La Biche Group

The Labiche Formation is a stratigraphical unit of late Albian to Santonian age in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin.

Labiche Formation Stratigraphic range: late Albian to Santonian PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Type	Geological formation
Underlies	Belly River Formation
Overlies	Pelican Formation
Thickness	up to 420 metres (1,380 ft)[1]
Lithology
Primary	Shale
Location
Coordinates	55.01023°N 112.72600°W
Region	WCSB
Country	Canada
Type section
Named for	La Biche River
Named by	R.G. McConnell, 1892

It takes the name from La Biche River, a tributary of the Athabasca River, and was first described in outcrop in the Athabasca River valley by R.G. McConnell in 1892.[2]

Lithology

The Labiche Formation is composed shale with flakes of coccolithic debris, Inoceramus prisms, pyrite.[1]

Distribution

The Labiche Formation reaches a maximum thickness of 420 metres (1,380 ft) in the sub-surface of northern Alberta.[1]

Relationship to other units

The Labiche Formation is overlain by the Belly River Formation and conformably overlays the Pelican Formation.[1]

It is equivalent to the parts of the Colorado Group in central Alberta and to the sum of Smoky Group, Dunvegan Formation and Shaftesbury Formation in north-western Alberta.

References

1. Lexicon of Canadian Geologic Units. "Labiche Formation". Retrieved 2010-01-09.
2. McConnell, R.G., 1893. Report on a portion of the district of Athabasca, comprising the country between Peace River and Athabasca River north of Lesser Slave Lake. Geological Survey of Canada, Annual Reptort (new series), 1890-91, v. 5, Part 1, p. 1-67.