Canol Formation

Unit Name: Canol Formation
Unit Type: Lithostratigraphic
Rank: Formation
Status: Formal
Usage: Currently In Use
Age Interval: Givetian (382.7 - 382.7 Ma)
Age Justification: Microfossils and macrofossils are generally lacking in the Canol Formation. Braun (1966) recovered the conodonts Palmatolepis and Polylophodonta, sponge spicules and siliceous spheres of radiolarian origin from the formation at Powell Creek. The microfossils have been dated by him as early Late Devonian (Frasnian). Recently, Lenz and Pedder (1972) have confirmed a Frasnian age on the basis of numerous conodont species recovered from the same Powell Creek section. Biostratigrphic age has been recently referenced as follows. Base (conodonts): uppermost Givetian norrisi zone to Middle Frasnian punctata zone in the Northwest Territories (Gouwy, in press); older Givetian at Trail River section of NE Yukon (Gadd et al., 2020). Top (conodonts): poorly contrained; jamieae to rhenana zones in type section (Kabanov & Gouwy, 2020)
Province/Territory: Northwest Territories; Yukon Territory

Originator: Bassett, 1961

Type Locality:

Northwest side of Powell Creek at the Mackenzie Mountain front (65°10'30"N, 128°46'30"W).

Distribution:

The formation ranges in thickness from less than 6 m (20 ft) to a maximum of about 122 m (400 ft) at Norman Wells. Bassett (1961) reported 23 m (75 ft) at the type section. The formation is widely distributed over much of Yukon and Northwest Territories. The formation has been recognized in the Northwest Territories between 63.0°N (Hogue and Gal, 2008) and 69.5°N (Kabanov et al., 2020); Yukon within approximately the same latitudes (Gordey and Makepeace, 2003). Kabanov and Deblonde, 2019 states that in complete sections, the formation ranges in thickness from < 6 m, being absent on top of the tallest Ramparts carbonate banks, and thickens to a maximum of ~150 m.

Lithology:

Dark grey to black, yellow and rusty-brown weathering, laminated, siliceous, pyritic, and organic-rich, thinly fissile, mostly non-calcareous shales alternating with thin-bedded cherts; minor calcareous and dolomitic shales; thin beds and nodules of authigenic dolostone (Pugh, 1983, 1993; Kabanov and Gouwy, 2017; Kabanov, in press)

Fossils:

conodonts; goniatites (poorly preserved impressions); hyalospone spicules; Acritarcha; Radiolaria; dacryoconarid tentaculitids

Relationship:

The upper contact with the Imperial Formation is fairly sharp and is marked by an influx of greenish-grey siltstone and sandstone. In the central Mackenzie area, the contact between the Canol and the underlying Kee Scarp Formation appears to be separated by a minor disconformity (Pedder, 1975). Norris (1968) demonstrated the disconformable contact between the Canol and the underlying Hare Indian and Hume formations outcropping along the Mackenzie Mountains. Lateral equivalents of the Canol Formation are within the Besa River Formation of northeastern British Columbia. Pugh, 1983, 1993 and Kabanov and Deblonde, 2019 agree that the base is diachronous and conformable, well defined in most sections; the upper contact with the Imperial Formation is gradational according to Pyle and Gal, 2016, Kabanov and Gouwy, 2017, and Kabanov, in press. Lateral mapping continuity with the Horn River Formation (equivalent to obsolete Spencer River Formation) south of 63°N (Meijer Drees, 1993; Hogue and Gal, 2008). Merges into Weatherall Formation northward (Kabanov et al., 2020) and into Mc Cann Hill Chert near Yukon/Alaska border (Hutchison and Fraser, 2015).

Other Citations:

Bassett, 1961;Braun, 1966;Gordey and Makepeace, 2003;Hogue and Gal, 2008;Hutchison and Fraser, 2015;Kabanov, 2019, in press;Kabanov and Deblonde, 2019;Kabanov and Gouwy, 2017, 2020;Kabanov, et al. 2020;Lawrence, 1973;Lenz and Pedder, 1972;Meijer-Drees, 1993;Norris, 1968;Pedder, 1975;Pugh, 1983;Pugh, 1993;Pyle and Gal, 2016;Uyeno, 1978.

References:

Bassett, H.G., 1961. Devonian stratigraphy, central Mackenzie River region, Northwest Territories, Canada; pp. 481-498: in Raasch, G. (ed.), Geology of the Arctic, Alberta Society of Petroleum Geologists and University of Toronto Press, vol. 1, 732 p.

Braun, W.K., 1966. Stratigraphy and microfauna of Middle and Upper Devonian formations, Norman Wells area, Northwest Territories, Canada: Neues Jahrbuch fur Geologie und Palaeontologie, vol. 125 (Festband Schindewolf), pp. 247-264.

Gadd, M.G., Peter, J.M., Hnatyshin, D., Creaser, R., Gouwy, S., and Fraser, T. 2020. A Middle Devonian basin-scale precious metal enrichment event across northern Yukon (Canada). Geology, 48: 242–246. doi:10.1130/G46874.1

Gordey, S.P. and Makepeace, A.J., 2003. Yukon digital geology, version 2. Geological Survey of Canada Open File 1749 and YGS Open file 2003-9(D). doi:10.4095/214639.

