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Cardium Shale >> Overview

Cardium Shale Overview

Spanning across the Canadian provinces of Alberta and British Columbia, the Cardium formation lies within the immense Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin. Known for its natural gas and oil deposits, Cardium drilling saw a revival in 2009 thanks to new drilling technologies.

In the surface of the plains, the Cardium formation is encased in marine shales, and consists of discontinuous sheets of sandstone with associated conglomerate, siltstone, and shale. The sediments were accumulated in muddy and sandy inner and outer shelves, beaches, lagoonal, barrier islands, tidal, estuarine and coastal plains. The Cardium forms a large stratigraphic trap in its eastern shaleout, producing Canada's largest individual oil field: Pembina.

The thickness varies from 0 to over 134 meters. It has been reported as far south as township 14 in the foothills and township 17 in the mountains.