Unit Name: Port Hood Formation
Unit Type: Lithostratigraphic
Rank: Formation
Status: Formal
Usage: Currently in use
Age Interval: ? Namurian - Westphalian A,B (330.9 - 315.2 ma)
Age Justification: The formation has been dated as Westphalian A on the basis of plants (Bell, 1944b), arthropods (Copeland, 1957), and spores (Barss, 1967). The lower portion may be Namurian (Belt, 1965a).
Province/Territory: Nova Scotia
Originator: Norman, 1935.
Type Locality:
Coastal section from Port Hood around Cape Linzee to Colindale, Inverness County, Nova Scotia (NTS 11 K/4).
Distribution:
It is 1,290 m thick in the onshore area around Port Hood (Norman, 1935), with an additional younger section offshore. The formation was extended to include small outcrops in southern Cape Breton and in the Antigonish (NTS 11 F/12) area by Belt (1965a). Bell (1958) estimated 2,460 m in the Antigonish-Ainslie area, and 1,540 m or more in the Bras d'Or area.
Lithology:
Grey and red arkosic sandstone, shale, and coal. The lower 850 m consists of grey sandstones and red mudstone; the upper 400 m consists of grey sandstones and mudstone with coals (Gersib and McCabe, 1981). Coal seams are up to 2 m thick and are of high volatile B bitu-minous rank. The biota include bivalves, ostracods, reptiles, and plant fragments. The sediments were deposited in a fluvial environment.
Relationship:
The Port Hood Formation is included within the Upper Carboniferous Riversdale Group. It conformably overlies the Upper Carboniferous Mabou Group. On Cape Breton Island, the Riversdale Group includes the Port Hood Formation with an overlying undivided section. In northern Nova Scotia the group includes, in ascending order, the Pomquet, Millsville (infor-mal), Claremont, Port Hood, Boss Point, and Parrsboro (informal) formations (Keppie, 1979).
History:
Coal has been mined from the Port Hood periodically since 1865. The formation was named by Norman (1935) and included within the Riversdale Group by Bell (1944b).
Other Citations:
Barss, 1967; Bell, 1944b, 1958; Belt, 1965a; Copeland, 1957; Gersib and McCabe, 1981; Keppie, 1979; Norman, 1935.
References:
Norman, G.W.H., 1935, Lake Ainslie Map-Area, Nova Scotia, with Maps 282A (11 K) and 2375 (11 K); Geological Survey of Canada, Memoir 177, 103 p.
Source: CSPG Lexicon of Canadian Stratigraphy, Volume 6, Atlantic Canada; G.L. Williams, L.R. Fyffe, R.J. Wardle, S.P. Colman-Sadd, Boehner, R.C. (editor)
Contributor: M. Gibling
Entry Reviewed: Yes
Name Set: Lithostratigraphic Lexicon
LastChange: 28 May 2008