CGRG Bibliography of Canadian Geomorphology
Search Results
Author : Harris, J.R.; Grunsky, E.; Russell, H.; Parkinson, W.; He, J.; Richardson, M.; Dyke, A.; Kerr, D.; Eagles, S.; and Sharpe, D.
Date : 2011.
Title : A Remote Predictive Mapping (RPM) product for central Baffin Island and the Hall Peninsula: An evolving methodology for mapping surficial materials of Arctic Canada.
Publication : Joint Annual Meeting of Geological Association of Canada, the Mineralogical Association of Canada, the Society of Economic Geologists and the Society for Geology Applied to Mineral Deposits. May 25-27, 2011. University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario.
Issue :
Page(s) :
Abstract
The Remote Predictive Mapping (RPM) project which forms part of the Geological Survey of Canada’s Geo-mapping for Energy and Minerals (GEM) program is developing protocols for producing surficial material maps of large portions of the Canadian Arctic that are not well-mapped. Using Landsat and DEM data, a large area of central Baffin Island and the Hall Peninsula has been mapped. These maps will contribute to infilling “grey space areas” assisting the Tri-Territorial compilation of surficial geology maps, an ongoing project also under the GEM program. Central Baffin is a rugged area extending over 600 km from the Labrador Sea to the Foxe Basin and 300 km from the Frobisher Upands in the south to the Baffin Upands to the north. Physiographically it is consists of the Precambrian crystalline Hall uplands of the Hall Peninsula in the east and low lying Carbonates of the Foxe Basin Lowlands in the west. Surficial deposits across the Hall Uplands are generally thin and predominantly till. In the eastern Hall Peninsula there are a number of small glaciers, the largest of which covers <300 km2; to the west, surficial deposits are predominantly carbonate-derived till, and marine sand and fine grained sediments. The predictive mapping methodology is based on a supervised classification approach utilizing defined training areas of typical surficial materials identified on the basis of airphoto interpretation and fieldwork. Preliminary modeling of the area uses Landsat, MERIS and SPOT satellite imagery together with a digital elevation model (DEM) and associated surface derivatives. As the resulting predictive maps are based on remotely sensed imagery, accompanying maps showing the certainty of the classification are also produced using a Monte Carlo technique (Iterative Classification Method (ICM)) to bracket both statistical and spatial uncertainty associated with the classification process. Work is also ongoing to evaluate the relative importance of each of the various imagery bands and DEM derivatives using a statistical regression tree approach to optimize the accuracy and efficiency of the classification routine. The eventual aim is to develop a standardized method for producing preliminary predictive surficial geology maps where required, thus facilitating regional exploration activity and infrastructure development throughout Canada’s North.
Bibliography of Canadian Geomorphology