Cadomin Formation
| Cadomin Formation Stratigraphic range: Early Cretaceous |
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|---|---|
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| Type | Geological formation |
| Unit of | Bullhead Group, Blairmore Group, Luscar Group |
| Underlies | Gething Formation, Gladstone Formation |
| Overlies | Kootenay Group, Nikanassin Formation, Minnes Group, Fernie Group |
| Thickness | up to more than 170 metres (560 ft) |
| Lithology | |
| Primary | Conglomerate, sandstone |
| Other | Shale, coal |
| Location | |
| Coordinates | 53°00′N 117°19′W / 53.000°N 117.317°WCoordinates: 53°00′N 117°19′W / 53.000°N 117.317°W |
| Region |
 Alberta British Columbia
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| Country |
 Canada
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| Type section | |
| Named for | Cadomin, Alberta |
| Named by | B.R. Mackay |
The Cadomin Formation is a stratigraphic unit of Early Cretaceous (Barremian to Aptian) age in the western part of the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin. It is extends from southeastern British Columbia through western Alberta to northeastern British Columbia, and it contains significant reservoirs of natural gas in some areas. It was named after the mining town of Cadomin, which is an acronym of "Canadian Dominion Mining".
The Cadomin Formation is of Early Cretaceous (Barremian to Aptian) age. It is the basal unit of the Bullhead Group in northeastern British Columbia and of the Blairmore Group in Alberta. The formation is a distinctive marker horizon, and it was sometimes called the "coal conglomerate" because it was useful as a reference point for locating the coal seams of the underlying Mist Mountain Formation and the overlying Gething Formation. It is not fossiliferous.
The formation consists primarily of conglomerate, although at some localities there are minor interbeds of coarse-grained sandstone, shale, and coal. The conglomerate is typically massive and consists of well-rounded pebbles, cobbles and boulders of white, grey and green chert, and white and grey quartzite, in a matrix of quartzose sand. In some areas there are also minor pebbles, cobbles and boulders of limestone, dolostone, black argillite and, rarely, greenish volcanics. The conglomerate and sandstone beds are cemented with silica, making them very hard and resistant to erosion, so they tend to form prominent outcrops.
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