Unit Name: Gething Formation
Unit Type: Lithostratigraphic
Rank: Formation
Status: Formal
Usage: Currently in use
Age Interval: ? Barremian - early Albian (130 - 108.8 ma)
Age Justification: The Gething or "Lower Blairmore" flora was assigned an Aptian age by Bell (1956). A microfloral assemblage was dated by McGregor (in: Stott, 1973) as Valanginian to Aptian. The microfauna was dated by J.H. Wall (in: Gibson, 1992a) as Early Albian. The Gething Formation is also noted for its dinosaur tracks (Sternberg, 1932; Currie, 1989).
Province/Territory: Alberta; British Columbia
Originator: McLearn, 1923, p. 4B.
Type Locality:
The well exposed sections along the lower part of Peace River Canyon were measured and described by McLearn (1923; McLearn and Kindle, 1950). The most easily accessible and most complete exposures are found along the north shore and on Aylard Creek (Stott, 1975).
Distribution:
The Gething Formation is widely distributed in the foothills, extending northward from Peace River almost to Tuchodi River, and southward to Smoky River. The Gething strata extend eastward beneath the surface of Peace River Plains. The formation increases from about 75 m (246 ft) near Smoky River to more than 550 m (1,804 ft) at Peace River Canyon and is about 350 m (1,148 ft) thick in the foothills to the north. In the most westerly sections near Carbon Creek the formation is in the order of 1,000 m (3,280 ft) thick.
Lithology:
The Gething Formation is a heterogeneous stratigraphic unit including chert-pebble conglomerate and conglomeratic to coarse-grained sandstone, fine-grained sandstone, a cyclical coal-bearing succession and dark grey, marine siltstone and mudstone (Stott, 1973; Gibson, 1992a).
Relationship:
The contact with the underlying Cadomin Formation is drawn at the top of different conglomeratic sandstone from one locality to another. In the Halfway River region, where the Cadomin conglomerates have graded laterally into sandstone included in the Gething Formation the contact with the underlying Jurassic Fernie shales and Triassic sediments is unconformable. The Gething is overlain disconformably by marine shales of the Fort St. John Group. The Gething Formation is correlative with the Gladstone Formation of the central and southern foothills. It is approximately equivalent to the McMurray Formation of the lower Athabasca River.
History:
Coal bearing strata of the upper "Bull Head Mountain Formation" were assigned to the Gething Member by McLearn (1923, p. 4B). The Gething remained as a member until Beach and Spivak (1944) gave formational status to the beds.
Other Citations:
Beach and Spivak, 1944.
References:
Beach, H.H. and Spivak, J., 1944. Dunlevy-Portage Mountain map-area, British Columbia. Geol. Surv. Can., Paper 44-19.
Bell, W.A., 1956. Lower Cretaceous floras of western Canada. Geol. Surv. Can., Memoir 285.
Currie, P.J., 1989. Dinosaur footprints of western Canada. In: Dinosaur tracks and traces; Gillette, D.D. and Lockley, M., (Eds.). Cambridge Univ. Press, p. 293-300.
Gibson, D W., 1992a. Stratigraphy, sedimentology, coal geology and depositional environments of the Lower Cretaceous Gething Formation, northeastern British Columbia and west-central Alberta; Geological Survey of Canada, Bulletin 431, 127 p.
McLearn, F.H. and Kindle, E.D., 1950. Geology of northeastern British Columbia; Geological Survey of Canada, Memoir 259, 236 p.
McLearn, F.H., 1923. Peace River Canyon Coal Area, British Columbia; Geological Survey of Canada, Summary Report 1922, Part B, pp. 1-46.
Sternberg, C.M., 1932. Dinosaur tracks from Peace River, British Columbia. Nat. Mus. Canada, Ann. Rept. 1930, Bulletin 63, p. 59-86.
Stott, D.F., 1973. Lower Cretaceous Bullhead Group between Bullmoose Mountain and Tetsa River, Rocky Mountain Foothills, northeastem British Columbia; Geological Survey of Canada, Bulletin 219, 228 p. + 5 figures in back pocket.
Stott, D.F., 1975. The Cretaceous System in northeastern British Columbia. In: The Cretaceous System in the western interior of North America; Caldwell, W.G.E., (Ed.). Geol. Assoc. Can., Spec. Paper 13, p. 441-467.
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: 23 Nov 2010