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Don Murphy - Windy/McKinley Terrane
Accelerated bedrock geological mapping, Windy-McKinley and neighbouring terranes,
Stevenson Ridge/Snag (115J/K) and northern Kluane (115F/G) map areas, southwestern Yukon
Don Murphy, Jeffrey Bond and Panya Lipovsky (YGS)
Cees van Staal (GSC)
This project is the third year of a multi-year, multi-disciplinary and multi-agency survey of an area in western Yukon that is one of the least understood in terms of geology and potential to host mineral deposits. The overall area to be investigated lies northeast of the Denali fault between the Yukon-Alaska border and the north end of Aishihik Lake. Much of this area is highly vegetated and covered with a veneer of unconsolidated sediments so the composition of the bedrock is not known in any detail. This lack of understanding of the bedrock and surficial character is a major impediment to mineral exploration in the area and consequently relatively little exploration, and associated economic development, has occurred there.
To address this situation, YGS, in partnership with the GSC, will undertake bedrock and surficial geological mapping in the western part of Stevenson Ridge and the northern part of Kluane map areas and two multiparameter airborne geophysical surveys in the Stevenson map area. As well, surficial geological mapping will be conducted in Stevenson Ridge and northern Kluane map areas, two map sheets that straddle the Quaternary glacial limits. The multispectral surveys are essential to the success of the bedrock mapping programs owing to the ability of surveys of this type to provide clues to the composition of bedrock in areas of poor exposure. A better understanding of the geology and mineral potential of the area will aid in the development of area land use plans. The geophysical data and new geological maps will be stimulants to mineral exploration and therefore the project will have a direct link to local economic development.