HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Cardium Formation is a
stratigraphic Stratigraphy is a branch of geology concerned with the study of rock layers ( strata) and layering (stratification). It is primarily used in the study of sedimentary and layered volcanic rocks. Stratigraphy has three related subfields: lithostr ...
unit of
Late Cretaceous The Late Cretaceous (100.5–66 Ma) is the younger of two epochs into which the Cretaceous Period is divided in the geologic time scale. Rock strata from this epoch form the Upper Cretaceous Series. The Cretaceous is named after ''creta'', ...
age in the
Western Canada Sedimentary Basin The Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin (WCSB) underlies of Western Canada including southwestern Manitoba, southern Saskatchewan, Alberta, northeastern British Columbia and the southwest corner of the Northwest Territories. This vast sedimentary ...
. It takes the name from the fossilized heart-shaped cockle shells in the family
Cardiidae A cockle is an edible marine bivalve mollusc. Although many small edible bivalves are loosely called cockles, true cockles are species in the family Cardiidae. MolluscaBase eds. (2022). MolluscaBase. Cardiidae Lamarck, 1809. Accessed through: W ...
(from
Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
''kardiā'', "heart") present. It was first described along the
Bow River The Bow River is a river in Alberta, Canada. It begins within the Canadian Rocky Mountains and winds through the Alberta foothills onto the prairies, where it meets the Oldman River, the two then forming the South Saskatchewan River. These ...
banks by
James Hector Sir James Hector (16 March 1834 – 6 November 1907) was a Scottish-New Zealand geologist, naturalist, and surgeon who accompanied the Palliser Expedition as a surgeon and geologist. He went on to have a lengthy career as a government employe ...
in 1895.as reported in Whiteaves, J.F. 1895, Some of the Cretaceous fossils collected during Captain Palliser's explorations in British North America in 1857-60. Proc. and Trans., Royal Society of Canada, 2nd Ser., vol. 1, pp. 110. It is present throughout western
Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...
and in northeastern
British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include ...
, and it is a major source of
petroleum Petroleum, also known as crude oil, or simply oil, is a naturally occurring yellowish-black liquid mixture of mainly hydrocarbons, and is found in geological formations. The name ''petroleum'' covers both naturally occurring unprocessed crude ...
and
natural gas Natural gas (also called fossil gas or simply gas) is a naturally occurring mixture of gaseous hydrocarbons consisting primarily of methane in addition to various smaller amounts of other higher alkanes. Low levels of trace gases like carbon ...
.


Lithology

The Cardium Formation is composed primarily of beds of massive, fine-grained to conglomeratic
sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates ...
, which are separated by thick layers of
shale Shale is a fine-grained, clastic sedimentary rock formed from mud that is a mix of flakes of clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4) and tiny fragments (silt-sized particles) of other minerals, especia ...
. The formation is subdivided into the following members from top to base: *Sturrock Member (sandstone) *Leyland Member (shale) *Cardinal Member (sandstone) *Kiska Member (shale) *Moosehound Member (shale) *Ram Member (sandstone) In central Alberta, the formation is divided into the Pembina River Member and Cardium Zone.


Distribution

The Cardium Formation was deposited during the
Turonian The Turonian is, in the ICS' geologic timescale, the second age in the Late Cretaceous Epoch, or a stage in the Upper Cretaceous Series. It spans the time between 93.9 ± 0.8 Ma and 89.8 ± 1 Ma (million years ago). The Turonian is preceded ...
and
Coniacian The Coniacian is an age or stage in the geologic timescale. It is a subdivision of the Late Cretaceous Epoch or Upper Cretaceous Series and spans the time between 89.8 ± 1 Ma and 86.3 ± 0.7 Ma (million years ago). The Coniacian is preceded b ...
stages of the
Late Cretaceous The Late Cretaceous (100.5–66 Ma) is the younger of two epochs into which the Cretaceous Period is divided in the geologic time scale. Rock strata from this epoch form the Upper Cretaceous Series. The Cretaceous is named after ''creta'', ...
along the western edge of the Alberta Foreland Basin. It extends northward from the
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...
-
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...
border to northeastern British Columbia near
Dawson Creek Dawson Creek is a city in northeastern British Columbia, Canada. The municipality of had a population of 12,978 in 2016. Dawson Creek derives its name from the creek of the same name that runs through the community. The creek was named after ...
, and eastward from the foothills of the
Canadian Rockies The Canadian Rockies (french: Rocheuses canadiennes) or Canadian Rocky Mountains, comprising both the Alberta Rockies and the British Columbian Rockies, is the Canadian segment of the North American Rocky Mountains. It is the easternmost par ...
into the plains of southern and
central Alberta Central Alberta is a region located in the Canadian province of Alberta. Central Alberta is the most densely populated rural area in the province. Agriculture and energy are important to the area's economy. Geography Central Alberta is bordere ...
. Beyond there, the sandstones grade into shale. Thickness of Cardium sand varies between 5 and 30 meters in Alberta, Canada.


