The Horton Group in the Lochaber-Mulgrave area is divided here into four formations. Two of these formations (Clam Harbour River and Tracadie Road) were established by Smith (1980, 1981) and included in Williams et al. (1985). However, the present study and that of White and Barr (1998, 1999) better defined and described these units, and we also have further subdivided the Clam Harbour River and Tracadie Road formations into informal members, based on lithological differences. A third formation, Caledonia Mills, was introduced by White and Barr (1998, 1999), and we here provide additional information to establish it as a formal unit. Contacts between the Clam Harbour River, Tracadie Road, and Caledonia Mills formations are generally conformable and gradational, and overall younging direction is to the northwest. However, facing directions are in many places difficult to determine and the structure in the area is complicated by faults and polyphase folding (see below). A fourth formation (Steep Creek), identified and named informally by Ténière (2002) and Ténière et al. (2002), occurs along the eastern margin of the area and has an uncertain relationship to the other units. We propose here that the Steep Creek Formation, as described below, also be designated as a formal stratigraphic unit.

Fossils are rare in these rocks, at least in part due to the presence of well developed cleavage. Lepidodendropsis fragments were reported previously in dark grey shale assigned here to the Tracadie Road Formation (Schiller 1961; Smith 1980, 1981), and also were observed in that unit during the present study (Ténière 2002). According to Wagner (1984), Lepidodendropsis occurred most commonly in the Early Carboniferous, between the Tournaisian and Early Visean, but may have originated during the late Famennian (Devonian). Spores have been found in a few locations, but are poorly preserved as a result of high thermal maturity (Utting 2001). Six samples collected during this study, five from the Tracadie Road Formation and one from the Steep Creek Formation, contained three spore species that are long-ranging, but dominantly Tournaisian, and hence suggest the age of the rocks to be Late Devonian (Famennian) to late Tournaisian (Utting 2001; Ténière 2002).

Rocks assigned to the Clam Harbour River Formation occur in the eastern part of the map area between Lincolnville and the Strait of Canso (Fig. 2). The name was assigned by Smith (1980, 1981), based on exposures of green-grey siltstone and shale, with interbedded dolomite, that occur in Clam Harbour River. White and Barr (1998, 1999) extended the distribution of the formation over a more extensive area than that studied by Smith (1980, 1981), and during the present study, the formation was subdivided into two informal members, the predominantly coarse-grained Englands Lake member and the fine-grained Goose Harbour Lake member.

The Englands Lake member is exposed in the eastern part of the map area in the core of an anticlinal structure (Fig. 2). Based on the interpreted geological cross section (Ténière 2002), the member has a minimum thickness of 600 m, with the base not exposed. As best seen in the type area northwest of Englands Lake, it consists of polymictic and matrix-supported conglomerate, light grey, fine- to coarse-grained sandstone (fining-upward sequences; Fig. 3), and interbedded maroon to green-grey siltstone. The Englands Lake member is interpreted to have formed in a high gradient, braided fluvial system on the distal parts of alluvial fan(s). The conformably overlying (but possibly in part laterally equivalent) Goose Harbour Lake member has an estimated thickness between 700 and 1000 m. It consists of poorly to well laminated (varve-like) green-grey siltstone and shale with interbedded quartz-rich sandstone and calcareous fine-grained sandstone. The type section is located on the southern shore of Goose Harbour Lake (Fig. 2). These rocks are interpreted to have been deposited in a shallow lacustrine to shoreline environment, based on the dominantly greenish-grey colour and minor red siltstone beds, which suggest occasional oxidizing conditions. The Goose Harbour Lake member is conformably overlain by the Tracadie Road Formation, unconformably overlain by the Steep Creek Formation, and in faulted contact with younger Carboniferous units (Fig. 2).

Rocks assigned to the Tracadie Road Formation underlie the northeastern and central parts of the map area between the Strait of Canso and the Roman Valley Fault (Fig. 2). The name was assigned by Smith (1980, 1981) to well cleaved siltstone that outcrops along Highway 16 between Boyleston and Tracadie. White and Barr (1998, 1999) extended the distribution of the formation beyond the area studied by Smith (1980, 1981). Two informal members were recognized during the present study, a lower, coarser grained Halfmoon Lake member, and an over-lying finer-grained Lincolnville member. The Halfmoon Lake member is in gradational contact with the underlying Goose Harbour Lake member of the Clam Harbour River Formation, and has a thickness of 600 to 1000 m, estimated from the geological cross section (Ténière 2002). Typical exposures occur on the old Pirate Harbour Road, north of Halfmoon Lake (Fig. 2). The member generally fines upward from coarse pebble conglomerate into light grey pebble sandstone and dark grey siltstone. The dominantly coarse-grained lithologies and well-rounded pebble clasts in the conglomerate suggest a fluvial environment of deposition. In contrast to the high-energy environment represented by the underlying Goose Harbour Lake member, the Halfmoon Lake member was probably deposited in a lower gradient system, distal to alluvial fan(s).

