Type Locality:

Danish River, Caledonian Bay, Canon Fiord, central Ellesmere Island.

Distribution:

Northern and central Ellesmere Island.

Locality Data:

Thickness(m): Typical 2750.

Lithology:

Medium brown weathering sandstone that is very thick bedded and is either massive or contains climbing ripples and flute casts. The sandstone consists of fine-grained sand to coarse silt dominated by quartz, but may contain carbonate grains, shale lithoclasts, and feldspar and mica grains. These grains are poorly sorted, angular, in point-to-point contact, and with a clay matrix. In the Canon Fiord area (Trettin, 1979, stratigraphic section 5-2) the formation consists mainly of thin-bedded, brown siltstone with lesser amounts of sandstone. Both rock types are calcareous and dolomitic. The siltstone ranges from fine-grained and argillaceous to coarse-grained, sandy, and interlaminated with sandstone. The sandstone is fine to predominantly very fine-grained. It is generally silty and interlaminated with siltstone. Fining-upward successions are present, as are abundant ripple marks and flute marks.

Relationship:

The lower contact with the Hazen Formation is sharp and marked by an upsection change from interbedded chert and shale to sandstone. Where the Danish River Formation overlies the Cape Phillips Formation the contact is gradational and marked by an upsection increase in siltstone and grainstone beds. The contact is drawn at the lowest carbonate grainstone bed and the change from recessive to alternating recessive/resistant weathering.

History:

Trettin (1994) defined the Danish River Formation as a thick succession of calcareous and dolomitic sandstone and shale. This unit had previously been referred to as the Imina Formation (Trettin, 1971).

Other Citations:

Trettin, 1971, 1979, 1994.