Alice E. Wilson’s Scientific Papers, Maps, Field Trip Guide and Children’s Book on Geology - Part 2

On October 18, 2018   the Minister of Environment and Climate Change and Minister responsible for Parks Canada paid tribute Alice Evelyn Wilson as a trailblazing scientist during a special ceremony at the Canadian Museum of Nature unveiling the following plaque commemorating her as a person of national historic significance.

The Minister’s  background material mentions that Alice Evelyn Wilson was “the first female geologist hired by the Geological Survey of Canada, the first Canadian woman to be admitted to the Geological Society of America, and the first female Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.” Further information to support the designation of the plaque can be found at:   
       
https://www.canada.ca/en/parks-canada/news/2018/10/government-of-canada-recognizes-national-historic-significance-of-geologist-alice-evelyn-wilson.html

https://www.canada.ca/en/parks-canada/news/2018/10/alice-evelyn-wilson-1881-1964.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice_Wilson

https://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/women/030001-1415-e.html

Sarjeant, William A.S. — "Alice Wilson, first woman geologist with the Geological Survey of Canada   https://www.jstor.org/stable/24138603?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents
https://doi.org/10.17704/eshi.12.2.m712pvg107v21804

The background material issued by the Minister's department mentions that Alice E. Wilson “prepared detailed reference maps of some 14,250  square km  of the Ottawa-St. Lawrence Lowlands”.    That point is perhaps better made by the following index map showing the geologic maps issued by the Geological Survey of Canada where the Paleozoic geology was mapped by Alice E. Wilson.

Christopher P. Brett
Ottawa

Alice E. Wilson’s Scientific Papers, Maps, Field Trip Guide and Children’s Book on Geology

Over the course of the next five months the Canadian Museum of Nature, the Victoria Museum located at Metcalfe and McLeod Streets in Ottawa, is hosting a special exhibition entitled “Courage and Passion: Canadian Women in Natural Sciences” celebrating women who broke barriers to pursue their passion for science.   The exhibit started  July 28, 2018 and is on display until March 31, 2019.   One of the women featured in the exhibit is the paleontologist Dr. Alice E. Wilson (1881–1964), who was the first woman to be employed in a professional capacity by the  Geological Survey of Canada.  She worked for the Geological Survey of Canada from 1909 until her forced retirement at age 65 in 1946.  Interesting, she maintained an office at the Survey, and kept publishing articles on paleontology,  until shortly before her death in 1964.

Last Saturday (October 13) I attended the open house at the Canadian Museum of Nature’s research facility on Pink Road in Gatineau, Quebec (across the river from Ottawa).  While there I ran into Michelle Coyne, Curator, Organic Materials Collections, Geological Survey of Canada.  Michelle was manning a display of fossils of the Ottawa area and trailblazing women in the Earth Sciences, featuring biographies of among  others Alice E. Wilson and Ann P. Sabina, both of whom I am very familiar with as I have owned their field trip guides for over fifty years.  Michelle mentioned that tomorrow, Thursday, October 18,  at 7pm, at the Canadian Museum of Nature in Ottawa, they will be dedicating a plaque to Alice E. Wilson.  Admission to the museum is free starting at 5 pm and the event is open to the public.

Below I’ve provided a list of Alice E. Wilson’s scientific papers, the geological maps she authored, her field trip guide and her children’s book on geology.  A very productive career.  Intriguingly, at pages 21-22 of her children’s book that was published in 1947, Alice E. Wilson briefly discusses Wegener’s theory of continental drift!

Christopher Brett
Ottawa

ALICE E. WILSON’S SCIENTIFIC PAPERS - GEOLOGY AND PALEONTOLOGY

Wilson, A. E.

1913: A New Brachiopod from the Base of the Utica [Oxoplecia Calhouni Wilson]; Geol. Surv., Canada, Mus. Bull. 1, pp. 81-86.     https://doi.org/10.4095/104945

1914: A Preliminary Study of the Variations of the Plications of Parastrophia hemiplicata,
Hall; Geol. Surv., Canada,   Museum Bulletin no. 2, pt. 7,   p. 131-140, https://doi.org/10.4095/104958

1915: A New Ordovician Pelecypod from the Ottawa District; Ottawa Nat. 29, pp. 85-86.
https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/28021#page/91/mode/1up
Plate 2 at  https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/28021#page/90/mode/1up

