[2] It was first described in the Kanguk Peninsula of the Axel Heiberg Island, along the shore of the Stand Fiord by Souther in 1963.

[3] The formation occurs throughout the Sverdrup Basin and the southern Queen Elizabeth Islands.

The Kanguk Formation is composed of dark shale and siltstone with interbeds of sandstone, bentonite and tuff.

[1] Thicker sandstone and conglomerate beds occur in the western reaches in Eglinton Island.

The Kanguk Formation preserves an extensive record of shelf assemblages rich in benthic foraminifera that reveal numerous pulses of local hypoxia.