View source for Earth:Gething Formation

{{Infobox Rockunit
| name           = Gething Formation
| image          = 
| caption        = 
| type           = [[Earth:Geological formation|Geological formation]]
| age            = [[Earth:Barremian|Barremian]]-early [[Earth:Albian|Albian]]<br>~{{Fossil range|125|110}}
| period         = Early Cretaceous
| prilithology   = [[Earth:Sandstone|Sandstone]], [[Earth:Siltstone|siltstone]] 
| otherlithology = [[Earth:Conglomerate (geology)|Conglomerate]], [[Earth:Coal|coal]], [[Chemistry:Shale|shale]]
| namedfor       = Gething Creek, Gething Mountain, Gething mine
| namedby        = McLearn, F.H.<ref name="McLearn" />
| year_ts        = 1923
| region         = Canadian Rockies foothills, western Alberta, northeastern British Columbia
| country        = {{flag|Canada}}
| coordinates    = {{coord|56.00504|-122.23972|name=Gething Formation|display=inline,title}}
| paleocoordinates = {{coord|57.7|N|70.0|W|display=inline}}
| unitof         = [[Earth:Bullhead Group|Bullhead Group]]
| subunits       = 
| underlies      = Fort St. John Group, [[Earth:Bluesky Formation|Bluesky Formation]]
| overlies       = [[Earth:Cadomin Formation|Cadomin Formation]]
| thickness      = up to {{convert|550|m|ft|-1}}<ref name=lexicon>{{Cite web|url=http://cgkn1.cgkn.net/weblex/weblex_litho_detail_e.pl?00053:005533 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130221160641/http://cgkn1.cgkn.net/weblex/weblex_litho_detail_e.pl?00053:005533 |url-status=dead |archive-date=2013-02-21 |title=Gething Formation |author=Lexicon of Canadian Geologic Units |accessdate=2009-02-07 }}</ref>
| extent         = 
| area           = 
| map            = {{Location map+ | Canada#British Columbia
| relief = 1
| width   = 250
| float   = center
| places  =
  {{Location map~ | Canada#British Columbia
  | lat_deg = 56.0
  | lon_deg = -122.2
  | mark = Green pog.svg
  | marksize = 10
  }}
}}
| map_caption    = 
}}
'''Gething Formation''' is a [[Earth:Stratigraphy|stratigraphic]] unit of [[Earth:Lower Cretaceous|Lower Cretaceous]] ([[Earth:Aptian|Aptian]]) [[Physics:Geochronology|age]] in the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin. It is present in northeastern British Columbia and western Alberta, and includes economically important coal deposits.

The formation is named for Gething Creek, a right tributary of the Peace River west of Hudson's Hope, and the nearby Gething Mountain. It was first described by F.H. McLearn in 1923<ref name=McLearn>McLearn, F.H., 1923. Peace River Canyon Coal Area, British Columbia; Geological Survey of Canada, Summary Report 1922, Part B, pp. 1-46.</ref> in the Peace River Canyon, an area that was partly inundated in 1968 by the Williston Lake after the construction of the W. A. C. Bennett Dam.

== Lithology ==
The formation consists of alternating units of [[Earth:Sandstone|sandstone]] and carbonaceous [[Chemistry:Shale|shale]] or mudstone with some [[Earth:Coal|coal]] seams and [[Earth:Conglomerate (geology)|conglomerate]] beds. The sandstones are fine- to coarse-grained, brown weathering, and typically platy to thin bedded, although some are massive. Mudstones are blocky to rubbly, with little lamination. Shale and carbonaceous shale units are [[Earth:Fissility (geology)|fissile]] and are commonly associated with the coal seams. The sediments are mostly of non-marine origin, deposited in deltaic and coastal plain settings.<ref name=Stott>Stott, D.F. 1965. Lower Cretaceous Bullhead and Fort St John Groups, between Smoky and Peace Rivers, Rocky Mountain foothills, Alberta and British Columbia. Geological Survey of Canada, Bulletin 152, 279 p. {{ISBN|0-660-10208-0}}.</ref>

== Distribution ==
The Gething Formation is present in the foothills of the Northern Rocky Mountains and adjacent areas of the plains, extending from the Peace River region in northeastern British Columbia to the Smoky River area of western Alberta. In the Peace River Country, it reaches a thickness of {{convert|550|m|ft|sp=us}}, while in the Smoky River area it is {{convert|75|m|ft|sp=us}} thick. North of the Peace River at Carbon Creek, it reaches {{convert|1000|m|ft|sp=us}}.<ref name="lexicon" />

== Relationship to other units ==
The Gething Formation is the uppermost unit of the [[Earth:Bullhead Group|Bullhead Group]]. It conformably overlies the [[Earth:Cadomin Formation|Cadomin Formation]] and is [[Earth:Unconformity|disconformably]] overlain by the [[Earth:Bluesky Formation|Bluesky Formation]]. It is correlated with the [[Earth:Gladstone Formation|Gladstone Formation]] in the southern foothills, and is equivalent in age to the [[Earth:McMurray Formation|McMurray Formation]] that contains the Athabasca Oil Sands.

== Paleontology ==
[[Biology:Dinosaur|Dinosaur]] footprints described from the formation include both carnivorous and herbivorous species.<ref name="Stott" />

Plant material is abundant, occurring as fossil leaves, stems, logs, stumps and rootlets. [[Biology:Fern|Fern]]s, [[Biology:Cycad|cycad]]s, ''[[Biology:Ginkgo|Ginkgo]]'' and [[Biology:Conifer|conifer]]s are represented.<ref name="Stott" />

== Coal deposits ==
The Gething Formation contains coal seams that range from thin laminae to as much as {{convert|4.3|m|ft|sp=us}} thick. Coal rank ranges from low- to high-volatile bituminous, and the coal has good coking properties except where oxidized.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.ags.gov.ab.ca/publications/wcsb_atlas/a_ch33/ch_33.html|title=The Geological Atlas of the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin, Chapter 33: Coal Resources of the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin|author=Mossop, G.D. and Shetsen, I., (compilers), Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists|year=1994|accessdate=2013-08-01|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130930001329/http://www.ags.gov.ab.ca/publications/wcsb_atlas/a_ch33/ch_33.html|archivedate=2013-09-30}}</ref>  It has been mined by underground methods near the Peace River west of Hudson's Hope and near the Sukunka River.

== References ==
{{Reflist}}


[[Category:Geologic formations of Alberta]]
[[Category:Albian Stage]]
[[Category:Aptian Stage]]
[[Category:Siltstone formations]]
[[Category:Ichnofossiliferous formations]]
[[Category:Conglomerate formations]]
[[Category:Shale formations]]
[[Category:Coal formations]]

{{Sourceattribution|Gething Formation}}