Mannville Group

The Mannville Group is a stratigraphical unit of Cretaceous age in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin.

Mannville Group
Stratigraphic range: Early Cretaceous
TypeGeological formation
Sub-unitsGlauconitic Sandstone, Ostracod Beds, Ellerslie Member, Grand Rapids Formation, Clearwater Formation, McMurray Formation, Waseca Sand, Sparky Sand, General Petroleum Sand, Rex Sand, Lloydminster Sand, Cummings Member, Dina Member, Pense Formation, Cantuar Formation, Success Formation
UnderliesColorado Group
OverliesRundle Group, Banff Formation, Wabamun Formation
Thicknessup to 145 metres (480 ft)[1]
Lithology
PrimarySandstone
OtherShale
Location
Coordinates53.3087°N 111.1541°W / 53.3087; -111.1541 (Northwest Mannville 1 well)
RegionAlberta, Saskatchewan
CountryCanada
Type section
Named forMannville, Alberta
Named byNauss, 1945

It takes the name from the town of Mannville, Alberta, and was first described in the Northwest Mannville 1 well by A.W. Nauss in 1945.[2]

Lithology

The Mannville Group consists of interbedded continental sand and shale in the base, followed by a calcareous sandstone member, marine shale, glauconitic sandstone and salt and pepper sandstone. An additional non-marine sequence is present in north-eastern Alberta.

Hydrocarbon production

Bitumen is produced from the McMurray Formation at the Athabasca Oil Sands. Heavy Oil is produced from the Wabiskaw Member of the Clearwater Formation in the Wabasca oil field, and from multiple formations in the Lloydminster and Provost areas in eastern Alberta and western Saskatchewan. Natural gas is extracted from the Ostracod and Glauconite beds in southern Alberta, and light oil is extracted from the Ellerslie Member in central and southern Alberta. Multiple oil fields[3] and gas fields[4] tap into the Manville Group.

Total gas reserves amount to 316,799 x 106m³ in the Lower Mannville and 644,774 x 106m³ in the Upper Mannville.[5] Recoverable oil reserves amount to 105.64 x 106m³ in the Lower Mannville and 199.20 x 106m³ in the Upper Mannville.[6]

Distribution

The Mannville Group reaches a thickness of 145 feet (40 m) in its type locality. It occurs in the sub-surface in central Alberta, extending east-west from Edmonton to Lloydminster and north-south from the Deep Basin to the United States border. It is present in the sub-surface in west-central and southern Saskatchewan.

Relationship to other units

The Mannville Group is discomformably overlain by the Joli Fou Formation shale of the Colorado Group. It rests unconformably on the older Paleozoic carbonates.

It is correlated with the lower Blairmore Group in the Canadian Rockies foothills and to the Bullhead Group and the Spirit River Formation of the Fort St. John Group in north-western Alberta. It is also equivalent to the Cantuar Formation in Saskatchewan and the Swan River Formation in Manitoba.

Subunits

The Mannville Group includes the following sub-units:

Central and southern Alberta

SubdivisionSub-unitAgeLithologyMax
Thickness
Reference
Upper Upper Mannville marine shale and sandstone
Glauconitic SandstoneEarly Cretaceousvery fine to medium grained quartz sandstone with siderite and glauconite35 m (110 ft) [7]
Lower Mannville
Ostracod BedsEarly CretaceousUnit A: shale and fossiliferous limestone
Unit B: argillaceous limestone with ostracod fossils
Unit C: dark shale with siltstone and sandstone interbed
Unit D: fine to medium grained lithic calcareous sandstone with kaolinite and chert
40 m (130 ft) [8]
Ellerslie MemberEarly CretaceousUpper: fine grained sand with sandy shale and shaley sand lenses
Lower: medium grained quartz sand, siltstone, coal
40 m (130 ft)
30 m (100 ft)
[9]
Detrital BedsEarly CretaceousChert pebbles, lithic sandstone, shale, siltstone70 m (230 ft) [10]
  • In southern Alberta, the Ellerslie Member is replaced by the Sunburst Member, Taber Sandstone, and Cutbank Sandstone.

