Type Formation (abandoned) Region Alberta Named by C.D. Walcott, 1923 | Thickness 87 metres (290 ft) Country Canada | |
Named for Ghost River Wilderness Area | ||
Ghost River Formation is the now-abandoned name for a geologic formation that included Cambrian to Middle Devonian strata in the Rocky Mountains of southwestern Alberta, Canada. It was established by C.D. Walcott in 1923. The name was abandoned because of uncertainties about the ages of the strata that it encompassed.
The type section of the Ghost River Formation was located in the canyon of the Ghost River, east of the Ghost River Wilderness Area near Banff National Park. It included strata that are now subdivided into several Cambrian to Silurian formations, unconformably overlain by Middle Devonian strata that are now assigned to the Yahatinda Formation. The latter are contained in a channel eroded into the older rocks and include a variety of plant fossils and remains of freshwater fish.