Air Photographs of the Plains Region of Alberta

Over the past 20 years air photographs have been used extensively by the geologist, soil scientist, forester, geographer, topographer and engineer. While air photographs have been used by the different professions for a wide variety of purposes, broadly their uses are: 1) to provide accurate topographic and planimetric maps, and 2) to provide information on landforms, structure, and materials on the surface and subsurface of the earth. The main purpose of the present report is to describe, by means of a few selected photographs, some of the main glacial landforms on the plains region of Alberta. It is anticipated that a knowledge of the morphology and origin of these glacial landforms will aid the geologist and other professionals in their exploration and development of the western plains region. Most of the photographs described are from east-central Alberta where the writer has had field experience in glacial geology. An examination of photographs from other parts of Alberta and Saskatchewan, however, shows that the features herein described are not confined to east-central Alberta but are widespread throughout the plains region. Undoubtedly as the writer's experience widens new features will be observed and added to this basic unit. In order to make this report useful to professionals other than geologists, and to the layman, a glossary of terms has been included. In some cases the terms are those which describe type features in other areas and the classical definitions do not always describe accurately the features found on the plains of western Canada. The photographs used are those printed on a scale of approximately 1:40,000 by the Department of Lands and Forests, Government of Alberta. These photographs have been used for two reasons: 1) the photographs are used widely within the province by industry and government groups, and 2) the features herein described are large enough to show up clearly on a scale of 1:40,000. Photographic prints from negatives have been used to avoid loss of definition through reproduction. The photograph numbers appear in the southeast corner of each photograph. For those interested in stereoscopic coverage the adjacent photographs may be obtained from the Department of Lands and Forests, Government of Alberta, Edmonton.