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{{short description|Stratigraphic unit in Canada}}
{{Infobox Rockunit
| name = Viking Formation
| image = Viking Sand Core.JPG
| caption = Crossbedded Viking sandstone
| type = [[Geological formation]]
| age = {{fossil range|Albian|Albian|Late [[Albian]]}}
| prilithology = [[Sandstone]]
| otherlithology = [[Conglomerate (geology)|Conglomerate]], [[chert]]
| namedfor = [[Viking, Alberta]]
| namedby = Dowling et al., 1919
| region = [[Alberta]], [[Saskatchewan]]
| country = [[Canada]]
| coordinates = {{coord|53|-111.5|name=Viking-Kinsella oil filed|display=inline,title}}
| unitof =
| subunits =
| underlies = [[Big River Formation]]
| overlies = [[Joli Fou Formation]]
| thickness = up to {{convert|50|m|ft|-1}}<ref name=lexicon/>
| extent =
| area =
| map =
| map_caption =
}}

The '''Viking Formation''' is a [[stratigraphic unit]] of [[Cretaceous]] [[Geochronology|age]] in the [[Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin]].

It takes the name from the town of [[Viking, Alberta]], and was first described in the [[Viking, Alberta|Viking]]-[[Kinsella, Alberta|Kinsella]] oil field by Dowling in 1919.<ref>Dowling, D.B., Slipper, S E., and McLearn, F.H., 1919. Investigations in the gas and oil fields of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. [[Geological Survey of Canada]], Memoir 116.</ref>

==Lithology==
The Viking Formation is composed of fine to coarse grained sandstone with interbeds of [[Conglomerate (geology)|conglomerate]] and [[chert]]y conglomeratic sandstone.
<ref name=lexicon>
{{Cite web|url=http://cgkn1.cgkn.net/weblex/weblex_litho_detail_e.pl?00053:015856
|title=Viking Formation
|author=[[Lexicon of Canadian Geologic Units]]
|access-date=2009-03-01}}
</ref>
Nodular [[phosphorite]], [[coal]] fragments and concretionary [[siderite]] occur in the coarse beds.

===Hydrocarbon production===

[[Petroleum|Oil]] is produced from the Viking Formation in eastern and [[central Alberta]] as well as in west-central [[Saskatchewan]].

The Viking Formation had an initial established recoverable [[petroleum|oil]] [[Oil reserves|reserve]] of 88.7 million m³, with 66.8 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|access-date=2009-03-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090328192518/http://www.ags.gov.ab.ca/publications/wcsb_atlas/A_CH32/TB32_01.html|archive-date=2009-03-28|url-status=dead}}</ref> [[Natural gas|Gas]] reserves totaled 277.9 million e³m³ (or 227,900 million m³), with 103.4 million e³m³ (or 103,400 million m³already 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|access-date=2009-03-06}}</ref>

==Hydraulic fracturing in Canada==
{{main|Hydraulic fracturing in Canada}}
Massive hydraulic fracturing has been widely used in [[Alberta]] since the late 1970s.<ref>{{citation |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}} The method is currently used in development of the [[Cardium Formation|Cardium]], [[Duvernay Formation|Duvernay]], [[Montney Formation|Montney]] and 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 Viking Formation occurs in the sub-surface of central and eastern Alberta and in west-central Saskatchewan. It reaches a maximum thickness of {{convert|50|m|ft|-1}} in [[central Alberta]] and thins out to {{convert|40|m|ft|-1}} in Saskatchewan. Thinner sandstone beds can be recognized into western Alberta.

==Relationship to other units==

The Viking Formation is conformably overlain by the [[Big River Formation]] and conformably and [[unconformity|unconformably]] underlain by the [[Joli Fou Formation]].<ref name=lexicon/>

It is equivalent to the [[Bow Island Formation]] in [[southern Alberta]], to the [[Newcastle Formation]] in [[North Dakota]], to the [[Ashville Formation]] in [[Manitoba]], the [[Pelican Sandstone]] in north-eastern Alberta and the [[Flotten Lake Sand]] in central [[Saskatchewan]]. It can be correlated with the [[Cadotte Member]] of the [[Peace River Formation]] in north-western Alberta.

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin| Northeast_Plains=yes| Central_Plains=yes}}

[[Category:Geologic formations of Alberta]]
[[Category:Geologic formations of Saskatchewan]]
[[Category:Cretaceous Alberta]]
[[Category:Cretaceous Saskatchewan]]
[[Category:Sandstone formations of Canada]]
[[Category:Conglomerate formations of Canada]]
[[Category:Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin]]
[[Category:Chert formations]]

Viking Formation - Revision history

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