Mount Cap formation

The Mount Cap Formation is a Cambrian geologic formation in the Mackenzie Mountains of northern Canada, deposited on a shallow marine shelf in the late Early Cambrian and preserved as shale, siltstone, and sandstone. About 100 to 300 metres thick and rich in glauconite, it has experienced little metamorphic alteration, helping retain an important fossil record. Dated to the Bonnia–Olenellus Trilobite Zone, just younger than the earliest trilobites, it yields Burgess Shale-type microfossils known as the Little Bear biota, including hyolith and trilobite fragments, anomalocaridid claws, arthropod carapaces, and brachiopods. It provides an important view of early animal life in Cambrian seas.

Northwest Territories · Canada