Unit Name: Waseca sand
Unit Type: Lithostratigraphic
Rank: Member
Status: Informal
Usage: Currently in use
Age Interval: Early Cretaceous (145.5 - 99.6 ma)
Province/Territory: Alberta; Saskatchewan
Originator: Husky Oil, 1949 (unpublished); Glass, 1990
Type Locality:
Husky Waseca #1, in Lsd. 8, Sec. 22, Twp. 49, Rge. 23W3M; Saskatchewan has a good development of Waseca sand.
Distribution:
The sand and associated silts and shales are about 25 m (80 ft) thick in the Lloydminster area. The term Waseca is restricted to the area around Lloydminster, and south to about Twp. 35.
Locality Data:
Thickness(m): Typical 25.
Lithology:
The Waseca Sand is a fine- to medium-grained sandstone with laterally variable composition. It ranges from a quartz arenite to a feldspathic litharenite. It is usually moderately well sorted and moderately well rounded, but this varies within short distances.
Relationship:
The Waseca Sand belongs to the Grand Rapids Formation, Mannville Group. It is locally disconformable above the Sparky sand and is usually found about 15 to 20 m (50 to 70 ft) below the top of the Mannville Group. The presence of a sub-Waseca disconformity and the locally marked difference in composition between the Waseca and Sparky sands suggest that the Waseca is the first sand of the Grand Rapids Formation. Putnam (1980) suggested that the entire upper Mannville section above the Sparky Sand should be called Waseca because of difficulties in correlating the individual sands on a regional basis.
History:
The sand has never been formally described, but the term Waseca is commonly used in the Lloydminster area of Alberta and Saskatchewan.
Other Citations:
Husky Oil, 1949; Orr, Johnston and Manko, 1977; Putnam, 1980, 1982; Vigrass, 1977.
References:
Glass, D.J. 1990. Lexicon of Canadian Stratigraphy, Volume 4-Western Canada; Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists, Calgary, Alberta, 772 p.
Putnam, P.E., 1980. Fluvial deposition within the upper Mannville of west-central Saskatchewan: Stratigraphic implications. In: Lloydminster and beyond: Geology of Mannville hydrocarbon reservoirs. Sask. Geol. Soc., Spec. Pub. 5, p. 196-216.
Source: CSPG Lexicon of Canadian Stratigraphy, Volume 4, western Canada, including eastern British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and southern Manitoba; D.J. Glass (editor)
Contributor: P.E. Putnam; A.I. Burnett
Entry Reviewed: Yes
Name Set: Lithostratigraphic Lexicon
LastChange: 27 May 2010