NO. 5 PRE-DEVONIAN PALEOZOIC FORMATIONS 299 



Only the upper Mount Whyte is represented in this section. Col- 

 lections from talus slopes near Mount Assiniboine, now in the 

 National Museum, indicate the possible presence of the Stephen 

 formation in some of the clififs above the Cathedral. 



Phareo Peaks Section 



About 20 miles (32.2 km.) northwest of Mount Assiniboine. there 

 are two sharp points in front of the main range which Mr. Arthur O 

 Wheeler named Phareo Peaks. Their upper portion is formed of the 

 Mount Whyte formation, and the saddle between the Peaks and the 

 main range is eroded in the greenish and purplish sandy shales and 

 thin interbedded quartzitic sandstones. As at Wonder Pass, there is 

 very little, if any, calcareous matter in the Mount Whyte except 

 near the top, where in places a band of arenaceous and oolitic lime- 

 stone occurs. Owing to local faulting, the upper portion of the section 

 is broken and split up, and in places absent. 



Fauna. — Annelid trails of various sizes and numerous trilobite 

 tracks and burrows occur on the surface of the greenish arenaceous 

 shales. An abundant life was present in the sea, but the currents 

 drifted the shells of the animals elsewhere or destroyed them by 

 attrition. 



Rocks of the same general character constitute the Mount Whyte 

 formation for a long distance. It may be seen on Mount Ball, Storm 

 Mountain (see pi. 63), Mount Bident above Consolation Valley, and 

 the spurs projecting from them. 



BOW RANGE AREA 



Vermilion Pass Section 



The ascent to the Pass up Little Vermilion Creek from the Bow 

 River is over drift for two miles (3.2 km.) or more, and then on 

 the shales and sandstones of the pre-Cambrian Belt Series. The 

 contact of the Cambrian basal conglomerate and the gray saponace- 

 ous shale of the Beltian is in the canyon southeast of Boom Mountain, 

 about yi mile (.4 km.) above the large lake on the creek. The basal 

 conglomerate is in massive layers, alternating with beds of coarse 

 sandstone. The conglomerate extends up the creek, past a small pond, 

 and dips about 25° SW. A band of purplish, arenaceous, slaty shale 

 is superjacent to the conglomerate and above that the massive-bedded, 

 compact, slightly cross-bedded, light gray and purplish sandstones 

 of the Fort Mountain formation. The section gives an excellent 



