MATAPEDIA LAKE AREA, PART of the COUNTIES of MATANE, MATAPEDIA and RIMOUSKI PROVINCE of QUEBEC, CANADA Department of Mines and Maritime Fisheries
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RG 009(A) MATAPEDIA LAKE AREA, PART OF THE COUNTIES OF MATANE, MATAPEDIA AND RIMOUSKI PROVINCE OF QUEBEC, CANADA Department of Mines and Maritime Fisheries Honourable EDGAR ROCHETTE, Minister A.-O. DUFRESNE, Deputy Minister BUREAU OF MINES DIVISION OF GEOLOGICAL SURVEYS I. W. JONES, Chief GEOLOGICAL REPORT No. 9 MATAPÉDIA LAKE AREA PARTS OF THE COUNTIES OF MATANE, MATAPÉDIA AND RIMOUSKI by E. Aubert de la Rue QUEBEC RÉDEMPTI PARADIS PRINTER TO HIS MAJESTY THE KING 1941 e= des Richesses naturel :oc da bec :ïE..vai:8 DOCUMENTATIOiu Tt.,rl._~OüE , MATAPÉDIA LAKE AREA PARTS OF THE COUNTIES OF MATANE, MATAPEDIA, AND RIMOUSKI by E. Aubert de la Rüe TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE 1 NTRODUCTION 5 Location and area 5 Means of access 5 Method of work, and acknowledgments 6 Previous work and bibliography 6 DESCRIPTION OF AREA 8 Topography 8 Rivers and lakes 8 Resources and settlement 9 GENERAL GEOLOGY 10 Table of formations 11 Lower Ordovician: Sillery formation 11 Middle (?) Ordovician: Poh6mIgamook formation 15 Silurian: Niagara formation 17 Igneous rocks 19 Ordovician volcanic series 19 Devonian (?) intrusive series 20 Quaternary 22 Glaciation and glacial deposits 22 Marine and fluviatile deposits 23 STRUCTURAL GEOLOGY 23 ECONOMIC GEOLOGY 24 Metallics 24 Chromite 24 Copper 25 Iron 29 Gold 29 Lead ... 30 Non-metallics 30 Asbestos 30 Anthraxolite 30 Marl. 31 Petroleum 31 Soapstone and tale 31 Peat 32 Building materials 32 Slate 32 Clay 32 Limestone 32 Granite and gneiss 37 Sandstone and quartzite 37 Sand and gravel 38 — 4 — TABLE OF CONTENTS -Conlintbed MAP AND ILLLSTR,ATIONS Map. No. 497--Matapédia Lake Area, Parts of Matane, Matapédia and Rimouski counties (In pocket) Figure 1.--Serpentine belt of Awantjish township 21 Figure 2.—Principal limestone outcrops 33 PLATES (After page 20) Plate 1. - - A.--Area underlain by Sillery shales. View from a point a little east of Saint-Damase. B. Steeply dipping Sillery shales along the St. Lawrence, a little east of Baie-des-Sables. Plate 11.—A.—Outcrop of lower Ordovician quartzite, St-1 Prie parish, range Ili, Matane township. B.—Quarry of Sillery sandstone at Grand Remous, Métis River valley. Plate I II.--A.—Outcrop of calcareous conglomerate (Lower Ordovician) on range X, Tessier township. B.—Calcareous conglomerate (Lower Ordovician) near Ste-Jeanne-d'Are, Cahot township. Plate IV.- A. -Beds of quartzite of Val-Brillant formation, along the south shore of Matapédia lake, a mile west of Val-Brillant. B.—Islands of Matapédia lake formed of Ordovician arkose and basalt. Plate V.- A.- Quarry of Silurian limestone, one mile west of Val-Brillant. B.--Silurian quartzite, interbedded with black limestone. Quarry one mile west of Val-Brillant. Plate VI.-- A.- Outcrop of Silurian limestone on range 11 of Awantjish township. B.—Red shales of Sillery, alternating with thin beds of white quartzite, :Macnider township. Plate V I I--A.--Fournier lake, a little east of Mount Saint-Pierre, Awantjish township. Area underlain by Silurian calcareous shales. B.---Notre-Dame mountains, in the region of Saint-Cléophas. Plate VIII.- A. Contact zone between serpentine and Silurian quartzite, Awantjish township. B.—Trench opened in a serpentine outcrop. Lot I I, range IV, Awantjish township. MATAPÉDIA LAKE AREA * PARTS OF THE COUNTIES OF MATANE, MATAPÉDIA, AND RIMOUSKI by E. Aubert de la Rile IN'ITHODII("TION LOCATION AND AREA During the summer of 1938, the writer made a geological study of a triangular area adjacent to the south shore of the Saint-Lawrence, ex- tending along the river from Father Point on the southwest to Sainte- Félicité on the northeast, a distance of 60 miles, and having its southeast corner in the vicinity of Val-Brillant, on the south shore of Matapédia lake, about 24 miles south of Sainte-Félicité. The map-area embraces the whole of Matane, Macnider, and Cabot townships and of Métis and Matane seigniories, and parts of Fleuriault,. Awantjish, Langis, Tessier, Saint-Denis, Massé, Nemtayé, and Cherbourg townships and Lessard, Lepage-Thibierge, and Matapédia Lake seigniories. The area thus outlined lies between 48°20' and 48°50' north latitude and 67°20' and 68°30' west longitude, and has an area of about 700 square miles. MEANS OF ACCESS The main Quebec-Halifax line of the Canadian National railway, following the shore of the Saint-Lawrence, continues in the map-area as far northward as Mont-Joli and there turns eastward, passing through Val-Brillant and close to the south shore of Matapédia lake and so out of the area. From Mont-Joli, also, a branch line of the railway extends northward along the Saint-Lawrence to Matane. By