This site provides information about over 16,000 published geological names used in Canada. The names are from several sources, now stored in a single database. The names are of two types: lithological units and chronological units. The lexicon is a "living" database; some names remain to be added, others are incompletely described, and many descriptions require updating.
Lithological names may be searched by age, name (or any part thereof), first citation (by author), source data set, Territory or Province, or any combination of these parameters. For all sources, the database contains summary information such as unit name, parent (if any), age (if given in the source), unit rank (if specified, e.g. Formation, Suite, etc.), Status (Formal, informal, undefined), usage (e.g. currently in use, obsolete) and information source. For names from the CSPG lexicons, additional information is typically available from a second screen formatted for printing.
Chronological names may be searched only by age or name (or any part thereof). The database contains summary information such as unit name, parent (if any), age in millions of years (Ma), unit rank and information source.
The use of geological names is prescribed by the North American Stratigraphic Code.
This web site is seen as a tool to galvanize the geological community to make a national, up-to-date lexicon by submitting information on incomplete, obsolete or missing information through Comments or New Submission form.
