imported>Volcanoguy: removed Category:Conglomerate formations; added Category:Conglomerate formations of Canada using HotCat

2025-06-20T20:20:58Z

removed Category:Conglomerate formations; added Category:Conglomerate formations of Canada using HotCat

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{{Short description|Stratigraphic Unit in Western Canada}}
{{Infobox Rockunit
| name = Gething Formation
| image =
| caption =
| type = [[Geological formation]]
| age = [[Barremian]]-early [[Albian]]<br>~{{Fossil range|125|110}}
| period = Early Cretaceous
| prilithology = [[Sandstone]], [[siltstone]]
| otherlithology = [[Conglomerate (geology)|Conglomerate]], [[coal]], [[shale]]
| namedfor = Gething Creek, Gething Mountain, Gething mine
| namedby = McLearn, F.H.<ref name="McLearn" />
| year_ts = 1923
| region = [[Canadian Rockies]] foothills, western [[Alberta]], northeastern [[British Columbia]]
| country = [[Canada]]
| coordinates = {{coord|56.00504|-122.23972|name=Gething Formation|display=inline,title}}
| paleocoordinates = {{coord|57.7|N|70.0|W|display=inline}}
| unitof = [[Bullhead Group]]
| subunits =
| underlies = [[Fort St. John Group]], [[Bluesky Formation]]
| overlies = [[Cadomin Formation]]
| thickness = up to {{convert|550|m|ft|-1}}<ref name=lexicon>{{Cite web|url=http://cgkn1.cgkn.net/weblex/weblex_litho_detail_e.pl?00053:005533 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130221160641/http://cgkn1.cgkn.net/weblex/weblex_litho_detail_e.pl?00053:005533 |url-status=dead |archive-date=2013-02-21 |title=Gething Formation |author=[[Lexicon of Canadian Geologic Units]] |accessdate=2009-02-07 }}</ref>
| extent =
| area =
| map = {{Location map+ | Canada#British Columbia
| relief = 1
| width = 250
| float = center
| places =
{{Location map~ | Canada#British Columbia
| lat_deg = 56.0
| lon_deg = -122.2
| mark = Green pog.svg
| marksize = 10
}}
}}
| map_caption =
}}
'''Gething Formation''' is a [[stratigraphic unit]] of [[Lower Cretaceous]] ([[Aptian]]) [[Geochronology|age]] in the [[Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin|Western Canada Sedimentary Basin]]. It is present in northeastern [[British Columbia]] and western [[Alberta]], and includes economically important coal deposits.

The formation is named for Gething Creek, a right tributary of the [[Peace River (Canada)|Peace River]] west of [[Hudson's Hope, British Columbia|Hudson's Hope]], and the nearby Gething Mountain. It was first described by F.H. McLearn in 1923<ref name=McLearn>McLearn, F.H., 1923. Peace River Canyon Coal Area, British Columbia; [[Geological Survey of Canada]], Summary Report 1922, Part B, pp. 1-46.</ref> in the [[Peace River (Canada)|Peace River]] Canyon, an area that was partly inundated in 1968 by the [[Williston Lake]] after the construction of the [[W. A. C. Bennett Dam]].

== Lithology ==
The formation consists of alternating units of [[sandstone]] and carbonaceous [[shale]] or [[mudstone]] with some [[coal]] seams and [[Conglomerate (geology)|conglomerate]] beds. The sandstones are fine- to coarse-grained, brown weathering, and typically platy to thin bedded, although some are massive. Mudstones are blocky to rubbly, with little lamination. Shale and carbonaceous shale units are [[fissility (geology)|fissile]] and are commonly associated with the coal seams. The sediments are mostly of non-marine origin, deposited in deltaic and coastal plain settings.<ref name=Stott>Stott, D.F. 1965. Lower Cretaceous Bullhead and Fort St John Groups, between Smoky and Peace Rivers, Rocky Mountain foothills, Alberta and British Columbia. Geological Survey of Canada, Bulletin 152, 279 p. {{ISBN|0-660-10208-0}}.</ref>

== Distribution ==
The Gething Formation is present in the foothills of the [[Northern Rocky Mountains]] and adjacent areas of the plains, extending from the [[Peace River (Canada)|Peace River]] region in northeastern British Columbia to the [[Smoky River]] area of western Alberta. In the [[Peace River Country]], it reaches a thickness of {{convert|550|m|ft|sp=us}}, while in the Smoky River area it is {{convert|75|m|ft|sp=us}} thick. North of the Peace River at Carbon Creek, it reaches {{convert|1000|m|ft|sp=us}}.<ref name="lexicon" />

== Relationship to other units ==
The Gething Formation is the uppermost unit of the [[Bullhead Group]]. It conformably overlies the [[Cadomin Formation]] and is [[unconformity|disconformably]] overlain by the [[Bluesky Formation]]. It is correlated with the [[Gladstone Formation]] in the southern foothills, and is equivalent in age to the [[McMurray Formation]] that contains the [[Athabasca Oil Sands]].

== Paleontology ==
[[Dinosaur]] footprints described from the formation include both carnivorous and herbivorous species.<ref name="Stott" />

Plant material is abundant, occurring as fossil leaves, stems, logs, stumps and rootlets. [[Fern]]s, [[cycad]]s, ''[[Ginkgo]]'' and [[conifer]]s are represented.<ref name="Stott" />

== Coal deposits ==
The Gething Formation contains coal seams that range from thin laminae to as much as {{convert|4.3|m|ft|sp=us}} thick. Coal rank ranges from low- to high-volatile bituminous, and the coal has good coking properties except where oxidized.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.ags.gov.ab.ca/publications/wcsb_atlas/a_ch33/ch_33.html|title=The Geological Atlas of the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin, Chapter 33: Coal Resources of the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin|author=Mossop, G.D. and Shetsen, I., (compilers), Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists|year=1994|accessdate=2013-08-01|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130930001329/http://www.ags.gov.ab.ca/publications/wcsb_atlas/a_ch33/ch_33.html|archivedate=2013-09-30}}</ref> It has been mined by underground methods near the Peace River west of Hudson's Hope and near the Sukunka River.

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

{{WCSB|Northwest_Plains=yes}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Geologic formations of Alberta]]
[[Category:Geologic formations of British Columbia]]
[[Category:Lower Cretaceous Series of North America]]
[[Category:Albian Stage]]
[[Category:Aptian Stage]]
[[Category:Barremian Stage]]
[[Category:Sandstone formations of Canada]]
[[Category:Siltstone formations of Canada]]
[[Category:Ichnofossiliferous formations]]
[[Category:Conglomerate formations of Canada]]
[[Category:Shale formations of Canada]]
[[Category:Coal formations]]

Gething Formation - Revision history

imported>Volcanoguy: removed Category:Conglomerate formations; added Category:Conglomerate formations of Canada using HotCat