Bedrock Topography of Zama Lake Area, Alberta (NTS 84L); Alberta Energy and Utililties Board, EUB/AGS Map 328, Scale 1:250 000

NTS 84L BEDROCK TOPOGRAPHY Data Petrophysical logs from oil and gas wells were the primary source of information used for constructing the bedrock topography. A suite of the common well logs (gamma, resistivity, spontaneous potential, density, neutron, sonic and caliper) were useful in making the pick for top of bedrock; however, the gamma and resistivity logs proved to be the most useful. In this region, the drift 120° 00' 350000m.E 400000m.E 118°00' Rg 11 Rg 9 Rg 8 Rg 7 Rg 6 Rg 5 Rg 4 Rg 3 Rg 2 Rg 1 W6 typically displays a lower gamma response and higher resistivity response than the underlying bedrock. Other sources of data were drill cuttings, water well lithologs and surficial geological mapping that provided information on bedrock outcrop locations and till veneers over shallow bedrock (Paulen et al., 2005a and 2005b; Plouffe et al., 2004; Smith et al., 2005). 59°00' V Ð 59°00' a *# k Ð

e r Ð e Ð d *# Ð r Mapping the bedrock surface was difficult in some areas where data were sparse. In many of the wells, log traces are not available for the upper part of the hole. The depth of surface casing set i Ð k *e Ð C e Ð Ð re in bedrock provides a limit on the maximum possible drift thickness. Conversely, water wells and gas wells that did not intersect bedrock provide minimum drift thickness values. The bedrock Ð Ð M * 30 C Ð e 0 g *# *# topography contours were initially generated from bedrock surface picks using a computer-contouring program with subsequent modifications to better reflect the geological model. a A *# m b e *# r *#

* * e

R v i i Discussion v e R r r 00 i 3 R a d 0 The Zama Lake map area lies within the Fort Nelson Lowland, Vermilion Lowland and Clear Hills Uplands physiographic regions defined by Pettapiece (1986). These regions are shown on the i 30 v A e y accompanying digital elevation model (Figure 1). The Hay River Plain and the Zama Lake Plain lie within the Fort Nelson Lowland in the northern and eastern parts of the map area. This lowland * d Tp 114 r o Ð a o Ð Ð Tp 114 is characterized by broad, low-relief areas between 335 and 450 metres above sea level (asl) blanketed by boreal forest and extensive bogs and fens. The southwestern quadrant of the M m Ð Ð a Ð r map area forms part of the Clear Hills Uplands that rise to >700 m asl and contains the Rainbow Lake Plain, the Chinchaga Plain and Bassett Hill. Zama Lake and Hay Lake are the dominant Z e r e Ð Ð R i v i v Ð Ð R features in the north-central part of the lowlands. A prominent ridge, informally named Rainbow Ridge, also referred to as Zama Mountain (Green et al., 1970), lies immediately south of Zama Lake. Ð Ð H ay Present-day rivers include Hay River, which dissects the Rainbow Lake Plain and then flows through Zama Lake before exiting the northeast corner of the map area, and Meander River, 200 which flows northward from the southeast corner. Glacial drift, over 400 m thick in places, covers most of the map area (Figure 2; Pawlowicz et al., 2005).

