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{{Short description|Stratigraphical unit in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin}}
{{Infobox Rockunit
| name = Dunvegan Formation
| image = Dunvegan Formation.png
| caption = An outcrop of the Dunvegan Formation along the [[Pine River (British Columbia)|Pine River]], which is the type locality for CMN 59667, an unnamed [[Ankylosauria|ankylosaur]] species.
| type = [[Geological formation]]
| age = [[Cenomanian]]<br>~{{fossil range|99|94}}
| period = Cenomanian
| prilithology = [[Sandstone]]
| otherlithology = [[Shale]]
| namedfor = [[Dunvegan, Alberta]]
| namedby = [[George Mercer Dawson]]
| year_ts = 1881
| region = Northeast [[British Columbia]]<br>Northwest [[Alberta]]
| country = [[Canada]]
| coordinates = {{coord|55.92043|N|118.63203|W|name=Dunvegan Formation|display=inline,title}}
| unitof =
| subunits =
| underlies = [[Smoky Group]]
| overlies = [[Fort St. John Group]] ([[Shaftesbury Formation]])
| thickness = up to {{convert|380|ft|m|-1}}<ref name=lexicon>{{Cite web |url=http://cgkn1.cgkn.net/weblex/weblex_litho_detail_e.pl?00053:004324 |title=Dunvegan Formation |author=[[Lexicon of Canadian Geologic Units]] |accessdate=2009-02-10 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://archive.today/20130221071748/http://cgkn1.cgkn.net/weblex/weblex_litho_detail_e.pl?00053:004324 |archivedate=2013-02-21 }}</ref>
| extent =
| area =
| map = {{Location map+ | Canada
| relief = 1
| width = 300
| float = center
| places =
{{Location map~ | Canada
| lat_deg = 55.9
| lon_deg = -118.6
| mark = Lightgreen pog.svg
| marksize = 12
}}
}}
| map_caption =
}}
The '''Dunvegan Formation''' is a [[stratigraphic unit]] of [[Cenomanian]] [[Geochronology|age]] in the [[Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin]].

It takes the name from the settlement of [[Dunvegan, Alberta]], and was first described in an outcrop on [[Peace River (Canada)|Peace River]] near Dunvegan by [[George Mercer Dawson]] in 1881.<ref>Dawson, G.M., 1881. Report on the exploration from Port Simpson on the Pacific Coast to Edmonton on the Saskatchewan River, Embracing a portion of the northern part of British Columbia and the Peace River Country, with Maps 150 and 152; [[Geological Survey of Canada]], Report of Progress 1879-1880, Part B, p. 1-77.</ref>

==Fossils==
[[Nodosauridae|Nodosaur]] footprints attributed to ''[[Tetrapodosaurus|Tetrapodosaurus borealis]],'' [[Ornithopoda|ornithopod]] footprints, and theropod footprints attributed to ''[[Columbosauripus|Columbosauripus ungulatus]]'' and ''[[Ardeipeda]]'' [[Sp. (biology)|sp.]] are common within the Dunvegan Formation.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last1=Plint |first1=A. Guy |last2=Helm |first2=Charles W. |last3=Lockley |first3=Martin G. |date=2022-03-03 |title=Crocodylian and dinosaur trace fossil assemblages from crevasse splay/levee and floodplain lake environments: middle Cenomanian Dunvegan Formation, northeast British Columbia, Canada |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/08912963.2022.2043294 |journal=Historical Biology |volume=35 |issue=3 |pages=403–429 |doi=10.1080/08912963.2022.2043294 |issn=0891-2963|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Storer |first=John E. |date=1975-10-01 |title=Dinosaur Tracks, ''Columbosauripus ungulatus'' (Saurischia: Coelurosauria), from the Dunvegan Formation (Cenomanian) of Northeastern British Columbia |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/e75-160 |journal=Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences |volume=12 |issue=10 |pages=1805–1807 |doi=10.1139/e75-160 |bibcode=1975CaJES..12.1805S |issn=0008-4077|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Lockley |first=Martin G. |last2=Plint |first2=A. Guy |last3=Helm |first3=Charles W. |title=Heron-like tracks from the Dunvegan Formation (Cenomanian), British Columbia: evidence for convergence in avian foot morphology |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/08912963.2025.2477201 |journal=Historical Biology |volume=0 |issue=0 |pages=1–14 |doi=10.1080/08912963.2025.2477201 |issn=0891-2963|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Dinosaur body fossils are also known from the formation, including:

