Wilrich Member
| Spirit River Formation Stratigraphic range: middle Albian |
|
|---|---|
Falher graywake and shale
|
|
| Type | Geological formation |
| Unit of | Fort St. John Group |
| Sub-units | Notikewin Member, Falher Member, Wilrich Member |
| Underlies | Peace River Formation |
| Overlies | Bluesky Formation |
| Thickness | up to 348 feet (110 m) |
| Lithology | |
| Primary | sandstone, shale, siltstone |
| Other | coal, ironstone, greywacke |
| Location | |
| Coordinates | 55°46′30″N 118°54′22″W / 55.775°N 118.906°WCoordinates: 55°46′30″N 118°54′22″W / 55.775°N 118.906°W |
| Region |
 Alberta,  British Columbia
|
| Country |
 Canada
|
| Type section | |
| Named for | Spirit River |
| Named by | Badgley, 1952 |
The Spirit River Formation is a stratigraphical unit of middle Albian age in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin.
It takes the name from the Spirit River, and was first described in Imperial Oil Spirit River No. 1 well by Badgley in 1952.
The Spirit River Formation consists, from bottom to top of fine to medium grained argillaceous sandstone, dark shale, ironstone, greywacke, shale, siltstone, coal and dark shale with thin sandstone and siltstone stringers.
Gas is produced from channels developed in the Falher Member in northern Alberta.
'Massive' hydraulic fracturing has been widely used in Alberta since the late 1970s to recover gas from low-permeability sandstones of the Spirit River Formation. Massive hydraulic fracturing has been widely used in Alberta since the late 1970s. The method is currently used in development of the Cardium, Duvernay, Montney and Viking formations in Alberta, Bakken formation in Saskatchewan, Montney and Horn River formations in British Columbia.
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