EUB/AGS Surficial Geology of the Peace River Area (NTS 84C), Alberta
As part of a multi-year initiative, the Alberta Geological Survey (AGS) continued its surficial mapping program in the Peace River map area. The Peace River District of Alberta has been subjected to several geological studies in past years with their focus mainly directed toward the numerous bedrock exposures in the Peace River Valley, the large gravel resource and aquifer that underlies the town of Grimshaw, and most notable, the long history of landslides that affect the region (Tokarsky 1971; Churcher and Wilson 1979; Pawlowicz et al. 1996; Leslie and Fenton 2001). Quaternary studies in the Peace River region provide crucial information on the surface stratigraphy and deposit characteristics that have direct implications for exploration of diamonds using drift prospecting, aggregate exploration and landslide processes. Fieldwork was conducted during July and September 2002 and provided continuity with last year's mapping program in the Peerless Lake (NTS 84B) map area to the east (Paulen et al. 2003a; Fenton et al. 2003a). Particular attention was paid to surface stratigraphy, ice flow indicators and the highly variable nature of the surface sediments. Reconnaissance-level till sampling for diamond indicator minerals and geochemistry was completed. Extensive progress was made in unravelling the glacial and post-glacial history of the region.
The physiography of the region is dominated by the Peace River Valley. This impressive and scenic feature was formed during post-glacial times as the Peace River and its tributaries, such as the Smoky and Heart Rivers, incised through the Quaternary sediments and into the underlying bedrock. The Peace River separates the Buffalo Head Hills to the east and the Whitemud Hills to the west. The Peace River District is part of a large geological feature that makes up most of the fertile farmland in the region. The flat topography and stone-free grain fields immediately adjacent to the Peace River reflect the former lake bottom of Glacial Lake Peace (Mathews 1980), which inundated most of the region below 610 m (above current sea level). During early deglaciation, the continental ice sheet (Laurentide Ice Sheet) retreated northward and down-drainage, essentially blocking drainage and ponding the glacial meltwaters at the ice margin. Glacial Lake Peace was one of the larger glacial lakes that submerged the plains of Alberta; it extended far into British Columbia to the west and reached as far north as High Level prior to its final drainage.
The Peace River region of Alberta is historically
characterized by stratigraphy in which only one Laurentide glacial
event, the Lostwood Glaciation (Fenton 1984), affected west-central
Alberta (cf. Bayrock 1969; Liverman et al. 1989). However, older ice-proximal
glaciofluvial sediments and older tills were documented recently by
Fenton et al. (2003b), and the recent discovery of older oxidized till
in the southwest Buffalo Head Hills to the east indicates that early
Wisconsin ice of the Burke Lake Glaciation (Fenton 1984) advanced to
the Peace River Valley. Approximate stratigraphic correlations with
previous research conducted by Bobrowsky et al. (1991) in the Peace
River District of British Columbia has been suggested by Miller and
Cruden (2002).
The Quaternary stratigraphy in the region is complex. Scientific
highlights from this summer’s fieldwork provide new information to
augment the existing published stratigraphic record. From oldest to
youngest the main surficial deposits comprise:
Northern Alberta (north of latitude 55°N, or approximately Lesser Slave Lake) is covered by approximately 15 1:250 000-scale map areas that are either unmapped or inadequately mapped with respect to surficial geology, Quaternary stratigraphy, bedrock topography and drift thickness. AGS is currently conducting a multi-year initiative to complete the surficial mapping coverage of northern Alberta. The purpose of this program is to provide the minerals industry with baseline geological information in support of mineral exploration in northern Alberta. Multi-year objectives are to complete the Quaternary geology investigations of northern Alberta, including surficial geology mapping, and stratigraphic and thematic studies. Additional objectives are to provide data and interpretations for northern Alberta, including maps, reports and information sets in electronic and, when required, hard copy.
This CD contains information from the AGS mapping program that focused on the Peace River map-area (NTS 84C); included are maps of the surficial geology. Interim results have been released through presentations and posters at the 2003 Calgary Mineral Exploration Group's Calgary Mining Forum & Alberta Geological Survey Minerals Section Open House (Paulen et al. 2003b), Geological Association of Canada (GAC) annual meeting in 2003 (Paulen et al. 2003c), Geological Society of America (GSA) annual meeting in 2002 (Paulen et al. 2002), 3rd Canadian Conference on Geotechnique and Natural Hazards (Paulen et al. 2003d) and XVI International Quaternary Association (INQUA) Congress, Reno, Nevada (Paulen et al. 2003e). Subsequent products will contain information on bedrock topography, drift thickness and files with information on the surface site samples, geochemical analyses and holes drilled.
Field notes were collected in 2002 using Palm hardware and Pendragon software. This allowed notes to be transferred to an Access database that was linked to ArcView.
Initial preliminary maps were compiled using 1:60 000 scale air photographs flown in 1986, supplemented by LandSat 7 satellite data. After field checking, the revised surficial maps were digitized into ArcInfo. Following review and editing, the final map products were prepared.
