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Cambrian Geology of the Mackenzie Corridor G.K

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Cambrian Geology of the Mackenzie Corridor G.K CAMBRIAN GEOLOGY OF THE MACKENZIE CORRIDOR G.K. Williams January 1987 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF CANADA COMMISSION GEOLOGIQUE DU CANADA OPEN FILE 1429 Department of Energy, Mines and Resources Institute of Sedimentary and Petroleum Geology 3303 - 33rd Street N. W. Calgary, Alberta T2L 2A7 CONTENTS 1 Preamble 3 Geological setting 3 Cambrian seaways 5 Tectonic setting 5 Depositional units, age 7 Stratigraphy 8 Colville Hills Depocentre 9 Mackenzie Plains Depocentre 11 Field data 12 Subsurface data 13 Between Great Bear and Great Sla ve Lakes 14 Outcrops flanking the Brock; Inlier 14 Subsurface, west and north of the salt basin 15 Subsurface, McConnell Arch 19 Some notes on the Cambrian in the western mountainous belt 25 Tectonics 25 Precambrian tectonics 2 5 Ancient structures 25 Late Proterozoic structures 26 The sub-Cambrian erosion surface 27 Cambrian tectonics 27 Aklavik Arch 27 Peel Arch 29 Tathlina Arch 29 Root Basin 29 Liard Line 30 Rift-related features 31 Post-Cambrian tectonics 31 Pre-Laram ide 33 Laramide 35 Some problems 35 The Keele wells 37 Correlation, local 39 Correlation, regional 40 Age of the Saline River Formation 43 Age of the Pre-Identifiable Paleozoic (PIP) sandstones or quartzites 44 Cambrian climate 46 Petroleum prospects 51 Summary of pertinent new concepts 52 References Illustrations Figures frontispiece 1. Index to surface geological reports, Mackenzie Corridor. 2 2. Middle Cambrian paleogeography. 4 3. Cambrian tectonic elements. - 2 - Coi"relation diagrams Figui"es 6 C-1. Northern Cambria n formations in relation to southern grand cycles. 10 C-2. Field sections from Aitken et al., 1973, flanks of Mackenzie Plain depocentre. 16 C-3. Cambrian correlaton chart, southern Mackenzie Corridor. 17 C-4. Cambrian correlation chart, central Mackenz ie Corridor. 18 C-5. Cambrian correlation cha rt, western Mackenzie Corridor. Well Log Sections Figures L-1. Colville Hills to Great, Sla ve Lake area. L-2. West flank of McConnell Arch. Diagrammatic cross-sections Figures 21 X-1. Angular unconformity below Upper Cambria n Taiga Formation, Wind River map, -65°, 134°45'. 21 X-2. Cambrian strata, Misty Creek Embayment to Redstone Arch. 22 X-3. Cambrian strata, southern Selwyn Basin to Redstone Arch. 23 X-4. Northwest to southeast disappearance of Cambrian strata, southern Selwyn Basin to northeastern British Columbia. 28 X-5. North to south truncation of Cambrian strata over Tathlina Arch C62°, 118°). 32 X-6. Hypothetical early Paleozoic tensional tectonic regime. 36 X- 7. Keele area, three of many possible interpretations. 38 X-8. Hypothetical Cambrian facies relationships, arch to basin. 41 X-9. East to west disappearance of Cambrian strata over Redstone Arch. 45 X-10. Northwest to southeast truncation of Cambrian strata, Fort Simpson area C62°, 122°). Maps, scale 1:1000,000 Map 1 Cambrian; miscellaneous data; Mackenzie Corridor. Map 2 Distribution of Old Fort Island sandstone and equivalents; Mackenzie Corr idor. Map 3 Saline River, Mount Cap, Old Fort Island formations and equivalents (mostly Middle Cambrian); Mackenzie Corridor. Map 4 Cambrian salt basin in relation to the Colville Hills, Franklin Mountains and the Keele Arch; Mackenzie Corridor. 