DISCLAIMER Before visiting any of the sites described in the New England Intercollegiate Geological Conference guidebooks, you must obtain permission from the current landowners. Landowners only granted permission to visit these sites to the organizers of the original trips for the designated dates of the conference. It is your responsibility to obtain permission for your visit. Be aware that this permission may not be granted. Especially when using older guidebooks in this collection, note that locations may have changed drastically. Likewise, geological interpretations may differ from current understandings. Please respect any trip stops designated as “no hammers”, “no collecting” or the like. Consider possible hazards and use appropriate caution and safety equipment. NEIGC and the hosts of these online guidebooks are not responsible for the use or misuse of the guidebooks. e over sis QE 78.3 <* .N4 •>/• -^ "V 1970 fi i- >A- 19 7 ^f35^« 7- y.J I > '• N. E. I. G. C. .V>v ^//- -^/ RANGELEY LAKES - 1^ DEAD RIVER BASIN REGION it^. 3 MbDD DDMIS TDflO NEW ENGLAND INTERCOLLEGIATE GEOLOGICAL CONFERENCE GUIDEBOOK for field trips in The Rangeley Lakes - Dead River Basin Region, Western Maine Gary M. Boone Editor 62nd Annual Meeting October 2, 3, and 4, 1970 University of New Hampshire . New England Intercollegiate Geological Conference (N.E.I.G.C.) The N.E.I.G.C. was begun in 1901 as an informal field trip, organized by William Morris Davis, to the Connecticut Valley of Western Massachusetts. The 1970 Conference in Rangeley marks the 62nd annual meeting (and 6th in the State of Maine) . Throughout its history the sole purpose of the N.E.I.G.C. has been to bring together in the field those geologists interested and active in New England Geology, to consider and discuss the results of new mapping and other geologic studies . .L 2L<5 Q£ D.W. Caldwell, Secretary, N.E.I.G.C. 170 Conference Organization Gary M. Boone Eugene L. Boudette Co-chairmen Robert H. Moench Field trip leaders and guidebook authors: G.M. Boone, Department of Geology, Syracuse University, Syracuse, N.Y. H.W. Borns, Department of Geological Sciences, University of Maine, Orono , Maine E.L. Boudette, U.S. Geological Survey & Dartmouth College, Hanover, N.H. P.E. Calkin, Department of Geology, State University of New York at Buffalo, N.Y. R.G. Doyle, State Geologist, Maine Geological Survey, Augusta, Maine R. Fournier , Department of Geology, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio J.C. Green, Department of Geology, University of Minnesota, Duluth, Minnesota C.V. Guidotti, Department of Geology & Geophysics, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin D.S. Harwood, U.S. Geological Survey, Washington, D.C. C. Koteff, U.S. Geological Survey, Boston, Massachusetts R.H. Moench, U.S. Geological Survey, Denver, Colorado F. Pessl, Jr., U.S. Geological Survey, Boston, Massachusetts J. Raabe, Northwestern Connecticut Community College, Winsted, Connecticut W.W. Shilts, Geological Survey of Canada, Ottawa, Canada Price of guidebook: $4.00 (U.S.) Requests for orders may be addressed to; Gary M. Boone Department of Geology Syracuse University Syracuse, New York 13210 11 TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE Conference Organization D.W. Caldwell, Secretary. ii Forward and Acknowledgments Gary M. Boone, Editor .... v Bedrock geology of the Rangeley Lakes - Dead River basin region, western Maine. Gary M. Boone, Eugene L. Boudette, and Robert H. Moench. 1 Introduction to the Quaternary history in the highlands region of western Maine, southeastern Quebec, and northern New Hampshire. Harold W. Borns, Jr., Parker E. Calkin, Carl Koteff, Fred Pessl, and W.W. Shilts 25 Trip A-1 Stratigraphy of the northwest limb of the Merrimack synclinorium in the Kennebago Lake, Rangeley, and Phillips quadrangles, western Maine. R.H. Moench and E.L. Boudette A-1, 1-25 A-2 Structural relations in the Kingfield quadrangle, Maine. John Raabe A-2, lr-7r Tectonic and metamorphic history of Lower Devonian rocks in the Carrabassett Valley north of Kingfield, Maine. Gary M. Boone A-2, 1-18 A-3 Geology of the lower Paleozoic rocks in the Boundary Mountain anticlinorium. David S. Harwood, John C. Green, and Charles V. Guidotti A-3, 1-19 B-1 Pre-Silurian flysch relict structures in cordierite - K-Feldspar granofelses. Long Falls of Dead River, Somerset County, western Maine. Gary M. Boone B-1, 1-16 B-2 Metamorphic petrology, mineralogy and polymetamorphism in a portion of N. W. Maine. Charles V. Guidotti B-2, 1-29 C Pre-Silurian rocks in the Boundary Mountains anticlinorium, northwestern Maine. E.L. Boudette C , 1-21 111 PAGE Trip D Evidence for premetamorphic faulting in the Rangeley quadrangle, western Maine. R.H. Moench D, 1-12 E-1 Pleistocene history and glacio-tectonic features in the Lac M^gantic Region, Quebec. William W. Shilts E-1, 1-14 E-2 Quaternary history of northwestern Maine. Harold W. Borns and Parker E. Calkin E-2, 1-6 F-2 Sulfide mineralization