This compact disc constitutes release of maps 289, 290, 291 and 292 prepared for the Alberta Energy Utilities Board/Alberta Geological Survey (EUB/AGS) by R.C. Paulen, M.M. Fenton and J.G. Pawlowicz. The intent is to make the maps available in a variety of common digital formats to meet the needs of two groups of users: GIS operators and those requiring an exact version of the published map in a readily printable format. GIS files are available in ArcInfo Export (.e00) and shapefile formats. The printer-ready files are in Postscript (.eps) format and also in Adobe's Portable Document Format (.PDF).
A brief description follows of each of the formats and how they may be used.
Adobe® Acrobat PDF documents of the published version of the maps allows viewing on any computer capable of running a suitable version of Adobe® Acrobat Reader®.
A freeware version of Adobe® Acrobat Reader® for Microsoft® Windows® is included on the CD-ROM. Adobe® Acrobat Reader® for other platforms are available from Adobe's Web site at www.adobe.com.
To install the software, double-click the "acrobat.exe" file and follow the instructions for installation.
Postscript files of the published version of the maps can be either imported into a graphics software package or plotted directly from the Windows Explorer window:
Table 1. PDF and Postscript description
File |
PDF (.pdf) |
Postscript (.eps) |
Map Number |
Title |
Scale |
NTS84C_NE |
yes |
yes |
MAP 289 |
Surficial Geology of the Southwest Buffalo Head Hills Area, (NTS84C/NE) |
1:100 000 |
NTS84C_SE |
yes |
yes |
MAP 290 |
Surficial Geology of the Cadotte Lake Area, (NTS84C/SE) |
1:100 000 |
NTS84C_SW |
yes |
yes |
MAP 291 |
Surficial Geology of the Grimshaw Area, (NTS84C/SW) |
1:100 000 |
NTS84C_NW |
yes |
yes |
MAP 292 |
Surficial Geology of the Manning Area, (NTS84C/NW) |
1:100 000 |
Export files were created from coverages in ArcInfo Version 8.1.2. See Table 2 for projection parameters and Table 3 for coverage descriptions.
Shapefiles provided were created in ArcView version 3.2a. See Table 2 for projection parameters and Table 3 for shapefile descriptions. Metadata for each shapefile contained in html files.
Coordinate system |
Geographic |
Units |
Decimal degrees |
Datum |
NAD 83 |
Spheroid |
GRS1980 |
Table 3. ArcExport and ArcView attribute description
FILE |
ArcExport (.e00) |
ArcView (shapefile) |
Description |
|
Peace_line_features ln84c_sw ln84c_se ln84c_nw ln84c_ne |
yes |
yes |
Contains all line features such as eskers and meltwater channels. |
|
FIELD NAME |
DESCRIPTION |
|||
Type |
Numeric code assigned to each line feature. See Table 4 for line feature definitions relating to code. |
|||
Peace_point_features py84c_sw py84c_se py84c_nw py84c_ne |
yes | yes |
Contains all point features such as bedrock outcrops. |
|
FIELD NAME | DESCRIPTION | |||
Type |
Numeric code assigned to each point feature. See Table 4 for line feature definitions relating to code. See legend on PDF or.eps for point feature symbols. |
|||
Peace_polys pt84c_sw pt84c_se pt84c_nw pt84c_ne |
yes |
yes |
Contains all surficial geology polygon boundaries for 84C. |
|
FIELD NAME | DESCRIPTION | |||
Label | Symbolized terrain units according to legend description. | |||
Unit_symbol | Provides a generalized text code used to colour code the polygon units. |
TYPE | FEATURE |
90 |
Thermokarst depression |
93 |
Small landslide |
84 |
Large landslide |
82 |
Eolian dunes |
70 |
Beach or strandline |
71 |
Wave cut bench |
72 |
Escarpment |
64 |
Meltwater channel (minor) |
63 |
Meltwater channel (minor, flow indicated) |
62 |
Meltwater channel (major) |
61 |
Meltwater channel (major, flow indicated) |
68 |
Crevasse filling |
65 |
Ice contact slope |
91 |
Kettle |
67 |
Esker, unknown direction |
66 |
Esker, known direction |
13 |
Drumlinoid or streamlined landform |
14 |
Drumlinoid, down-ice flow indicated |
80 |
Buried drumlinoid or streamlined landform |
95 |
Major moraine ridge |
74 |
Minor moraine ridge |
92 and 97 |
Ice thrust ridge (straight and curved) |
77 |
Striation (direction unknown) |
76 |
Striation (direction known) |
94 |
Bedrock outcrop |
95 |
Gravel\sand pit |
96 | Section of stratigraphic interest |
73 | Major moraine ridge |
69 | Iceberg scour |
Surficial mapping was completed in 2002 under the AGS Quaternary mapping initiative. Jill Weiss, Brandan Brown, Rod Sutton and Glen Prior provided assistance with fieldwork and compilation of the digital databases. Digital cartography and GIS was completed by Monica Price, Joan Waters, Natasha Blundon and Jill Weiss.
Bayrock, L.A. (1969): Incomplete continental glacial record of Alberta, Canada; in Quaternary Geology and Climate, H.E. Wright, Jr. (ed.), Volume 16 of the proceedings of the VII Congress of the International Association for Quaternary Research. National Academy of Sciences, Washington, D.C., p. 99-103.
