The Belly River Group is a stratigraphic unit of Late Cretaceous age in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin.
It takes the name from the Belly River, a tributary of the Oldman River in southern Alberta, and was first described in outcrop on the banks of the Oldman River (at the time considered part of the Belly River) and Bow River by George Mercer Dawson in 1883.Dawson, G.M., 1883. Preliminary report on the geology of the Bow and Belly river region, Northwest Territory, with special reference to the coal deposits. Geological Survey of Canada, Report of Progress for 1880-81-82, Part B.
Lithology The Belly River Group is composed of very fine grained sandstone with coarse grained beds and minor bentonite, coal, green shale, and concretionary beds.
Hydrocarbon production Gas is produced from the Belly River Group in the Deep Basin, in west-central Alberta and in the Canadian Rockies foothills.
Paleofauna Dinosaur remains are among the fossils that have been recovered from the formation.Weishampel, David B; et al. (2004). "Dinosaur distribution (Late Cretaceous, North America)." In: Weishampel, David B.; Dodson, Peter; and Osmólska, Halszka (eds.): The Dinosauria, 2nd, Berkeley: University of California Press. Pp. 574-588. .
Dinosaurs reported from the Belly River Group Genus Species Location Stratigraphic position Material Description ImagesMontanoceratopsIndeterminate
Distribution The Belly River Group reaches a maximum thickness of in its western reaches, and thins out eastward to about in the Canadian Plains. It is found throughout southern Alberta, and as far east as eastern Saskatchewan. From south to north, it is present from the United States border to the Wapiti River region, south of the Peace River Country.
Relationship to other units The Belly River Group is conformably overlain by the Bearpaw Formation and gradually overlies the Wapiabi Formation, the Colorado Group shale or the Lea Park Formation shale.
It is equivalent to the Milk River Formation and Pakowki Formation. The Belly River has group status in the Canadian Rockies foothills and is replaced by the Oldman Formation (Judith River Formation in Montana) and Foremost Formation in southern Alberta.
See also List of dinosaur-bearing rock formations
References