The Ma Butte Formation is a stratigraphic unit of Early Cretaceous ( Albian ) age in the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin . It was named for Ma Butte, a mountain north of Coleman, Alberta , by J.R. McLean in 1980. It is present in the foothills of southwestern Alberta and it contains plant fossils .
17-546: The Ma Butte Formation is a unit of the Blairmore Group . It consists primarily of fine-grained sandstones interbedded with siltstones and mudstones . Some coarser grained sandstones and conglomerate beds are also present. Beds of bentonite and tuff increase upward toward the contact with the overlying Crowsnest Formation . The sandstones of the Ma Butte Formation are quartzose , in contrast with
34-656: A clear west to east thinning. In the northwest, thicknesses of 400 to 600 m (1312 to 1968 ft) are common in the foothills. The Blairmore Group unconformably overlies the Kootenay Group and is gradationally overlain by the Crowsnest Formation or, where the Crowsnest Formation is absent, is disconformably overlain by the Alberta Group . It is equivalent to the Luscar Group north of
51-472: A land area of 0.41 km (0.16 sq mi), it had a population density of 139.0/km (360.1/sq mi) in 2021. In the 2016 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, the Summer Village of Waiparous had a population of 49 living in 23 of its 48 total private dwellings, a 16.7% change from its 2011 population of 42. With a land area of 0.41 km (0.16 sq mi), it had
68-752: A noticeable upward decline in grain size. Dark grey, argillaceous limestone and fossiliferous calcareous shale make up the top Gladstone Formation. Limestone deposits are few or nonexistent north of the Clearwater River (52°N). Both the Beaver Mines Formation in the south and the Mountain Park Formation in the north are made up of interbedded mudstone to very fine-grained sandstone with minor but noticeable thicker and coarser sandstone units that have abrupt bases and fining upward grain size. Conglomerate beds make up
85-524: A small portion. The marine mudstone Moosebar Member of the Malcolm Creek Formation , which is restricted to the region north of Waiparous Creek (51°20'N), is overlain by the notable sandstone-dominated Torrens Member and the coal-bearing Grande Cache Member . Mudstone to very fine-grained sandstone, as well as layers of conglomerate and coarser sandstone, make up the Ma Butte Formation. The Beaver Mines and Ma Butte formations in
102-475: A variety of floodplain environments. They include angiosperm (flowering plant) fossils , in contrast to the underlying Beaver Mines Formation. This marks the first appearance of angiosperms in this area. The Ma Butte Formation is also known as the Mill Creek Formation. It disconformably overlies the Beaver Mines Formation. It is conformably overlain by the Crowsnest Formation in the south and
119-456: Is a summer village in Alberta , Canada. It is located along Highway 40 , at the crossing of Waiparous Creek, approximately 32 kilometers of driving west of Cochrane . In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada , the Summer Village of Waiparous had a population of 57 living in 26 of its 52 total private dwellings, a change of 16.3% from its 2016 population of 49. With
136-632: Is subdivided into four formations : Cadomin Formation , Gladstone , Beaver Mines and Ma Butte , all of which are defined by type sections, most of which contain plant fossils . In some areas the Blairmore contains significant reservoirs of natural gas. The Blairmore group includes the conglomerate and quartzose sandstones of the Cadomin Formation at the base, and grades to sandstone, siltstone , mudstone , and limestone in
153-461: The Mountain Park Formation , where greenish grey predominates in more southerly areas and is increasingly prominent higher, grey prevails to the north. In the Smoky River region, the uppermost part of the formation, the proportion of the section with a conspicuously greenish tint is restricted to a subtle shade of greenish-grey as it declines northward. The Blairmore Group is subdivided into
170-544: The feldspathic sandstones of the underlying Beaver Mines Formation . The Ma Butte Formation is present in the southern foothills of Alberta as far north as the Red Deer River . It has a maximum reported thickness of 132 metres (430 ft) near the Bow River . The sediments of the Ma Butte Formation were derived from erosion of mountain ranges to the west, transported eastward by river systems, and deposited in
187-758: The Clearwater River and to the Mannville Group in the plains to the east. In northwestern Montana the Cut Bank Sandstone correlates with the Cadomin Formation; the lower Kootenai Formation, including the Draney Limestone with the Beaver Mines Formation; and the lower Blackleaf Formation with the Ma Butte Formation. The Blairmore Group is a westward-thickening clastic wedge of clastic sediments derived from
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#1732794440783204-662: The Clearwater River, which were originally assigned to the Blairmore Group, differ in that they contain major coal deposits and they have therefore been reassigned to the Luscar Group . The Blairmore Group has a maximum thickness of about 2,000 m (6,560 ft). The Ma Butte portion has a thickness of 635 m (2,080 ft) The Fernie Basin's maximum reported thickness is estimated to be 2,000 m (6,560 ft). The easternmost foothills have reported thicknesses of roughly 300 m (980 ft), indicating
221-752: The contact between the two is gradational. It is disconformably overlain by the Blackstone Formation in the north, and it is correlative with the Bow Island Formation to the east. Blairmore Group The Blairmore Group , originally named the Blairmore Formation , is a geologic unit of Early Cretaceous age in the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin that is present in southwestern Alberta and southeastern British Columbia . It
238-515: The erosion of newly uplifted mountains to the west. The sediments were transported eastward by river systems and deposited in a variety of braided stream , river channel , floodplain , and coastal plain environments along the western edge of the Western Interior Seaway . Its formations include a variety of plant fossils, trace fossils , bivalves , and microfossils . Waiparous Waiparous / ˈ w aɪ p r ə s /
255-582: The following formations from top to base: Some early workers included the Crowsnest Formation , which overlies the Ma Butte Formation, at the top of the Blairmore Group, but that practice has been abandoned. The name Blairmore Group is applicable in the foothills and mountains of southwestern Alberta and southeastern British Columbia, from the Canada–United States border northward to the Clearwater River . The equivalent strata north of
272-466: The overlying formations. The Cadomin Formation has beds of quartzose sandstone and, in some sections, especially in the eastern foothills, is totally quartzose sandstone. It is normally a very durable, siliceous pebble conglomerate. A sequence of interbedded, highly variable-proportioned grey mudstone to sandstone layers makes up the bottom portion of the underlying Gladstone Formation. Sandstones, whose grain size rarely exceeds fine, frequently show
289-416: The upper part of the group also include minor beds of bentonite and tuff . In the type area, tuffaceous mudstones are widespread in the top portion of the formation, but they vanish to the northwest along the foothills. North of the Clearwater River, the structure is completely missing. Various shades of red and green, frequently speckled south of the Bow River , are particularly prevalent. Except in
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