The Ellis Group is a

stratigraphical 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: lithostrati ...

unit of Bajocian- Oxfordian

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 ...

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 ...

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada, 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 t ...

Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbi ...

and

Wyoming Wyoming () is a U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the south ...

in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin. It takes the name from Fort Ellis,

, and was first described in outcrop in the Rocky Creek Canyon by A.C. Peale in 1893.Peale, A.C., 1893. The Paleozoic section in the vicinity of Three Forks, Montana.

United States Geological Survey The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, ...

, Bulletin 110, p.9-56.

Lithology

The Ellis Group is composed 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, especial ...

and

sandstones 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) b ...

deposited in a marine and transitional environment.

Hydrocarbon production

Oil is produced from the Sawtooth Formation in southeastern

Distribution

The Ellis Group laterally occurs in the subsurface in

southern Alberta Southern Alberta is a region located in the Canadian province of Alberta. In 2004, the region's population was approximately 272,017.Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbi ...

. It is typically , but thickens on either side of the Sweetgrass Arch and reaches up to in southeastern Alberta.

Subdivisions

The Ellis Group includes the following formations, from top to bottom:

Relationship to other units

The Ellis Group is

unconformably An unconformity is a buried erosional or non-depositional surface separating two rock masses or strata of different ages, indicating that sediment deposition was not continuous. In general, the older layer was exposed to erosion for an interval o ...

overlain by the shales and sandstones of the

Mannville Group The Mannville Group is a stratigraphical unit of Cretaceous age in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin. It takes the name from the town of Mannville, Alberta, and was first described in the ''Northwest Mannville 1'' well by A.W. Nauss in 1945 ...

and rests on the

carbonate A carbonate is a salt of carbonic acid (H2CO3), characterized by the presence of the carbonate ion, a polyatomic ion with the formula . The word ''carbonate'' may also refer to a carbonate ester, an organic compound containing the carbonate g ...

s of the

Rundle Group The Rundle Group is a stratigraphical unit of Mississippian age in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin. It takes the name from Mount Rundle (itself taking the name from Robert Terrill Rundle), and was first described in outcrops at the nort ...

. It grades westwards to the shales of the

Fernie Group The Fernie Formation is a stratigraphic unit of Jurassic age. It is present in the western part of the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin in western Alberta and northeastern British Columbia.Poulton, T.P., Tittemore, J. and Dolby, G. 1990. Jurassic s ...

, and eastwards to the shale, sandstones and limestones of the

Vanguard The vanguard (also called the advance guard) is the leading part of an advancing military formation. It has a number of functions, including seeking out the enemy and securing ground in advance of the main force. History The vanguard derives fr ...

and Shaunavon Formations.

References

{{Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin, Saskatchewan=yes, South AB=yes, state=expanded Geologic groups of Montana Geologic groups of Wyoming Jurassic Canada Jurassic Montana Jurassic United States Bajocian Stage Oxfordian Stage Shale formations Sandstone formations Geologic groups of Alberta Geologic groups of Saskatchewan