The Lincolnville member conformably overlies the Halfmoon Lake member and is one of the most areally extensive units in the map area (Fig. 2). It is well exposed along the Highway 16 between Boylston and Lincolnville, and has a minimum estimated thickness of 750 m. The lower part of the member consists of dark grey to black laminated siltstone and shale interbedded with quartz arenite. The upper part is a mainly coarser succession of medium-grained to pebble sandstone, minor dark grey siltstone, and rare conglomerate (Fig. 4). The siltstone and shale contain rare Lepidodendropsis plant fragments and spores. Detrital muscovite is common in fine- to medium-grained sandstone, especially from areas adjacent to the Cape Porcupine Complex. The Lincolnville member was probably deposited in a lacustrine environment, with the lower succession formed in deeper water, below wave base, and the upper succession deposited above wave base in the near-shore to shoreline environment.

Rocks assigned to the Caledonia Mills Formation underlie the northwestern part of the map area adjacent to the Glenroy Fault between the Strait of Canso and Fraser Mills (Fig. 2). The name was assigned to rocks in this area by White and Barr (1998, 1999). No fossils have been found in the Caledonia Mills Formation to constrain its age, but it is assigned to the Horton Group on the basis of its concordant relationship with the underlying Tracadie Road Formation, and the local presence of overlying Macumber Formation of the Visean Windsor Group (Fig. 2). The contact with the Macumber Formation is interpreted to be unconformable. In the Lochaber area, the Caledonia Mills Formation is inferred to be in faulted contact with the Knoydart Formation of the Silurian – Devonian Arisaig Group (Fig. 2).

The Caledonia Mills Formation has an estimated thickness of 1500 to 3250 m based on the interpreted geological cross section (Ténière 2002). It consists of maroon to light grey, massive to well-laminated siltstone, shale, sandstone, and conglomerate. The lower part of the formation is dominantly fine grained and consists of weakly laminated and cleaved maroon and green-grey siltstone and shale with thin interbeds of light grey quartz arenite. In the upper part, siltstone units reach a thickness of 8– 12 m and are interbedded with fluviatile sandstone and conglomerate layers of variable thickness (Fig. 5). Rarely, root traces and poorly developed calcrete horizons are present. Small flakes (<1 mm in length) of detrital muscovite are visible on the bedding planes of maroon and light grey sandstone units. The type section for the Caledonia Mills Formation on Black Avon River is typical of the upper part of the formation, and includes an approximately 100 m-thick section of well laminated fine- to medium-grained light grey sandstone units about 10 m thick, interbedded with maroon siltstone units about 8– 10 m thick. The Caledonia Mills Formation is interpreted to represent deposition in a fluvial environment. The dominantly red colour and lack of plant remains or roots may indicate deposition in a semi-arid climate. The lack of thick, homogeneous channel sandstone and conglomerate units and a high proportion of overbank deposits suggest deposition in an anastomosing river system (Miall 1992).

Rocks assigned to the Steep Creek Formation occur in the eastern part of the map area along the Strait of Canso, and the type section designated here is in Steep Creek (Fig. 2). This unit has an estimated thickness of 500 to 750 m and unconformably overlies both the Lincolnville and Goose Harbour Lake members of the Tracadie Road and Clam Harbour River formations, Like the Caledonia Mills Formation, the Steep Creek Formation underlies the Macumber Formation, and it may be facies equivalent to the upper part of the Caledonia Mills Formation, but confirming this relationship is difficult. A sample from the Steep Creek Formation yielded a spore assemblage that suggests a Tournaisian age (Utting 2001; Ténière 2002), whereas no spores were recovered from the Caledonia Mills Formation.

The lower part of the Steep Creek Formation consists of light grey polymictic conglomerate with angular clasts, pebble sandstone, fine-grained laminated sandstone, and interbedded red siltstone, whereas the upper part consists of red and dark grey siltstone and shale, which coarsen upward into a thick, cross-bedded channel sandstone. The lower part of the formation may represent braided-fluvial deposition in an alluvial plain, whereas the upper unit may reflect a transition from alluvial-plain to delta-plain and shallow-lacustrine depositional environments (Miall 1992). The type section of the formation occurs in Steep Creek where a section several hundred metres in thickness consists of mainly fine-grained sandstone, siltstone, and shale typical of the lower part of the formation. The coarse upper part of the formation is well exposed in quarries in the same area.

