La Biche Group

The Labiche Formation is a stratigraphical unit of late Albian to Santonian age in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin.

Labiche Formation
Stratigraphic range: late Albian to Santonian PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Type	Geological group
Underlies	Belly River Formation
Overlies	Pelican Formation
Thickness	up to 420 metres (1,380 ft)[1]
Lithology
Primary	Shale
Location
Coordinates	55.01023°N 112.72600°W / 55.01023; -112.72600 (Labiche Formation)
Region	WCSB
Country	Canada
Type section
Named for	La Biche River
Named by	R.G. McConnell, 1892

It takes the name from La Biche River, a tributary of the Athabasca River, and was first described in outcrop in the Athabasca River valley by R.G. McConnell in 1892.^[2]

Lithology

The Labiche Formation is composed shale with flakes of coccolithic debris, Inoceramus prisms, pyrite.^[1]

Distribution

The Labiche Formation reaches a maximum thickness of 420 metres (1,380 ft) in the sub-surface of northern Alberta.^[1]

Relationship to other units

The Labiche Formation is overlain by the Belly River Formation and conformably overlays the Pelican Formation.^[1]

It is equivalent to the parts of the Colorado Group in central Alberta and to the sum of Smoky Group, Dunvegan Formation and Shaftesbury Formation in north-western Alberta.