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{{short description|Stratigraphic unit in Canada}}
{{Infobox rockunit
| name = Spirit River Formation
| image = FalherMBR.JPG
| caption = Falher graywake and shale
| type = [[Geological formation]]
| age = {{Fossil range|Albian|Albian|middle [[Albian]]}}
| prilithology = [[sandstone]], [[shale]], [[siltstone]]
| otherlithology = [[coal]], [[ironstone]], [[greywacke]]
| namedfor = [[Spirit River (Alberta)|Spirit River]]
| namedby = Badgley, 1952
| region = [[Alberta]], [[British Columbia]]
| country = [[Canada]]
| coordinates = {{coord|55.775|N|118.906|W|name=Imperial Spirit River No. 1 well, in 12-20-78-6W6M|display=inline,title}}
| unitof = [[Fort St. John Group]]
| subunits = Notikewin Member, Falher Member, Wilrich Member
| underlies = [[Peace River Formation]]
| overlies = [[Bluesky Formation]]
| thickness = up to {{convert|348|ft|m|-1}}<ref name=lexicon>{{Cite web | url = http://cgkn1.cgkn.net/weblex/weblex_litho_detail_e.pl?00053:011614 | title = Peace River Formation | author = [[Lexicon of Canadian Geologic Units]] | accessdate = 2009-02-11}}</ref>
}}
The '''Spirit River Formation''' is a [[stratigraphic unit]] of middle [[Albian]] [[Geochronology|age]] in the [[Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin]].

It takes the name from the [[Spirit River (Alberta)|Spirit River]], and was first described in [[Imperial Oil]] Spirit River No. 1 well by Badgley in 1952.<ref>Badgley, Peter C., 1952. Notes on the subsurface stratigraphy and oil and gas geology of the Lower Cretaceous series in central Alberta (Report and seven figures); [[Geological Survey of Canada]], Paper No. 52-11, 12 p.</ref>

==Lithology==
The Spirit River Formation consists, from bottom to top of fine to medium grained argillaceous [[sandstone]], dark [[shale]], [[ironstone]], [[greywacke]], [[shale]], [[siltstone]], [[coal]] and dark [[shale]] with thin [[sandstone]] and [[siltstone]] stringers.<ref name=lexicon/>

===Hydrocarbon production===

[[Natural gas|Gas]] is produced from [[Channel (geography)|channels]] developed in the [[Falher Member]] in northern [[Alberta]].

==Hydraulic fracturing in Canada==
{{main|Hydraulic fracturing in Canada}}
'Massive' hydraulic fracturing has been widely used in [[Alberta]] since the late 1970s to recover gas from low-permeability sandstones of the Spirit River Formation.<ref>{{cite journal | first1 = Douglas J. | last1 = Cant | first2 = Valerie G. | last2 = Ethier | title = Lithology-dependent diagenetic control of reservoir properties of conglomerates, Falher member, Elmworth Field, Alberta | journal = Bulletin of the [[American Association of Petroleum Geologists]] | date = August 1984 | volume = 68 | number = 8 }}</ref>{{rp|1044}} Massive hydraulic fracturing has been widely used in [[Alberta]] since the late 1970s. The method is currently used in development of the [[Cardium Formation|Cardium]], [[Duvernay Formation|Duvernay]], [[Montney Formation|Montney]] and [[Viking Formation|Viking]] formations in [[Alberta]], [[Bakken Formation|Bakken]] formation in [[Saskatchewan]], [[Montney Formation|Montney]] and [[Horn River Formation|Horn River]] formations in [[British Columbia]].

==Distribution==
The Spirit River Formation reaches a maximum thickness of {{convert|348|m|ft|-1}}. It is found in the sub-surface in the [[Peace River Country]], in an area stretching from [[Fort St. John, British Columbia]] to the [[Lesser Slave Lake]] from west to east, and from [[Grande Prairie, Alberta]] to [[Manning, Alberta]] from south to north.

==Relationship to other units==

The Spirit River Formation is conformably overlain by the [[Peace River Formation]] and conformably underlain by the [[Bluesky Formation]]. It grades laterally to the [[Buckinghorse Formation]] shales to the north-east, and into the sandy [[facies]] of the [[Malcolm Creek Formation]] south of the [[Wapiti River]]. It is equivalent to the upper [[Mannville Formation]] in [[Central Alberta]] and to the [[Clearwater Formation]] and [[Grand Rapids Formation]] in the upper [[Athabasca River]] area.<ref name=lexicon/>

===Subdivisions===

The Spirit River Formation is composed of the following sub-divisions from base to top:
{|class="wikitable"
|-
! [[Geological unit|Sub-unit]] !! Lithology !! Max<br>Thickness !! Reference
|-
|Notikewin Member || fine to medium grained argillaceous [[sandstone]], dark [[shale]], [[ironstone]] || {{convert|28|m|ft|-1}}
|<ref>{{Cite web | url = http://cgkn1.cgkn.net/weblex/weblex_litho_detail_e.pl?00053:011050 | title = Notikewin Member | author = [[Lexicon of Canadian Geologic Units]] | accessdate = 2009-02-11}}</ref>
|-
|Falher Member || [[greywacke]], [[shale]], [[siltstone]], [[coal]] || {{convert|215|m|ft|-1}}
|<ref>{{Cite web | url = http://cgkn1.cgkn.net/weblex/weblex_litho_detail_e.pl?00053:004811 | title = Falher Member | author = [[Lexicon of Canadian Geologic Units]] | accessdate = 2009-02-11}}</ref>
|-
|Wilrich Member || dark [[shales]] thin [[sandstone]] and [[siltstone]] stringers || {{convert|154|m|ft|-1}}
|<ref>{{Cite web | url = http://cgkn1.cgkn.net/weblex/weblex_litho_detail_e.pl?00053:016545 | title = Wilrich Member | author = [[Lexicon of Canadian Geologic Units]] | accessdate = 2009-02-11}}</ref>
|-
|}

==References==
{{reflist}}
{{WCSB|Northwest_Plains=yes}}

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

Spirit River Formation - Revision history

imported>The Space Enthusiast at 23:26, 25 June 2025