in Pre-Silurian rocks, Thrasher Peaks, western Maine. Rene Fournier F-2, 1-8 F-3 Base metal ore deposits of southern Hancock County. Robert G. Doyle F-3, 1-9 G Glacial and postglacial stratigraphy along Nash Stream, northern New Hampshire. Fred Pessl and Carl Koteff G, 1-15 H Nature of the Taconic orogeny in the Cupsuptic quadrangle, west-central Maine. David S. Harwood H, 1-17 IV Foreward and Acknowledgements This fall we converge in Maine in a year that coincides with the State's sesquicentennial . The present conference, offered in the spirit of a wilderness experiment, is being held in surroundings that are still relatively rustic, and where several individuals, rather than an institution, collectively act as host. Those in the vanguard of modern geological mapping and topical research here began their work in 1956. The results of their work, like ours, are only partially published or are still in progress. One hundred ninety-five years ago, another group, just as determined, and perhaps as motley, came through the Dead River region on another wilderness experiment. They trekked northwestward, were beset by a hurricane, used bateaux where they could, and in that earlier winter of discontent, history reminds us that they had some difficulty when they reached Quebec City. For our present Conference, however, we are concerned with the history of southeastward-encroaching ice-sheets and of deformed rocks in which much of the structure, though not all, gives southeast-facing successions of layered rocks. You will not be traversing continuously southeastward on the various trips, but the traditional purpose of the New England Intercollegiate Geological Conference, which is to spur the discussion of field geologic relation- ships, ensures by its very nature a more constructive approach to progress in mutual understanding than the objectives of the northwest- ward-marching group of nearly two centuriesago. Since the times of Benedict Arnold and Timothy Bigelow, and of William King, Maine's first governor, the region in which the Conference convenes has become widely known for its woods products-oriented Industries, and for its sporting spirit in many respects. In the beginning of this 150th year since Maine severed the cord with its Commonwealth neighbor to the south, the questionable advance of civili- zation has done little to erode the elemental solidarity of the Down- east viewpoint.-^1 The region is one of special bedrock stratigraphic significance, for it forms a bridge between geology which is interpreted with relative confidence in Maine, Quebec, and the Maritime Provinces to the northeast, and in New Hampshire and Vermont to the southwest. To the northeast the metamorphic grade decreases, and primary depositional features and fossils are better dispersed. To the southwest regional grade increases and discoveries of critical fossil localities have been fewer. This generality would not be news to the 19th Century geologists Hitchcock or Jackson, but the problems and potential answers lurking in the meta- morphic transition are still key factors with us today. Growing interest in the Pleistocene history of the region is evident in studies that are extending the more clearly documented histories in the Atlantic and St. Lawrence lowlands headward toward the Boundary Mountains watershed. It may be that a Cl^ 'spike' will soon 1. Cf. Strunk, Jud , 1969, Downeast Viewpoint: Columbia, CS9990; 2 sides. be driven to unite the approaching paths of research on each side of the international boundary. To acquaint students and professional geologists with a regional geologic setting, introductions to the bedrock, and surficial geology precede the separately authored discussions of field trip localities. Because the Rangeley Lakes-Dead River Basin Region is rural, and much of it forested, logistic responsibility for the conference has been divided among the hosting group of leaders to cope with the various demands and constraints of tall-timber geology. Although some in- convenience may be experienced in transportation, shelter, and quest for sustenance, the hosts believe that this will be more than repaid in terms of the region's October scenery, pure air and water, spectacu- lar outcrops, and friendly residents. None of the conference organizers nor, with one exception, scarcely any two trip leaders reside in the same part of the country. Neverthe- less, though instant communication has oft-times been difficult, the ready cooperation of all colleagues in this venture is gratefully appreciated The work of Eugene Boudette and Robert Moench, as co-organizers, has been a key factor in accomplishing the many and varied tasks. To them, and to Tina Cotton and others of the U.S. Geological Survey offices in Boston, I offer grateful thanks. The generous cooperation of Lincoln R. Page in these respects is very much appreciated. I also acknowledge the support of the Maine Geological Survey toward the operation of the Conference.