Athabasca region

Sub-unitAgeLithologyMax
Thickness
Reference
Grand Rapids FormationAlbianbitumenous fine to medium sand (A, B and C sands, separated by silt and shale)125 m (410 ft) [11]
Clearwater FormationAlbianblack and green shales and sand85 m (280 ft) [12]
Wabiskaw MemberAlbianglauconitic sands with black fissile shale35 m (110 ft) [13]
McMurray Formationlate Barremian to Aptianfine grained bitumenous sands60 m (200 ft) [14]

Lloydminster region

Sub-unitAgeLithologyMax
Thickness
Reference
Colony SandEarly Cretaceousfriable glauconitic and argillaceous sandstone15 m (50 ft) [15]
McLaren MemberEarly Cretaceousvery fine grained sandstone and shale18 m (60 ft) [16]
Waseca SandEarly Cretaceoussand with silt and shale25 m (80 ft) [17]
Sparky SandEarly Cretaceoussand and shale12 m (40 ft) [18]
General Petroleum SandEarly Cretaceousvery fine to fine grained quartzose sand15 m (50 ft) [19]
Rex SandEarly Cretaceousvery fine to fine grained quartzose sand with silt and shale14 m (50 ft) [20]
Lloydminster SandEarly Cretaceousunconsolidated quartz sand with silt30 m (100 ft) [21]
Cummings MemberEarly Cretaceousshale with beds of salt-and-pepper sandstone27 m (90 ft) [22]
Dina MemberEarly Cretaceousquartz sandstone with siltstone and shale60 m (200 ft) [23]

Southern Saskatchewan

Sub-unitAgeLithologyMax
Thickness
Reference
Pense FormationAlbianfine grained sandstone, clay, shaly silt36 m (120 ft) [24]
Cantuar FormationAptian to Albianmudstone and sandstone120 m (390 ft) [25]
Success FormationJurassic to Lower Cretaceousquartzose sandstone and siltstone75 m (250 ft) [26]

References

  1. Lexicon of Canadian Geologic Units. "Mannville Group". Retrieved 2009-03-01.
  2. Nauss, Arthur William, 1945. Cretaceous stratigraphy of Vermilion area, Alberta, Canada; American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG), AAPG Bulletin, vol. 29, no. 11 (November), pp. 1605-1629.
  3. Alberta Geological Survey. "Oil Production from the Lower Mannville". Retrieved 2009-03-02.
  4. Alberta Geological Survey. "Gas Production from the Lower Mannville". Retrieved 2009-03-02.
  5. Alberta Geological Survey. "Gas Production from the Upper Mannville". Retrieved 2009-03-02.
  6. Alberta Geological Survey. "Oil Production from the Upper Mannville". Retrieved 2009-03-02.
  7. Lexicon of Canadian Geologic Units. "Glauconitic". Retrieved 2009-03-01.
  8. Lexicon of Canadian Geologic Units. "Ostracod". Retrieved 2009-03-01.
  9. Lexicon of Canadian Geologic Units. "Ellerslie". Archived from the original on 2012-07-12. Retrieved 2009-03-01.
  10. Lexicon of Canadian Geologic Units. "Detrital". Retrieved 2009-03-01.
  11. Lexicon of Canadian Geologic Units. "Grand Rapids". Retrieved 2009-03-01.
  12. Lexicon of Canadian Geologic Units. "Clearwater". Retrieved 2009-03-01.
  13. Lexicon of Canadian Geologic Units. "Wabiskaw". Retrieved 2009-03-01.
  14. Lexicon of Canadian Geologic Units. "McMurray". Archived from the original on 2012-07-26. Retrieved 2009-03-01.
  15. Lexicon of Canadian Geologic Units. "Colony Sand". Retrieved 2010-01-09.
  16. Lexicon of Canadian Geologic Units. "McLaren Member". Retrieved 2010-01-03.
  17. Lexicon of Canadian Geologic Units. "Waseca". Retrieved 2009-03-01.
  18. Lexicon of Canadian Geologic Units. "Sparky". Retrieved 2009-03-01.
  19. Lexicon of Canadian Geologic Units. "General Petroleum". Retrieved 2009-03-01.
  20. Lexicon of Canadian Geologic Units. "Rex". Retrieved 2009-03-01.
  21. Lexicon of Canadian Geologic Units. "Lloydminster". Retrieved 2009-03-01.
  22. Lexicon of Canadian Geologic Units. "Cummings". Retrieved 2009-03-01.
  23. Lexicon of Canadian Geologic Units. "Dina". Retrieved 2009-03-01.
  24. Lexicon of Canadian Geologic Units. "Pense Formation". Retrieved 2010-01-03.
  25. Lexicon of Canadian Geologic Units. "Cantuar Formation". Retrieved 2010-01-03.
  26. Lexicon of Canadian Geologic Units. "Success Formation". Retrieved 2010-01-03.
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