128° I 120° r-----.-:' 7 0 ° BROCK - RIVER Paper 70-32 13-1970 SIMPSON LAKE EALY LAKE I ••••16-1969 , 69-10 I s-1969 I ,- 680 ~CANn ... l Paper 14-17 COLVILLE LAKE & COPPERMINE 1410A FORr N LAC RIVER "'"HOPE BElOT I I L l -" ~·~·~ 0 . ' ·-1969> ' 6-1969 I s,p- ~ tr.ER 1 I SA N~ I CANYON Papet 74-13 1 64 ° ----- I O.F. 221 I 1390A O.F. 402 I O.F. 402 I \ \ _ I SEKWI I 1 c::: WRIGLEY MOUNTAIN lAKE Mem. 366 Paper 62-331 P~er 62-33 HORN RIVER 1315A 1374A 1373A Paper 59-11 130° GLACIER ROOT CAMSELL 1372A LAKE I FIG. 1 RIVER a'eNo Mem. 366 Papers1-13 61-13 Pap ~ r 1314A 1376A 1375A INDEX TO SURFACE FlAT RIVER GEOLOGICAL REPORTS, FALLS I LAKE I Mem. 366 Paper 60-191Paper ~0-19 TROUT MACKENZIE CORRIDOR 131JA 1378A 1377A COAL RIVER/ LA BICHE 1371A 50 100 150 200 RIVER Kilometres Paper 68-381 Paper 59-6 11-1968 1380A 12ao 124° PREAMBLE Mackenzie Corridor refers to the area between 60°N and the Arctic coast (excluding the Mackenzie Delta) and between the Precambrian on the east and either the Mackenzie Mountains or longitude 136°W on the west. Although this area represents, to some degree, a geological province, the term 'corridor' relates primarily to north-south transportation routes: the Mackenzie River itself, roads, air routes, present and (probably) future pipelines. Within the Mackenzie Corridor there are, at present, three known petroliferous areas: 1) Pointed , Mountain area ( -60° N, l22°W), gas from Lower­ Middle Devonian carbonates, with pipeline connections in place; 2) Norman Wells area, (-65°N, 127°W), oil from a Middle Devonian reef, with pipeline connections in place; and 3) the Tedji Play (-67°N, 127°W), gas in the basal Cambrian sandstone, not connected by pipeline. If and when a gas pipeline is built to tap Mackenzie Delta reserves, the Tedji fields will probably be connected. This present report on Cambrian rocks is one of a series of open file reports on the Corridor area which will, in the future, be integrated into a single report. · Published Corridor reports to date are Williams, 1985a and b, 1986a, b and c. The primary focus of this report is on the pre-Franklin Mountain Formation Cambrian section of the plains areas east of the Richardson and Mackenzie Mountains, with particular regard to the interests of petroleum explorationists. Hence the emphasis is on the subsurface geology. However, for an appreciation of Cambrian depositional history of the plains, it is essential to have some knowledge of the Mountains. Hence the Cambrian of the mountains is briefly reviewed, this information is presented mainly in graphic form. This a review paper, based on published as well as unpublished material. For subsurface lithological data I have relied heavily on company well reports and lithologs by Canadian Stratigraphic Service Ltd., as well as published and unpublished subsurface ->o ....~ ' ',, J FIG. 2 I MIDDLE CAMBRIAN GEOGRAPHY L/.U:/d LAND ~SHALLOW ~SEA 0 s 01 t-1 t1 \) ~ e" :_o ~~~1 DEEP SEA "' o~a:~ 1- w <((/) ARCHES N ::> w ~ Ob w u AKLAVIK ....... A (/) OGILVIE ........0 REDSTONE ...... R TATHLINA .......T ")> PEACE RIVER .... P ss 0- "- 0 DEPOCENTRES MISTY CREEK .... M 0 SALT.......... S 0 m SELWYN ..... SV )> z so ·· ·- •.