C Bedrock subcrop consists of Upper Cretaceous Dunvegan Formation in the uplands (Green et al., 1970; Hamilton et al., 1999). Cretaceous Shaftesbury Formation shale underlies much of the y R i a h area with Lower Cretaceous Fort St. John Group shale present where the buried valleys have incised deeply into the bedrock. In the northeastern quadrant, Devonian Wabamun Group limestone v e O Hay Lake r m R H i e n underlies the drift locally. Outcrops of Dunvegan Formation sandstone are found above 600 m asl on Bassett Hill and the Chinchaga Plain. Shaftesbury Formation shale outcrops along the ga c h Meander River, along former glacial meltwater channels and along the north flank of Rainbow Ridge (Paulen et al., 2005a and 2005b; Pawlowicz et al., 2005; Plouffe et al., 2004; Smith et al., 2005). Tp 113 a Ð 300 Ð Tp 113 ey Ðg all Ð Ð V Ð a * The bedrock topography map shows the elevation of the bedrock surface. In general, the bedrock topography controls the surface topography in the map area. Rainbow Ridge, Bassett Hill and Ð Ð mÐa Ð * the Chinchaga Plain are generally underlain by bedrock highs. Rainbow Ridge and other westerly trending bedrock ridges parallel the regional ice flow (Paulen et al., 2005a and 2005b; Ð Ð Za Zama Plouffe et al., 2004; Smith et al., 2005) suggesting modification by glacial erosion. Major buried valleys lie within the Fort Nelson Lowland and the Rainbow Lake Plain. The elevation of the bedrock rises to >700 m asl in the uplands, similar to the land surface. The elevations in the lowest parts of the buried valleys differ markedly from the land surface in that they are as low as

* N 25 m asl compared to a minimum ground surface elevation of 335 m asl. Two major northwesterly trending buried valleys that extend into British Columbia are the Rainbow Valley in the south r e v e g i u and the Zama Valley in the north. A deeply incised depression located within the Zama Valley in Township 110, Range 3, west of the 6th Meridian has eroded through the entire Cretaceous 200 R s Hay bedrock sequence, including gas-bearing sandstones of the Bluesky Formation, and into the Devonian Wabamun Group limestone down to an elevation of 25 m asl. Buried valleys are one er factor that may contribute to the presence of shallow gas within drift, which is known to occur in the Zama Valley within Township 110, Range 3, west of the 6th Meridian, and elsewhere in the H a y Riv Tp 112 R Zama Lake region. i v Lake Ð Ð e 0 Ð Tp 112 r Ð 0

Ð 3 R Ð * 00 0 ek 3 Ð 0 e This map shows the regional variations in bedrock topography and these complement those presented in the regional bedrock topography of Alberta (Pawlowicz and Fenton, 1995). A preliminary Ð i Ð 3 Cr Ð v Ð ay version of this map was released last year (Pawlowicz et al., 2004). Experience from more detailed investigations elsewhere in Alberta (Andriashek and Fenton, 1989; Andriashek, 2003) have shown

Ð e H that, in addition to the large paleovalleys, narrow buried valleys are to be expected. e r t t l i S L *# * o * u s a k FEATURES LEGEND BASEMAP LEGEND *# 6 ee r 5 C *# 0 0

Tp 111 0

Ð 0 Data sources Bedrock elevation (m asl) e Ð Ð 0 City/Town m N F i r Ð

Ð . . Ð 3 ! 775 m N m Ð Ð *# 0 Petroleum well, bedrock surface picked Road - gravel 0 Ð 0

0 Ð Ð 00 0 Ð 5 / Road - paved

0 Petroleum well, bedrock surface above logged interval

0 0 *# *# 20 5 * *# Township/range - surveyed 6 TS58 * Water well, bedock surface picked 625 6 00 * Township/range - unsurveyed * Water well, bedrock surface below bottom of well Ð 450000m.E 0 * UTM, Zone 11 Grid 50 0 0 Bedrock valley thalweg Tp 110 1 Tp 110 River * C Ð Ð 425 r Ð Bedrock topography elevation above sea level Ð 30 ** Ð e 0 Lake Ð e contour interval 25 m * Ð k Ð Ð * Ð Ð Ð 0 20 Rainbow 400 225 Lake *

