80 
STRATIGRAPHIC PALEONTOLOGY 
By F. H. McLearn, Geological Survey, Canada 
CONTENTS 
Page 
Introduction 80 
Stratigraphical classification 80 
Previous studies 82 
Succession of faunas and floras 83 
Summary, 97 
Correlation 99 
INTRODUCTION 
The Mesozoic strata of Blairmore region record a number of important 
geological events from Upper Jurassic to Upper Cretaceous time, including 
the alternation of marine and alluvial plain deposition, an interval of coal 
deposition, an interval of volcanic eruption, and locally, in the plant 
world, the introduction of the dicotyledonous angiosperms. The study of 
the faunas and floras makes possible a dating of these events as well as* the 
establishment of the faunal and floral succession. 
Lower, Middle, and Upper Jurassic are used as tentatively adopted in 
a former paper . 1 Upper Cretaceous is taken as beginning with Cenomanian 
equivalents. Lower and Upper Cretaceous are not considered separate 
systems. The writer once used Comanchean 2 in the sense of Lower Cre- 
taceous, but the name has not been continued. Blairmore area is meant 
to include the Blairmore map-area 3 and the Crowsnest valley west to the 
Rocky mountains. South Fork or Castle River area is meant to include 
the area to the south of Blairmore, studied by MacKenzie 4 * . By North 
Fork area is meant the area to the north of Blairmore area in the 
basin of Oldman river and its tributaries in the foothills. Blairmore 
region or country around Blairmore is meant to embrace all three areas. 
i 
STRATIGRAPHICAL CLASSIFICATION 
The Mesozoic strata of the country around Blairmore have been 
grouped by Leach in six formations which, in ascending order, are: Femie, 
Kootenay, Blairmore, Crowsnest, Colorado, and Allison 6 . The name 
Femie, as employed in this region, has been given to the marine shales, 
with some sandstone and calcareous sandstone, at the base of the Mesozoic 
column and directly over the Palaeozoic rocks; the contact with the upper- 
most Palaeozoic terrain is locally a disconformity, with an hiatus of con- 
siderable magnitude. Kootenay has been used as a formation name and 
applied to the overlying, coal-bearing, probably non-marine, sandstones 
and dark shales. It is uncertain whether strata herein designated the 
1 McLearn, F. H.: Trans. Roy. Soc., Canada, 3rd aer. s vol. 21, see. IV, p. 62 (1927). 
* McLearn, F. H.: Geol. Surv,, Canada, Sura. Rept. 1916, p. 112 (1916). 
* Geol. Surv,, Canada, Map No. 1584 (1920). 
* MacKenzie, J. D.: Geol. Surv., Canada, Sum, Rept. 1912, pp. 235-246, Map 103A (1914). 
s Leach, W. W.: Geol. Surv., Canada, Sum. Rept. 1911, pp. 193-198 (1912). 
MacKenzie, J. D.: Geol. Surv., Canada, Sum. Rept. 1912, pp, 238-239 (1914). 
Rose, B.: Geol, Surv., Canada, Sum. Rept. 1916, pp. 109-112 (1917). 
