Dan Utting (CNGO), Edward Little (GSC Calgary), and Mike Young (CNGO / GSC)

Project Description

In 2005 the C-NGO, in collaboration with the GSC, the University of Alberta, and Dalhousie University, expanded the 2003 North Baffin Project from Ice Bound Lakes (NTS 37G), to Conn Lake (NTS 37E) and south Buchan Gulf (NTS 37H/South).

The study area lies along the northeast coast of Baffin Island between Bylot Island and the Clyde foreland; areas with contrasting ice sheet reconstructions and chronologies. The study area provides an opportunity to resolve critical issues, and will have significant implications for regional drift prospecting programs.

The primary goal of the project is to reduce mineral exploration risk in the northeast Baffin Island region by improving the existing geoscience knowledge base. The project involves mapping the surficial geology at 1:100 000 scale, as well as collection of drift, stream and bedrock samples, and detailed bedrock mapping of key localities. In 2005, more than 300 samples were collected for till geochemistry and KIM analyses, 31 stream sediment samples were collected for geochemistry and KIM analyses, more than 100 bedrock samples were collected for assay, and 90 for lithogeochemical analyses. In addition, the project collected data for about 1400 'ground-truthing' sites, as part of ongoing development of an RPM protocol, 314 paleo-ice movement measurements, collection of 27 cosmogenic samples and 41 radiocarbon samples for geochronology and research into glacial dynamics influencing the surficial geology of the region.

Based on preliminary results and regional ice reconstructions, the area was likely glaciated to the shelf margin by ice flowing from the Foxe Ice Dome at the last glacial maximum (LGM), until the initial stages of deglaciation at ca. 14 ka. Deglaciation was interrupted by a readvance (Cockburn) at ca. 9.6 ka, forming extensive moraines in the study area. As deglaciation continued, an ice mass, informally referred to as the paleo-Barnes Ice Cap, retreated onto Baffin Island . Continued deglaciation resulted in the damming of several lakes in the study area and formation of DeGeer or cross-valley moraines. The complex glacial history resulted from overprinting of both erosive and non-erosive basal thermal regimes at various stages of the deglaciation, as well as overprinting of LGM-related geomorphology with those of the paleo- and modern-day Barnes Ice Cap. To resolve this, new applications were developed that compare the terrestrial cosmogenic nuclide concentrations in glaciolacustrine deltaic sediment, till, and large boulders to quantify variations in the plateau-wide erosion rate and to qualitatively assess the duration of glacial transport and ice velocity.

Contacts
Dan Utting C-NGO

The geoscience knowledge base for Nunavut is inadequate to meet the current demands of the mineral exploration industry.

Capturing geoscience data using traditional ground-based activities is resource intensive and regional-scale mapping projects can take years to complete.

Remote Predictive Maps, developed by integrating multiple sources of remotely sensed data and produced in advance of ground-based studies, have significant potential for increasing the effectiveness and the "footprint" of regional-scale geoscience studies, at a fraction of the cost of a traditional mapping project.

The C-NGO is attempting to create predictive maps of the surficial geology of the North Baffin Project (NBP) study area using supervised classification techniques. The predictive maps will be used to assist with planning of till geochemistry surveys and 1:100 000-scale surficial geology mapping. LANDSAT Thematic Mapper (TM) (30 m resolution) and RADARSAT-1 (25m resolution) data will be used. The accuracy of the predictive maps will be tested during and after the field component of the NBP.