Tp 109 Tp 109 25 m Ð Ð Ð Ð Ð Ð 0 **# Ð 0 Ð 00 4 3 R Ð 3 0 ainÐ Ð 0 Ð bo *# w Va Ri ver lley 500 0 Figure 1. Present-day surface topography and physiography 40 Figure 2. Drift thickness 4 00 120° 00' 118° 00' 120° 00' 118° 00' y C Rg 10 Rg 3 Rg 10 Rg 3 a 2 H 0 h 59° 00' 59° 00' 59° 00' 59° 00' 0 i Tp 108 600 n c Tp 108 h Ð Ð a Ð oo nn L Ð g ll ss L oo Ð Ð a ee Hay ww 0 Ð Ð NN Hay Lake 0 Ð Tp 113 Lake ll 5 Ð tt aa Tp 113 Tp 113 Tp 113 Ð Ð rr 2 30 oo nn 00 0 Zama dd R FF Zama * er Lake ay Riv i Lake H Basset Lake v 300 k e

e ZZaammaa LLaakkee PPlllaaiiinn

r e Tp 107 o u s a r 50 S C Tp 107 e Rainbow Lake 0 iiddgge ww RR Ð nnbboo *# Ð Raaii HHaayy RRiivveerr Rainbow Ð Ð R Lake L *# Ð i Ð PPllaaiinn t 4 Ð Ð t 0 Ð l Ð 0 RRaaiinnbbooww LLaakkee 5 e Ð 0 Ð 0 500 PPllaaiinn d ss *# *# nn d *# ll aa *# pp Biv ou 00 UU ac B *# 7 Tp 106 u ll ss C f # ll Tp 106 r f * 0 6 ii 0 a 4 HH l 6 7 o 00 5 rr 0 aa 0 Tp 106 l ee Tp 106 Tp 106 Tp 106 5 l 0 Ð 0 CC Bassetttt Hiillll

Ð 0 Cha 0 Ð s m N m Ð Ð . . Ð

Ð N m C Ð 0 r 0 0 Ð Ð 5 0 Ð 0 Ð 600 Verrmiilliion 0 CChhiinncchhaaggaa PPllaaiinn 5 Lowlland

4 R i 700 6 v 58° 00' 58° 00' e 58° 00' 58° 00' r 0 30 120° 00' Rg 10 Rg 3 118° 00' 120° 00' Rg 10 Rg 3 118° 00' * B e 70 Tp 105 Tp 105 a 0 v e * r *# s 0 k 0 i 20 310 400 500 600 700 775 m asl 5 75 150 225 300 375 450 m n 6 0 100 Ð Ð C Ð Ð r Ð Ð 20 Ð Ð 0 Ð Ð r Ð F C Ð R a r i a i 700 v 700 e 300 i g r H a S References n o w 600 Tp 104 f a l l Cre ek r s r e C 400 Tp 104 Andriashek, L.D. and Fenton, M.M. (1989): Quaternary stratigraphy and surficial geology of the Sand River area, 73L; Alberta Research Council, Bulletin 57, 154 p. l l e v e L 500 Andriashek, L.D. (2003): Quaternary geological setting of the Athabasca oil sands (in situ) area, northeastern Alberta; Alberta Energy and Utilities Board, EUB/AGS Earth Sciences 6 Ð Ð 00 Ð Report 2002-03, 286 p. 58° 00' Ð Ð 58° 00' Green, R., Mellon, G.B. and Carrigy, M.A. (1970): Bedrock geology of northern Alberta; Research Council of Alberta, Map 24, scale 1:500 000. 120° 00' Rg 12 Rg 11 350000m.E Rg 9 Rg 8 Rg 7 Rg 6 Rg 5 400000m.E Rg 4 Rg 3 Rg 2 Rg 1 W6 118° 00' Hamilton, W.H, Langenberg, W., Price, M.C. and Chao, D.K. (1999): Geological map of Alberta; Alberta Energy and Utilities Board, EUB/AGS Map 236, scale 1:1 000 000.

