Abstract: Palaeoenvironmental study of the Palaeocene Souris Lignite, Ravenscrag Formation, Southern Saskatchewan, Canada: Implications for Ancestral Tertiary Mire Development

FRANK, M. C.

The majority of petrographic models which purport to reconstruct the original peat-forming environments of coal deposits, have been empirically formulated using data from either Palaeozoic or Mesozoic coals. They do not allow for floral evolution, climatic change or the concept of provincialism.

A petrological study has been undertaken on the Tertiary Souris Lignite in order to determine the sequence of depositional phases involved in the development of the ancestral mire. This data will then be used to determine whether peat-forming models based on Palaeozoic and Mesozoic coals can be realistically applied to (or modified for) Tertiary coals.

Preliminary work based on microlithotype composition and the application of existing depositional models, has indicated the presence of three depositional phases occurring within the Souris Lignite. The three phases identified represent: 1) stable peat accumulation; 2) terrestrialisation; 3) fluctuating water-levels.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90939©1997 AAPG Eastern Section and TSOP, Lexington, Kentucky