| Title | Indicator mineral dispersal trains of northern Canada in a modern glacial and mineralogical context |
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| Author | Paulen, R C |
| Source | GAC-MAC-IAH 2019: where geosciences converge
/AGC-AMC-AIH 2019 : où les géosciences convergent; GAC-MAC-IAH Joint Meeting, Abstract volume vol. 42, 2019 p. 156  Open Access |
| Links | Online - En ligne (complete volume, volume
complet, PDF, 6.08 MB)
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| Image |  |
| Year | 2019 |
| Alt Series | Natural Resources Canada, Contribution Series 20180469 |
| Publisher | Geological Association of Canada |
| Meeting | GAC-MAC-IAH 2019 / AGC-AMC-AIH 2019; Québec, QC; CA; May 12-15, 2019 |
| Document | serial |
| Lang. | English |
| Media | on-line; digital |
| File format | pdf (Adobe® Reader®) |
| Subjects | surficial geology/geomorphology; economic geology; mineralogy; geochemistry; Science and Technology; Nature and Environment; mineral deposits; mineral exploration; exploration methods; glacial history;
glaciation; deglaciation; ice flow; glacial erosion; sediment transport; sediment dispersal; dispersal patterns; depositional history; depositional environment; glacial landforms; glacial deposits; Laurentide Ice Sheet; ice-flow directions; dispersal
trains; ice streams; Phanerozoic; Cenozoic; Quaternary |
| Program | GEM2: Geo-mapping for Energy and Minerals Mackenzie Corridor, Southern Mackenzie Surficial Mapping |
| Released | 2019 05 01 |
| Abstract | Glacial erosion, transport, and deposition has formed trains or fans of metal-rich debris down-ice from mineral deposits that are much larger exploration targets than their bedrock sources. Dispersal
patterns may be the result of one or more phases of ice flow and vary in length from a few tens of meters to >100 km. Recognizing the complexity of continental ice sheets and ice-sheet dynamics is essential to understand the variation in glacial
dispersal patterns and successfully searching for mineralized sources. Boulder tracing and till geochemistry have been widely used as exploration tools in glaciated terrain for more than 60 years. In the past 25 years, indicator mineral methods
applied to till have become complementary key exploration tools. Geochemical and isotopic studies of recovered heavy minerals can then be used to provide information on sources of the grains, deposit types and potentially a vector towards
mineralization. Indicator mineral chemistry has evolved considerably since the garnet classifications for diamondiferous kimberlite exploration and is now applied to a variety of mineral deposit types. The identification of glacial dispersal
landforms and sedimentary deposits formed by fast-flowing glaciers was important to the earliest recognition of palaeo-ice streams of the Laurentide Ice Sheet in the 1970 and 1980s. In recent years, our understanding and reconstructions of the
Laurentide Ice Sheet has undergone a new palaeo-ice stream paradigm, whereby we recognize that ice streams have impacted a large portion of the glacial landscape. The long (10s of km) dispersal trains of till with distinct chemical and/or
mineralogical compositions, coupled with obvious erosive/depositional corridors of streamlined landforms, provide a means of identifying and reinterpreting unsourced dispersal trains impacted by hard-bedded ice streams in northern Canada. |
| Summary | (Plain Language Summary, not published)
Keynote speech at Indicator Minerals session at GAC-MAC-IAH. This presentation will summarize the advancement of GSC research in drift prospecting over
the past two decades. |
| GEOSCAN ID | 314583 |
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