Surf Wiki
Save to docs
science/earth-science

From Surf Wiki (app.surf) — the open knowledge base

Horseshoe Canyon Formation

Geological formation in Canada

Horseshoe Canyon Formation
Summary

Geological formation in Canada

FieldValue
nameHorseshoe Canyon Formation
imageHorseshoe Canyon Alberta Nov 1988.jpg
captionHorseshoe Canyon Formation at Horsethief Canyon, near Drumheller. The dark bands are coal seams.
typeGeological formation
ageCampanian-Maastrichtian
~
periodMaastrichtian
prilithologySandstone
otherlithologyShale, coal
namedforHorseshoe Canyon
namedbyE.J.W. Irish, 1970
regionAlberta
countryCanada
coordinates
unitofEdmonton Group
subunitsStrathmore Member, Drumheller Member, Horsethief Member, Morrin Member, Tolman Member, Carbon Member, Whitemud Member
underliesBattle Formation, Scollard Formation
overliesBearpaw Formation
map{{Location map+Canada#Alberta
relief1
width250
floatcenter
lat_deg51.423
lon_deg-112.5
markLightgreen pog.svg
marksize10

~

The Horseshoe Canyon Formation is a stratigraphic unit of the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin in southwestern Alberta. It takes its name from Horseshoe Canyon, an area of badlands near Drumheller.

The Horseshoe Canyon Formation is part of the Edmonton Group. In its type section (Red Deer River Valley at Drumheller), it is ~250 m thick, but further west the formation is older and thicker, exceeding 500 m near Calgary. It is of Late Cretaceous age, Campanian to early Maastrichtian stage (Edmontonian Land-Mammal Age), and is composed of mudstone, sandstone, carbonaceous shales, and coal seams. A variety of depositional environments are represented in the succession, including floodplains, estuarine channels, and coal swamps, which have yielded a diversity of fossil material. Tidally-influenced estuarine point bar deposits are easily recognizable as Inclined Heterolithic Stratification (IHS). Brackish-water trace fossil assemblages occur within these bar deposits and demonstrate periodic incursion of marine waters into the estuaries.

The Horseshoe Canyon Formation crops out extensively in the area around Drumheller, as well as farther north along the Red Deer River near Trochu and along the North Saskatchewan River in Edmonton. It is overlain by the Battle and Scollard formations. The Drumheller Coal Zone, located in the lower part of the Horseshoe Canyon Formation, was mined for sub-bituminous coal in the Drumheller area from 1911 to 1979, and the Atlas Coal Mine in Drumheller has been preserved as a National Historic Site. In more recent times, the Horseshoe Canyon Formation has become a major target for coalbed methane (CBM) production.

Contact (red arrow) between the underlying marine shales of the Bearpaw Formation and the coastal Horseshoe Canyon Formation. Coal beds (black bands) are common in the Horseshoe Canyon Formation and were formed in coastal swamps.

Dinosaurs found in the Horseshoe Canyon Formation include Albertavenator, Albertosaurus, Anchiceratops, Anodontosaurus, Arrhinoceratops, Atrociraptor, Epichirostenotes, Edmontonia, Edmontosaurus, Hypacrosaurus, Ornithomimus, Pachyrhinosaurus, Parksosaurus, Saurolophus, and Struthiomimus. Other finds have included mammals such as Didelphodon coyi, non-dinosaur reptiles, amphibians, fish, marine and terrestrial invertebrates and plant fossils. Reptiles such as turtles and crocodilians are rare in the Horseshoe Canyon Formation, and this was thought to reflect the relatively cool climate which prevailed at the time. A study by Quinney et al. (2013) however, showed that the decline in turtle diversity, which was previously attributed to climate, coincided instead with changes in soil drainage conditions, and was limited by aridity, landscape instability, and migratory barriers.

