97

The Dunvegan formation in Pine River Canyon was described by
Dawson in 1881. It was said to consist of “flaggy sandstones, often
brownish grey in colour, and false-bedded or ripple-marked, greenish grey,
fine-grained sandstones and black, soft argillaceous sandstones and shales
holding plant impressions.... . In the valley of a small stream which cuts
the bank on the south side of the canyon, not far above the river level,
Mr. Selwyn, in 1875, found, in alternating strata of sandstones and shales,
four thin seams of coal, which in descending order are—six inches, eight
inches, two feet and eight inches thick”. The Dunvegan was also recorded
by Dawson at the lower forks of Pine River, on Coal (Coldstream) Brook,
and on Murray River (east branch of Pine River). In addition, fossils of
the Dunvegan formation have been collected on Flat (Rhubarb) Creek.

The Dunvegan formation is exposed in the valley of Kiskatinaw River
(Williams and Bocock, 1932) from its mouth to range 18.

South of Pine River Valley, Spieker (1921) recognized an upper member
of the Dunvegan to which he gave the geographical name of Sukunka.
It was said to comprise green shale, hardened calcareous mudstone, grey,
platy, crossbedded, lenticular sandstone, with flat nodules of black shale,
and some thin seams of carbonaceous material and low-grade coal.

Moberly and Peace River Valleys

In the Dunlevy-Portage Mountain map-area, the Dunvegan forma-
tion is said to be best exposed on Tworidge Mountain and in Moberly
River Valley. It “consists of massive, coarse- to fine-grained, buff to
reddish weathering sandstones. Narrow lenses and thin beds of conglom-
erate occur near the base of the formation. Higher strata consist of
medium-grained, greenish weathering, micaceous sandstones, and inter-
bedded greenish brown, sandy shales. Large scale crossbedding is com-
mon” (Beach and Spivak, 1944).

A section of the lower part of the formation, measured by Beach and
Spivak on Moberly River, near the eastern boundary of the area, is as
follows:

Top of Section hieiees

Sandstone, green, shaly, fine-grained, rubbly.............-.+-- 20
Sandstone, grey, medium-grained.............eee eee eee eee 10
Sandstone, green, shaly; with interbedded sandy shale.......... 200
Simi, cancouh tenth ~o oanane cho ao uso pobooouaeeoedadDed Ao DuoUG 30
(Chyeolele sao an coun sono cAcu so sn saodnddbaobboocdusNonONGD 100
Sandstone, massive, medium-grained............6+++eeeeeeeee el
Sandstone, crossbedded, fine-grained. ........---.++++eeeeeeee 70 3
Conglomerate, fossiliferous..........+++++ eee e cece eee eee eee 0-5
Sandstone, crossbedded, grey, micaceouS........-+++++++++++ 30

AUN sunroonocaaovovUncDbEHOsaduGsoGoOUDOS 461-5

Underlying beds—Cruiser formation

Unio dowlingi occurs in the lower part of the formation in this area.
Beach and Spivak (1944) estimate a total thickness of more than 1,100
feet.

Far to the west, in the Foothills between Pine and Peace River Valleys,
Mathews (1947) has mapped a small area of Dunvegan northeast of Mount
McAllister. About 200 feet of sandstone and conglomerate are exposed.
No fossils were found.