Open File Report 2012-12

Author(s) Date 2012-07-18

This report is the seventh in a series of eight Alberta Geological Survey (AGS) Open File Reports that provide an overview of airborne-electromagnetic and -magnetic geophysical surveys completed over the Edmonton-Calgary Corridor (ECC) by Fugro Airborne Surveys Ltd. These surveys were completed between November 2007 to February 2010 as part of a joint AGS and Alberta Environment and Sustainable Resource Development (ESRD) study to determine the usefulness of the RESOLVE, GEOTEM and TEMPEST geophysical survey techniques in mapping the distribution and physical attributes of sediment- and bedrock-aquifer complexes over areas of formerly glaciated terrain.

This report describes data collection methods using the Fugro Airborne Surveys Ltd. GEOTEM survey techniques and data processing completed for a survey block near Drayton Valley, Alberta.

The ECC was selected as the first test area to support the AGS-ESRD groundwater mapping program as it represents the region with the highest rates of industrial and urban growth in the province. Since this growth will exert increasing demands on water resources in the ECC, it is necessary to reassess the spatial distribution of previously mapped, as well as unmapped aquifer complexes in the region. By doing so, Alberta may better predict and manage current and/or future stresses on existing aquifer systems caused by industrial, agricultural and urban development. Airborne geophysical survey methods were selected as one of the tools in completing this assessment.

NTS Keywords

Slattery, S.R. and Andriashek, L.D. (2012): Overview of airborne-electromagnetic and -magnetic geophysical data collection using the GEOTEM survey near Drayton Valley, central Alberta; Energy Resources Conservation Board, ERCB/AGS Open File Report 2012-12, 92 p.