The Triassic-Jurassic Fundy Basin, eastern Canada: regional setting, stratigraphy and hydrocarbon potential

Authors

  • John A. Wade Geological Survey of Canada (Atlantic), P. O. Box 1006, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia B2Y 4A2, Canada
  • David E. Brown Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Board, 1791 Barrington Street, Halifax, Nova Scotia B3J 3K9, Canada
  • Alfred Traverse Department of Geosciences, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, U.S.A.
  • Robert A. Fensome Geological Survey of Canada (Atlantic), P. O. Box 1006, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia B2Y 4A2, Canada

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.4138/2088

Abstract

Fundy Basin, one of a series of half graben that formed along the eastern margin of North America during the Triassic/Jurassic rifting of Pangaea, lies mainly to the south of the Cobequid-Chedabucto Fault System in Nova Scotia and' beneath the Bay of Fundy. Continental red clastic rocks and basalt flows of the Triassic and Early Jurassic Newark Supergroup crop out continuously along the Bay of Fundy and Minas Basin coast of Nova Scotia and at several sites in southern New Brunswick. These units thicken beneath the waters of the bay to a present-day maximum of nearly 10 km. Proximal facies preserved along the faulted New Brunswick margin of the basin consist of upper alluvial fan and fluvial elastics which grade laterally into sheet flood deposits. Along the gently north-dipping Nova Scotia margin, facies consist of distal alluvial fan, sheet flood and playa mud flat deposits. Facies projections suggest the probability that petroleum-generating lacustrine sequences are widespread along the basin axis. In the Wolfvilte Formation and lower part of the Blomidon Formation these may be overmature but the upper part of the Blomidon Formation and the Scots Bay Formation have the potential for appreciable quantities of hydrocarbons. RÉSUMÉ Le bassin dc Fundy, Pun des demi-grabens d'unc s£ric qui s'est formee le long de la marge contincntale de l'Amérique du Nord lors de la séparation triasique-jurassique de la Pangée, est principalement situé au sud du système de failles de Cobequid-Chedabucto, en Nouvelle-Écosse, ainsi qu'au-dessous de la baie de Fundy. Des écoulements de basaltes et de roches clastiques rouges continental du supcrgroupe du Trias et du Jurassiquc intérieur de Newark affleurent de fa÷on continue le long de la baie de Fundy et de la côte du bassin de Minas en Nouvelle-Écosse ainsi qu'en plusieurs endroits dans le sud du Nouveau-Brunswick. Ces unités s'épatssissent au-dessous des eaux de la baie jusqu'à un maximum actuel de près de 10 km. Les faciès proximaux conservés le long de la marge faillée néo-brunswickoise du bassin sont constitués de cônes altuviaux supérieurs et de roches déritiques fluviales qui passent latéralementà des gites d'inondation en nappes. Le long de la marge doucement inclinée vers le nord néo-écossatse, les faciès sont constitutés de cônes alluviaux distaux, de gttes d'inondation en nappes et de playas de sltkkes. Les projections des facies permettent de supposer qu'il est probable que les séquences lacustres sont répanducs le long de l'axe du bassin. Celles-ci pourraient être immatures dans la Formation de Wolfville et la partie inférieure de la Formation de Blomidon, mats la partie supérieure de la Formation de Blomidon et la Formation de Scots Bay offrent un potentiel de quantités appréciables d'hydrocarbures. [Traduit par la rédaction]

Downloads

Published

1996-11-01

How to Cite

Wade, J. A., Brown, D. E., Traverse, A., & Fensome, R. A. (1996). The Triassic-Jurassic Fundy Basin, eastern Canada: regional setting, stratigraphy and hydrocarbon potential. Atlantic Geoscience, 32(3). https://doi.org/10.4138/2088

Issue

Vol. 32 No. 3 (1996)

Section

Articles

License

As of January 1, 2025, Atlantic Geoscience is adopting Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)  This license requires that reusers give credit to the creator. It allows reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format, even for commercial purposes.

Copyright to material published in Atlantic Geoscience is normally retained by the author.  Alternate arrangements can be made on request for government employees.

Permission to use a single graphic for which the author owns copyright is considered “fair dealing” under the Canadian Copyright Act and “fair use” by the journal, and no other permission need be granted, subject to the image being appropriately cited in all reproductions. The same fair dealing/fair use policy applies to sections of text up to 100 words in length.