Bobrowsky, P.T., Catto, N. and Levson, V. (1991): Reconnaissance Quaternary geological investigations in Peace River District, British Columbia (93P, 93A); in Geological Fieldwork 1990, B.C. Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources, Paper 1991-1, p. 345-358.
Churcher, C.S. and Wilson, M. (1979): Quaternary mammals from the eastern Peace River District, Alberta; Journal of Paleontology, v. 53, p. 71-76.
Edwards, W.A.D. and Scafe, D. (1996): Mapping and resource evaluation of the Tertiary and preglacial sand and gravel formations of Alberta; Alberta Energy and Utilities Board, EUB/AGS Open File Report, 1994-06, 241 p.
Fenton, M.M. (1984): Quaternary stratigraphy, Canadian Prairies; in Quaternary Stratigraphy of Canada - A Canadian Contribution to IGCP Project 24, R.J. Fulton (ed.), Geological Survey of Canada, Paper 84-10, p. 57-68.
Fenton, M.M., Paulen, R.C. and Pawlowicz, J.G. (2003a): Surficial geology of the Lubicon Lake Area (NTS 84B/SW), scale 1:100 000; Alberta Energy and Utilities Board, EUB/AGS Map 266.
Fenton, M.M., Paulen, R.C. and Pawlowicz, J.G. (2003b): Evidence of pre-Late Wisconsin glacial deposits in central and northern Alberta; Program and Abstracts, CANQUA, Halifax, Canada, p. A28.
Leslie, L.E. and Fenton, M.M. (2001): Quaternary stratigraphy and surficial geology Peace River final report; Alberta Energy and Utilities Board, EUB/AGS Special Report 10, 34 p.
Liverman, D.G.E., Catto, N.R. and Rutter, N.W. (1989): Laurentide glaciation in west-central Alberta: a single (Late Wisconsin) event; Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, v. 26, p. 266-274.
Mathews, W.H. (1980): Retreat of the last ice sheets in northeastern British Columbia and adjacent Alberta; Geological Survey of Canada, Bulletin 331, 22 p.
Miller, B.G.N. and Cruden, D.M. (2002): The Eureka River landslide and dam, Peace River Lowlands, Alberta; Canadian Geotechnical Journal, v. 39, p. 863-878.
Paulen, R.C. and Fenton, M.M. (2002): The spectacular and enigmatic large-scale deformation structures of the Upper Glacial Lake Peace sediments, Northern Alberta, Canada; Geological Society of America, Annual Meeting (October 27-30, 2002) Denver, Colorado, Abstracts with Programs, p. 505.
Paulen, R.C., Campbell, J.E., Fenton, M.M. and Pawlowicz, J.G. (2003a): Surficial geology of the southeast Buffalo Head Hills Area (NTS 84B/NW), scale 1:100 000; Alberta Energy and Utilities Board, EUB/AGS Map 265.
Paulen, R.C., Pawlowicz, J.G., Fenton, M.M., Weiss, J.A., Brown, B., Price, M. and Prior, G.J. (2003b): Quaternary geology and surficial stratigraphy of the Peace River area (NTS 84C); in "Meeting Future Challenges in the Mineral Industry" 2003, The 12th Annual Calgary Mining Forum & Alberta Geological Survey Minerals Section Open House, Calgary, Alberta, Program with Abstracts, p. 73.
Paulen, R.C., Fenton, M.M., Pawlowicz, J.G., Weiss, J.A. and Brown, B. (2003c): Surficial geology, Quaternary stratigraphy and Holocene landslides of the Peace River area (NTS 84C); in 2003 GAC-MAC-SEG, Vancouver, British Columbia, Program with Abstracts, v. 28 p.132.
Paulen, R.C., Weiss, J.A. and Davies, M.R. (2003d): Production of a digital landslide inventory map, Peace River area (NTS 84C); in 3rd Canadian Conference on Geotechnique and Natural Hazards, Edmonton, Alberta, Program with Abstracts, p. 377.
Paulen, R.C., Fenton, M.M. and Bobrowsky, P.T. (2003e): Spectacular, large-scale deformation structures in glaciolacustrine sediments, Peace River, Alberta, Canada; in XVI INQUA Congress, Reno, Nevada, Program with Abstracts, p. 64.
Pawlowicz, J.G., Jean, G.M. and Fenton, M.M. (1996): Preliminary stratigraphic tests to support mineral exploration: northern Alberta; Alberta Energy and Utilities Board, EUB/AGS Open File Report 95-11, 34 p.
Tokarsky, O. (1971): Hydrogeology of the Grimshaw-Chinook Valley area, Alberta; Research Council of Alberta, Report 71-2, 19 p.
© Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Alberta, 2004
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Paulen, R.C., Fenton, M.M. and Pawlowicz, J.G. (2004): Surficial geology of the southwest Buffalo Head Hills (NTS 84C/NE), Alberta; Alberta Energy and Utilities Board, EUB/AGS Map 289, scale 1:100 000.
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