Type Locality:

Frederick Brook in the vicinity of Albert Mines, Albert County, New Brunswick (NTS 21 H/15E).

Distribution:

Total thickness varies from less than 100 m to over 1800 m (McCutcheon, 1978). The Albert Formation outcrops intermittently from College Bridge (NTS 21 H/15), on the Memramcook River, southwestward along the northern flank of the Caledonia Highlands to Waterford (NTS 21 H/11) in Kings County. A second belt extends from Indian Mountain (NTS 21 I/2) north of Moncton to Smith Creek (NTS 21 H/14) near Sussex. There is also a large outcrop area between Sussex and Bloomfield Station (NTS 21 H/12).

Lithology:

The Albert Formation is divided into three members. In ascending order, these are: Dawson Settlement Member, light grey, calcareous, quartz-feldspathic sandstone, and light to dark grey calcareous shale and sandstone; Frederick Brook Member, dark brown to black, organic-rich marlstone (oil shale), sandy marlstone, and massive dolomitic marlstone; Hiram Brook Member, light to dark grey, locally calcareous and/or organic-rich mudstone, brownish-grey, calcareous to non-calcareous, quartz-feldspathic sandstone, and minor quartzose sandstone and limestone. Outside the type area, `oil shale' is rare and this threefold subdivision is not readily recognized. Conglomerate is commonly present in the lower and upper members outside the type area.

Relationship:

The Albert Formation conformably overlies and, in part, is laterally equivalent to the Upper Devonian to Lower Carboniferous Memramcook Formation and is conformably overlain and, in part, laterally equivalent to the Lower Carboniferous `Weldon Formation' (McCutcheon, 1978). By current definition the contacts of the Albert Formation are drawn on the basis of colour (Gussow, 1953, p. 30), rather than lithostratigraphy. The Albert is in fault contact with pre-Carboniferous rocks between Prosser Brook and Albert Mines (NTS 21 H/15E). Younger rocks, assigned to the Hillsborough Member of the Moncton Formation and Enrage Formation of the Hopewell Group, unconformably overlie the Albert Formation. The Horton Group in New Brunswick includes in ascending order, the Memramcook, Albert and Moncton formations.

History:

Gesner (1841, p. 27-28) briefly described "bituminous" rocks along Frederick Brook, in the type area of the Albert Formation, and mentioned other localities, but considered them to be coal and part of his "Westmorland Coal Field." Robb (1850) stated that "no coal whatever" occurred in this area. Dawson (1853) studied the geology in the Albert Mines area, concluded that the "calcareo-bituminous-shales" were the base of the lower carboniferous series, and suggested a correlation with Horton Bluff in Nova Scotia. Bailey (1865) showed that the Albert shales were not at the base, being separated from pre-Carboniferous strata by conglomerates, and that "bituminous shales" could be found as far west as Norton (NTS 21 H/12) in Kings County. Matthew (1863) reported fossils that confirmed the Early Carboniferous age of the Albert near Norton and also suggested a correlation with Horton Bluff rocks in Nova Scotia. Bailey and Ells (1878) formally defined the Albert shales, which were called the Baltimore shales in the vicinity of Rosevale. Ami (1900c) first used the term Albert Formation. Ells (1903) first suggested, and later (1908) maintained, a Late Devonian age for the formation based on correlation with the Perry Formation in western New Brunswick. Young (1912) mapped the Albert Series in the Moncton area. Wright (1922) divided his Albert Series into basal conglomerate, sandstone, and shale (Zone No. 1), oil shale and barren shale (Zone No. 2), and sandstone and shale (Zone No. 3). Bell (1927a), Hayes (1927), and Norman (1941a, 1941b) used Albert Formation again. Gussow (1953) outlined the regional distribution of the Albert Formation. Greiner (1962) subdivided it into three members approximating those of Wright (1922). King (1963) described the petrography of the oil shale. Kelley (1970, in Poole et al., 1970) and van de Poll (1972) assigned the Albert Formation to the Horton Group. Greiner (1974b) demonstrated the lacustrine origin of the formation and Pickerill and Carter (1980) described its depositional environment in more detail.

References:

Ami, H.M., 1900c. Notes on some of the formations belonging to the Carboniferous system in eastern Canada; Canadian Record of Science, vol. 8, pp. 149-163.

Bailey, L.W. and Ells, R.W., 1878. Report on the Lower Carboniferous belt of Albert and Westmorland counties, New Brunswick, including the "Albert Shales"; Geological Survey of Canada, Report of Progress for 1876-77, pp. 351-401.

Bailey, L.W., 1865. Observations on the geology of southern New Brunswick; Printed by Order of the House of Assembly, Fredericton, New Brunswick, 158 p.

