earth science

Red River Formation

Red River Formation is a earth science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Red River Formation rather than just read about it. In short: The Red River Formation is a lithostratigraphical unit of Late Ordovician age in the Williston Basin. It takes the name from the Red River of the North, and was first described in outcrop in the Tyndall Stone quarries and along the Red River Valley by A.F.

Key takeaways

Red River Formation belongs to earth science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Red River Formation to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Red River Formation from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Red River Formation is a lithostratigraphical unit of Late Ordovician age in the Williston Basin. It takes the name from the Red River of the North, and was first described in outcrop in the Tyndall Stone quarries and along the Red River Valley by A.F. Foerste in 1929.

Lithology

Subdivisions The Red River Formation is composed of the following subdivisions from top to base:

Fort Garry Member: crystalline and micritic dolomite with an argillaceous dolomite breccia in the middle Selkirk Member: fossiliferous, dolomitic limestone Cat Head Member: cherty dolomite, becoming calcareous to the south Dog Head Member: fossiliferous dolomitic limestone

Distribution The Red River Formation reaches a maximum thickness of 215 metres (710 ft) in the center of the Williston Basin. It extends throughout the Manitoba outcrop belt, and can be correlated throughout the entire Williston Basin area. It is 150 metres (490 ft) thick and thins out to less than 50m (164 ft) northwards.

Relationship to other units The Red River Formation is slightly unconformably overlain by the Stony Mountain Formation and sharply overlays the Winnipeg Formation in Manitoba, the Deadwood Formation in western Saskatchewan and the Canadian Shield in northern Manitoba. The lower Red River Formation is equivalent to the Yeoman Formation, while the Fort Garry Member correlates with the Herald Formation.

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Red River Formation

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Red River Formation claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In earth science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Red River Formation before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Red River Formation ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Red River Formation

In research: Red River Formation appears in earth science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Red River Formation in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Red River Formation is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Dolomite formations of Canada, Geologic formations of Manitoba, Geologic formations of Saskatchewan, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Red River Formation outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Red River Formation in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Red River Formation means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Red River Formation out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Red River Formation in simple terms?

Why does Red River Formation matter?

Because it connects several earth science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Red River Formation?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Red River Formation.