* Specimen HH 2017.010.002, an [[Ankylosauria|ankylosaur]] femur discovered along the [[Murray River (British Colombia)|Murray River]] in 1993 and described in 2024.<ref name=Cross24>{{cite journal|last1= Cross|first1= E.C|last2=Arbour|first2= V.M|year= 2024|title= An ankylosaur femur from the mid-Cretaceous of the Peace Region of northeastern British Columbia|journal= Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences|doi=10.1139/cjes-2023-0118|s2cid= 267961368}}</ref>
* Specimen CMN 59667, a block containing two vertebrae and two ribs from an ankylosaur that was discovered along the [[Pine River (British Columbia)|Pine River]] in 1930 and was described in 2020.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last1=Arbour |first1=Victoria M. |last2=Larson |first2=Derek |last3=Vavrek |first3=Matthew |last4=Buckley |first4=Lisa |last5=Evans |first5=David |date=2020 |title=An ankylosaurian dinosaur from the Cenomanian Dunvegan Formation of northeastern British Columbia, Canada |url=https://fr.copernicus.org/articles/23/179/2020/ |journal=Fossil Record |language=en |volume=23 |issue=2 |pages=179–189 |doi=10.5194/fr-23-179-2020 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2020FossR..23..179A |issn=2193-0074}}</ref>
* Other ankylosaur remains including [[osteoderms]] from [[Alberta]].<ref name=Cross24 />

[[Osteichthyes|Bony fish]],<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Hay |first1=Michael J |last2=Cumbaa |first2=Stephen L |last3=Murray |first3=Alison M |last4=Plint |first4=A Guy |date=2007-06-29 |title=A new paraclupeid fish (Clupeomorpha, Ellimmichthyiformes) from a muddy marine pro-delta environment: middle Cenomanian Dunvegan Formation, Alberta, Canada |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/e07-002 |journal=Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences |volume=44 |issue=6 |pages=775–790 |doi=10.1139/e07-002 |bibcode=2007CaJES..44..775H |issn=0008-4077|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Vavrek |first1=Matthew J. |last2=Murray |first2=Alison M. |last3=Bell |first3=Phil R. |date=2014 |title=An early Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian) sturgeon (Acipenseriformes) from the Dunvegan Formation, northwestern Alberta, Canada |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/cjes-2014-0052 |journal=Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences |volume=51 |issue=7 |pages=677–681 |doi=10.1139/cjes-2014-0052 |bibcode=2014CaJES..51..677V |issn=0008-4077|url-access=subscription }}</ref> [[Shark|sharks]],<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Cook |first1=Todd D. |last2=Wilson |first2=Mark V.H. |last3=Murray |first3=Alison M. |date=2008 |title=A middle Cenomanian euselachian assemblage from the Dunvegan Formation of northwestern Alberta |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/e08-064 |journal=Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences |volume=45 |issue=10 |pages=1185–1197 |doi=10.1139/e08-064 |bibcode=2008CaJES..45.1185C |issn=0008-4077|url-access=subscription }}</ref> [[Crocodilia|crocodylian]] footprints,<ref name=":0" /> and ''[[Metasequoia]]'' leaves<ref name=":1" /> have also been found in the Dunvegan Formation.