Oil/gas production

The Drumheller Coal Zone has been a primary coalbed methane target for industry. In the area between Bashaw and Rockyford, the Coal Zone lies at relatively shallow depths (about 300 metres) and is about 70 to 120 metres thick. It contains 10 to 20 metres of cumulative coal, in up to 20 or more individual thin seams interbedded with sandstone and shale, which combine to make an attractive multi-completion CBM drilling target. In total, it is estimated there are 14 trillion cubic metres (500 tcf) of gas in place in all the coal in Alberta.

Biostratigraphy

The timeline below follows work by David A. Eberth and Sandra L. Kamo published in 2019.

ImageSize = width:1000px height:auto barincrement:15px PlotArea = left:10px bottom:50px top:10px right:10px

Period = from:-73.2 till:-67.2 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:1 start:-73.2 ScaleMinor = unit:year increment:1 start:-73.2 TimeAxis = orientation:hor AlignBars = justify

Colors =

  1. legends id:CAR value:claret id:ANK value:rgb(0.4,0.3,0.196) id:HER value:teal id:HAD value:green id:OMN value:blue id:black value:black id:white value:white id:cretaceous value:rgb(0.675,0.675,0.35) id:jurassic value:rgb(0.753,0.753,0.486) id:triassic value:rgb(0.827,0.827,0.65) id:mesozoic value:rgb(0.54,0.54,0.258) id:maastrichtian value:rgb(0.80,0.91,0.41) id:santonian value:rgb(0.85,0.94,0.45) id:campanian value:rgb(0.90,0.96,0.50)

BarData= bar:eratop bar:space bar:periodtop bar:space bar:NAM1 bar:NAM2 bar:NAM3 bar:NAM4 bar:NAM5 bar:NAM6 bar:NAM7 bar:NAM8 bar:NAM9 bar:NAM10 bar:NAM11 bar:NAM12 bar:NAM13 bar:NAM14 bar:NAM15

bar:space bar:period bar:assemblage bar:space bar:era

PlotData= align:center textcolor:black fontsize:M mark:(line,black) width:25 shift:(7,-4)

bar:periodtop from: -68.0 till: -67.2 color:triassic text:- from: -73.2 till: -68.0 color:jurassic text:Horseshoe Canyon Formation

bar:eratop from: -72.1 till: -67.2 color:mesozoic text:Maastrichtian from: -73.2 till: -72.1 color:cretaceous text:Campanian

PlotData= align:left fontsize:M mark:(line,white) width:5 anchor:till align:left

color:HER bar:NAM1 from:-72.7 till:-71.9 text:Pachyrhinosaurus canadensis color:HER bar:NAM2 from:-72.6 till:-70.3 text:Anchiceratops ornatus color:HER bar:NAM3 from:-72.3 till:-70.5 text:Arrhinoceratops brachyops color:HER bar:NAM4 from:-68.9 till:-68.6 text:Eotriceratops xerinsularis color:HER bar:NAM5 from:-70.0 till:-69.7 text:Montanoceratops cerorhynchus color:ANK bar:NAM6 from:-72.2 till:-70.8 text:Anodontosaurus lambei color:ANK bar:NAM7 from:-71.8 till:-71.5 text:Edmontonia longiceps color:HAD bar:NAM8 from:-73.0 till:-71.5 text:Edmontosaurus regalis color:HAD bar:NAM9 from:-71.5 till:-69.6 text:Hypacrosaurus altispinus color:HAD bar:NAM10 from:-70.9 till:-69.6 text:Saurolophus osborni color:HER bar:NAM11 from:-70.8 till:-70.5 text:Sphaerotholus edmontonense color:HER bar:NAM12 from:-70.9 till:-69.8 text:Parksosaurus warreni color:CAR bar:NAM13 from:-72.6 till:-70.9 text:Struthiomimus sp. color:CAR bar:NAM14 from:-72.5 till:-69.6 text:Ornithomimus edmontonicus color:CAR bar:NAM15 from:-73.0 till:-69.6 text:Albertosaurus sarcophagus

