The Wapiti Group 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 Cretaceous

Cretaceous

The Cretaceous , derived from the Latin "creta" , usually abbreviated K for its German translation Kreide , is a geologic period and system from circa to million years ago. In the geologic timescale, the Cretaceous follows the Jurassic period and is followed by the Paleogene period of the...

 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 has formation status in Alberta and group status in British Columbia.

It takes the name from the Wapiti River

Wapiti River

Wapiti River is a river in eastern British Columbia and western Alberta, Canada. It is a major tributary of the Smoky River, located in the southern area of the Peace River Basin.Wapiti is named after the Cree word for elk .-Course:...

, and was first described along the banks of the lower Wapiti River

Wapiti River

Wapiti River is a river in eastern British Columbia and western Alberta, Canada. It is a major tributary of the Smoky River, located in the southern area of the Peace River Basin.Wapiti is named after the Cree word for elk .-Course:...

 and Smoky River

Smoky River

Smoky River is a river in western Alberta, Canada. It is a major tributary of the Peace River. The descriptive name refers to the presence of "smouldering beds of coal in the riverbank" noted by the Cree Indians....

 in the Grande Prairie area by George Mercer Dawson

George Mercer Dawson

Dr. George Mercer Dawson F.R.S., C.M.G., was a Canadian scientist and surveyor. He was born in Pictou, Nova Scotia, the eldest son of Sir John William Dawson, Principal of McGill University and his wife, Lady Margaret Dawson...

 in 1881.

Lithology

The Wapiti Group is composed of thin-bedded to massive 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 occasional conglomerate

Conglomerate (company)

A conglomerate is a combination of two or more corporations engaged in entirely different businesses that fall under one corporate structure , usually involving a parent company and several subsidiaries. Often, a conglomerate is a multi-industry company...

 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...

 beds.

Distribution

The Wapiti Formation occurs at surface as erosional remnants in north-eastern British Columbia along the Beaver River, Liard River

Liard River

The Liard River flows through Yukon, British Columbia and the Northwest Territories, Canada. Rising in the Saint Cyr Range of the Pelly Mountains in southeastern Yukon, it flows southeast through British Columbia, marking the northern end of the Rocky Mountains and then curving northeast back...

, between the Kotaneelee River

Kotaneelee River

The Kotaneelee River is a river in the Northwest territories of Canada. It is a tributary of the Liard River.It gives the name to the Kotaneelee Formation, a stratigraphical unit of the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin.-Course:...

 and Petitot River

Petitot River

Petitot is a river in northern Alberta and British Columbia, Canada. It is a tributary of the Liard River.Petitot River originates from Bistcho Lake in northwestern Alberta, and flows westwards along the northern borders of Alberta and British Columbia. It then passes in the Northwest Territories,...

. It reaches a thickness of several hundred meters.

Relationship to other units

The Wapiti Group forms the present day erosion

Erosion

Erosion is when materials are removed from the surface and changed into something else. It only works by hydraulic actions and transport of solids in the natural environment, and leads to the deposition of these materials elsewhere...

al surface in 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...

, and is overlain 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 its eastern reaches. It conformably and gradually overlays the Kotaneelee Formation

Kotaneelee Formation

The Kotaneelee Formation is a stratigraphical unit of Late Cretaceous age in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin.It takes the name from the Kotaneelee River, and was first described in outcrop in the river valley by C.O...

 in British Columbia, and the Smoky Group

Smoky Group

The Smoky Group is a stratigraphical unit of Late Cretaceous age in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin.It takes the name from the Smoky River, and was first described in outcrops along the banks of the Smoky River, Spirit River and Pouce Coupe Rivers by George Mercer Dawson in...

 in north-western Alberta

Alberta

Alberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...

.