Type Locality:

Boss Point, from Lower Cove north to Downing Head, Cumberland County, Nova Scotia (NTS 21 H/9). Reference Localities: the end of Cape Maringouin, New Brunswick, directly across from Boss Point; Big Cape on the east side, and Dorchester Cape on the west side, of the Peticodiac River, New Brunswick (NTS 21 H/15E); Wallace River Section, between Middleborough and North Middleborough, Nova Scotia.

Distribution:

Bell (1944) estimated the thickness at the type section to be 1174 m. However, he did not clearly define the boundaries. After more precise delineation of the lower and upper boundaries, Ryan et al. (1990) determined that the true thickness of the Boss Point at the type section was 982 m. Ryan et al. (1991) revised the definition of the Boss Point to include upper and lower redbeds, and the three members of the Boss Point were formally described by Rygel et al. (2015). In southeastern Cumberland Basin, the Boss Point varies from 200 to 650 m thick (Ryan, 1985). Within the Athol Syncline, the formation is probably much thicker. The Boss Point is widespread in both the Cumberland and Moncton subbasins. In New Brunswick, it forms a V-shaped band, extending from the vicinity of Stanley in York County (NTS 21 J/2) to Oromocto Lake (NTS 21 G/10, 11), thence eastward towards Springhill (NTS 21 H/9), Cumberland County, Nova Scotia. A smaller V-shaped band extends from the Indian Mountain area (NTS 21 I/2) to near Sussex (NTS 21 H/12), thence east-northeastward to Gayton (NTS 21 I/2) in Westmorland County, New Brunswick. The formation also outcrops between the latter locality and Alma (NTS 21 H/10) in Albert County, New Brunswick.

Locality Data:

Thickness(m): Minimum 200, Maximum 1125.

Lithology:

Grey to greenish-grey, yellowish weathering, quartz-rich sublitharenites, limestone and mudchip conglomerates and minor quartz pebble conglomerates. Sandstones are generally medium-grained, trough cross-stratified; they are interbedded with grey, and minor, red, fine-grained sandstones and mudstones especially towards the top of the formation. There are occasional to rare, thin, impure coal seams and bituminous limestones. Coalified plant debris, calcrete and calcareous mudchip conglomerate are locally abundant, especially as lag deposits near the bases of channel sandstones. Sand to silt ratio is 2.2 (Ryan et al., 1991). The sandstones more than 1 m thick are usually multistoried and multilateral. At the base of the Boss Point, the sandstones are on average 35 m thick, decreasing to 5-10 m at the top. Occasionally they can be up to 45 m. Interbeds of thinner splay and small channel sandstones occur within the mudrock sequence. Plint and Browne (1994) noted that the multistory fluvial systems in the Boss Point could extend laterally for up to 12 km. The systems are dominated by conglomeratic, trough cross-bedded sandstones with no overall upward fining. Bell (1914, 1944b) and Shaw (1951) recognized two facies, a lower grey and an upper red facies. Chowdry et al. (B.P. Canada, 1981) proposed a tripartite division, and noted that an uppermost grey "coarse" facies occurs locally in the eastern half of the Cumberland coal basin. Ryan and Boehner (1988) also subdivided the Boss Point into mappable units. The Boss Point was deposited in a non-marine fluvial environment. In the Tatamagouche area, deposition was probably in moderate- to low-sinuosity, meandering, sand-dominated streams (Ryan, 1985).

Relationship:

The Boss Point Formation is one of eight formations of the Cumberland Group (Davies et al., 2005). At the type section, the Boss Point Formation conformably overlies and interfingers in part with the Claremont Formation. Elsewhere in the Cumberland Basin, the Boss Point overlaps all of the older basin-fill units and the basement rocks of the highland massifs, with contacts being disconformities, angular unconformities and nonconformities. In southeast New Brunswick, the Boss Point gradationally overlies the Upper Carboniferous Enrage Formation (equivalent to the Claremont). In southwestern New Brunswick, it gradationally overlies the Upper Carboniferous Shin Redbeds. The Boss Point Formation is also correlated with the Mountain View Member A of the Clifton, Minto, and Lancaster formations (all post-Visean, grey quartzose sandstones overlying red beds). At the type section, the Boss Point is conformably overlain by red beds of the Little River Formation. Elsewhere, the Boss Point may be conformably, disconformably or unconformably overlain by strata of the Cumberland or Pictou groups. When the boundary is unconformable, it is usually low and more appropriately termed a para-unconformity. Ryan et al. (1991) included the Boss Point Formation in the Cumberland Group. Previously, the formation had been considered part of the Riversdale Group, which name was abandoned by Ryan et al. (1991).

History:

Gesner (1840, p.31) included rocks of this formation in his "Cumberland Coal basin" but the first detailed description was by Sir William Logan in 1843, who measured the section along the Cumberland County shore of the Bay of Fundy, which included the Joggins section (Logan, 1845). Rocks of the Boss Point Formation were included in division 6 at this section (Logan, 1845, p.143; Poole, 1908b, p.483). Hind (1865, p.80) referred to them as the "Millstone Grit of Lower Coal Measures of Dorchester." Rocks of the Boss Point were included in the middle division of the "Millstone Grit Series" or "Lower Coal Formation" by Dawson (1868, p.176), the middle division of the "Millstone Grit" by Ells (1885, p.23), and the upper division of the "Millstone Grit Group" by Young (1912, p.314). Bell (1914) introduced the name Boss Point Formation for rocks in the Joggins area, Cumberland County, Nova Scotia, and divided it into "a lower predominantly red division and an upper prevailingly grey division". Bell (1914) defined the Boss Point to include the basal conglomerate unit (now the Claremont Formation). Bell (1927a) included the Boss Point Formation in the Cumberland series. Later, Bell (1944b) revised the Boss Point to include the uppermost 86 m of Logan's division 7 and all of division 6, the "upper prevailingly grey division". He also assigned the formation to the Riversdale Group. Divisions 6 and 7 of Logan (1845) are equivalent to Zones No. 1 and 2 of the Petitcodiac Series of Wright (1922). Norman (1932) divided Wright's (1922) Petitcodiac "Series" into the Demoiselle (Zone No.1) and Petitcodiac (Zone No.2 and 3) formations, but subsequently (Norman, 1941a) elevated the Petitcodiac Formation to group status and used Bell's (1914) Boss Point Formation for Zone No.2 of Wright. Gussow (1953) assigned the Boss Point Formation and the rocks overlying it, respectively, to Bell's (1944b) Riversdale and Pictou groups. Carr (1968) pointed out, however, that these groups were originally used in a biostratigraphic rather than a lithostratigraphic sense. Consequently, he included the Boss Point Formation in the re-introduced Petitcodiac Group of Norman (1932). Belt (1964) proposed that the Boss Point be included in a new unit, the "Coarse Fluvial Facies", which has been considered ambiguous by some workers (van de Poll, 1970; Hacquebard, 1972). Van de Poll (1973) correlated the Boss Point, Shepody, and Enrage formations in New Brunswick with the Riversdale Group of Nova Scotia on a lithostratigraphic basis. Ryan et al. (1991) included the Boss Point in the Cumberland Group, in effect following Bell (1927).

References:

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