Doig Formation

Doig Formation
Doig Formation
Stratigraphic range: middle Anisian to Ladinian
Type Geological formation
Underlies Halfway Formation
Overlies Montney Formation
Thickness up to 190 metres (620 ft)[1]
Lithology
Primary Siltstone, Shale
Other Phosphate, Sandstone
Location
Named for Doig River
Named by J.H. Armitage, 1962
Coordinates 56°34′18″N 121°13′19″W / 56.57159°N 121.2219°W / 56.57159; -121.2219
Region NW  Alberta
NE  British Columbia
SE  Yukon
Country  Canada

The Doig Formation is a stratigraphical unit of middle Triassic age in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin.

It takes the name from Doig River, a tributary of the Beatton River, and was first described in the Texaco N.F.A. Buick Creek No. 7 well (located north-west of Fort St. John, east of the Alaska Highway) by J.H. Armitage in 1962. .[2]

Contents

Lithology

The Doig Formation is composed of argillaceous siltstone and dark calcareous shale. [1] Nodular phosphates occur at the base of the formation. Porous sandstone channels and bars are present locally towards the top of the formation in the northern areal.

Hydrocarbon production

Natural gas is extracted from the Doig Formation in the western Montney trend and in the Peace River Arch.

Distribution

The Doig Formation reaches a maximum thickness of 190 metres (620 ft) in the Canadian Rockies foothills it thins towards the north and east. It occurs in the sub-surface in north-western Alberta, north-eastern British Columbia and southern Yukon, from 53ºN and 118ºW to the Canadian Rockies.[1]

Relationship to other units

The Doig Formation is unconformably overlain by the Halfway Formation of the Schooler Creek Group. The contact is marked by a dolomitic bed and a chert and quartz conglomerate bed.[3] Westwards it is overlain by newer Jurassic beds. It conformably overlays the Montney Formation, which rests under the phosphate pellet bed located in the base of the Doig.[1]

The formation correlates with the lower Llama Member of the Sulphur Mountain Formation in the southern ranges of the Canadian Rockies, with the Whistler Member of the Whitehorse Formation in the Muskwa Ranges, and with the Toad Formation in the upper Liard River area.

References

  1. ^ a b c d Lexicon of Canadian Geologic Units. "Doig Formation". http://cgkn1.cgkn.net/weblex/weblex_litho_detail_e.pl?00053:004083. Retrieved 2009-03-21. 
  2. ^ Armitage, J.H., 1962. Triassic oil and gas occurrences in northeastern British Columbia, Canada. J. Alberta Society of Petroleum Geologists, v. 10, p. 35-36.
  3. ^ Lexicon of Canadian Geologic Units. "Halfway Formation". http://cgkn1.cgkn.net/weblex/weblex_litho_detail_e.pl?00053:006138. Retrieved 2009-03-21. 
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