Hydrogeology of the Oyen Area, Alberta

The Belly River, Bearpaw, and Horseshoe Canyon Formations of Late Cretaceous age constitute the upper bedrock in the map area. The surficial deposits are generally quite thin (usually less than 50 ft or 15 m) with the exception of buried valley deposits which can be as much as 500 ft thick (150 m). Yields vary from 1 to 25 igpm (0.07 to 2 L/s) over most of the map area in both bedrock and surficial sediments; however, extensive pump testing of the Bulwark sandstones of the Bearpaw Formation in the northwestern corner of the map area has indicated a yield range of 25 to 500 igpm (2 to 40 L/s) in a small area. Groundwater quality is generally poor, and areas of salt deposits are very common over all the map area.