The Horton Group is commonly regarded as an intra-continental, fluvial to lacustrine basin-fill sequence that over-steps terrane boundaries in the northeastern Appalachian orogen (Calder 1998). In mainland Nova Scotia, the basin-fill sequence rests on rocks of both the Meguma and Avalon terranes, which were brought into juxtaposition along the Cobequid-Chedabucto fault system during the Devonian. Seismic profiles and sedimentary evidence at many localities in Atlantic Canada indicate that Horton Group strata occupy local half grabens with varied polarity. Martel and Gibling (1991) proposed that the Horton Group in the type area was laid down in a half graben during syn-depositional extension along the Cobequid-Chedabucto, or precursor, fault system. The depositional sequence in each subbasin typically consists of (i) a thick basal coarse-grained alluvial succession that rests unconformably on older basement rock, overlain by (ii) a dark-grey, fine-grained lacustrine succession, which is overlain conformably to unconformably by (iii) an upper coarse- to fine-grained alluvial succession.

In its type area, the Horton Group is divided into the Horton Bluff and Cheverie formations (Bell 1929, 1960). Martel and Gibling (1996) subdivided the Horton Bluff Formation into (1) the Harding Brook Member, which unconformably overlies the Lower Paleozoic Meguma Group and represents the basal alluvial sequence, (2) the Curry Brook, Blue Beach and Hurd Creek members which represent the lacustrine sequence, and (3) the Cheverie Formation which represents the upper fluvial sequence. Detailed mapping, as well as sedimentological and paleontological studies, suggest a latest Devonian (Famennian) to Tournaisian age for the Horton Bluff Formation and a latest Tournaisian age for the Cheverie Formation (Martel and Gibling 1996). Comparing units in the Lochaber-Mulgrave area to those in the type area, the Clam Harbour River Formation is broadly similar to the Harding Brook Member as both units consist of a basal alluvial sequence that fines upward into lacustrine-deposited mudstone. The Halfmoon Lake member is similar to the Curry Brook Member, as both contain coarsening-upward shale to sandstone sequences deposited in fluvial-lacustrine environments. The Lincolnville member is similar to the Blue Beach Member, as both units contain dark-grey shale and siltstone deposited in a lacustrine setting, and Lepidodendropsis plant material. The Caledonia Mills Formation is similar to the Cheverie Formation, as both units are coarse grained and have channel and red floodplain deposits (overbank) with minor calcrete. Although the units of the Lochaber-Mulgrave area are lithologically similar to those in the type area, they cannot be precisely correlated due to the lack of well-preserved spore assemblages. Sparse spores from the Tracadie Road and Steep Creek formations indicate that the Horton Group in the Lochaber-Mulgrave area was deposited by the mid-Tournaisian (T₂) (Utting 2001), whereas in the type area, the Horton Group was deposited between the latest Devonian and Late Tournaisian (T₃) (Martel and Gibling 1996). The 340– 335 Ma ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar age from whole-rock samples of the Clam Harbour River and Tracadie Road formations (Reynolds et al. 2004) provide a minimum age for the Horton Group in the Lochaber-Mulgrave area, which approximately coincides with the Tournaisian-Visean boundary, now set at 342 ± 3 Ma (Okulitch 2002).

The St. Marys Basin occupies the present boundary between the Avalon and Meguma terranes in central mainland Nova Scotia, southwest of the study area (Fig. 1). Murphy and Rice (1998) defined six formations in the Horton Group of the St. Marys Basin that they interpreted to be broadly coeval and in large part facies equivalents of one another. Only two of the three typical lithological successions of the Horton Group appear to be represented in the St. Marys Basin. The Little Stewiacke River Formation, which consists of 800– 950 m of interstratified, thinly bedded mudstone, fissile light- to dark-grey and black shale and siltstone, and minor sandstone containing plant debris (Murphy and Rice 1998; Murphy and Hamilton 2000), may equate with the middle lacustrine unit, and hence be broadly correlative with the Tracadie Road Formation. The overlying Graham Hill, Barrens Hills, and Lochiel formations likely represent the upper alluvial succession and in part resemble the Caledonia Mills and Steep Creek formations of the Lochaber-Mulgrave area. Other units (Cross Brook and West River St. Marys formations) do not appear to be represented in the type area of the Horton Group, and may be localized at the southern (Meguma terrane) margin of the St. Marys Basin. Murphy and Rice (1998) suggested that the Chedabucto Fault may not represent the original northern margin of the basin and an unknown portion of the original basin may have been tectonically removed by Late Carboniferous movement along the fault. This interpretation suggests that units formed in the St. Marys Basin may occur north of the present Chedabucto Fault. The Horton Group strata in the Lochaber-Mulgrave area may have originally been deposited in the same basin as strata in the St. Marys Basin, but more detailed comparisons are required to further investigate this possibility.

