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{{short description|Geologic formation in Canada}}
{{Infobox Rockunit
| name = Muskiki Formation
| image = Muskiki_Shale.JPG
| caption = Muskiki_Shale
| type = [[Geological formation]]
| age = {{fossil range|Late Cretaceous|Late Cretaceous|[[Late Cretaceous]]}}
| prilithology = [[Shale]]
| otherlithology = [[Sandstone]]
| namedfor = Muskiki Lake
| namedby = D.F. Stott, 1963
| region = [[Alberta]]
| country = Canada
| coordinates = {{coord|52.79637|N|116.89245|W|name=Muskiki Formation|display=inline,title}}
| unitof = [[Smoky Group]]
| subunits =
| underlies = [[Bad Heart Formation]]
| overlies = [[Cardium Formation]]
| thickness = up to {{convert|99|m|ft|-1}}<ref name=lexicon/>
| extent =
| area =
| map =
| map_caption =
}}
The '''Muskiki Formation''' is a [[stratigraphic unit]] of [[Late Cretaceous]] [[Geochronology|age]] in the [[Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin]].

The formation is named after Muskiki Lake and Muskiki Creek, a tributary of the [[Cardinal River (Alberta)|Cardinal River]], and was first described in an outcrop along the Thistle Creek, north of Muskiki Lake, in the Bighorn Range, by D.F. Stott in 1963.<ref>Stott, D.F., 1963. The Cretaceous Alberta Group and equivalent rocks, Rocky Mountain Foothills, Alberta Geological Survurvey, Canada, Memoir 317</ref> The name is of [[Cree language|Cree]] origin ("maskihkîy"),<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.creedictionary.com/search/index.php?q=maskihk%C3%AEy&scope=1&cwr=55222|title=maskihkîy|author=Cree Dictionaty}}</ref> meaning ''medicine''.

==Lithology==
The Muskiki Formation is composed of [[shale]] with pebbly [[mudstone]]. Poorly sorted [[sandstone]] and concretionary beds also occur. In the western areal it becomes more [[silt]]y.<ref name=lexicon>
{{Cite web|url=http://cgkn1.cgkn.net/weblex/weblex_litho_detail_e.pl?00053:010438
|title=Muskiki Formation
|author=[[Lexicon of Canadian Geologic Units]]
|accessdate=2009-03-05}}
</ref>

==Distribution==
The Muskiki Formation is {{convert|99|m|ft|-1}} thick at its type locality at Thistle Creek. It thins out towards the south and east. It occurs in the [[Canadian Rockies]] foothills from the [[Highwood River]] in the south to the Berland River, north of the [[Athabasca River]] and into north-eastern [[British Columbia]].<ref name=lexicon/>

==Relationship to other units==
The Muskiki Formationis is part of the [[Smoky Group]]. It is conformably underlain by the [[Cardium Formation]] and conformably overlain by the [[Bad Heart Formation]].<ref name=lexicon/>

The [[Kaskapau Formation]] in [[northern Alberta]] replaces the upper [[Blackstone Formation, Canada|Blackstone Formation]], the [[Cardium Formation]], and the Muskiki Formation.<ref name=Kaskapau>{{Cite web|url=http://cgkn1.cgkn.net/weblex/weblex_litho_detail_e.pl?00053:007398|title=Kaskapau Formation|author=[[Lexicon of Canadian Geological Units]]|accessdate=2009-02-06|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130111221415/http://cgkn1.cgkn.net/weblex/weblex_litho_detail_e.pl?00053:007398|archive-date=2013-01-11|url-status=dead}}</ref> Where the Kaskapau Formation includes post [[Cardium Formation|Cardium]] beds, the Muskiki is considered a member of the [[Wapiabi Formation]].

==References==
{{reflist}}

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

[[Category:Geologic formations of Alberta]]
[[Category:Cretaceous Alberta]]
[[Category:Shale formations of Canada]]
[[Category:Sandstone formations of Canada]]
[[Category:Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin]]

Muskiki Formation - Revision history

imported>The Space Enthusiast at 23:25, 25 June 2025