GEM-Mackenzie: bedrock mapping and related stratigraphic studies, 2009-2019

Abstract

The Geo-mapping for Energy and Minerals (GEM) Program provided an opportunity to update the state of bedrock geological mapping for nearly 92,000 km2 of the northern mainland Northwest Territories, in a swath extending from the Colville Hills and Great Bear Plain, westward to the eastern and northern Mackenzie Mountains. Mapping focused initially on the region around the long-producing Norman Wells oil field, and subsequently extended north to the Colville Hills, a region of known oil and gas potential, and west into the Mackenzie Mountains, an area with numerous mineral showings. The result will be 24 new bedrock geology maps at 1:100 000 or 1:250 000 scales, published in GIS-enabled format as Canadian Geoscience Maps (CGMs). The mapping effort made extensive use of archival GSC data, notably those preserved following Operation Norman (1968-1970), as well as public-domain industry data. Maps incorporate numerous stratigraphic revisions that post-date the Operation Norman era, including innovations from the GEM program that affect a number of Tonian, Ediacaran, Cambrian, and Ordovician units. The present report is an overview of the mapping efforts, including summaries of stratigraphic revisions, as well as a preliminary treatment of the structural geology of the study area. Also included is a brief summary of subsurface studies. Following the conclusion of the GEM program, modern, GIS-enabled bedrock maps will be available for a swath of territory extending from the edge of the Selwyn Basin, near the Yukon border, to the Brock Inlier in the northeastern mainland Northwest Territories.