PlotData= align:center textcolor:black fontsize:M mark:(line,black) width:25

bar:assemblage from: -73.2 till: -73.0 color:campanian text:- from: -73.0 till: -71.5 color:santonian text:E. regalis-P. canadensis from: -71.5 till: -69.6 color:campanian text:H. altispinus-S. orborni from: -69.6 till: -68.2 color:maastrichtian text:E. xerinsularis from: -68.2 till: -67.2 color:campanian text:-

bar:period from: -68.0 till: -67.2 color:triassic text:- from: -68.2 till: -68.0 color:jurassic text:Whitemud M. from: -69.6 till: -68.2 color:triassic text:Carbon M. from: -70.9 till: -69.6 color:jurassic text:Tolman M. from: -71.5 till: -70.9 color:triassic text:Morrin M. from: -72.3 till: -71.5 color:jurassic text:Horsethief M. from: -73.2 till: -72.3 color:triassic text:Drumheller M.

bar:era from: -72.1 till: -67.2 color:mesozoic text:Maastrichtian from: -73.2 till: -72.1 color:cretaceous text:Campanian

Dinosaurs

Ornithischians

Ankylosaurs

Ankylosaurs reported from the Horseshoe Canyon FormationGenusSpeciesStratigraphic positionMaterialNotesImages
[Five] skulls, mandibles, cervical vertebra, caudal vertebrae, dorsal vertebrae, sacrocaudal vertebrae, sacrum, illium, ischium, partial pelvis, coossified ribs, femur, ?manual phalanx, tail clubs, numerous cervical half-rings and osteoderms.[[File:Anodontosaurus.tifframeless]]
A skull with mandible, dorsal vertebrae, dorsal vertebrae, sacral vertebrae, caudal vertebrae, cervical ribs, dorsal ribs, humerus, radius, ulna, radius, ilia, ischia, both pubes (?), femur, tibia, fibula and osteoderms.[[File:Edmontonia half.jpgframeless]]
[[File:Euoplocephalus TMP 1991.127.1.tifframeless]]

Hadrosaurs

Hadrosaurs reported from the Horseshoe Canyon FormationGenusSpeciesLocationStratigraphic positionMaterialNotesImages
[[File:Edmontosaurus regalis skull.jpgframeless]]
[[File:Hypacrosaurus altispinus, head.jpgframeless]]
[[File:Saurolophus osborni.jpgframeless]]

Marginocephalians

Ceratopsians
Ceratopsians reported from the Horseshoe Canyon FormationGenusSpeciesStratigraphic positionMaterialNotesImages
[[File:Anchiceratops.pngframeless]]
[[File:Arrhinoceratops brachyops skull, Near Drumheller, Alberta, Late Cretaceous - Royal Ontario Museum - DSC00076.JPGframeless]]
[[File:Eotriceratops.jpgframeless]]
[[File:Montanoceratops BW flipped transparent.pngframeless]]
[[File:Pachyrhinosaurus canadensis skull.jpgframeless]]
Pachycephalosaurs
Pachycephalosaurids reported from the Horseshoe Canyon FormationGenusSpeciesLocationStratigraphic positionMaterialNotesImages
[[File:Sphaerotholus.jpgcenter150px[[Sphaerotholus]]frameless]]

Thescelosaurs

Thescelosaurids reported from the Horseshoe Canyon FormationGenusSpeciesLocationStratigraphic positionMaterialNotesImages
A partially articulated skeleton and partial skull.A thescelosaurid neornithischian.[[File:Parksosaurus_warreni,_Near_Drumheller,_Alberta,_Canada,_Late_Cretaceous_-_Royal_Ontario_Museum_-_DSC00035.JPGcenter150px[[Parksosaurus]]frameless]]

