Doe Creek Member

Unit Name: Doe Creek Member
Unit Type: Lithostratigraphic
Rank: Member
Status: Formal
Usage: Currently in use
Age Interval: Cenomanian (99.6 - 93.6 ma)
Age Justification: Forms part of the interval lying within the Late Cenomanian zones of Hillites cf. H. septarianus to Dunveganoceras cf. D conditium. The member, as determined from foraminifera lies near the base of the Gaudryina irenensis Zone.
Province/Territory: Alberta; British Columbia

Originator: Warren and Stelck, 1940, p. 144; Wallace-Dudley and Leckie, 1988.

Type Locality:

Never specified, but apparently on Doe Creek, east of the hamlet of Doe River, northeastern British Columbia, in Lsd. 13, Sec. 10, Twp. 81, Rge. 13W6M.

Distribution:

The sandstone is 1.8 m (6 ft) in thickness at the type locality. In the Valhalla field individual sandstones are 0.5 to 7 m (1.6 to 23 ft) thick and appear to pinch out or interfinger with the surrounding shales in all directions. The maximum thickness of the member is between 20 and 25 m (66 and 82 ft). The Doe Creek sandstones are associated with the Dunvegan delta in northwestern Alberta.

Locality Data:

Thickness(m): Minimum 0, Maximum 25, Typical 1.8.

Lithology:

Described as a yellow, fine-grained sandstone, argillaceous towards the base. The Doe Creek Member in the Valhalla area consists of as many as five stacked sandstone bodies (Wallace-Dudley and Leckie, 1988). The sandstones are very fine- to fine-grained, buff and well-sorted. They are parallel and wavy-parallel laminated, wave-rippled and hummocky cross-stratified. Rarely, high angle cross-beds occur in medium-grained sandstone. Bioturbation is generally light, although the upper part of the sandstone is commonly intensely bioturbated and sideritic. The sandstones may be separated by intensely bioturbated sandy siItstone which fines upward into unbioturbated dark grey shale.

Fossils:

Ammonites; foraminifera

Relationship:

Lies above the Dunvegan Formation within marine shale of the Kaskapau Formation. The marine shales and sandstone of the lower Kaskapau Formation grade westerly and northwesterly into deltaic sandstone which become indistinguishable from those of the underlying Dunvegan Formation (Stelck and Wall, 1955; Stelck, 1962; Stott, 1967; Singh; 1983).

History:

The Doe Creek sandstone was named by Warren and Stelck (1940, p. 144) for a sand lying 30 m (75 ft) below the base of the Pouce Coupe sand member and about 69 m (225 ft) above the base of the Kaskapau Formation. Stelck and Wall (1954, p. 7) referred to it as the "Doe Creek sandstone member". Sandstones occurring in the same stratigraphic position in the Valhalla oil field, but not laterally continuous with the type area are also referred to as the Doe Creek Member of the Kaskapau Formation (Wallace-Dudley and Leckie, 1988).

References:

Singh, Chaitanya, 1983. Cenomanian microfloras of the Peace River area, northwestern Alberta; Alberta Research Council, Alberta Geological Survey Bulletin 44, 322 p.

Stelck, C.R. and Wall, J.H., 1954. Kaskapau Foraminifera from Peace River area of western Canada; Res. Counc. Alberta, Rept. 63.

Stelck, C.R. and Wall, J.H., 1955. Foraminifera of the Cenomanian Dunveganoceras Zone from Peace River area of western Canada; Res. Counc. Alberta, Rept 70.

Stelck, C.R., 1962. Upper Cretaceous, Peace River area, British Columbia; Edmonton Geological Society, 4th Annual Field Trip Guide Book, pp. 10-21.

Wallace-Dudley, K.E. and Leckie, D.A., 1988. Preliminary observations on the sedimentology of the Doe Creek Member, Kaskapau Formation, in the Valhalla Field, northwestern Alberta. In: Sequences, stratigraphy, sedimentology; surface and subsurface; James, D.P. and Leckie, D.A., (Eds.). Can. Soc. Petrol. Geol., Memoir 15, p. 485-496.

Warren, P.S. and Stelck, C.R., 1940. Cenomanian and Turonian faunas in Pouce Coupe Distriict, Alberta and British Columbia. Trans. Roy. Soc. Canada, 3rd Ser., v. 34, s. 4, p. 143-152.

Source: CSPG Lexicon of Canadian Stratigraphy, Volume 4, western Canada, including eastern British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and southern Manitoba; D.J. Glass (editor)
Contributor: D.F. Stott
Entry Reviewed: Yes
Name Set: Lithostratigraphic Lexicon
LastChange: 06 May 2008