The Kakisa Formation is a stratigraphical unit of

Frasnian The Frasnian is one of two faunal stages in the Late Devonian Period. It lasted from million years ago to million years ago. It was preceded by the Givetian Stage and followed by the Famennian Stage. Major reef-building was under way during th ...

age Age or AGE may refer to: Time and its effects * Age, the amount of time someone or something has been alive or has existed ** East Asian age reckoning, an Asian system of marking age starting at 1 * Ageing or aging, the process of becoming older ...

in the

Western Canadian 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

Kakisa River The Kakisa River is a major tributary of the Mackenzie River in the Northwest Territories of Canada. The river gives the name to the Kakisa Formation, a stratigraphical unit of the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin. Course The Kakisa River ori ...

, a tributary of the Mackenzie River, and was first described in outcrop on the banks of the Trout River by H.R. Belyea and D.J. McLaren in 1962.Belyea, H.R. and McLaren, D.J., 1962. Upper Devonian formations, southern pan of Northwest Territories, northeastern British Columbia and northwestern Alberta.

Geological Survey of Canada The Geological Survey of Canada (GSC; french: Commission géologique du Canada (CGC)) is a Canadian federal government agency responsible for performing geological surveys of the country, developing Canada's natural resources and protecting the en ...

, Paper 61-29.

Lithology

The Kakisa Formation is composed of

silty Silt is granular material of a size between sand and clay and composed mostly of broken grains of quartz. Silt may occur as a soil (often mixed with sand or clay) or as sediment mixed in suspension with water. Silt usually has a floury feel when ...

and

dolomitic Dolomite () is an anhydrous carbonate mineral composed of calcium magnesium carbonate, ideally The term is also used for a sedimentary carbonate rock composed mostly of the mineral dolomite. An alternative name sometimes used for the dolomiti ...

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

Reef A reef is a ridge or shoal of rock, coral or similar relatively stable material, lying beneath the surface of a natural body of water. Many reefs result from natural, abiotic processes— deposition of sand, wave erosion planing down rock out ...

builders such as

coral Corals are marine invertebrates within the class Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact colonies of many identical individual polyps. Coral species include the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and sec ...

s and

stromatoporoid Stromatoporoidea is an extinct clade of sea sponges common in the fossil record from the Ordovician through the Devonian. They were especially abundant and important reef-formers in the Silurian and most of the Devonian.Stock, C.W. 2001, Stro ...

s can be identified in the formation. It is reefoid in its northern extent, where its thickness is variable.

Distribution

The Kakisa Formation reaches a maximum thickness of . it occurs at the surface in outcrops along the

between

Tathlina Lake Tathlina Lake is a large, shallow lake, located in the Northwest Territories, Canada. An outcropping of the Kakisa Formation occurs along the side of this lake. This turbid lake, the 15th largest in the Northwest Territories, is located at an el ...

and

Kakisa Lake Kakisa Lake is a large lake located in the Northwest Territories, Canada. It is fed by the Kakisa River, and near to the community of Kakisa Kakisa (Slavey language: ''K’agee''; ''between the willows'') is a "Designated Authority" in the Sou ...

and as an

escarpment An escarpment is a steep slope or long cliff that forms as a result of faulting or erosion and separates two relatively level areas having different elevations. The terms ''scarp'' and ''scarp face'' are often used interchangeably with ''escar ...

along the Mackenzie River. In the sub-surface, it can be found in north-eastern

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

, where it is typically thick, and thins out towards the Peace River Arch.

Relationship to other units

The Kakisa Formation is disconformably overlain by the

Trout River Formation The Trout River Formation is a stratigraphical unit of Late Devonian age in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin. It takes the name from the Trout River, and was first described on the banks of the river, upstream from the Mackenzie River, ...

and conformably overlays the

Redknife Formation The Redknife Formation is a stratigraphical unit of Devonian age in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin. It takes the name from Redknife River, a tributary of the Mackenzie River, and was first described in the banks of the Trout River, nor ...

(east) or the

Fort Simpson Formation The Fort Simpson Formation is a stratigraphical unit of Devonian age in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin. It takes the name from the settlement of Fort Simpson, and was first described in well Briggs Turkey Lake No. 1 (located south-east ...

(west). It is equivalent to parts of the Winterburn Group in

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 ...

. Towards the west, it becomes

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, especial ...

y and turns into the

References

{{Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin, Northwest_Plains=yes, Fort_Nelson=yes Geologic formations of British Columbia Geologic formations of the Northwest Territories Devonian southern paleotropical deposits Frasnian Stage Limestone formations of Canada Devonian British Columbia Devonian Northwest Territories