CGRG Bibliography of Canadian Geomorphology
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Author : Ferbey, T.; and Levson, V.M.
Date : 2003.
Title : Dispersal plume characteristics in an area of Late Wisconsinan ice-flow reversal, Huckleberry Mine area, west-central British Columbia.
Publication : Joint Annual Meeting of the Canadian Quaternary Association and the Canadian Geomorphology Research Group. Halifax, Nova Scotia, June 8-12, 2003.
Issue :
Page(s) :
Abstract
Surface and subsurface till samples collected in the Huckleberry Mine area were used to investigate geochemical dispersal patterns in an area with a complex glacial history. Air photo interpretation and field investigations of streamlined landforms and erosional features in bedrock provide evidence for both east and west directed ice-flow in the region. Cross-cutting and morpho-stratigraphic relationships show that eastward-directed ice-flow early in the Fraser Glaciation, reversed during the glacial maximum, indicating that an ice divide moved from the Coast Mountains into central British Columbia at this time. Towards the end of the Fraser Glaciation, this divide locally shifted back towards the Coast Mountains and the ice resumed its eastward flow direction. Basal till samples (n=102) were collected from recent exposures in the vicinity of the Huckleberry porphyry copper/molybdenum mine. The median copper concentration for basal till deposits in this area is 231 ppm, with a maximum copper value of 8924 ppm observed above the Main Zone pit. Till samples with copper concentrations exceeding the median are typically located within 500 m north, south, and east of known ore-grade mineralization. Elevated copper values can however be seen in tills occurring more than 1500 m west of the Main Zone pit. One till sample with 1351 ppm copper was collected 2 km west of the Main Zone pit and samples with greater than median values occur up to 4 km west. However, below a few metres depth, west of the mine, only low concentrations of copper were encountered in till. Similar dispersal patterns can be seen in other elements such as molybdenum, zinc, and arsenic. These dispersal characteristics suggest a net westward transport of mineralization in till at the surface. Low copper in deep tills and high copper in shallow tills, west of the mine, and the apparent eastward dispersal of copper from the East Zone, are interpreted as a palimpsest dispersal plume from Huckleberry Mine.
Bibliography of Canadian Geomorphology