Theropods

Maniraptorans

Maniraptors reported from the Horseshoe Canyon FormationGenusSpeciesStratigraphic positionMaterialNotesImages
[[File:Albertonykus borealis life reconstruction.pngframeless]]
[[File:Apatoraptor NT small.jpgframeless]]
[[File:Atrociraptor royal tyrrell.jpgframeless]]
[[File:Epichirostenotes.jpgframeless]]

Ornithomimids

Ornithomimids reported from the Horseshoe Canyon FormationGenusSpeciesLocationStratigraphic positionMaterialNotesImages
[[File:Ornithomimid.jpgframeless]]
[[File:Ornithomimus edmontonicus.jpgframeless]]
[[File:Struthiomimus ROM.jpgframeless]]

Tyrannosaurs

Tyrannosaurids reported from the Horseshoe Canyon FormationGenusSpeciesLocationStratigraphic positionMaterialNotesImages

Other animals

Mammals

Mammals reported from the Horseshoe Canyon FormationGenusSpeciesLocationStratigraphic positionMaterialNotesImages
[[File:Didelphodon NT small.jpgcenter150px[[Didelphodon]]frameless]]

Other reptiles

Reptiles reported from the Horseshoe Canyon FormationGenusSpeciesLocationStratigraphic positionMaterialNotesImages
[[File:Champsosaurus BW.jpgcenter150px[[Champsosaurus]]frameless]]

Fish

Fish reported from the Horseshoe Canyon FormationGenusSpeciesLocationStratigraphic positionMaterialNotesImages
BoreiosturionB. labyrinthicusEdmonton.Partial skull.A sturgeon.

References

Bibliography

  • Makovicky, P. J., 2001, A Montanoceratops cerorhynchus (Dinosauria: Ceratopsia) braincase from the Horseshoe Canyon Formation of Alberta: In: Mesozoic Vertebrate Life, edited by Tanke, D. H., and Carpenter, K., Indiana University Press, pp. 243–262.
  • Varricchio, D. J. 2001. Late Cretaceous oviraptorosaur (Theropoda) dinosaurs from Montana. pp. 42–57 in D. H. Tanke and K. Carpenter (eds.), Mesozoic Vertebrate Life. Indiana University Press, Indianapolis, Indiana.
  • Weishampel, David B.; Dodson, Peter; and Osmólska, Halszka (eds.): The Dinosauria, 2nd, Berkeley: University of California Press. 861 pp. .

