Whitemud Formation
| Whitemud Formation Stratigraphic range: Maastrichtian |
|
|---|---|
| Type | Geological formation |
| Unit of | Edmonton Group |
| Underlies | Frenchman Formation and Battle Formation |
| Overlies | Eastend Formation, Horseshoe Canyon Formation and St. Mary River Formation |
| Thickness | Up to 23 metres (75 ft) |
| Lithology | |
| Primary | Sandstone, siltstone, clay |
| Other | shale, lignite |
| Location | |
| Region |
 Saskatchewan  Alberta
|
| Country |
 Canada
|
| Type section | |
| Named by | N.B. Davis, 1918 |
The Whitemud Formation is a geologic formation of Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) age in the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin. it is present through the plains of southern Saskatchewan, southeastern Alberta and south-central Alberta. Named by N.B. Davis in 1918, the formation is characterized by white kaolinitic clay and is a source of high-quality refractory clay. The type locality has been designated as Dempster's clay pit northwest of Eastend, Saskatchewan.
Although fossils are generally lacking in the Whitemud Formation, in southern Saskatchewan the Whitemud contains coprolites (fossilized feces) and fossilized intestines of fish.
In most areas the formation can be subdivided into three units:
In southwestern Alberta around the Red Deer and Oldman Rivers, the middle carbonaceous shale unit is absent and the formation consists of white-weathering, cross-bedded kaolinitic sandstones interbedded with white- to cream-weathering silty and sandy clay.
Sedimentology and fossils indicate that the Whitemud sediments accumulated in river channels, low-gradient streams, and shallow lakes and ponds on a low-lying coastal plain. Its kaolinite was produced by intense chemical weathering that altered the original feldspar content to kaolinite during and after deposition.
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