The growth of the petroleum industry helped to establish sedimentology as a major subdiscipline among professional geologists in Canada. The most significant scientific contributions in this country have been in the area of facies studies and analysis of depositional environments. Developments in this area have formed much of the basis for the three editions of the highly successful GAC Facies Models book, that has sold nearly 70,000 copies since 1979. Canadian sedimentologists have also made significant contributions to the study of sequence stratigraphy, a field that is still growing. However, downsizing of universities is bringing an era of achievement to an end, and future developments are likely to be in different areas of geology, particularly environmental studies.
Palynological data indicate a probable lower to middle Albian age.
Outcrop provides evidence of braidedfluvial and tidal sedimentation on the eastern margin of the basin. Physical and chemical breakdown of the coarsely crystalline Canadian Shield rocks provided detritus for southerly transport. These deposits occur in a belt which trends across central Saskatchewan. The coarse nature and facies of the sediment demonstrate the action of powerful streams that likely were capable of transporting and concentrating gold. Formerly of the Geological Survey of Canada, Calgary, in whose employ the research reported on herein was completed.