Paulen, R.C., Fenton, M.M., Weiss, J.A., Pawlowicz, J.G., Plouffe, A. and Smith, I.R. (2005a): Surficial geology of the Little Hay River area, Alberta (NTS 84L/NW); Published 2005 Alberta Energy and Utilities Board, EUB/AGS Map 315, scale 1:100 000. Copies of this map may be obtained from: Paulen, R.C., Fenton, M.M., Weiss, J.A., Pawlowicz, J.G., Plouffe, A. and Smith, I.R. (2005b): Surficial geology of the Hay Lake area, Alberta (NTS 84L/NE); Information Sales\Alberta Geological Survey 120° 112° 110° Alberta Energy and Utilities Board, EUB/AGS Map 316, scale 1:100 000. Map 328 60° Telephone: (780) 422-3767 M N O P M Pawlowicz, J.G. and Fenton M.M. (1995): Bedrock topography of Alberta; Alberta Department of Energy, Alberta Geological Survey, Map 226, scale 1:2 000 000. Website: www.ags.gov.ab.ca L K J I L Pawlowicz, J.G., Hickin, A.S., Nicoll, T.J., Fenton, M.M., Paulen, R.C., Plouffe, A. and Smith, I.R. (2004): Shallow gas in drift: northwestern Alberta; Alberta Energy and Utilities Board, Bedrock Topography of Zama Lake Area, 84 74 EUB/AGS Information Series 130, 1 p. E F G H E Alberta (NTS 84L) Pawlowicz, J.G., Hickin A.S., Nicoll, T.J., Fenton, M.M., Paulen, R.C., Plouffe, A. and Smith, I.R. (2005): Drift thickness of the Zama Lake area, Alberta (NTS 84L); Alberta Energy and D C B A D Utilities Board, EUB/AGS Map 329, scale 1:250 000. 56° 56° M N O P M Pettapiece, W.W. (1986): Physiographic subdivisions of Alberta; Land Resource Research Centre, Research Branch, Agriculture Canada, Ottawa, physiographic map, Geology by: J.G. Pawlowicz, A.S. Hickin, T.J. Nicoll, M.M. Fenton, scale 1:1 500 000. R.C. Paulen, A. Plouffe and I.R. Smith L K J I L 83 73 Plouffe, A., Smith, I.R., Paulen, R.C., Fenton, M.M. and Pawlowicz, J.G. (2004): Surficial geology, Bassett Lake, Alberta; Geological Survey of Canada, Open File 4637, surficial geology map, E F G H E scale 1:100 000. Edmonton

C B A D Smith, I.R., Plouffe, A., Paulen, R.C., Fenton, M.M. and Pawlowicz, J.G. (2005): Surficial geology, Hay River, Alberta; Geological Survey of Canada, Open File 4754, surficial geology map, Scale 1:250 000 52° 52° scale 1:100 000. 0 3.75 7.5 15 22.5 30 kilometres O P M Calgary Acknowledgements: 0 2.5 5 10 15 20 25 miles J I L 82 72 The Zama Lake (NTS 84L) bedrock topography and drift thickness maps were completed as an Alberta Geological Survey and Geological Survey of Canada collaborative contribution to G H E Northern Resources Development Project 4450, Shallow Gas and Diamond Opportunities in Northern Alberta and British Columbia 2003-2007, with funding support from the second phase Projection: Universal Transverse Mercator, Zone 11 49° of the Targeted Geoscience Initiative program. Final digital cartography/GIS by M.C. Price, data compilation assisted by T. Berezniuk and editing by G. Hippolt-Squair and G.J. Prior. 114° 112° 110° Datum: North American Datum, 1983 Digital base map provided by Resource Information Management Branch, Strategic Corporate Services, Alberta Sustainable Development, supplied by Spatial Data Warehouse. Digital elevation model provided by Geomatics Canada, Natural Resources Canada.

Recommended reference format:

Pawlowicz, J.G., Hickin, A.S., Nicoll, T.J., Fenton, M.M., Paulen, R.C., Plouffe, A. and Smith, I.R. (2005): Bedrock topography of Zama Lake area, Alberta (NTS 84L); Alberta Energy and Utililties Board, EUB/AGS Map 328, scale 1:250 000.