118 
DUNVEGAN FORMATION 
On Smoky river the sandstones and shales of the Dunvegan are 
about 450 feet thick (estimated). They dip south and outcrop on the 
valley sides from Sixmile point to above the railway bridge at Smoky, 
where they disappear below the shales of the overlying Smoky River forma- 
tion. The strata include massive, crossbedded, concretionary sandstones 
10 to 90 feet thick, friable shales 8 to 40 feet thick, zones of thin-bedded 
sandstone and shale 10 to 120 feet thick, zones of thick-bedded sandstone 
and shale, etc. At the top of the formation, just south of the railway 
bridge at Smoky, is a 2-inch coal seam. The base of the formation on 
Smoky river is drawn at the bottom of a massive concretionary layer, 
below which are thin-bedded sandstones and shales and yet farther down 
fine, carbonaceous, somewhat fissile, shales, all of the underlying St. John 
formation. 
On Peace river, from Montagneuse river to the great bend below 
the mouth of rividre au Br<116, the Dunvegan is exposed in steep cliffs on 
the valley sides and consists of thick, massive, crossbedded sandstones 
with or without concretions, soft sandstones, and zones of bedded sandstone 
and shale. A coal seam about 6 inches thick occurs in the lower half 
of the formation, west of Dunvegan. A 10-inch coal seam is found in 
the upper part of the formation about 6 miles west of the mouth of rivi&re 
au Brhl6, The thickness is estimated at about 550 feet. 
Near the base of the formation on Smoky river, in concretions in 
massive sandstone, occur: Unio dowlingi McLearn and Rhytophorus? 
caurinus McLearn. The Unio is very common in this freshwater fauna. 
In talus, probably from the lower part of this formation, on Smoky river, 
occurs Tellina dunveganensis McLearn. Near the middle of the formation, 
on Peace river, between Montagneuse river and the great bend west of 
Dunvegan, a thin band of fossiliferous sandstone contains Brachydontes 
multilinigera Meek and Unio dowlingi McLearn. The Unio is not common. 
Talus along the river banks from this or similar bands contains: Barbatia 
micronema (Meek); Brachydontes multilinigera Meek; Corbicula dowlingi 
McLearn; Corbula pyriformis Meek; Corbula cf. nematophora Meek; TeUina 
dunveganensis McLearn; Pachymelaniaf sp. These fossils indicate brackish 
water and, in some degree, marine conditions. In the lower part of the 
formation, on the north bank of Peace river 3 miles west of the mouth of 
rividre au Br£tl6, is a thin fossiliferous sandstone containing Brachydontes 
multilinigera Meek. Above this layer, 130 feet, is another containing 
Ostrea sp. Talus from the Dunvegan formation along both banks of 
Peace river, west of rividre au Brfile, contains: Brachydontes multilinigera 
Meek; Corbula pyriformis Meek; Inoceramus dunveganensis McLearn; 
Modiolus silentiensis McLearn; Ostrea sp.; Tellina (Moera) peaceri- 
verensis McLearn; Unio dowlingi McLearn; Pachymelaniaf sp. These 
fossils indicate that at various times freshwater, brackish water, and, 
in some degree at least, marine conditions, prevailed. 
In Canada the Dunvegan fauna is not known outside of Peace River 
district. Several species are found in the United States. Corbula pyri- 
formis occurs in the Bear River formation 1 of Wyoming. Stanton* 
1 White, C. A., U.S. Geol. Surv., Bull. 128, pp. 38-39. 
1 Stanton, T. W., U.S. Geol. Surv., Bull. 108, pp.55, 88,91. 
