Type Locality:

1 to 6 km south of Okse Bay, southwestern Ellesmere Island.

Distribution:

Southwestern Ellesmere Island and eastern Grinnell Peninsula. Re-corded thicknesses range from 475 to 674 m.

Lithology:

Alternating resistant sandstone units and recessive shale to siltstone units. The lithologies are arranged in fining-upward cycles in which shale and siltstone form the bulk of the cycles. The sandstone units are usually about 3 m thick with a maximum of 10 m. Grain size seldom exceeds fine-grained except for occasional thin, basal conglomerates which overlie scour surfaces. Trough cross-bedding is common in the lower portion of sandstone units with ripple cross-lamination common in the upper portion. Shale to siltstone units are poorly exposed and are up to 12 m thick. Grey and green, carbonaceous shale and siltstone are the dominant lithologies. Red shale is present in the lower portion of the formation; thin coal seams occur in the upper portion.

Relationship:

Conformably overlies the Hell Gate Formation and is unconformably (?) overlain by the Parry Islands Formation; stratigraphically equivalent to the upper portion of the Beverley Inlet Formation of the western Arctic.

History:

Originally designated as the "upper sandstone and shale member" of the Okse Bay Formation. Embry and Klovan (1976) raised the Okse Bay to group status and formally defined the Nordstrand Point.

Other Citations:

McLaren, 1963a; Embry and Klovan, 1976.