Neutron activation analysis of tills in the North Cliff section, Wellsch Valley, Saskatchewan

Abstract

Twelve till samples from the North Cliff section at the Wellsch Valley site, Saskatchewan, were analyzed by neutron activation to determine if trends in traced element composition would prove useful in differentiating stratigraphic units. After analyzing trace-element distributions (including rare-earth elements), no discrete stratigraphic units could be recognized from the samples studied. The eight tills in the North Cliff Section appear to be homogeneous, even though each successive glaciation apparently originated from a different source area on the Canadian Shield. The compositional data tend to enhance the impression that each successive glacier reworked sediments of similar chemical composition into younger and younger drift sheets, separated in some cases by fluvial and aeolian deposits.