Hogue, B.C., and Gal, L.P. 2008. NWT Formation Tops for Petroleum Exploration and Production Wells: 60 to 80°N. Northwest Territories Geoscience Office, NWT Open Report 2008-002. Available from http://webapps.nwtgeoscience.ca/WebAppsV2/SearchHome.aspx [Accessed 29 October 2020].

Hutchison, M.P., and Fraser, T.A. 2015. Palaeoenvironment, palaeohydrography and chemostratigraphic zonation of the Canol Formation, Richardson Mountains, north Yukon. In Yukon exploration and geology 2014. K.E. MacFarlane, M.G. Nordling, and P.J. Sack (eds.). Yukon Geological Survey, pp. 73–98.

Kabanov, P. In press. Devonian of the Mackenzie. In: D. Lavoie and K. Dewing (eds.), Sedimentary basins of the Canadian north - Contributions to a 1000 Ma geological journey and insight on resource potential. Geological Survey of Canada Bulletin, v. 609, paper 7. DOI:10.4095/326094.

Kabanov, P. and Deblonde, C. 2019. Geological and geochemical data from Mackenzie Corridor. Part VIII: Middle-Upper Devonian lithostratigraphy, formation tops, and isopach maps in NTS areas 96 and 106, Northwest Territories and Yukon. Geological Survey of Canada, Open File 8552, 1 .zip file.

Kabanov, P. and Gouwy, S. 2017. The Devonian Horn River Group and the basal Imperial Formation of the central Mackenzie Plain, N.W.T., Canada: Multiproxy stratigraphic framework of a black shale basin. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, 54, 409–429.

Kabanov, P., 2019. Devonian (c. 388-375 Ma) Horn River Group of Mackenzie Platform (NW Canada) is an open-shelf succession recording oceanic anoxic events; Journal of the Geological Society, v.?176, p.?29-45.

Kabanov, P., Vandenberg, R., Pelchat, P., Cameron, M., and Dewing, K., 2020. Lithostratigraphy of Devonian basinal mudrocks in frontier areas of northwestern Canada augmented with ED-XRF technique; Arktos, online article. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41063-020-00074-z.

Kabanov, P.B. and Gouwy, S.A., 2020. The type section of the Canol Formation (Devonian black shale) at Powell Creek: Critical assessment and correlation in the northern Cordillera, NWT, Canada. Bulletin of Canadian Petroleum Geology, v. 68/4, p. 123-140. doi:10.35767/gscpgbull.68.4.123.

Lawrence, J.R., 1973. Old Crow Basin; pp. 307-314: in McCrossan , R.G. (ed.), The Future Petroleum Provinces of Canada: Their Geology and Potential, Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists, memoir 1, 720 p.

Lenz, A.C. and Pedder, A.E.H., 1972. Lower and Middle Paleozoic sediments and paleontology of Royal Creek and Peel River, Yukon, and Powell Creek, N.W.T.: 24th International Geological Congress, Field Guide A-14, 38 p.

Meijer Drees, N.C., 1993. The Devonian succession in the subsurface of the Great Slave and Great Bear plains, Northwest Territories; Geological Survey of Canada, Bulletin 393, 231 pages.

Norris, A.W., 1968. Reconnaissance Devonian stratigraphy of northern Yukon Territory and northwestern District of Mackenzie; Geological Survey of Canada, Paper 67-53, 287 p.

Pedder, A.E.H., 1975. Revised megafossil zonation of Middle and Lowest Upper Devonian strata, Central Mackenzie Valley; in, Report of Activities, Part A, April to October 1974, Blackadar, R.G. and Griffin, P.J. (Eds. and Compilers); Geological Survey of Canada, Paper 75-1, Part A, pp. 571-576.

Pugh, D.C. 1993. Subsurface geology and pre-Mesozoic strata, Great Bear River map area, District of Mackenzie. Geological Survey of Canada, Memoir, 430.

Pugh, D.C., 1983. Pre-Mesozoic geology in the subsurface of Peel River map area, Yukon Territory and District of Mackenzie; Geological Survey of Canada, Memoir 401, 61 p.

Pyle, L.J. and Gal, L.P., 2016. Reference Section for the Horn River Group and Definition of the Bell Creek Member, Hare Indian Formation in central Northwest Territories. Bulletin of Canadian Petroleum Geology, v. 64: 67-98.

Uyeno, T.T., 1978. Devonian conodont biostratigraphy of Powell Creek and adjacent areas, western District of Mackenzie, pp. 233-257: in Stelck, C.R. and Chatterton, B.D.E. (eds.), Western and Arctic Canadian Biostratigraphy, Geological Association of Canada, Special Paper no. 18, 602 p.

Source: CSPG Lexicon of Canadian Stratigraphy, Volume 2, Yukon Territory and District of Mackenzie; L.V. Hills, E.V. Sangster and L.B. Suneby (editor)
Contributor: B.I. Chi; L.V. Hills; P. Kabanov
Entry Reviewed: Yes
Name Set: Lithostratigraphic Lexicon
LastChange: 16 Mar 2022