Sedimentology and Stratigraphy of the Falher C Member, Spirit River Formation, Northeastern British Columbia
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University of Calgary PRISM: University of Calgary's Digital Repository Graduate Studies Legacy Theses 1999 Sedimentology and stratigraphy of the falher c member, Spirit River formation, northeastern British Columbia Caddel, Edward Matthew Caddel, E. M. (1999). Sedimentology and stratigraphy of the falher c member, Spirit River formation, northeastern British Columbia (Unpublished master's thesis). University of Calgary, Calgary, AB. doi:10.11575/PRISM/11252 http://hdl.handle.net/1880/25381 master thesis University of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission. Downloaded from PRISM: https://prism.ucalgary.ca NOTE TO USERS This reproduction is the best copy available. THE UNIVERSfTY OF CALGARY Sedirnentology and Stratigraphy of the Falher C Member. Spirit River Formation, Northeastern British Columbia. by Edward Matthew Caddel A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF SCIENCE DEPARTMENT OF GEOLOGY AND GEOPHYSICS CALGARY, ALBERTA OCTOBER, 1999 O E. Matthew Caddel 2000 National Library Bibliotbque nationale of Canada du Canada Acquisitions and Acquisitions et Bibliographic Services services bibliographiques 395 Wellington Street 395. rue Wellington OnawaOf'l KlAW OltawaON KIA ON4 Canada Canada The author has granted a non- L'auteur a accorde une licence non exclusive licence allowing the exclusive pennettant a la National Library of Canada to Bibliotheque nationale du Canada de reproduce, loan, distribute or sell reproduire, pr6ter7distribuer ou copies of this thesis in microform, vendre des copies de cette these sous paper or electronic formats. la forme de microfiche/film, de reproduction sur papier ou sur format electronique. The author retains ownership of the L'auteur conserve la propriete du copyright in this thesis. Neither the droit d'auteur qui protege cette these. thesis nor substantial extracts fiom it Ni la these ni des extraits substantiels may be printed or otherwise de celle-ci ne doivent 8tre imprimes reproduced without the author's ou autrement reproduits sans son permission. autorisation. The Falher C stratigraphic unit of the Falher Member, of the Spirit River Formation, in northeastern British Columbia, is a product of deposition by wave and storm processes along a graveliferous, wave-dominated strandplain. Two parasequences and one sequence comprise the Falher C, forming two mappable shoreline trends that are present in the subsurface. The northern parasequence trend (CO) is an early highstand, sandy shoreface facies association occurring in the subsurface of British Columbia. The southern trend consists of a highstand sandy shoreface facies association (C1 parasequence) and a regressive systems tract stratal sequence (RST; C2 sequence) conglomeratic shoreface. Gravel is introduced to the C2 sequence as bedload from narrow, deeply incised channels during a falling relative sea level. Internal erosional surfaces within C2 are source diastems (SD's) which amalgamate along the basal surface to form a regressive surface of erosion (RSE). Conglomerate with the highest porosity and permeability occurs along the southern edge of the C2 sequence, adjacent to coevally deposited channels. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Funding for this thesis was provided by an NSERC post-graduate industrial scholarship in conjunction with Canadian Hunter Exploration Limited and Ulster Petroleums Limited. The Department of Geology and Geophysics at the University of Calgary provided additional personal funding and support. At Canadian Hunter Exploration Limited. I would like to thank Dave Smith and Ron Grams in particular for their support and discussions regarding the Falher C. I would also like to thank Ray Geuder, Dave Willey, Doug Robertson, Ruth Nixon and the remainder of the Deep Basin Team for their technical and financial support. At Ulster Petroleums Limited, I would like to thank Dr. Tom Moslow in particular, for his supervisory and technical support. I would also like to thank the staff at Ulster Petroleums Limited for financial, technical and computer support. At the University of Calgary, I would especially like to thank Dr. Ian Hutcheon for supervisory support, Lynne Maillet-Frotten for her computer-support miracles, Regina Shedd for research aid, and Fed Krause for technical discussions. I would also like to thank Dr. J.P. Zonnevald, Jon Greggs, Sharron Kaser, John Juigalli, Malcolm Bertram, Maurice Shevalier, Dr. Don Lawton, Henry Bland, Dr. Derald Smith and Rick Meyers for support and/or advice in one form or another. Personally, I would like to thank my wife Christina for her help, patience and understanding while I have been finishing the thesis. I would also like to thank my field-assistants Gordon Quapp and Bart Blakney. I would like to thank my parents and family for their personal support. I would also like to thank my friends (especially Jason, Jen, Lynn, and Curtis) for reminding me that the thesis is not worth stressing too much about. DEDICATION I would like to dedicate this thesis to my lovely wife Christina Caddel, who has patiently waited for me to finish this thesis. She has been there to remind me not to get too stressed out, while at the same time attempting to maintain my focus on the thesis. Her help with printing and page numbers was greatly appreciated. Thank you, Christina. 2.5.5 Facies 30 .Description .............................................................. 2.5.6 Facies 3 .Interpretation .............................................................. 2.6.1 Facies 4 = Overview .................................................................... 2.6.2 Facies 4A .Description .............................................................. 2.6.3 Facies 48 .Description .............................................................. 2.6.4 Facies 4C .Description .............................................................. 2.6.5 Facies 40 .Description .............................................................. 2.6.6 Facies 4 .Interpretation .............................................................. 2.7.1 Facies 5A .Description .............................................................. 2.7.2 Facies 58 .Description .............................................................. 2.7.3 Facies 5 .Interpretation .............................................................. 2.8.1 Facies 6 .Overview .................................................................... 2.8.2 Facies 6A .Description .............................................................. 2.8.3 Facies 6B .Description .............................................................. 2.8.4 Facies 6 .Interpretation .............................................................. 2.9.1 Facies 7 .Description ................................................................. 2.9.2 Facies 7 .Interpretation .............................................................. 3.0 STRATIGRAPHIC FRAMEWORK........................................................... 3.1 Introduction to Sequence Stratigraphy .......................................... 3.2 Sequence Stratigraphy in the Falher Member ............................... 3.3 Outcrop Stratigraphy..................................................................... 3 -3.1 Facies Assoc~at~ons.................................................................... 3.3.2 Parasequences........................................................................... 3.4 Cross Sections .............................................................................. 3.4.1 Cross Section ADA'..................................................................... 3.4.2 Cross Section 6-B'.. .................................................................. 3.4.3 Cross Section C-C' ..................................................................... 3.4.4 Cross Section 0-0'.................................................................... 3.5 lsopach and Paleocurrent Maps.................................................... 3.5.1 lsopach Map of C2..................................................................... 3.5.2 Net Conglomerate...................................................................... 3.5.3 Open Framework Cong1omerate:Sand Matrix Conglomerate.... 3.5.4 Paleocurrent Map ............................................................ 3.6 Ground Penetrating Radar................................................... 3.7 Stratigraphic Architecture ................................................... 3.8 Paleogeography................................................................ 4.0 SUBSURFACE STRATIGRAPHIC FRAMEWORK............................. 4.1 Subsurface Stratigraphy ...................................................... 4.2 Regional Cross Sections ..................................................... 4.2.1 Regional Cross Section R1............................................... 4.2.2 Regional Cross Section R2............................................... 4.2.3 Regional Cross Section R3............................................... 4.2.4 Regional Cross Section R4............................................... 4.3 Stratigraphic Architecture.................................................... 4.4 Depos~t~onalHistory ..........................................................