Saskatchewan Group

Saskatchewan Group
Stratigraphic range:
Type	Geological group
Sub-units	Birdbear Formation Duperow Formation
Underlies	Three Forks Group
Overlies	Manitoba Group
Thickness	up to 350 metres (1,150 ft)
Lithology
Primary	Carbonate
Other	Evaporite
Location
Coordinates
Region	WCSB Williston Basin
Country	Canada, United States
Type section
Named for	Saskatchewan
Named by	A.D Baillie, 1953

The Saskatchewan Group is a stratigraphical unit of Frasnian age in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin.

It takes the name from the province of Saskatchewan, and was first described in the Mobil Oil Woodley Sinclair Cantuar X-2-21 well by A.D Baillie in 1953.

Lithology

The Saskatchewan Group is composed of carbonates with thin evaporites.

Distribution

The Saskatchewan Group reaches a maximum thickness of 350 metres (1,150 ft). It is present in the sub-surface throughout the Williston Basin.

Subdivisions

The Saskatchewan Group contains the following formations, from top to base:

Sub-unit	Age	Lithology	Max. Thickness	Reference
Birdbear Formation	Frasnian	Upper: dolomite with evaporite interbeds Lower: non-argillaceous limestone and dolomite	45 m (150 ft)
Duperow Formation	Frasnian	limestone and dolomite, anhydrite, halite; up to 27 depositional cycles	300 m (980 ft)

Relationship to other units

The Saskatchewan Group is conformably overlain by the Three Forks Group and conformably overlays the Manitoba Group carbonates.

It is equivalent to the upper Beaverhill Lake Formation, the Woodbend Group and the lower part of the Winterburn Group in central Alberta, and with the Jefferson Group in Montana and North Dakota.