Upper Cretaceous - lower Tertiary lithostratigraphic relationships of three cores from Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba, Canada

Abstract

Cores from three stratigraphic test holes provide a relatively complete section from the lower Maastrichtian into the Paleocene. The hole drilled in the Cypress Hills of Alberta recovered core from the Ravenscrag Formation to the top of the Eastend Formation and demonstrated that most of the stratigraphy above the Battle Formation is assignable to the Ravenscrag Formation. The hole drilled in the Wood Mountain area of Saskatchewan recovered core from the Ravenscrag Formation to the Bearpaw Formation. This core helps explain the difficulty that has been encountered subdividing the interval between the Bearpaw and Ravenscrag formations into separate formations and provides a cored record of all the Ravenscrag coals within the Wood Mountain area. The core hole drilled at Turtle Mountain, Manitoba, recovered core from the Turtle Mountain Formation to the Pierre Formation. It demonstrates the difficulty in separating the Peace Garden and Goodlands members of the Turtle Mountain Formation, is useful as a principal reference section for the Coulter Member of the Pierre Formation, documents a disconformity within the Pierre Formation, and crosses the obscure contact between the Coulter and Odanah members.