Surficial geology field observations and photographs for the Meander River map area (NTS 84K/NW), Alberta A. Plouffe, G. Buller, and C.J. Kowalchuk Geological Survey of Canada Open File 5681 ---------------- About the CD-ROM ---------------- This publication presents the surficial geology field observations collected during the 2005 field season within the Meander River map area (NTS 84K/NW) in northwest Alberta. The field activities were conducted as part of a four year collaborative project (2003-2007) between the Alberta Geological Survey, the British Columbia Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources and the Geological Survey of Canada (GSC). The project was entitled Shallow Gas and Diamond Opportunities in Northern Alberta and British Columbia and was conducted as part of the Northern Resources Development Program of the Geological Survey of Canada (GSC). Field notes can be viewed with Microsoft Access and Microsoft Word. The map can be viewed with MapViewer (freeware) which is included on this CD-ROM. Geographic information system (GIS) data are provided in shape file format. -------------------- General instructions -------------------- For this CD-ROM to operate properly, you have to follow these instructions step by step. If you don’t, you risk of encountering a number of error messages. 1. Insert the CD-ROM in your CD reader; make sure it is in the CD reader and not a DVD reader only. 2. Copy the full content of the CD on the first level of your computer hard drive (e.g. c:\GSC_OF_5681). It is important not to change the folders name. 3. On your computer hard drive, in the newly copied MapViewer folder double click on MapViewer.exe. 4. Install the software by following the instructions on screen. We recommend that you install the software within a separate folder entitled MapViewer in the program folder of your computer. 5. Double click on the file 84K NW.mdb to launch the database (see “Database instructions” below for basic instructions on how to query the database). ------------------- Directory Structure ------------------- This CD-ROM contains one main directory (GSC_OF_5681) and a number of sub-directories: Legend - contains descriptions of surficial geology map units in Microsoft Word format MapData – contains shape files to view the field notes in a map format Data – contains flat file with field notes information in a Microsoft Excel format Photos – contains field photographs in a jpeg format Reports – contains field notes in a Microsoft Word format MapViewer – contains the necessary files for the free software MapViewer. ------------------------- File contents and formats ------------------------- Summary_of5681_84KNW.pdf: Summary information on the methodology and surficial geology of the study area. 84K NW.mdb: Database with field data. Licence_e.pdf: End user agreement (in English) for digital data in Acrobat Reader format. Licence_f.pdf: End user agreement (in French) for digital data in Acrobat Reader format. The following file extensions have been used: .pdf Acrobat Reader, .xls Microsoft Excel, .doc Microsoft Word, .mdb Microsoft Access, .shp shape files, .txt text files. --------------------- Database instructions --------------------- See the General instructions above on how to install the field notes database 84K NW.mdb. Once the file is installed you can follow these instructions to view and querry the database. 1. Double click on the file 84K NW.mdb to open the database in Microsoft Access. 2. You can query the database by photo, location, earth material or sample. 3. To query by photo, click on Query Photos. Select the category or the field station to view the photos. Then click Make Query and then, Test For Records. 4. To query by location, click on Query Locations. Select field observation sites by coordinates (longitude, latitude or easting, northing) by field station Id, or by date (day the field observations were made). Click on Make Your Query and then, Test For Records. 5. To query by earth material type, click on Query Material. Select material type, map unit, section name or the interpretation of the earth material. Click on Make Query and then, Test for Records. 6. To query by sample, click on Query Samples. You can select by Purpose (the reason why the sample was collected) or by field station. Click on Make Query and then, Test for Records. ---------------------------- MapViewer basic instructions ---------------------------- See the General instructions above on how to install MapViewer. Once MapViewer is installed follow these instructions to look at the data from the map. 1. Launch Map Viewer. 2. Click on the “+” sign in the upper left corner. 3. Select the following folder: /GSC_OF_5681/Map Data. 4. Select the seven files which appear in the list on the left. Click OK. Each file represents a layer of information. 5. The list of layers should now be in the left part of your window. A layer becomes visible when the box beside it is checked and becomes selectable when the layer’s name is selected by clicking on it (a shadow box appears around the name of the layer). 6. In the left part of your screen, by clicking and dragging, move the layer OF5461.tif at the bottom and mark the check box. This layer represents an image of the surficial geology map of the Meander River map area (Plouffe et al. 2007). 7. Move the layer GEO5461_PLY, immediately above it. In the left part of your screen, double click the layer GEO5461_PLY and select transparent fill for the style. Mark the check box. 8. To view all field stations as dots on the map, mark the checkbox beside NWSTATION and select the layer by clicking on it (point 5 above). In the left part of your screen, double click the layer to change the attribute of the points (e.g. to make the points bigger). To view the field notes collected at a site, click on the hot link tool (thunder strike symbol) and then click on a dot. A report with field notes in Microsoft Word appears. 9. To view all the sites with field photographs, uncheck the NWSTATION layer, and mark the checkbox beside NWPHOTO. Select the NWPHOTO layer by clicking on it (point 5). In the left part of your screen, double click the layer to change the attribute of the points (e.g. to make the points bigger). To view the photographs, click on the hot link tool (thunder strike symbol) and then click on a dot. Photographs will appear in a separate window. Note that the station number will appear in the title bar of the window. If you go to the next photograph, note the change in field station. This might be the photograph of another field site ! 10. To view all the sites with field samples, uncheck the NWPHOTO layer, and mark the checkbox beside NWSAMPLE. Select the NWSAMPLE layer by clicking on it (point 5). In the left part of your screen, double click the layer to change the attribute of the points (e.g. to make the points bigger). Sample description is available by clicking the identify button (I button) and then the sample site. Also, the sample description can be viewed from the NWSTATION layer (see point 8 above). 11. To view all the sites with earth material description, uncheck the NWSAMPLE layer, and mark the checkbox beside NWEARTHMAT. Select the NWEARTHMAT layer by clicking on it (point 5). In the left part of your screen, double click the layer to change the attribute of the points (e.g. to make the points bigger). The earth material description is available by clicking the identify button (I button) and then the sample site. Also, the earth material description can be viewed from the NWSTATION layer (see point 8 above). 12. To view all the sites with soil profile description, uncheck the NWEARTHMAT layer, and mark the checkbox beside NWSOILPRO. Select the NWSOILPRO layer by clicking on it (point 5). In the left part of your screen, double click the layer to change the attribute of the points (e.g. to make the points bigger). The soil profile description is available by clicking the identify button (I button) and then the sample site. The detailed sample description can be viewed from the SWSTATION layer (see point 8 above). 13. To view the legend description of a polygon, uncheck the NWSOILPRO layer, and mark the checkbox beside GEO5460_PLY. Select the GEO5460_PLY layer by clicking on it (point 5). To view the legend description of the polygon, click on the hot link tool (thunder strike symbol) and then click on a polygon. The legend description will appear in Microsoft Word. Reference: Plouffe, A., Kowalchuk, C. J. and Paulen, R. C. 2007: Surficial geology, Meander River, Alberta (NTS 84K/NW); Geological Survey of Canada, Open File 5461, Alberta Energy and Utilities Board, Alberta Geological Survey Map 414, map scale 1:100 000. ------------------- Contact Information ------------------- Questions, suggestions, and comments regarding this CD-ROM should be addressed to: Alain Plouffe Guy Buller Tel: (613) 995-4390 Tel: (613) 947-1889 Fax: (613) 992-0190 Fax: (613) 992-0190 E-mail: aplouffe@nrcan.gc.ca E-mail: gbuller@nrcan.gc.ca