

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The Kakisa Formation reaches a maximum thickness of 57 metres (190 ft).[1] it occurs at the surface in outcrops along the Kakisa River between Tathlina Lake and Kakisa Lake and as an escarpment along the Mackenzie River. In the sub-surface, it can be found in north-eastern British Columbia, where it is typically 30 metres (100 ft) thick, and thins out towards the Peace River Arch.

Relationship to other units

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The Kakisa Formation is disconformably overlain by the Trout River Formation and conformably overlays the Redknife Formation (east) or the Fort Simpson Formation (west).[1]

It is equivalent to parts of the Winterburn Group in central Alberta. Towards the west, it becomes shaley and turns into the Fort Simpson Formation.

References

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  1. ^ a b c d Lexicon of Canadian Geologic Units. "Kakisa Formation". Retrieved 2009-03-01.
  2. ^ Belyea, H.R. and McLaren, D.J., 1962. Upper Devonian formations, southern pan of Northwest Territories, northeastern British Columbia and northwestern Alberta. Geological Survey of Canada, Paper 61-29.