Ordovician-Silurian Subcrop and Outcrop Polygons for the Williston Basin

GIS shapefiles represent Ordovician-Silurian subcrop and outcrop boundaries within the Williston Basin. The data was originally created by the Alberta Geological Survey in the mid-1990s and later edited and attributed in 2005-2006. It is part of the Geological Atlas of the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin, published by the Government of Alberta.

Use Cases

• Analyze the spatial distribution of Ordovician-Silurian subcrop polygon features to understand basin architecture.
• Integrate outcrop polygon features with other subsurface data layers for regional geological correlation.
• Use the attributed polygon data to map the extent of specific stratigraphic units for paleogeographic reconstruction.

Strengths

• Data is part of an authoritative reference volume, the Geological Atlas of the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin.
• Polygon features were consolidated and attributed into single files by feature type, improving usability.

Limitations

• The underlying digital files were created in the mid-1990s, potentially using outdated methodologies.
• No sample data or column schema is provided, making initial data exploration difficult.
• The specific spatial resolution and positional accuracy of the polygon features are not documented.

Provenance

Source

Government of Alberta, Alberta Geological Survey.

Collection Method

Shapefiles were produced from archived digital files, then edited to correct, attribute, and consolidate.

Time Range

Geologic time period: Middle Ordovician to Lower Devonian.

Freshness

Data was last updated on the platform in March 2026, though the core data is from 2005-2006 edits of 1990s files.

Geography

Williston Basin, within the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin.