FTPRE03
Triassic Sedimentary Framework and Sequence Stratigraphy, Williston Lake,
British Columbia
Leader: John-Paul Zonneveld, Ph.D.
Date: May 20-23 (*was previously scheduled May 6-9)
Max. Attendance: 14 participants
Trip Fee: $2,975 (Trip begins and ends in Fort St. John -- Airfare not included)
Triassic strata are major hydrocarbon producers in the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin, particularly in British Columbia. Excellent exposure of Triassic strata occurs along the shores of Williston Lake in the Foothills and Front Ranges of the Canadian Rocky Mountains. The Williston Lake field course centers around the sedimentologic and stratigraphic development of the Triassic succession in Western Canada. Excellent outcrop equivalents of all major producing subsurface units (Montney, Doig, Halfway, Charlie Lake, Baldonnel and Pardonet) are observed and discussed. The Williston Lake trip occurs in a remote part of British Columbia. Participants are thus expected to be in reasonable physical condition. Participants stay at the Ottertail Lodge near the mouth of the Nabesche River and visit Triassic outcrop exposed along the shores of Williston Lake via jet-boat.
The first day of the field course is spent at the provincial core storage facility in Charlie Lake, British Columbia, to discuss basic controls on subsurface hydrocarbon reservoir nature and distribution, as well as similarities and differences between the outcrop and subsurface sections. The following three days are spent visiting Lower, Middle and Upper Triassic outcrop localities along the shores of Williston Lake. Outcrop equivalents of subsurface reservoir facies exposed in the Williston Lake Triassic include: Montney turbidites; over-thickened Doig mixed siliciclastic-carbonate 'sand' bodies; Doig and Halfway shoreface successions; Halfway tidal inlet channel successions; Charlie Lake Aeolian dune fields; Charlie Lake cyanobacterial laminites (stromatolitic dolomite units); Baldonnel shoreface / carbonate ramp successions; and Pardonet offshore carbonate turbidites.
Basinward and landward examples of each stratigraphic unit are visited, providing the participants with an understanding of lateral and vertical lithofacies variability in the Triassic of the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin. In addition to detailed descriptions of all outcrop sections, gamma ray profiles (generated using a hand-held gamma spectrometer) are provided for all outcrop sites visited, greatly facilitating correlation and comparison between outcrop at Williston Lake and subsurface units to the east.