Mount Whyte Formation
| Mount Whyte Formation | |
|---|---|
| Stratigraphic range: Middle Cambrian ~ | |
| Type | Formation |
| Underlies | Cathedral Formation |
| Overlies | Gog Group |
| Thickness | Up to 176 metres (578 ft) |
| Lithology | |
| Primary | Shale, limestone |
| Other | Sandstone, conglomerate |
| Location | |
| Coordinates | 51°24′32″N 116°16′16″W / 51.40889°N 116.27111°W |
| Region | Canadian Rockies |
| Country | Canada |
| Type section | |
| Named for | Mount Whyte |
| Named by | Charles Doolittle Walcott |
The Mount Whyte Formation is a stratigraphic unit that is present on the western edge of the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin in the southern Canadian Rockies and the adjacent southwestern Alberta plains. It was deposited during Middle Cambrian time and consists of shale interbedded with other siliciclastic rock types and limestones. It was named for Mount Whyte in Banff National Park by Charles Doolittle Walcott, the discoverer of the Burgess shale fossils, and it includes several genera of fossil trilobites.