== Lithology ==
[[File:Dunvegan FM sand.JPG|thumb|200px|left|Dunvegan Sandstone]]
The Dunvegan Formation is composed of [[Marine (ocean)|marine]], and [[Delta (geography)|deltaic]] [[sandstone]] with thin [[shale]] interbeds in the Peace River Country. East of [[Dunvegan, Alberta]] it is of marine origin, and in its western reaches in British Columbia it was deposited in a [[continent]]al [[facies]], where the sandstone becomes more [[Conglomerate (geology)|conglomeratic]]. During Dunvegan time, a [[brackish water]] environment was present in the [[Wapiti River]] area and south of [[Grande Prairie, Alberta|Grande Prairie]], where the formation is [[porosity|porous]].

== Hydrocarbon production ==
The Dunvegan Formation had an initial established recoverable [[petroleum|oil]] [[Oil reserves|reserve]] of 9.9 million m³, with 3.1 million m³ already produced as of 2008.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.ags.gov.ab.ca/publications/wcsb_atlas/A_CH32/TB32_01.html|title=The Geological Atlas of the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin - Summary of oil reserves and production data|author=Mossop, G.D. and Shetsen, I - Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists|year=1994|accessdate=2009-03-06|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090328192518/http://www.ags.gov.ab.ca/publications/wcsb_atlas/A_CH32/TB32_01.html|archivedate=2009-03-28}}</ref> [[Natural gas|Gas]] reserves totaled 18.7 million m³, with 4.5 million m³ already produced.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.ags.gov.ab.ca/publications/wcsb_atlas/A_CH32/TB32_02.html|title=The Geological Atlas of the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin - Summary of gas reserves and production data|author=Mossop, G.D. and Shetsen, I - Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists|year=1994|accessdate=2009-03-06}}</ref>

== Distribution ==
The Dunvegan Formation is {{convert|180|ft|m|-1}} thick in its type locality in [[Peace River Country]] and up to {{convert|380|ft|m|-1}} in the sub-surface of the [[Canadian Rockies]] foothills. It occurs south of [[Fort Nelson, British Columbia|Fort Nelson]] and the [[Liard River]] in north-east [[British Columbia]], thins out south of the Peace River Country. South of the [[Athabasca River]], the Dunvegan grades laterally into the [[Blackstone Formation, Canada|Blackstone Formation]].

The Dunvegan Formation is exposed in outcrop along and near the [[Peace River (Canada)|Peace River]] east of the foothills, in the [[Peace River Country]] and the [[Chinchaga]] area, as well as patches in north-western Alberta and south of the [[Caribou Mountains (Alberta)|Caribou Mountains]].

== Relationship to other units ==
The Dunvegan Formation is conformably overlain by marine shales of the [[Kaskapau Formation]] in the Peace River Country and overlies conformably and transitionally the [[shale]] of the [[Fort St. John Group]]. The relationship between the Dunvegan and the overlying/underlying units is [[diachronous]] and the boundaries of the Dunvegan are placed at the first and last appearances of sandstone within the shale-dominated succession.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Plint|first1=A. Guy|title=Sequence Stratigraphy and Paleogeography of a Cenomanian Deltaic Complex: the Dunvegan and Lower Kaskapau Formations in Subsurface and Outcrop, Alberta and British Columbia, Canada|journal=Bulletin of Canadian Petroleum Geology|date=March 2000|volume=48|issue=1|pages=43–79|doi=10.2113/48.1.43 |url=http://archives.datapages.com/data/cspg/data/048/048001/0043.htm|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

== References ==
{{reflist}}

{{Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin|Northwest_Plains=yes|Fort_Nelson=yes}}

[[Category:Geologic formations of Alberta]]
[[Category:Geologic formations of British Columbia]]
[[Category:Upper Cretaceous Series of North America]]
[[Category:Cenomanian Stage]]
[[Category:Sandstone formations of Canada]]
[[Category:Deltaic deposits]]
[[Category:Shallow marine deposits]]
[[Category:Reservoir rock formations]]
[[Category:Shale formations of Canada]]

Dunvegan Formation - Revision history

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