Spirit River Formation

The Spirit River Formation is a stratigraphical unit of middle Albian age in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin.

Spirit River Formation
Stratigraphic range:
Falher graywake and shale
TypeGeological formation
Unit ofFort St. John Group
Sub-unitsNotikewin Member, Falher Member, Wilrich Member
UnderliesPeace River Formation
OverliesBluesky Formation
Thicknessup to 348 feet (110 m)[1]
Lithology
Primarysandstone, shale, siltstone
Othercoal, ironstone, greywacke
Location
Coordinates55.775°N 118.906°W / 55.775; -118.906 (Imperial Spirit River No. 1 well, in 12-20-78-6W6M)
Region Alberta,  British Columbia
Country Canada
Type section
Named forSpirit River
Named byBadgley, 1952

It takes the name from the Spirit River, and was first described in Imperial Oil Spirit River No. 1 well by Badgley in 1952.[2]

Lithology

The Spirit River Formation consists, from bottom to top of fine to medium grained argillaceous sandstone, dark shale, ironstone, greywacke, shale, siltstone, coal and dark shale with thin sandstone and siltstone stringers.[1]

Hydrocarbon production

Gas is produced from channels developed in the Falher Member in northern Alberta.

Hydraulic fracturing in Canada
Main article: Hydraulic fracturing in Canada

'Massive' hydraulic fracturing has been widely used in Alberta since the late 1970s to recover gas from low-permeability sandstones of the Spirit River Formation.[3]: 1044  Massive hydraulic fracturing has been widely used in Alberta since the late 1970s. The method is currently used in development of the Cardium, Duvernay, Montney and Viking formations in Alberta, Bakken formation in Saskatchewan, Montney and Horn River formations in British Columbia.

Distribution

The Spirit River Formation reaches a maximum thickness of 348 metres (1,140 ft). It is found in the sub-surface in the Peace River Country, in an area stretching from Fort St. John, British Columbia to the Lesser Slave Lake from west to east, and from Grande Prairie, Alberta to Manning, Alberta from south to north.

Relationship to other units

The Spirit River Formation is conformably overlain by the Peace River Formation and conformably underlain by the Bluesky Formation. It grades laterally to the Buckinghorse Formation shales to the north-east, and into the sandy facies of the Malcolm Creek Formation south of the Wapiti River. It is equivalent to the upper Mannville Formation in Central Alberta and to the Clearwater Formation and Grand Rapids Formation in the upper Athabasca River area.[1]

Subdivisions

The Spirit River Formation is composed of the following sub-divisions from base to top:

Sub-unitLithologyMax
Thickness		Reference
Notikewin Memberfine to medium grained argillaceous sandstone, dark shale, ironstone28 metres (90 ft) [4]
Falher Membergreywacke, shale, siltstone, coal215 metres (710 ft) [5]
Wilrich Memberdark shales thin sandstone and siltstone stringers154 metres (510 ft) [6]

References
  1. Lexicon of Canadian Geologic Units. "Peace River Formation". Retrieved 2009-02-11.
  2. Badgley, Peter C., 1952. Notes on the subsurface stratigraphy and oil and gas geology of the Lower Cretaceous series in central Alberta (Report and seven figures); Geological Survey of Canada, Paper No. 52-11, 12 p.
  3. Cant, Douglas J.; Ethier, Valerie G. (August 1984). "Lithology-dependent diagenetic control of reservoir properties of conglomerates, Falher member, Elmworth Field, Alberta,". Bulletin of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists. 68 (8).
  4. Lexicon of Canadian Geologic Units. "Notikewin Member". Retrieved 2009-02-11.
  5. Lexicon of Canadian Geologic Units. "Falher Member". Retrieved 2009-02-11.
  6. Lexicon of Canadian Geologic Units. "Wilrich Member". Retrieved 2009-02-11.
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