Gravel Resources of the Red Deer area

Increasing demands for quality gravel prompted an investigation for additional reserves within central Alberta. For the purpose of this report the area within a radius of approximately 25 miles from the City of Red Deer was chosen for study. In terms of the encompassing townships the area may be described as lying between range 23 west of the fourth meridian and range 3 west of the fifth meridian and between townships 34 and 42 (Fig. 1). An area of approximately 3,000 square miles is thus included. The major parts of the counties of Red Deer and Lacombe fall within this study region.

The bedrock underlying the entire area belongs to the non-marine Tertiary and Upper Cretaceous Paskapoo Formation which consists of grey to greenish grey, thick bedded, calcareous, cherty sandstone; grey and green mudstone; minor carbonate, thin limestone, coal and tuff beds (Green, 1972). The overlying surficial deposits of most of the area have been mapped by Stalker (1956, 1960) and Bayrock, Boydell and Reimchen (1974). A reconnaissance mapping of the southwest portion was carried out by the writer. A simplified composite map of the surficial geology is presented in figure 2.

Investigations for gravel during the summer of 1973 were confined to areas blanketed by preglacial deposits, glaciofluvial deposits (including outwash, deltaic, esker and lag gravel deposits), and recent alluvium and terrace deposits as outlined in figures 3, 4, 5 and 6. Surrounding deposits include tills, lacustrine materials and sand dunes which yield little or no coarse-grained sediments. Topographic base maps on a scale of 1:50,000 were employed for surface control. Air photos were scanned to provide further interpretation with respect to the areal extent of deposits and location of pits and exposures. Prospective areas were visited and bulk sampled. Drilling was undertaken to supplement surface information and as a result approximately 200 auger holes were drilled with a truck-mounted 8-inch auger at regular intervals within promising areas.