ABSTRACT

The compilation of a new Geological Atlas of the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin is a multi-institutional, multi-disciplinary endeavour involving scores of individuals throughout the west - project sponsors, data donors, patrons of publications, participant's employers, and on the order of 150 authors and contributors from industry, government and academia. Initiated in 1986, the project is scheduled for completion in 1991.

The stated objective of the project is "as a community of geologists in Western Canada, to compile and produce a new atlas of the subsurface geology of the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin". There are two output objectives: 1) to establish an electronic database of consistently interpreted subsurface information, with associated data processing capability; and 2) to produce a printed volume, published jointly by the Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists and the Alberta Research Council.

The printed Atlas volume will contain 20 chapters dealing with individual cross-basin stratigraphic slices, three chapters on the Phanerozoic history of discrete tectonic domains (arches and sub-basins), and 14 chapters outlining modern thinking on the geological processes that gave rise to the strata and their contained resources. The essential elements of the individual chapters are: maps (1:5,000,000) of structure and paleogeology, isopach and lithofacies, and basic paleogeography; master stratigraphic cross-sections, along regional lines that are common from one chapter to the next; discretionary cross-sections and maps, as examples of the facies-scale character of strata; reference logs and correlation charts; and a limited amount of explanatory text. The electronic version of the Atlas will contain the stratigraphic picks from all of the selected Atlas control wells, together with digital versions of the contour maps and regional structural sections. Software for processing the Atlas data also will be made available.

The new Atlas is based on subsurface information distilled from over 200,000 wells. With modern computer data processing, coupled to vital human verification, correction and interpretation, the new compilation is designed to achieve a level of rigour and comprehensiveness that should bode well for significant advancements in our regional understanding of the geology.

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