Schooler Creek Group

The Schooler Creek Group is a stratigraphic unit of Middle to Late Triassic (Ladinian to Norian) age in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin. It is present in northeastern British Columbia. It was named for Schooler Creek, a left tributary of Williston Lake, and was first described in two oil wells (Pacific Fort St. John No. 16 and Southern Production No. B-14-1) northwest of Fort St. John, by F.H. McLearn in 1921.[2] Exposures along Williston Lake serve as a type locality in outcrop.

Schooler Creek Group Stratigraphic range: Ladinian to Norian PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Type	Geological formation
Sub-units	Bocock Formation, Pardonet Formation, Baldonnel Formation, Ludington Formation, Charlie Lake Formation, Halfway Formation
Underlies	Fernie, Bullhead, Fort St. John Group
Overlies	Toad Formation, Doig Formation
Thickness	up to 730 feet (220 m)[1]
Lithology
Primary	Limestone, dolomite
Other	Siltstone, shale, evaporite minerals
Location
Coordinates	56.2769°N 120.9836°W
Region	British Columbia
Country	Canada
Type section
Named by	F.H. McLearn, 1921

Lithology

The Schooler Creek Group is composed of limestone and dolomite, with subordinate siltstone, shale, sandstone, and evaporite minerals such as gypsum and anhydrite.

Distribution

The Schooler Creek Group outcrops in the foothills of the northern Canadian Rockies in northeastern British Columbia, where it reaches its maximum thickness of 730 feet (220 m). In the subsurface, it extends throughout the plains of the Peace River Country. The Pardonet Formation has its type locality at Pardonet Hill, on the south shore of the Williston Lake at 56.05328°N 123.01889°W.

Relationship to other units

The Schooler Creek Group is unconformably overlain by the Fernie shale, or by the Bullhead or Fort St. John Group. It conformably overlies the Toad Formation or the Doig Formation.

Subdivisions

The Schooler Creek Group has the following sub-divisions from top to base:

Sub-unit	Age	Lithology	Thickness	Reference
Bocock Formation	late Norian	aphanitic crystalline and bioclastic limestone	63 metres (210 ft)	[3]
Pardonet Formation	Norian	limestone, silty limestone, siltstone, rare shale	137 metres (450 ft)	[4]
Baldonnel Formation	Carnian	limestone, dolomite, with interbeds of siltstone and very fine grained sandstone	146 metres (480 ft)	[5]
Ludington Formation	Carnian	dolomitic and calcareous siltstone, sandstone, bioclastic limestone	500 metres (1,640 ft)	[6]
Charlie Lake Formation	Carnian	aeolian sandstones, limestone, dolomite and evaporite minerals such as anhydrite. Deposited in a series of sand dunes and sabkah environments similar to the modern Coastal Ergs of Namibia.	550 metres (1,800 ft)	[7][8][9][10]
Halfway Formation	early Ladinian to Carnian	sandstone, with interbeds of siltstone, dolomite and limestone	416 metres (1,360 ft)	[11]

References

1. Lexicon of Canadian Geologic Units. "Schooler Creek Group". Retrieved 2009-02-10.
2. McLearn, F.H., 1921. Mesozoic of upper Peace River, British Columbia Geological Survey of Canada, Summary Report 1920, Part B, p. 1-6.
3. Lexicon of Canadian Geologic Units. "Bocock Formation". Retrieved 2009-02-11.
4. Lexicon of Canadian Geologic Units. "Pardonet Formation". Retrieved 2009-02-11.
5. Lexicon of Canadian Geologic Units. "Baldonnel Formation". Retrieved 2009-02-11.
6. Lexicon of Canadian Geologic Units. "Ludington Formation". Retrieved 2009-02-11.
7. Lexicon of Canadian Geologic Units. "Charlie Lake Formation". Retrieved 2009-02-11.
8. Higgs, R. "Sedimentology and Petroleum Geology of the Artex Member (Charlie Lake Formation), Northeast British Columbia [Abstract]." Bulletin of Canadian Petroleum Geology 38.1 (1990): 166-166.
9. Arnold, K.J. Origin and distribution of aeolian sandstones in the Triassic Charlie Lake Formation, northeastern British Columbia. 1996.
10. Fefchak, Chelsea (Oct 2, 2011). "Sedimentology of the Charlie Lake Formation". MSC. Thesis, University of Alberta. hdl:10402/era.27704.
11. Lexicon of Canadian Geologic Units. "Halfway Formation". Retrieved 2009-02-11.