Unit Name: Mackenzie King Formation
Unit Type: Lithostratigraphic
Rank: Formation
Status: Formal
Usage: Currently in use
Age Interval: Jurassic - Cretaceous (199.6 - 65.5 ma)
Age Justification: Pelecypod and ammonites collected from the formation range from Callovian to Valanginian (Balkwill, 1983).
Province/Territory: Arctic Offshore; Northwest Territories; Nunavut; Yukon Territory

Originator: Embry, 1985b

Type Locality:
The type section is in the Cape Norem A-80 well.

Distribution:
Occurs mainly in the northwest portion of the Sverdrup Basin. It is bounded by facies changes to the southeast and erosion to the northwest. The thickest occurrences of the formation occur on eastern Ellef Ringnes Island and central Amund Ringnes Island.

Locality Data:
WELL 300A807730110000; CAPE NOREM A-80. Thickness(m): Maximum 1350. Interval(m): From 192, To 1009.

Lithology:
At the type section, all three member of the formation can be recognized: "The McConnell Island consists of soft, light to medium green-grey shale and siltstone with ironstone concretions. The overlying Ringnes Member consists of dark grey to black, silty shale and siltstone with dolomitic concretions. The Deer Bay Member, which comprises the bulk of the formation, consists of medium- to dark-grey, silty shale and siltstone with interbeds of very fine grained sandstone in the uppermost portion." (Embry, 1985b) This generally characterizes the formation over its extent.

Relationship:
The Mackenzie King Formation is conformably to unconformably overlain by the Isachsen Formation. The Mackenzie King typically overlies the Sandy Point Formation, except where the Sandy Point is absent due to facies change over the central portion of the Sverdrup Basin. Here, the Mackenzie King conformably overlies the Jameson Bay Formation. In a few sections along the northwestern and southwestern margins of the Sverdrup and on south-central Banks Island, the Mackenzie King conformably overlies the Hiccles Cove Formation (Embry, 1985b).

History:
The Mackenzie King Formation, as established by Embry (1985), is synonymous with the following units: - The Deer Bay Formation, northern Ellef Ringnes, Heywood (1955, 1957) - The Mould Bay Formation, Mackenzie King and northwestern Melville, Tozer and Thorsteinsson (1964) - The Deer Bay Formation, Ellef Ringnes, Stott (1969), Henao-Londono (1977) - Wilkie Point and Mould Bay formations, Banks Island, Miall (1979a) - Upper Savik, Ringnes Formation and Deer Bay Formation, central Amund Ringnes, Balkwill (1983) The Mackenzie King Formation is named after Mackenzie King Island, were the type well was drilled.

References:
Balkwill, H.R., 1983. Geology of Amund Ringnes, Cornwall and Haig-Thomas Islands, District of Franklin; Geological Survey of Canada, Memoir 390, 76 p.
Embry, A.F., 1985b, New stratigraphic units, Middle Jurassic to lowermost Cretaceous succession, Arctic Islands. Geological Survey of Canada, Paper 85-1B, pp. 269.
Henao-Londono, Diego, 1977. Correlation of producing formations in the Sverdrup Basin; Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists (CSPG), Bulletin of Canadian Petroleum Geology, vol. 25, no. 5 (September), pp. 969-980.
Heywood, W.W., 1955. Arctic piercement domes: Canadian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, Bulletin, vol. 48, pp. 59-64.
Heywood, W.W., 1957. Isachsen area, Ellef Ringnes Island, District of Franklin, Northwest Territories: Geological Survey of Canada, Paper 56-8, 36 p.
Miall, A.D., 1979a. Mesozoic and Tertiary geology of Banks Island, Arctic Canada, the history of an unstable craton margin; Geological Survey of Canada, Memoir 387, 235 p.
Stott, D.F., 1969. Ellef Ringnes Island, Canadian Arctic Archipelago; Geological Survey of Canada, Paper 68-16, 44 p.
Tozer, E.T. and Thorsteinsson, R., 1964. Western Queen Elizabeth Islands, Arctic Archipelago: Geological Survey of Canada, Memoir 332, 242 p.

Source: GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF CANADA, CALGARY
Contributor: G.E. McCune
Entry Reviewed: No
Name Set: Lithostratigraphic Lexicon
LastChange: 08 Apr 2008