References

  1. (October 2020). "High-precision U–Pb CA–ID–TIMS dating and chronostratigraphy of the dinosaur-rich Horseshoe Canyon Formation (Upper Cretaceous, Campanian–Maastrichtian), Red Deer River valley, Alberta, Canada". Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences.
  2. Prior, G. J., Hathaway, B., Glombick, P.M., Pana, D.I., Banks, C.J., Hay, D.C., Schneider, C.L., Grobe, M., Elgr, R., and Weiss, J.A.. (2013). "Bedrock Geology of Alberta. Alberta Geological Survey, Map 600".
  3. Mossop, G.D. and Shetsen, I., (compilers), Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists. (1994). "The Geological Atlas of the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin, Chapter 24: Upper Cretaceous and Tertiary strata of the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin".
  4. (September 2012). "A revised stratigraphy and depositional history for the Horseshoe Canyon Formation (Upper Cretaceous), southern Alberta plains". Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences.
  5. "Mine History". Atlas Coal Mine National Historic Site.
  6. (2013). "Palaeoenvironmental and palaeoclimatic reconstruction of the Upper Cretaceous (late Campanian–early Maastrichtian) Horseshoe Canyon Formation, Alberta, Canada". Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology.
  7. (2019). "High-precision U-Pb CA-ID-TIMS dating and chronostratigraphy of the dinosaur-rich Horseshoe Canyon Formation (Upper Cretaceous, Campanian–Maastrichtian), Red Deer River valley, Alberta, Canada". Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences.
  8. Paul Penkalski (2018). Revised systematics of the armoured dinosaur Euoplocephalus and its allies. Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie - Abhandlungen 287(3): 261-306. doi: https://doi.org/10.1127/njgpa/2018/0717
  9. (1928). "A new armored dinosaur from the Edmonton Formation of Alberta". Transactions of the Royal Society of Canada.
  10. (1940). "Edmontonia rugosidens (Gilmore), an armored dinosaur from the Belly River Series of Alberta". University of Toronto Studies, Geology Series.
  11. (2013). "A new ankylosaurid from the late Cretaceous Two Medicine Formation of Montana, USA". Acta Palaeontologica Polonica.
  12. (2013). "''Scolosaurus cutleri'' (Ornithischia: Ankylosauria) from the Upper Cretaceous Dinosaur Park Formation of Alberta, Canada". Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences.
  13. Arbour, Victoria. (2010). "A Cretaceous armoury: Multiple ankylosaurid taxa in the Late Cretaceous of Alberta, Canada and Montana, USA". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.
  14. "Table 20.1," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 441.
  15. (1914). "''Anchiceratops'', a new genus of horned dinosaurs from the Edmonton Cretaceous of Alberta. With a discussion of the origin of the ceratopsian crest and the brain casts of ''Anchiceratops'' and ''Trachodon''".". Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History.
  16. (2012). "Variation in the skull of ''Anchiceratops'' (Dinosauria, Ceratopsidae) from the Horseshoe Canyon Formation (Upper Cretaceous) of Alberta". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.
  17. Parks, W.A. (1925). "''Arrhinoceratops brachyops'', a new genus and species of Ceratopsia from the Edmonton Formation of Alberta". ''University of Toronto Studies, Geology Series'' 19:1-15
  18. Farke, A.A., 2007, "Cranial osteology and phylogenetic relationships of the chasmosaurine ceratopsid ''Torosaurus latus''", pp 235-257 in: K. Carpenter (ed.), ''Horns and Beaks: Ceratopsian and Ornithopod Dinosaurs'', Bloomington, Indiana University Press
  19. (2007). "A new ceratopsid dinosaur (Ornithischia) from the uppermost Horseshoe Canyon Formation (upper Maastrichtian), Alberta, Canada". Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences.
  20. (2013). "A new ceratopsian dinosaur from the Javelina Formation (Maastrichtian) of West Texas and implications for chasmosaurine phylogeny". Naturwissenschaften.
  21. (1942). "The skeleton of ''Leptoceratops'' with the description of a new species". American Museum Novitates.
  22. P. J. Makovicky. 2001. A Montanoceratops cerorhynchus (Dinosauria: Ceratopsia) braincase from the Horseshoe Canyon Formation of Alberta. Mesozoic Vertebrate Life, D. H. Tanke and K. Carpenter (eds.), Indiana University Press, Bloomington 243-262
  23. (1950). "Pachyrhinosaurus canadensis, representing a new family of the Ceratopsia, from southern Alberta". National Museum of Canada Bulletin.
  24. (2010). "''Texacephale langstoni'', a new genus of pachycephalosaurid (Dinosauria: Ornithischia) from the upper Campanian Aguja Formation, southern Texas, USA". Cretaceous Research.
