Tri-territorial database : Surficial geology

The scientific research and results of this project are available via GEOSCAN.

Unconsolidated surficial materials cover large areas of Canada’s North. They form the foundations of sensitive Arctic ecosystems, provide building materials for Northern infrastructure development and may yield clues to the location of buried mineral deposits, yet there is no consistent map showing their distribution across northern Canada. Study of the sources, composition and history of glacially-transported surficial materials deposited during and following the last glaciation is a key mineral exploration tool in northern Canada.

A modern, uniform, surficial geological database will serve as an interpretative framework for drift prospecting for diamonds, gold, platinum-group-elements and polymetallic deposits in under-explored areas, as well as providing consistent geoscience information for responsible land-use planning. Through partnership with the Yukon Geological Survey and Geoscience Offices of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut, this project will produce a digital integration in Geographic Information System format, of new and existing surficial geology maps and ice-flow indicators of all land north of 60 degrees latitude. It will dovetail with the Indicator Mineral Data Compilation and entail Remote Predictive Mapping in areas of sparse ground coverage. Outputs will provide seamless geological coverage in concert with the Tri-Territorial bedrock synthesis.

For further information, please contact:

Daniel Kerr, GSC-Ottawa, dkerr@nrcan.gc.ca
(613) 995-4523