Bell, W.A., 1927a. Outline of Carboniferous stratigraphy and geologic history of the Maritime Provinces of Canada: Proceedings and Transactions of the Royal Society of Canada, Third Series, vol. 21, section 4, pp. 75-108.

Carr, P.A., 1968. Stratigraphy and spore assemblages, Moncton map-area, New Brunswick; Geological Survey of Canada, Paper 67-29, 47 p.

Dawson, J.W., 1853. On the Albert Mine, Hillsborough, New Brunswick: Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London, vol. 9, pp. 107-114.

Ells, R.W., 1903. The Albert shale deposits of Albert and Westmorland counties, New Brunswick: Geological Survey of Canada, Summary Report for 1902, vol. 15, pp. 363A-369A.

Ells, R.W., 1908. Surveys in southern New Brunswick; Geological Survey of Canada, Summary Report for 1907, pp. 74-76.

Gesner, A., 1841. Third report on the geological survey of the Province of New Brunswick: Saint John, New Brunswick, 88 p.

Greiner, H.R., 1962. Facies and sedimentary environments of Albert shale, New Brunswick; American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG), AAPG Bulletin, vol. 46, no. 2, (February), pp. 219-234.

Greiner, H.R., 1974a. Geology of Campbellton, Oak Bay (east) and Escuminac (west), Restigouche County, New Brunswick; New Brunswick Department of Natural Resources, Plates 74-59, 74-60, 74-61.

Greiner, Hugo, 1977. Crossopterygian fauna from the Albert Formation, New Brunswick, Canada, and its stratigraphic-paleoecologic significance; Paleontological Society, Journal of Paleontology, vol. 51, no. 1 (January), pp. 44-56.

Gussow, W.C., 1953. Carboniferous stratigraphy and structural geology of New Brunswick, Canada; American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG), AAPG Bulletin, vol. 37, no. 7 (July), pp. 1713-1816.

Hacquebard, P.A., 1972. The Carboniferous of eastern Canada; Septieme Congres International de Stratigraphie et de Geologie du Carbonifere, Krefeld 1971, Compte Rendu, vol. 1, pp. 69-90.

Hayes, A.O., 1927. Bituminous shale and other mineral occurrences in the vicinity of Sussex, New Brunswick: Geological Survey of Canada, Summary Report for 1925, Part C, pp. 125-131.

King, A.F., 1963a. Geology of Cape Makkovik Peninsula, Aillik, Labrador: Unpublished M.Sc. thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, Newfoundland, 114 p.

Lambe, L.M., 1910. Palaeoniscid fishes from the Albert shales of New Brunswick: Geological Sur-vey of Canada, Memoir 3, 69 p.

Matthew, G.F., 1863. Observations on the geology of Saint John County, New Brunswick; Canadian Naturalist, vol. 8, pp. 241-259.

McCutcheon, S.R. 1978. Geology of the Apohaqui-Markhamville area, map-area R-25. New Brunswick Department of Natural Resources, Mineral Resources Branch, Map Report 78-5, 41 pages.

Norman, G.W.H. 1941a. Hillsborough, Albert and Westmorland counties, New Brunswick; Geological Survey of Canada, Map 647A.

Norman, G.W.H. 1941b. Moncton, Westmorland and Albert counties, New Brunswick; Geological Survey of Canada, Map 646A.

Pickerill, R.K. and Carter, D., 1980. Sedimentary facies and depositional history of the Albert Forma-tion: Mineral Resources Division, New Brunswick Department of Natural Resources, Open File Report 80-2, 132p.

Poole, W.H., Sanford, B.V., Williams, H., and Kelley, D.G., 1970. Geology of southeastern Canada, pp. 228-304: in R.J.W. Douglas (ed.), Geology and Economic Minerals of Canada; Geological Survey of Canada, Economic Geology Report 1, 5th Edition, 838 p.

Robb, J., 1850. Letter to Professor Johnston; in Report on the agricultural capabilities of the Province of New Brunswick by J.F.W. Johnston, Queens Printer, Fredericton, New Brunswick, pp. 38-47.

Wright, W.J., 1922. Geology of the Moncton map-area; Geological Survey of Canada, Memoir 129, 69 p.

Young, G.A., 1912. Geology of the Moncton map-area, Westmorland and Albert counties, New Brunswick; Geological Survey of Canada, Summary Report 1911, pp. 309-321.

van de Poll, H.W., 1972. Stratigraphy and economic geology of Carboniferous basins in the Maritime Provinces: in International Geological Congress, Twenty-fourth session, Field Excursion A60, 96 p.