sie

Fossils are not plentiful, but McLearn (1944) found
those collected useful in making a tentative correlation with the
Peace and Pine River sections. Artica and Neogastroplites were
found in the second sandstone member and Modiolus, Oxytom, Pecten,
Pinna, and Pleuromya in the third. The Neogastroplites fauna is
‘correlated with & Similar zonc on Peace River. As it was found
within and close to the top of the Buckinghorse formation on Bear
Creek, it has a range of perhaps several hundred feet of beds in
this area. The fauna found in the third sandstone member is cor-
related with the Goodrich fauna on Pine River and is of late Lower
Cretaceous age. The correlation of the upper part of the Fort
St. John group with similar rock units on Pine River is fairly well
established through the Goodrich and the Neogastroplites faunas on
Peace River. No beds equivalent to the Gates formation were observed
on Sikanni Chief River, but on Buckinghorse River a sandy zone about
1,000 feet below the top of the Buckinghorse may be an equivalent of
the Gates.

Upper Cretaceous
Dunvegan Formation and Younger Strata

The Dunvegan formation overlies the marine beds of the
Fort St. John groupe No complete sections of the formation were
studied and hence detailed lithological information is lacking.
Sections along Peace River have, however, been described by McLearn
(1917) and Williams (1932). Scattered outcrops of sandstone and
shale were observed along the Highway for 108 miles north from Fort
St. John and are assigned to the Dunvegan formation. They consist
of fine= to coarse-grained, grey, brown weathering, crossbedded
sandstone interbedded with grey, brown-weathering shale. Thin coal
seams are present and small fragments of carbonaceous material are
common along bedding planes. Lenses and beds of pebble-conglomerate
are commonly associated with the coarser sandstone beds.

Outcrops 75 feet high of medium- to coarse-grained,
feldspsthic sandstone containing ironstone concretions up to 4 inches
in diameter were observed at several places along the east side of
Charlie lake. The sandstone beds are massive and up to 20 feet thick.
Similar beds along the Highway have provided rock for road surfacing.
Some of the larger quarries along the road are located as follows:
2.5 miles southwest from mile 20; at mile 49; 3.5 miles northeast
from mile 50; close to mile 68; and at mile 87. These beds may not
all represent the same horizon. A section about 350 feet thick ex-
posed south of Trutch Creek and 5 miles east of the Highway is com-
prised of four thick sandstone beds separated by interbedded shale
and sandstone. The upper sandstone bed is overlain by 50 feet of
pebble-conglomerate.

Another section, east of Indian Creek at mile 189.5, is
quite similar to that south of Trutch Creek. A section, 82 feet
thick, of medium- to coarse-grained sandstone containing a few thin
beds of pebble~conglomerate, is also exposed west of mile 106 along
the scarp. On Suicide Hill, at mile 108, a 100-foot section exposed
by the road=-cut consists of medium-grained sandstone beds interbedded
with sandy shale that contains a 3-inch seam of coal. This section
underlies the thick coarse-grained sandstone at mile 106, Along the
Highway northwest from Charlie lake, and-at elevations higher than
the outcrops east of the lake, are outcrops of dark grey and light
grey shale interbedded with fine-grained, soft sandstone beds. Most
of the shale has specks of carbonaceous material. No fossils were
found in any of these outcrops. They are believed to represent parts
of the Dunvegan formation, but may be younger.