automobile, the area is easily reached over the Quebec-Gaspé highway, which, like the railway, here closely parallels the Saint-Lawrence. By this route, Matane is 250 miles from Quebec city. Branching inland from this, highway are several secondary roads, the principal of which, from west to east within the map-area, are as follows: Sainte-Luce to Saint- Donat; Priceville or Metis through Saint-Moïse to Sayabec; Baie-des-Sables through Saint-Damase to Sayabec; and Matane through the valley of the Matane river and Saint-Vianney to Amqui, at the eastern end of Mata- pédia lake. In addition to these, a well developed network of country roads covers the area, so that almost all parts of it may be reached easily by automobile. Some sections, however, are heavily forested, particularly the hilly country around Awantjish in the extreme south, the district north of Matapédia lake, and that between Saint-Damase and Saint- Leandre, and travel in such sections is difficult, even on foot. (*) Translated from the French. — 6 — Matane is a regular port of call for vessels of the Compagnie de Navi- gation du Bas Saint-Laurent; and at most of the villages along the Saint- Lawrence there are wharves at which the smaller river boats can pick up and discharge cargo and passengers. METHOD OF WORK AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Three months, from July to October, were spent in the field, and during that time traverses totalling close to 400 miles were made. All important outcrops were examined and mapped, and visits were paid to all localities reported by residents in the area to contain mineral deposits. Plans, on a scale of one mile equals two inches, prepared by the Pro- vincial Department of Lands and Forests from aerial photographs, were used in the field; also the regional map at three miles to one inch published by the same Department. The geology was mapped on a base of three miles to one inch. Thanks are due to Dr. J. L. P. Landry of Mont-.Joli, Mr. P. Plante of Sainte-Angèle, and Messrs. Peter Forbes and E. Marquis of Matane, who kindly guided the writer to various localities and also supplied much useful information concerning the area. Louis de Gonzague Desehênes, of Saint-Joseph-de-Lepage, acted as assistant during these investigations. PREVIOUS WORK AND BIBLIOGRAPHY The earliest geological work within the map-area was that of Alexander Murray, in 1845. In the years that followed, many distinguished geologists visited the area, either to make a special study of some particular feature of the geology or in the course of reconnaissance surveys of more extensive regions. Thus Logan, Bell, Ells, Low, Harrington, Dawson (Sir William), Bailey, and McInnes all made important contributions to our knowledge of the geology. In more recent times, numerous reports have been pub- lished dealing with restricted sections of the area, as the vicinity of Mata- pédia lake, or with wider regions of which it forms a part, many of them concerned with some particular topic or phase of the geology, as physio- graphy, palmeontology, structure, or glaciation. IJp to the present, how- ever, there has been no detailed study of the geology of the map-area as a whole. BIBLIOGRAPHY (1) MURRAY, ALEXANDER, Report on the Geologg of the "'Wane, Ste. Aimee, and St. Jolie Rivers, Gaspé; Geol. Surv. Can., Rept. of Progress, 1845-46, pp. 99-118. (2) Loo. , SIR WILL, AM, Geology of Canada, 1868 (Chap. XVI: The Gaspe Series pp. 390-453); Geol. Surv. Can., 1863. (3) BELL, ROBERT, (in the Superficial Geology of the Gaspé Peninsula; Can. Nat., Vol. VIII, 1863, pp. 17.5-183. (4) ELLS, R. W., Report on. Explorations and Surveys in the Interior of Gospni Penrn.sa.la and Prince Eel ward Island; Geol. Surv. Can., Rept. of Progress, 1882-83-84, l'art E, pp. 1-34. (5) Low, A. P., Report on E.rplorations and Surreys in the Interior of Gaspé Peninssel, Geol. Surv. Can., Rept. of Progress, 1882-83-84, Part F, pp. 1-21. (6) DAwsox, Sin WILLI AM, On New Species of Fossil Sponges front the Siluro-Cambrian at Little Métis on the Lower St. Lawrence; (Including Notes on the Specimens, by G. J. Hinde); Roy. Soc. Can., Trans., Vol. VII, See. IV, 1889, pp. 31-55. (7) DAWSON, Sin WILLIAM, Note on Fossil Sponges from the Quebec Group (Lower (ambro-Silurian) at Little Métis, Canada (abst.); Geol. Soc. Am., Bull., Vol. 4, 1893, pp. 409-410. (8) BAILEY, L. W. and Mel NNES, W., Report on Portions of the Province of Quebec and Adjoining Areas in New Brunswick and Maine; Geol. Surv. Can., Ann. Rept., Vol. V, Part M, 1890-91, pp. 1-28. (9) YOUNG., G. A., Annotated Guide: Bic to 11atapédia .1- unction; Geol. Surv. Can., Guide Book No. 1, Eastern Excursion, Int. Geol. Congress, 1913, pp. 79-85. (10) CRI CRM AY, G. W., Structure and Stratigraphy of the Matapédia Valley, Gaspé, Quebec; Geol. Soc. Am., Bull., Vol. 41, 1930, pp. 116-117.