~:===~~=E=:~:f :f~~ti:.::.,=r·-· 10°N ~ ~ GKW/ 85 GSC - 3 - studies. In addition I ha ve logged samples and core of many of the wells. Surface dat a are derived from Geological Survey of Canada maps and reports shown on the index map (Fig. 1). Here also, over some 15 years of fi e ld work in the north, I have visited many of the outcrops of the plains and easternmost mountains. This report is weight ed in favor of interpretation, often reinterpretation, rather than description. Cambrian rocks of the subsurface are well described in reports by Tassonyi (1969), Meijer Drees (1975, 1986) and Gilbert (1973); these, plus pages 23 to 33 of Aitken et al. (1973) should be read fn conjunction with this present report. Where I have reinterpreted concepts on depositional history or correlation the reasons are not necessarily to discredit the old, but to introduce rival, competing concepts which may show the petroleum potential of the area in a different light. This report has been read by M.P. Cecile and G. Macauley, their suggestions are gratefully acknowledged. GEOLOGICAL SETTING Cambrian seaways Figure 2 is a hypothetical reconstruction of the geography during a Middle Cambrian highstand, or transgressive phase. The southern part of this seaway is based on the maps of Aitken (1978, Figs. 8, 9). The extensive shallow sea in the northernmost part of the map is almost entirely hypothetical. The belts labelled 'deep sea' may have extended to oceanic depths in places along their outboard margins, however this is unknown; possibly these areas were entirely intracratonic downwarps. The eastern landmass was the Canadian Shield, the main source area of the mature basal Cambrian sandstones. Most, but not necessarily all, of the numerous islands within the shallow sea were tectonic arches or ridges. During Cambrian lowstands and/or times of intense tectonic differentiation many of these islands must have coalesced to partially isolate segments of the northern shallow seaway; the Cambrian salt basin is proof that some isolation or restriction did occur. However, there is no faunal evidence to indicate 0 ..... CO 1\) ~ 0 ,_ 0 .. I Ill Depocentre ·· Limit of Cambrian salt 8!Jo i V Cambrian volcanics .. I ~ ' f;.. - .s. * Cambrian gas well 1 COL VILLE I . :~ ··>; t. - ~ - + + + + Future Keele Arch - HILLS ~ ( * + + + (beginning in Late Silurian) I ~ . :P' Root Basin (beginning in :0 M. Ordovician or earlier?) 0 (/) ~() 0z rj;. FIG. 3 - '"?·( CAMBRIAN TECTONIC - / ELEMENTS V v-:::::-- . 0 100 200 ) .p,. ·/_ ~ '"\'l -y~ Kilometres 84o~GIL\/IE. ARCH </."Az 0\S'/- 01- (~\S',.>-;.. " • C' ~ v \1 "').\ 1--0/ SELWYN \ //~ J;.,z,r BASIN ( '} ~ . ~.<:- ~ ~V. '<;- '""-·\V \..... ~ } ~ TATHLINA ARCH eoo·~ \ C!. ...r-.,Jv~ ~ . ?00 ··-. V <'l.,.V\ ·- ~-. ·- o/eo ··-.. --- •• --- • • V-.> \ • • --•• _.- . --.o_ • ~··-- .... ··-··-··-··-··-·· 1\) ;:: CC) .... 0 1\)0 GKW-86 J ~~ I \ 0 - 5 - any prolonged separation between the southern a nd northern deep sea belts (Aitken, 1986, pers. co m m.). The limits of preserved Cambrian strata shown on maps 2 and 3 are, in most places, if not everywhere, a result of intra- or post-Cambria n erosion. Tectonic setting The main tectonic elements that influenced early Paleozoic sedimentation are shown on Figure 3, these will be discussed in more detail later (Cambrian Tectonics). I From his study of Windermere (Late Proterozoic) sediments of the mountains east and north of the Selwyn Basin, Eisbacher (1981) has deduced that a tensional regime - a stretching of epi- cratonic basement - controlled or influenced sedimentation between about 800 and 570 Ma.
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