Digital Data 2005-0009

Author(s) Date 2006-07-15

The bedrock topography map of the Peerless Lake area (NTS 84B) shows the elevation of the bedrock surface. In general, the topography of the land surface reflects the bedrock topography. Thus, bedrock highs underlie the Buffalo Head Hills Upland, Peerless Lake Upland and Utikuma Uplands. Major buried valleys lie within the Loon River Lowland in the west-central part and within the Wabasca Lowlands in the south and northeast parts of the map area. The elevation of the bedrock surface ranges from 780 metres above sea level (masl) in the Buffalo Head Hills to 300 masl in the Loon River Lowland. Segments of three major buried valleys are present: the Muskwa Valley in the south, the Red Earth Valley in the Loon River Lowland and Gods Valley in the northeast. The exact shape of these bedrock valleys and their relationships in the areas where they appear to merge is uncertain as a consequence of the scarcity of relevant drillholes. The Muskwa Valley trends westward towards Lubicon Lake and approximately corresponds with the southern part of the Misaw Channel of Ceroici and part of the L'Hirondelle Channel of Ceroici and Borneuf. The eastern extent of the Muskwa Valley also corresponds with a bedrock low in the northeast corner of the Lesser Slave Lake map area (NTS 83O). The Red Earth Valley partly corresponds to the northerly trending segment of the Misaw Channel of Ceroici, although in the northern part of Loon River Lowland the Red Earth Valley trends north-northeasterly. In the northern part of the Loon River Lowland, abrupt changes in the elevation of stratigraphic markers appear to define a northeasterly trending graben-like structure, which suggests the trend of the Red Earth Valley is partly controlled by bedrock structure. The lowest elevation along the Red Earth Valley is near the town of Red Earth Creek.

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