The Paskapoo 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 Paleocene

Paleocene

The Paleocene or Palaeocene, the "early recent", is a geologic epoch that lasted from about . It is the first epoch of the Palaeogene Period in the modern Cenozoic Era...

 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...

.

It takes the name from the Blindman River

Blindman River

The Blindman River is a medium-sized river in central Alberta. It forms south of Winfield, Alberta and flows southeastward before joining the Red Deer River near Red Deer. The Blindman is bridged by Alberta Highway 20 a number of times in its upper reaches, before passing near the town of Rimbey...

 (paskapoo means "blind man" in cree

Cree language

Cree is an Algonquian language spoken by approximately 117,000 people across Canada, from the Northwest Territories and Alberta to Labrador, making it the aboriginal language with the highest number of speakers in Canada. It is also spoken in the U.S. state of Montana...

), and was first described in outcrops along the river, north of Red Deer

Red Deer, Alberta

Red Deer is a city in Central Alberta, Canada. It is located near the midpoint of the Calgary-Edmonton Corridor and is surrounded by Red Deer County. It is Alberta's third-most-populous city – after Calgary and Edmonton. The city is located in aspen parkland, a region of rolling hills...

 by J. B. Tyrrell in 1887.

Lithology

The Paskapoo Formation is composed of mudstone

Mudstone

Mudstone is a fine grained sedimentary rock whose original constituents were clays or muds. Grain size is up to 0.0625 mm with individual grains too small to be distinguished without a microscope. With increased pressure over time the platey clay minerals may become aligned, with the...

, siltstone

Siltstone

Siltstone is a sedimentary rock which has a grain size in the silt range, finer than sandstone and coarser than claystones.- Description :As its name implies, it is primarily composed of silt sized particles, defined as grains 1/16 - 1/256 mm or 4 to 8 on the Krumbein phi scale...

 and sandstone

Sandstone

Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...

, with subordinate 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....

 and coal

Coal

Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...

. The sandstone grades to conglomerate

Conglomerate (geology)

A conglomerate is a rock consisting of individual clasts within a finer-grained matrix that have become cemented together. Conglomerates are sedimentary rocks consisting of rounded fragments and are thus differentiated from breccias, which consist of angular clasts...

 in places, and bentonite

Bentonite

Bentonite is an absorbent aluminium phyllosilicate, essentially impure clay consisting mostly of montmorillonite. There are different types of bentonite, each named after the respective dominant element, such as potassium , sodium , calcium , and aluminum . Experts debate a number of nomenclatorial...

 beds are also present.
The strata were deposited in a fluvial

Fluvial

Fluvial is used in geography and Earth science to refer to the processes associated with rivers and streams and the deposits and landforms created by them...

 and deltaic

River delta

A delta is a landform that is formed at the mouth of a river where that river flows into an ocean, sea, estuary, lake, reservoir, flat arid area, or another river. Deltas are formed from the deposition of the sediment carried by the river as the flow leaves the mouth of the river...

 depositional system.

Industrial use

The Paskapoo Formation forms the present day erosional surface, it occurs in outcrops in many places, and the sandstone is mined in quarries and used in construction. Several turn of the century landmarks in Calgary

Calgary

Calgary is a city in the Province of Alberta, Canada. It is located in the south of the province, in an area of foothills and prairie, approximately east of the front ranges of the Canadian Rockies...

 (such as the Fairmont Palliser Hotel

Fairmont Palliser Hotel

The Fairmont Palliser, is a hotel of the Canada-based Fairmont Hotels and Resorts chain. The historic hotel is located in downtown Calgary, Alberta on 9th Avenue South adjacent to the Calgary Tower and Palliser Square...

 of the Burns Building

Burns Building

The Burns Building is a historic six story building located in downtown Calgary, Alberta. It sits at 237-8th Ave. S.E. on the end of Stephen Avenue overlooking Olympic Plaza and City Hall.-History:...

) are built from Paskapoo sandstone, and the rock is still used in landscaping today.

The Paskapoo Formation hosts aquifer

Aquifer

An aquifer is a wet underground layer of water-bearing permeable rock or unconsolidated materials from which groundwater can be usefully extracted using a water well. The study of water flow in aquifers and the characterization of aquifers is called hydrogeology...

s used for irrigation and drinking water.

Distribution

The Paskapoo Formation reaches a maximum recorded depth of 600 metres (1,968.5 ft). It is assumed that it reached up to 1000 metres (3,280.8 ft), but was eroded in the present day landscape. The formation occurs east 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...

 in the foothills and as far east as the 112th meridian west

112th meridian west

The meridian 112° west of Greenwich is a line of longitude that extends from the North Pole across the Arctic Ocean, North America, the Pacific Ocean, the Southern Ocean, and Antarctica to the South Pole....

.

It occurs at the surface along the eastern reaches 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...

 foothills, north of the Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

/United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 border, along the Bow River

Bow River

The Bow River is a river in the Canadian province of Alberta. It is a tributary of the South Saskatchewan River, and is considered the headwater of the Nelson River....

 east of (and including) Calgary

Calgary

Calgary is a city in the Province of Alberta, Canada. It is located in the south of the province, in an area of foothills and prairie, approximately east of the front ranges of the Canadian Rockies...

 (for example the Paskapoo Slopes

Paskapoo Slopes

Paskapoo Slopes, a significant natural, environmental and cultural feature within the City of Calgary, Alberta, are a set of six Glacial Lake Calgary benches crisscrossed by a series of twelve ravines lying below the edge of the imposing Paskapoo Escarpment and the Coach Hill Uplands...

 along the TransCanada in northwest Calgary), along the North Saskatchewan River

North Saskatchewan River

The North Saskatchewan River is a glacier-fed river that flows east from the Canadian Rockies to central Saskatchewan. It is one of two major rivers that join to make up the Saskatchewan River....

 west of Edmonton

Edmonton

Edmonton is the capital of the Canadian province of Alberta and is the province's second-largest city. Edmonton is located on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Capital Region, which is surrounded by the central region of the province.The city and its census...

 and along the Athabasca River

Athabasca River

The Athabasca River originates from the Columbia Glacier of the Columbia Icefield in Jasper National Park in Alberta, Canada...

.

Relationship to other units

The Paskapoo Formation forms the present erosional surface or is overlain by tertiary

Tertiary

The Tertiary is a deprecated term for a geologic period 65 million to 2.6 million years ago. The Tertiary covered the time span between the superseded Secondary period and the Quaternary...

 gravel. It is underlain by the Scollard Formation

Scollard Formation

-References:* Ryan, M. J., and Russell, A. P., 2001. Dinosaurs of Alberta : In: Mesozoic Vertebrate Life, edited by Tanke, D. H., and Carpenter, K., Indiana University Press, pp. 279-297....

 in the 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...

 plains and by the Coalspur Formation in the foothills. The lower boundary was defined at the first prominent sandstone outcrop above the Ardley Coal Zone of the Scollard Formation.

It is equivalent to the Ravenscrag Formation

Ravenscrag Formation

The Ravenscrag Formation is a stratigraphical unit of Late Cretaceous to Tertiary age in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin.It takes the name from the settlement of Ravenscrag, Saskatchewan, and was first described in outcrop at Ravenscrag Butte near Frenchman River by N.B...

 in southern 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....

.