Mesozoic of the Eastern Margin of the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin

Melinda M. Yurkowski¹, Dr. James E. Christropher², and Michelle Nicolas^3
1 Saskatchewan Industry and Resources, Regina, SK
² Consultant, Regina, SK
³ Manitoba Industry, Economic Development and Mines, Winnipeg, MB

The Mesozoic strata on the eastern half of Saskatchewan and all of Manitoba consists almost entirely of Cretaceous shales, sandstones and marlstones and of Jurassic quartz arenites, marlstones, carbonates and evaporites. Sediments were deposited in both marine and non-marine environments that were controlled by both cyclic eustasy and regional tectonics. Numerous unconformities and variable facies now recognized in the eastern margin of the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin, and recognition of eastern provenances suggest a complex geological setting. Also, anecdotal and DST evidence of hydrocarbon shows as well as limited production from a small number of pools all point to the need to further the evaluate the hydrocarbon potential of this sparsely tested region.

Saskatchewan Industry and Resources, Manitoba Industry, Development and Mines, Natural Resources Canada and the universities of Alberta and Saskatchewan are participating in a multi-disciplinary project to the architecture of the Phanerozoic subsurface and to assess the hydrocarbon potential of eastern Saskatchewan and western Manitoba. This two year project was initiated in collaboration under the Geological Survey of Canada Targeted Geoscience Initiative (TGI II) program. The regional synthesis will provide an integrated geological framework for further assessment of an understudied portion of the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin. This paper presents a progress report on the Mesozoic component of this study.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90039©2005 AAPG Calgary, Alberta, June 16-19, 2005