105

Fossils collected from the lower 200 feet are: Oxytoma nebrascana, In-
oceramus lobatus Goldfuss, in broad sense (cf. var. lundbreckensis McLearn;
ef. also I. patootensis Loriol), Anomia cf. subquadrata, and Baculites ovatus.

The following section of the Kotaneelee formation in the lower end of
the canyon on Petitot River was measured by Hage (1945):

£ Thickness
Top of Section Feet

Shalefdarkigreye es cee sales a Me es cee eee ee eee 5
Sandstone, medium-grained; Inoceramus.............0.0.0e00- 10
Shale, grey, soft, chunky; few concretions; Inoceramus pontoni?.. 175
Sandstone, brown weathering, fine.................-..0-+000% 10
Conglomerate, unconsolidated; pebbles in sandy shale.......... 5
Shale, sandy; and fine-grained sandstone..................- 20
Concealediiiscte ctczcrenit see citer tee LAE Nae Ee 100
Shalewibeddedgreytvee meee eee wa epee Wen ae oe eft I Rutt ee 20
Contact, Fort Nelson formation

Lotaltthickn ess ack j:<rtsisge sheer ee atone foos sesleers 345

Kindle (1944) suggests a possible thickness of 1,000 feet for the Kota-
neelee formation in the Nelson Forks map-area. Hage (1945) states that
it is in excess of 500 feet in Kotaneelee Valley in the Lower Liard River
map-area.

The presence of marine fossils indicates a marine origin for the
Kotaneelee formation and for all the Smoky group in northeastern British
Columbia.

Age and Correlation
(See Figure 12)

Five faunal zones of the Smoky group have been recognized in the
northern Plains and Foothills. In descending order they are:

Inoceramus (of the lobatus species group)
Scaphites ventricosus

Prionotropis

(Watinoceras )

Dunveganoceras

Although fragments of Dunveganoceras are said to occur in the Dun-
vegan (Warren and Stelck, 1940), good specimens of this genus occur in the
overlying and basal beds of the Kaskapau formation (Rutherford, 1930;
Warren, 1930; McLearn, 1937; Warren and Stelck, 1940; Gleddie, 1949).
Unfortunately, Dunveganoceras is only known in Alberta, northeastern
British Columbia, and Wyoming. It does, however, show some resem-
blance to the upper Cenomanian ammonoid genus Acanthoceras Neumayr
and the early Turonian Mammites Laube and Bruder. Typical Cenoma-
nian genera like Acanthoceras Neumayr, Mantelliceras Hyatt, and Sch-
loenbachia Neumayr are absent. Most geologists, however, will accept a
tentative Cenomanian and possibly late Cenomanian age for this Dun-
veganoceras fauna.

A zone of Watinoceras, distinct from and underlying the zone of
Prionotropis, has been proposed (McLearn, 1937), but is not yet established
by field work. Indeed Gleddie (1949) suggests that Watinoceras ranges
up into the zone of Prionotropis. If Watinoceras is a lower and a distinct

60920—83

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