Middle Albian Foraminifera from Athabasca and Peace River Drainage Areas of Western Canada

Fifty-nine species and subspecies of Foraminifera, of which ten are new, from the Clearwater, Grand Rapids and Joli Fou formations of the lower Athabasca drainage and from the lower part of the Fort St. John Group of the upper Peace River area are figured and described. Microfaunal zones are equated to megafaunal sequences of the Middle Albian substage of the Lower Cretaceous. The calcareous foraminiferal fauna of the lower Clearwater formation is found also in the lower Moose bar shale of northeastern British Columbia and in the Wilrich member of the Spirit River Formation in northwestern Alberta.

The upper Clearwater Formation is correlated with the Father member of the Spirit River Formation and with the Cummings member of the Mannville Formation of east-central Alberta. The Harmon shale of northwestern Alberta is correlated with that part of the Fort St. John Group immediately overlying the Gates sandstone. The Joli Fou microfauna is correlated with that of the Lower Shale member of the Colorado Group of central and eastern Alberta, southern Saskatchewan and southwestern Manitoba. The foraminiferal assemblages indicate a transgressive shallow epicontinental sea with brackish margins.