In western Cape Breton Island, the three lithological successions of the Horton Group are represented by the Creignish, Strathlorne, and Ainslie formations (Hamblin and Rust 1989; Giles et al. 1997a, b, c). Spore assemblages from the upper part of the Creignish Formation are of Tournaisian (T₂) age and those from the Strathlorne and Ainslie formations are of late T₂ to mid T₃ age (Utting and Hamblin 1991). These dominantly mid to late Tournaisian spore assemblages suggest that these formations in western Cape Breton Island may be younger than those in the Lochaber-Mulgrave area, although comparisons with descriptions by Hamblin and Rust (1989) and Giles et al. (1997a, b, c) suggest that they are lithologically similar. The Englands Lake member resembles the Creignish Formation, as both contain alluvial fan conglomerate and red to green-grey siltstone and sandstone. The Goose Harbour Lake member is similar to the lower part of the Strathlorne Formation, as both contain green-grey siltstone and mudstone and minor red silt-stone and sandstone. The Halfmoon Lake member is lithologically similar to the middle part of the Strathlorne Formation, where pebbly sandstone and matrix-supported conglomerate occur in sections interpreted to have formed proximal to fault margins (Hamblin and Rust 1989). The lacustrine shale of the Lincolnville member is similar to rocks in the upper part of the Strathlorne Formation, and the Caledonia Mills Formation is similar to the Ainslie Formation, both being dominated by flu-vial red beds. The Steep Creek Formation does not appear to be represented in western Cape Breton Island, but may be a lateral facies equivalent of the Caledonia Mills/Ainslie Formation.

The Horton Group in the Lochaber-Mulgrave area is interpreted to have been deposited between the Late Devonian (Famennian) and Early Carboniferous (Tournaisian) in a half graben during syn-depositional extension (transtension) along the Cobequid-Chedabucto fault system at the boundary between the Avalon and Meguma terranes. The half-graben may have been continuous with that in which units in the area now known as the St. Marys Basin were deposited. A basal coarse, alluvial succession (Englands Lake member) was unconform-ably deposited over basement, the latter possibly represented in part by the Cape Porcupine Complex (White et al. 2001). Petrographic studies of typical samples from throughout the Horton Group in the Lochaber-Mulgrave area show that the sediments are relatively immature, with abundant feldspar and muscovite (Ténière 2002). Granitic clasts in the Tracadie Road Formation in the vicinity of the Cape Porcupine Complex suggest that the latter may have been the source area. However, single-grain fusion analysis of detrital muscovite from samples in that area yielded ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages mainly in the range 410– 380 Ma, significantly older than muscovite from the Cape Porcupine Complex which yielded ca. 365 Ma ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar plateau ages (Reynolds et al. 2004). Overall, the ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages from detrital muscovite in samples from the Lochaber-Mulgrave area data indicate that the Meguma terrane was probably the source of most sediment (Reynolds et al. 2004), as also suggested by detrital zircon studies in St. Marys Basin (Murphy and Hamilton 2000).

The Horton Group in the Lochaber – Mulgrave area was buried rapidly after deposition and was deformed and meta-morphosed by ca. 340– 335 Ma, as indicated by ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages from the Clam Harbour River and Tracadie Road formations (Reynolds et al. 2004). This rapid burial and deformation may have been caused by thrust sheets originating from the south in a positive flower structure at a restraining bend along the Cobequid-Chedabucto fault system (Webster et al. 1998). The Devonian volcanic and sedimentary rocks exposed in the "Guysborough block" between the Roman Valley and Chedabucto faults may represent a tectonically uplifted block associated with this positive flower structure, and the Roman Valley Fault may represent the trace of a northward-directed thrust fault that buried the Horton Group in the adjacent Lochaber-Mulgrave area, thereby causing folding and regional metamorphism. Although Webster (1996) and Webster et al. (1998) suggested that flower structure developed during the Late Carboniferous (Westphalian C-D), by analogy with similar deformation at that time in southern New Brunswick (Nance, 1987), our data and those of Reynolds et al. (2004) suggest that it occurred earlier, at about 340 – 335 Ma; however, movement likely continued into the Late Carboniferous as dextral transpressive displacement along the Chedabucto-Roman Valley fault system. Folding and faulting in the Visean to Namurian Windsor and Mabou groups in the Lochaber-Mulgrave map area are evidence for on-going deformation. Thermal maturity of these units in the St. Francis River area (Utting 2001) may be due to hot fluids originating from the still-active Roman Valley fault system and moving through these units in the Late Carboniferous. In contrast, the Windsor and Mabou groups in the northern part of the map area (north of the Glenroy Fault) are less deformed and have lower thermal maturities.