Type Locality:

9 km east of the head of the east arm of Bird Fiord, Ellesmere Island.

Distribution:

Recognized on southern Ellesmere Island, western Grinnell Peninsula, Cornwallis Island and Bathurst Island; it ranges in thickness from 150 to 900 m.

Locality Data:

Thickness(m): Minimum 150, Maximum 900.

Lithology:

On Ellesmere Island the lower half of the formation consists of interbedded limestone and shale. The limestone units are 1 to 15 m thick and many contain abundant stromatoporoids, corals, brachiopods, crinoids, and pelecypods. Recessive units are up to 30 m thick and consist of medium grey, calcareous, silty shale with thin siltstone interbeds. The upper portion of the formation consists of interbedded shale, siltstone and very fine-grained sandstone; brachiopod and crinoid fossils are present in this interval. Shale, siltstone, and very fine-grained sandstone in coarsening-upward cycles dominate the formation to the west, on Bathurst Island, and limestone is rare.

Relationship:

Conformably overlies the Blue Fiord or the Cape de Bray Formation and is conformably overlain by the Strathcona Fiord or the Hecla Bay Formation.

Remark:

First Published: Geological Survey of Canada , Maps 20 , 21 - 1959.

Other Citations:

McGill, 1974; Kerr, 1974; Embry and Klovan, 1976; Mayr, 1980; Goodbody, 1989; Mayr et al., 1994; Mayr et al., 1998.

References:

Embry, A.F. and Klovan, J.E., 1976. The Middle-Upper Devonian clastic wedge of the Franklinian Geosyncline; Bulletin of Canadian Petroleum Geology, vol. 24, no. 4, pp. 485-639.

Goodbody, Q.H., 1989. Stratigraphy of the Lower to Middle Devonian Bird Fiord Formation, Canadian Arctic archipelago; Bulletin of Canadian Petroleum Geology, March 1989, Vol. 37, Issue 1, pp. 48-82

Kerr, J. Wm., 1974. Geology of Bathurst Island Group and Byam Martin Island, Arctic Canada; Geological Survey of Canada, Memoir 378, 152 p.

Mayr, U., Packard, J.J., Goodbody, Q.H., Okulitch, A.V., Rice, R.J., Goodarzi, F., Stewart, K.R., 1994. The Phanerozoic geology of southern Ellesmere and North Kent islands, Canadian Arctic Archipelago (Craig Harbour, Baad Fiord, and eastern part of Cardigan Strait map areas, NTS 49A, 49B, and 59A); Geological Survey of Canada, Bulletin 470, 298 p. : ill., maps ; 30 cm. + 10 folded col. maps.

Mayr, U., de Freitas, T., Eisbacher, G.H., and Kerr, J.W., 1998. Geology, prince Alfred Bay-Cardigan Strait and parts of adjacent sheets, Northwest Territories; Geological Surey of Canada, Map 1924A, scale 1:250 000.

Mayr, Ulrich, 1980. Stratigraphy and correlation of Lower Paleozoic formations, Subsurface of Bathurst Island and Adjacent Smaller Islands, Canadian Arctic Archipelago; Geological Survey of Canada, Bulletin 306, 52 p.

McGill, P.C., 1974. The stratigraphic and structure of the Vendom Fiord area; Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists (CSPG), Bulletin of Canadian Petroleum Geology, vol. 22, no. 4 (December), pp. 361-386.

McLaren, D.J., 1963a. Southwestern Ellesmere Island between Goose Fiord and Bjorne Peninsula. in Fortier, Y.O., Geology of the north-central part of the Arctic Archipelago, Northwest Territories (Operation Franklin): Geological Survey Memoir 320, pages 310-338