The Palliser Formation is a stratigraphical

Stratigraphy

Stratigraphy, a branch of geology, studies rock layers and layering . It is primarily used in the study of sedimentary and layered volcanic rocks....

 unit of Famennian

Famennian

The Famennian is one of two faunal stages in the Late Devonian epoch. It lasted from 374.5 ± 2.6 million years ago to 359.2 ± 2.5 million years ago. It was preceded by the Frasnian stage and followed by the Tournaisian stage and is named after Famenne, a natural region in southern Belgium.It was...

 age

Geochronology

Geochronology is the science of determining the age of rocks, fossils, and sediments, within a certain degree of uncertainty inherent to the method used. A variety of dating methods are used by geologists to achieve this, and schemes of classification and terminology have been proposed...

 in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin

Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin

The Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin is a vast sedimentary basin underlying of Western Canada including southwestern Manitoba, southern Saskatchewan, Alberta, northeastern British Columbia and the southwest corner of the Northwest Territories. It consists of a massive wedge of sedimentary rock...

. found in the ranges of the Canadian Rockies

Canadian Rockies

The Canadian Rockies comprise the Canadian segment of the North American Rocky Mountains range. They are the eastern part of the Canadian Cordillera, extending from the Interior Plains of Alberta to the Rocky Mountain Trench of British Columbia. The southern end borders Idaho and Montana of the USA...

 and foothills.

It was named for the Palliser Range

Palliser Range

The Palliser Range is a mountain range of the Canadian Rockies that lies in the extreme southeast corner of Banff National Park.The Palliser Range is part of the East Banff Ranges of the Central Front Canadian Rockies....

 (in turn taking its name from John Palliser

John Palliser

John Palliser was an Irish-born geographer and explorer. Born in Dublin, Ireland, he was the son of Colonel Wray Palliser and a brother of Major Sir William Palliser , all descendants of Dr William Palliser, Archbishop of Cashel .From 1839 to 1863, Palliser served in the Waterford Militia,...

, the leader of the 1850's Palliser Expedition

Palliser Expedition

The British North American Exploring Expedition, commonly called the Palliser Expedition, explored and surveyed the open prairies and rugged wilderness of western Canada from 1857 to 1860. The purpose was to explore possible routes for the Canadian Pacific Railway and discover new species of plants...

) by H.H. Beach in 1943. The type section was defined in 1994 by Meijer and Johnston in the "Devil's Gap" section south of Mount Costigan of the Palliser Range, north of Lake Minnewanka

Lake Minnewanka

Lake Minnewanka is a glacial lake located in the eastern area of Banff National Park in Canada, about five kilometres northeast of the Banff townsite...

 in Banff National Park

Banff National Park

Banff National Park is Canada's oldest national park, established in 1885 in the Rocky Mountains. The park, located 110–180 kilometres west of Calgary in the province of Alberta, encompasses of mountainous terrain, with numerous glaciers and ice fields, dense coniferous forest, and alpine...

.

Lithology

The Palliser Formation is composed of fossil

Fossil

Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals , plants, and other organisms from the remote past...

iferous, dark limestone

Limestone

Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....

 in the upper part and massive dolomitic

Dolomite

Dolomite is a carbonate mineral composed of calcium magnesium carbonate CaMg2. The term is also used to describe the sedimentary carbonate rock dolostone....

 limestone in the lower part.

Anhydrite

Anhydrite

Anhydrite is a mineral – anhydrous calcium sulfate, CaSO4. It is in the orthorhombic crystal system, with three directions of perfect cleavage parallel to the three planes of symmetry. It is not isomorphous with the orthorhombic barium and strontium sulfates, as might be expected from the...

 and dolomite can occur in the foothills.

Distribution

The Palliser Formation is found in the main and front ranges of the Canadian Rockies

Canadian Rockies

The Canadian Rockies comprise the Canadian segment of the North American Rocky Mountains range. They are the eastern part of the Canadian Cordillera, extending from the Interior Plains of Alberta to the Rocky Mountain Trench of British Columbia. The southern end borders Idaho and Montana of the USA...

, where it reaches a thickness of 580 metres (1,902.9 ft), as well as the foothills, where it is up to 240 metres (787.4 ft) thick.

Relationship to other units

The Palliser Formation is unconformably

Unconformity

An unconformity is a buried erosion surface separating two rock masses or strata of different ages, indicating that sediment deposition was not continuous. In general, the older layer was exposed to erosion for an interval of time before deposition of the younger, but the term is used to describe...

 overlain by the Exshaw Formation

Exshaw Formation

The Exshaw Formation is a stratigraphical unit of Mississippian age in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin.It takes the name from the hamlet of Exshaw, Alberta, and was first described in outcrops on the banks of Jura Creek, north of Exshaw by P.S. Warren in 1937. The formation is of late...

 and conformably underlain by the Alexo Formation.

It is equivalent to the Wabamun Group in central Alberta

Central Alberta

Central Alberta is a region located in the Canadian province of Alberta.Central Alberta is the most densely populated rural area in the province...

, with the middle part of the Three Forks Formation in Saskatchewan

Saskatchewan

Saskatchewan is a prairie province in Canada, which has an area of . Saskatchewan is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dakota....

 and Montana

Montana

Montana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,...

 and with the Tetcho Formation

Tetcho Formation

The Tetcho Formation is a stratigraphical unit of Famennian age in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin.It takes the name from Tetcho Lake, and was first described in the Imperial Island River No. 1 well The Tetcho Formation is a stratigraphical unit of Famennian age in the Western Canadian...

 and Kotcho Formation

Kotcho Formation

The Kotcho Formation is a stratigraphical unit of middle Famennian age in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin.It takes the name from Kotcho Lake, and was first described in the Imperial Island River No. 1 by H.R. Belyea and D.J...

 in the Fort Nelson

Fort Nelson, British Columbia

Fort Nelson is a town of approximately 5000 residents in British Columbia's northeastern corner. It is the administrative centre of the newly formed Northern Rockies Regional Municipality, a first for BC. The majority of Fort Nelson's economic activities have historically been concentrated in the...

 area of British Columbia

British Columbia

British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...

.

Sub-units include, from bottom to top, the Moro Member and the Costigan Member.