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| Paskapoo Groundwater Study Part III: detailed core measured sections of the Paskapoo Formation in central Alberta |
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| Geological Survey of Canada, Open File 5537, 2007, 13 pages; 1 CD-ROM, Open Access |
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| The Paskapoo Formation, of Paleocene age, is an important, but poorly-understood groundwater aquifer in western Alberta, and is now emerging as a shallow gas reservoir. Because the Paskapoo represents the bedrock at surface over its area of occurrence, and has not previously been a major hydrocarbon target, there has been little study of outcrop or subsurface data. This report summarizes subsurface core work in central Alberta, primarily from wells located north and east of the cities of Calgary and Red Deer, where Paskapoo rocks form the bedrock surface unit. Most of the eight cores are positioned relatively close to the outcrop edge of the Paskapoo Formation, and so only include strata from the underlying Scollard, and the lower and middle portions of the Paskapoo. The latest two cores were cut during a recent joint project between Geological Survey of Canada and University of Calgary in 2003-2005. In this report, the information is presented as standard measured sections, with text descriptions of units. The lower Paskapoo is characterized by thick, multi-storied fluvial channel sandstones (Haynes Member) whereas the middle Paskapoo comprises primarily thinly interbedded siltstones and sandstones (Lacombe Member). This report is meant to be complementary to two other Open Files on the outcrop measured sections of the Paskapoo of the Red Deer region (GSC OF 5535), and of the Calgary region (GSC OF 5536). |
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