  25. (2002). "A new genus of highly derived pachycephalosaurian from western North America". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.
  26. Evans, D.C., Cullen, T.M., Larson, D.W., and Rego, A. "A new species of troodontid theropod (Dinosauria: Maniraptora) from the Horseshoe Canyon Formation (Maastrichtian) of Alberta, Canada." Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences Early Online: 813-826. DOI: dx.doi.org/10.1139/cjes-2017-0034
  27. Longrich, Nicholas R.. (2009). "''Albertonykus borealis'', a new alvarezsaur (Dinosauria: Theropoda) from the Early Maastrichtian of Alberta, Canada: Implications for the systematics and ecology of the Alvarezsauridae". Cretaceous Research.
  28. (2016). "A new caenagnathid (Dinosauria: Oviraptorosauria) from the Horseshoe Canyon Formation of Alberta, Canada, and a reevaluation of the relationships of Caenagnathidae". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.
  29. Currie, P. J. and D. J. Varricchio (2004). "A new dromaeosaurid from the Horseshoe Canyon Formation (Upper Cretaceous) of Alberta, Canada". Pp. 112–132 in P. J. Currie, E. B. Koppelhus, M. A. Shugar and J. L. Wright. (eds.), ''Feathered Dragons''. Indianapolis: Indiana University Press. [http://lesdinos.free.fr/003%202004.pdf]
  30. (2011). "A new caenagnathid ''Ojoraptorsaurus boerei'', n. gen., n. sp. (Dinosauria, Oviraptorosauria), from the Upper Ojo Alamo Formation (Naashoibito Member), San Juan Basin, New Mexico". Fossil Record 3. New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin.
  31. (1977). "The Theropod Dinosaurs of the Edmonton Formation, Alberta, Canada". Rocks & Minerals.
  32. (7 September 2010). "A history of Albertosaurus discoveries in Alberta, Canada". Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences.
  33. (2019). "A Problematic Tyrannosaurid (Dinosauria: Theropoda) Skeleton and Its Implications for Tyrannosaurid Diversity in the Horseshoe Canyon Formation (Upper Cretaceous) of Alberta". [[The Anatomical Record]].
  34. (2014). "Multivariate analysis of isolated tyrannosaurid teeth from the Danek Bonebed, Horseshoe Canyon Formation, Alberta, Canada.". [[Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences]].
  35. R. C. Fox and B. G. Naylor. 1986. A new species of Didelphodon Marsh (Marsupialia) from the Upper Cretaceous of Alberta, Canada: paleobiology and phylogeny. Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie, Abhandlungen 172(3):357-380
  36. X.-C. Wu, D. B. Brinkman, and A. P. Russell. 1996. A new alligator from the Upper Cretaceous of Canada and the relationships of early eusuchians. Palaeontology 39(2):351-375
  37. K. -Q. Gao and R. C. Fox. 1998. New choristoderes (Reptilia: Diapsida) from the Upper Cretaceous and Palaeocene, Alberta and Saskatchewan, Canada, a phylogenetic relationships of Choristodera. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 124:303-353
  38. B. Brown. 1913. A new plesiosaur, Leurospondylus, from the Edmonton Cretaceous of Alberta. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 32(40):605-615
  39. (2018). "Basilemys morrinensis, a new species of nanhsiungchelyid turtle from the Horseshoe Canyon Formation (Upper Cretaceous) of Alberta, Canada". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.
  40. (2023-08-08). "A new sturgeon from the Upper Cretaceous Horseshoe Canyon Formation in central Alberta, Canada". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.
  41. (2010). "A new articulated freshwater fish (Clupeomorpha, Ellimmichthyiformes) from the Horseshoe Canyon Formation, Maastrichtian, of Alberta, CanadaThis article is one of a series of papers published in this Special Issue on the theme ''Albertosaurus''". Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences.
Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

horseshoe-canyon-formation cretaceous-alberta maastrichtian-stage-of-north-america upper-cretaceous-series-of-north-america sandstone-formations-of-canada shale-formations-of-canada coal-formations fluvial-deposits tidal-deposits reservoir-rock-formations source-rock-formations western-canadian-sedimentary-basin fossiliferous-stratigraphic-units-of-north-america paleontology-in-alberta
Want to explore this topic further?

Ask Mako anything about Horseshoe Canyon Formation — get instant answers, deeper analysis, and related topics.

Research with Mako

Free with your Surf account

Content sourced from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This content may have been generated or modified by AI. CloudSurf Software LLC is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of AI-generated content. Always verify important information from primary sources.

Report