Type Locality:

Imperial Father No. 1 well, in 12-23-77-21W5M, between 523 and 730.5 m (1,715 and 2,395 ft). In the type section of the Spirit River Formation, in the Imperial Spirit River No. 1 well in 12-20-78-6W6M it occurs between 845 and 1,052 m (2,770 and 3,450 ft).

Distribution:

In the type well the thickness is 207 m (680 ft); in the Shell Runaway Lake No. 1 well, in Lsd. 16, Sec. 25, Twp. 66. Rge. 20W5M the Falher is only 113 m (371 ft) thick. On the west side of Alberta it thickens to almost 215 m (705 ft). It occurs in the subsurface of the Peace River of Alberta.

Lithology:

Badgley (1952) stated, "This member consists of a variable succession of greywacke, shales and siltstones with some thin coal beds and occasional winnowed greywackes. Traces of glauconite are fairly common, but highly glauconitic sandstones are scarce ... small, poorly preserved, carbonized plant remains are common in the shales ...". Conglomerates are also found in the Elmworth-Grande Prairie region of Alberta. It is more shady to the north and becomes more continental to the south.

Relationship:

The Falher is transitionally conformable with both the overlying Notikewin Sand and the underlying Wilrich Shale. It correlates with the lower part of the Grand Rapids Sandstone of the lower Athabasca River area of Alberta, and with part of the upper Garbutt Shale of the Liard River area. It may be equated with that part of the Mannville Formation above the Cummings Member in east-central Alberta. It grades southwesterly into the upper part of the lower Blairmore continental sequence, i.e., the Malcolm Creek Member of the Luscar Formation of the foothills of Alberta (McLean, 1980). To the north and northeast it grades into the Buckinghorse Formation and the lower part of the Fort St. John Shale. It corresponds to the lower Gates of the Pine River area.

History:

The Father Member is approximately the same as the lower part of the "Basal Member" of the Peace River Formation of Wickenden (1951).

Other Citations:

Alberta Study Group, 1954; Badgley, 1952; McLean, 1980; Wickenden, 1951; Singh, 1971.

References:

Badgley, Peter C., 1952. Notes on the subsurface stratigraphy and oil and gas geology of the Lower Cretaceous series in central Alberta (Report and seven figures); Geological Survey of Canada, Paper No. 52-11, 12 p.