Relationship to other units

Due to its large areal extent, the Cardium Formation falls within different stratigraphic groups in different regions ( Alberta Group, Colorado Group, and Smoky Group). It is conformably overlain by the Wapiabi Formation and underlain by the Blackstone Formation. The formation is partly equivalent to the Kaskapau Formation.


Hydrocarbon production

Natural gas Natural gas (also called fossil gas or simply gas) is a naturally occurring mixture of gaseous hydrocarbons consisting primarily of methane in addition to various smaller amounts of other higher alkanes. Low levels of trace gases like carbon ...
is produced from the Cardium Formation in the
Athabasca River The Athabasca River (French: ''Rivière Athabasca'') is a river in Alberta, Canada, which originates at the Columbia Icefield in Jasper National Park and flows more than before emptying into Lake Athabasca. Much of the land along its banks is p ...
area and the foothills in western Alberta, and
oil An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) & lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturate ...
is produced in the
Pembina oil field The Pembina oil field is one of the largest and most prolific conventional oil fields in the province of Alberta, Canada. The mature field is centered on Drayton Valley and is named for the Pembina River, which crosses the region from southwest ...
of
central Alberta Central Alberta is a region located in the Canadian province of Alberta. Central Alberta is the most densely populated rural area in the province. Agriculture and energy are important to the area's economy. Geography Central Alberta is bordere ...
. The sandstones of the formation have good storage potential and stratigraphic traps are formed by the thick overlying
shale Shale is a fine-grained, clastic sedimentary rock formed from mud that is a mix of flakes of clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4) and tiny fragments (silt-sized particles) of other minerals, especia ...
s of the Wapiabi Formation and Muskiki Formation, while the underlying black shale of the Blackstone Formation and Kaskapau Formation are good
source rock In petroleum geology, source rock is rock which has generated hydrocarbons or which could generate hydrocarbons. Source rocks are one of the necessary elements of a working petroleum system. They are organic-rich sediments that may have been deposi ...
s. The Cardium Formation had an initial established recoverable
oil An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) & lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturate ...
reserve of 305 million m³, with 220.9 million m³ already produced as of 2008. Gas reserves totaled 88.3 million e³m³, with 30.8 million e³m³ already produced. Drilling for oil in the Cardium Formation rebounded in 2009 when horizontal drilling and multi-stage fracturing technology increased the oil recovery factor. Driven by technology, drilling in the four decades old
Pembina oil field The Pembina oil field is one of the largest and most prolific conventional oil fields in the province of Alberta, Canada. The mature field is centered on Drayton Valley and is named for the Pembina River, which crosses the region from southwest ...
increased, re-launching the field to the center of Alberta's oil economy.


Hydraulic fracturing in Canada

Massive hydraulic fracturing has been widely used in
Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...
since the late 1970s. The method is currently used in development of the Cardium, Duvernay, Montney and
Viking Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and s ...
formations in
Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...
, Bakken formation in
Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a province in western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North ...
, Montney and
Horn River The Horn River is a river in the Northwest Territories of Canada. It is a major tributary of the Mackenzie River. The river gives the name to the Horn River Formation, a shale deposit of the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin. The Horn River ...
formations in
British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include ...
.


Public companies

The year 2009 saw consolidation, with land sales, corporate transactions, and public companies with Cardium assets acquired by those intending to apply newer recovery-techniques to improve field economics. Oil-and-gas companies participating in this activity include: * PetroBakken (, through its acquisitions of Berens Energy, Result Energy and Rondo Petroleum) * Daylight Resources Trust (, through its acquisition of Highpine Energy and merger with West Energy, ) * PennWest (, with a large land base) * Paramount Resources ( through its acquisition of Profound Energy) * Bonterra Energy *
Crescent Point Energy Crescent Point Energy Corp. is an oil and gas company based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The company focuses primarily on light oil production in southern Saskatchewan and central Alberta. Since its inception in 2001, Crescent Point has signifi ...
(, through its acquisition of TriAxon Resources) and the smaller Bellatrix (), Delphi Energy (), Peyto Energy Trust (). Dozens of other companies have land leases in the Cardium
fairway Fairway may refer to: * Fairway (golf), part of a golf course *Fairway (navigation), a part of a water body with navigable channel *Fairway (horse), a Thoroughbred racehorse *Fairway, Gauteng, South Africa *Fairway, Kansas, United States *Fairway, ...
, but have not employed horizontal drilling in the Cardium. Exxon Mobil recently started testing the Cardium Formation.


References

{{Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin, Northwest_Plains=yes, Central_Plains=yes, Canadian Rockies=yes Stratigraphy of Alberta Stratigraphy of British Columbia Upper Cretaceous Series of North America Coniacian Stage Santonian Stage Turonian Stage Sandstone formations of Canada Shale formations Reservoir rock formations