Quaternary Geology of Howard's Pass And
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QUATERNARY GEOLOGY OF HOWARD’S PASS AND APPLICATIONS TO DRIFT PROSPECTING by Derek G. Turner B.Sc., University of Victoria, 2005 THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF SCIENCE In the Department of Earth Sciences © Derek G. Turner, 2008 SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY Fall, 2008 All rights reserved. This work may not be reproduced in whole or in part, by photocopy or other means, without permission of the author. APPROVAL Name: Derek Glen Turner Degree: Master of Science Title of Thesis: Quaternary Geology of Howard’s Pass and Applications to Drift Prospecting Examining Committee: Chair: Dr. James A. MacEachern Associate Professor of Earth Sciences ______________________________________ Dr. Brent C. Ward Senior Supervisor Associate Professor of Earth Sciences ______________________________________ Mr. Jeffery D. Bond Supervisor Surficial Geologist, Yukon Geological Survey ______________________________________ Dr. Lionel E. Jackson Jr. Supervisor Quaternary Geologist, Geological Survey of Canada ______________________________________ Dr. Victor M. Levson External Examiner Quaternary Geologist, British Columbia Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources Date Defended/Approved: August 6th, 2008 _________________________ ii ABSTRACT The Quaternary geology of Howard’s Pass was studied by creating a 1:50 000- scale terrain inventory map of the area and examining the ice-flow history of the region. Four stages of ice flow occurred in Howard’s Pass during the late Wisconsinan McConnell glaciation. The first stage is marked by ice growth from local cirques. During the second stage, an ice divide developed east of the Nahanni River, with ice flowing southwest across Howard’s Pass. During continued ice sheet growth in stage 3, the ice divide either migrated or a second divide grew to the southwest in the Logan Mountains and ice flowed northward across the study area. Stage 4 is marked by deglaciation and topographically controlled ice-flow. This last phase of ice-flow is the most important for drift prospecting in the valley bottoms. Conversely, drift transport directions at higher elevation are likely remnant from earlier stages of ice-flow. To investigate the potential of till and mobile-metal-ion geochemistry for drift prospecting in Howard’s Pass, a survey was conducted over a known deposit. The promising results from this survey suggest that these are possible tools for future exploration in other drift-covered areas of Howard’s Pass. Keywords: Drift prospecting; Quaternary stratigraphy; Ice-flow history; Terrain inventory mapping; MMI geochemistry; Terrestrial cosmogenic nuclides iii DEDICATION This thesis is dedicated to the memories of my father, Ralph Turner, and my friend, Geoff Bradshaw. Both were inspirations and are deeply missed. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First, I would like to thank Selwyn Resources Ltd. for their support in all aspects of the work. Without their help, this project would have been impossible. Next, a special thank you to Dr. Brent Ward and Mr. Jeffrey Bond. Their guidance, patience and encouragement were essential to the project and have made me a better researcher. My other committee member, Dr. Lionel Jackson, and my external examiner, Dr. Vic Levson, made significant contributions to improving the quality of the following work. This gratitude is extended to Dr. John Gosse and Dr. Beth McClenahan, whose interest in my work and help with the interpretation of the terrestrial cosmogenic nuclide dating and geochemistry, respectively, is much appreciated. Funding for this project was in part provided by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) through an Industrial Postgraduate Scholarship. Funding was also supplied by the Northern Scientific Training Program (NSTP). The Yukon Geological Survey not only supported this research financially, but also logistically and intellectually. The environment they provide encourages inexperienced scientists to pursue their interest in Yukon geology. My thanks are also extended to the numerous field assistants, including Kristy Long and Jennifer Owen, who put up with me on long, hot traverses in difficult conditions. v Finally, thank you to Jillian Evers, Julia Turner and Brennen Cross. Their love and patience has inspired me and kept me motivated through all the challenges along the way. While any amount of truth obtained in this thesis is shared with all those mentioned above, all errors remain the sole possession of the author. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Approval..............................................................................................................ii Abstract.............................................................................................................. iii Dedication .......................................................................................................... iv Acknowledgements............................................................................................v Table of Contents .............................................................................................vii List of Figures.................................................................................................... ix List of Tables ...................................................................................................xiii 1 Introduction......................................................................................................1 1.1 Physiography...............................................................................................2 1.2 Bedrock Geology .........................................................................................5 1.3 Regional Quaternary Geology.....................................................................9 2 Terrain inventory mapping ...........................................................................13 2.1 Previous Work...........................................................................................13 2.2 Methodology.............................................................................................. 14 2.3 Map Legend .............................................................................................. 15 2.3.1 Texture ...................................................................................................16 2.3.2 Surficial Material.....................................................................................17 2.3.2.1 Bedrock ...............................................................................................17 2.3.2.2 Morainal...............................................................................................18 2.3.2.3 Glaciofluvial.........................................................................................19 2.3.2.4 Glaciolacustrine...................................................................................22 2.3.2.5 Fluvial..................................................................................................24 2.3.2.6 Colluvium.............................................................................................25 2.3.2.7 Organic................................................................................................27 2.3.3 Surficial Expression................................................................................30 2.3.4 Geomorphological Processes.................................................................30 2.3.5 On-Site Symbols.....................................................................................33 2.5 Summary ...................................................................................................37 3 Quaternary Stratigraphy ...............................................................................39 3.1 Methodology.............................................................................................. 39 3.2 River Sections ...........................................................................................42 3.3 Esker Sedimentology.................................................................................49 3.3.1 Facies Descriptions and Interpretations .................................................49 vii 3.3.2 Paleoflow Measurements .......................................................................63 3.4 Drill Core Stratigraphy ............................................................................... 65 3.5 Summary ...................................................................................................69 4 Ice-flow history ..............................................................................................70 4.1 Methodology.............................................................................................. 71 4.2 Ice-Growth Stages.....................................................................................72 4.2.1 Stage One – Alpine Stage ......................................................................72 4.2.2 Stage Two – Nahanni Stage...................................................................73 4.2.3 Stage Three – Logan Stage ...................................................................77 4.2.4 Stage Four and Five – Don Stages I and II ............................................81 4.3 Deglaciation and Deglacial Chronology..................................................... 87 4.4 Implications of Ice-Flow History for Drift Prospecting ................................94 4.5 Discussion and Summary..........................................................................97