The Upper Devonian to Lower Carboniferous Tuttle Formation was an exploration target for oil and gas in the Peel Plateau and Eagle Plain in the 1960s and 1970s. To date, seven minor gas shows have been identified in the Tuttle Formation in the Peel region. This study is part of a long-term project to investigate the sedimentology, stratigraphy and hydrocarbon potential of this unit in the Peel region.
The Tuttle Formation forms the upper part of a siliciclastic wedge that was deposited in the foreland basin of the Yukon and Ellesmerian fold belts. In the eastern Richardson Mountains, on Trail and Road rivers, it occurs as alternating packages of resistant and recessive intervals. Resistant intervals, 23 to 54 m thick, comprise five lithofacies including fining-upward sandstone, massive sandstone, siltstone, conglomerate and diamictite. Recessive intervals, 55 and 144 m thick, consist of siltstone and shale and are mostly covered.
