The Organic Petrology of the Upper Cretaceous Boundary Creek Formation, Beaufort-Mackenzie Basin

ABSTRACT A detailed petrographic study of the organic material in the Upper Cretaceous Boundary Creek Formation of the Beaufort-Mackenzie Basin has been used to establish a general picture of a) its depositional environment, b) variation in the type of organic material present, and c) its petroleum source potential. The Boundary Creek appears to have accumulated in a depositional setting which had both marine and seasonal terrestrial input and predominantly anaerobic bottom conditions. It contains the types and quantities of organic material that would make it an excellent source rock. However, it has not yet been sampled in an area where it is thermally mature enough to realize its full oil-generating potential.