Magnetostratigraphy and biostratigraphy of the continental Paleocene in the Calgary area, southwestern Alberta

A chronology for Paleocene strata of the Calgary region is developed from t he integration of magnetostratigraphy with palynological and mammal zones. Structural reference to the underlying Battle Formation adds stratigraphic control. These strata range in age from magnetochron 29r to the lower half of 26r and palynomorph zones Wodehouseia fimbriata through Aquilapollenites spinulosus. Four mammal sites have been placed in the magnetostratigraphic framework. The youngest is a Tiffanian (Ti1) site in 26r. Sites judged to be Torrejonian occur in 27n, 28r and 29n. The presence of thin coals indica tes correlation of lower Paleocene outcrops south and southeast of Calgary to the upper Scollard Formation. Younger strata in Calgary City have charac teristics of a seasonally dry facies association most comparable to that of the Porcupine Hills Formation of southwestern Alberta. To the west and nor th of Calgary, the occurrence of thin coals in strata of late Paleocene age justifies assigning these rocks to the Paskapoo Formation. However, the pl acement of all formational boundaries is somewhat arbitrary in this transit ional region between the nomenclatural systems of southwestern versus centr al Alberta. The type Porcupine Hills Formation is shown to be correlative t o the upper part of the upper Scollard Formation and the lower part of the Paskapoo Formation.