Wapiti Lake lies in the folded, thrust-faulted eastern edge of the Paleozoic rocks in British Columbia, approximately 90 miles southeast of the Peace River. Transportation of men, supplies, and equipment into the area was by amphibian plane.

Cambrian, Devonian, Mississippian, and Triassic rocks were identified. Only Devonian and Mississippian rocks were studied in detail.

Devonian rocks consist of: the Fairholme shale, 350 feet thick (base not exposed); the Palliser limestone, 1,005 feet thick; and the Exshaw shale, 57 feet thick. Coral-reef limestones suggesting possible oil-reservoir rocks are well developed in the central part of the Palliser formation.

Three formations of Mississippian age were recognized. The Banff formation, 690 feet thick, Kinderhook in age, and a correlative of the Lodgepole of Montana, contains black shale at the base followed by remarkably cyclic, nodular, shaly, very fossiliferous limestone. The Banff formation is followed by 1,170 feet of cyclic, massive, gray limestone beds that alternate with zones of black shaly limestone. These beds contain the "Z" zone fauna of Europe and are correlated with the lower part of the Mission Canyon formation of Montana. A new formation name, Dessa Dawn, is proposed for them. The Rundle formation (restricted) 510 feet thick, consists of cyclic, soft, brown, porous dolomite that alternates with gray, hard dolomite and rests with marked unconformity on the underlying beds. The abundant coral fauna of the Rundle (restricted) is Meramec in age. The soft, brown, porous dolomites near the base of the Rundle offer exceptionally excellent possibilities as oil-reservoir rocks.

Triassic rocks containing well preserved fossil ganoid fishes rest unconformably on the Rundle.