Queenston Formation

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Queenston Formation
Stratigraphic range: Maysvillian to Richmondian
Queenston, Ontario
Named byJ. F. Caley
Year defined1940

The Queenston Formation is a

Taconic Orogeny. Lithologically, the formation is dominated by red and grey shales with thin siltstone, limestone and sandstone interlayers. As materials, comprising the clastic wedge, become coarser in close proximity to the Taconic source rocks, siltstone and sandstone layers are predominant in New York.[2]

Structure and stratigraphy

The formation is wedge-shaped, thick (up to 300 metres (980 ft) below Lake Erie), and laterally extensive, outcropping from Western New York to Cabot Head.[3] It thins from southeast to northwest at around 0.6 metres per kilometre and has a dip of 3° to the south-southwest.[1]

The formation is the topmost Ordovician layer in

Cataract Group. At its base it has a conformable gradational contact with underlying beds of the Georgian Bay Formation in Southern Ontario, the Carlsbad Formation near Ottawa, and the Oswego Formation in New York.[1][2]

Lithology

The formation is composed primarily of red and grey

Coarser layers become much thicker in New York. Minor amounts of gypsum, in nodules and laminae, are found throughout. On the Manitoulin Island, the formation is dominated by limestone and dolomite.[6]

Fossils

The formation is devoid of fossils in the uppermost shaly layers and is poorly fossiliferous throughout other parts, particularly, the bioclastic beds, where

Ichnofossils are more common, represented by Diplocraterion, Skolithos and Chondrites
.

Facies and depositional environments

Most of the sediments was deposited in the near-coastal

eustatic origin (Andean-Saharan glaciation).[1] Prior to lithification, the mud deposits had been frequently exposed subaerially and desiccated, as evidenced by the numerous mudcracks, while evaporites (mostly, gypsum) were deposited in isolated pools. The formation is composed of 14 facies
, grouped into 4 facies associations, named A through D, corresponding to the specific depositional environments.

Facies association A, composed mostly of dark grey shales, was deposited on a

fluvial conditions. It is dominated by sand, carried by braided rivers.[2]

Similar depositional environments are currently found at the Gulf of California and the northwest shore of Australia.[1]

Economic significance

In New York, the formation's sandstone

reservoir rocks for natural gas; the West Auburn Field has been productive since the 1940s.[2][7] These beds are also currently considered for geological CO2 storage.[8] In Ontario, shales of the formation have long been used by the ceramic industry, mainly for brick and tile production.[3]

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Queenston Formation.
  1. ^
    doi:10.1139/cjes-35-6-702
    .
  2. ^ a b c d "New York's Potential Disposal Formations" (PDF). Empire State Oil and Gas Information System. Retrieved 8 January 2011.
  3. ^ a b Rowell, D.J. (2009). A Comparison of the Brick Manufacturing Potential of the Queenston and Arkona Formations (PDF). Ontario Geological Survey. pp. 1–4.
  4. Ontario Division of Mines
    . pp. 18–20.
  5. ^ a b Rutka, M.A.; M.A. Vos (1993). The Clay Products Industry and Shale Resources in Southern Ontario (PDF). Ontario Geological Survey. pp. 18–22.
  6. ^ Guillet, G.R. (1977). Clay and Shale Deposits of Ontario (PDF). Ontario Geological Survey. pp. 22–23.
  7. ^ Ryder, Robert T. (2008). Assessment of Appalachian Basin Oil and Gas Resources: Utica-Lower Paleozoic Total Petroleum System (PDF). United States Geological Survey. p. 13.
  8. doi:10.1306/eg.05191010005
    .


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