1921:  The Range of Certain Lower Ordovician Faunas of the Ottawa Valley, with Descriptions
of Some New Species; Geol. Surv., Canada, Bull. 33, pp. 19-57.
 https://doi.org/10.4095/104998

1924:  A new genus and a new species of gastropod from the upper Ordovician of British Columbia: Canadian Field-Naturalist, vol. 38, no. 8, pp. 150-151, 2 fig., 2 pls., October, 1924.
    https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/89061#page/230/mode/1up
   
1926a:  An Upper Ordovician fauna from the Rocky Mountains, British Columbia; in, Contributions to Canadian palaeontology; Geological Survey Museum; Geological Survey of Canada, Museum Bulletin No.  44,  p. 1-34, 100-115,  8 Plates, 2 Figures  (index map and diagram of one species),  https://doi.org/10.4095/105015

1926b: Determinations of fossils and remarks thereon; pages 32-34 in Geology and mineral deposits of Windermere map-area, British Columbia by J.F. Walker, Geological Survey of Canada, Memoir 148, 78 pages (1 sheet),   https://doi.org/10.4095/100848

1928:  Fossils from Baffin Island, collected by J. Dewey Soper ; in, A faunal investigation of southern Baffin Island; Soper, J D; National Museum of Canada, Bulletin no. 53, p. 124-129, https://doi.org/10.4095/306004

1930: The geology of the Cornwall District, Ontario. PhD Thesis for University of Chicago, USA
   
1931: Notes on the Baffinland fossils collected by J. Dewey Soper during 1925 and 1929: Roy. Soc. Canada, Transactions, 3d ser., vol. 25, sec. 4, pp. 285–308, 5 pls., 1931.

1932a: Notes on the Pamelia Member of the Black River Formation of the Ottawa Valley;
Amer. Jour. Sci. 24, pp. 135-146.   doi:10.2475/ajs.s5-24.140.135
   
1932b:  Palaeontological Notes; Canadian Field-Naturalist. 46, pp. 133-140.
https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/89295#page/163/mode/1up

1932c:  Ordovician Fossils from the Region of Cornwall; Roy. Soc., Canada, Trans. 3rd
ser., sec. 4, vol. 26, pp. 373-404, 6 pis.
       
1936: , A Synopsis of the Ordovician of Ontario and western Quebec and the related succession in New York: in Contributions to the study of the Ordovician of Ontario and Quebec;  Geol. Survey of Canada Memoir  202, Pub. 2427, pp. 1–20, 1936.

1937: Erosional Intervals Indicated by Contacts in the Vicinity of Ottawa, Ontario;
Roy. Soc., Canada, Proc. and Trans., 3rd ser. 31, sec. 4, pp. 45-60.

1938: Correlation of the Timiskaming outlier, with description of a new cephalopod; Canadian Field-Naturalist, vol. 52, no. 1, pp. 1–3, 1 pl., January 8, 1938.
https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/89087#page/11/mode/1up
Plate 1 at https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/89087#page/9/mode/1up

1938: Gastropods from Akpatok Island, Hudson Strait: Royal Soc, Canada Trans. 3d ser., vol. 32, sec. 4, pp. 25–39, 3 plos., May 1938; correction, vol. 33. Sec. 4, p. 131, May 1939; abstract, Proc., p. 143, 1933.

1942:   A buried channel of the St. Lawrence River: Am. Jour. Sci., v. 244, no. 8, p. 557-562, illus., Aug. 1946; abs., Royal Soc. Canada Proc, 3d ser., v. 36, p. 147, 1942.
   
1943: Synopsis of the geology of the Ottawa lowlands [abstract]: Geol. Soc. America Bull., vol. 49, no. 12, pt. 2, p. 1943,

1944:  Rafinesquina and its Homomorphs Opikina and Opikinella from the Ottawa Limestone
of the Ottawa-St. Lawrence Lowland; Roy. Soc., Canada, 3rd ser. 38, sec, 4, pp. 145-203. 

1945:  Strophomena and its Homomorphs Trigrammaria and Microtrypa from the Ottawa
Limestone of the Ottawa-St. Lawrence Lowland; Roy. Soc., Canada, 3rd ser. 39, sec. 4, pp. 121-150.

1946a: Echinodermata of the Ottawa Formation of the Ottawa-St. Lawrence Lowland;
Geol. Surv., Canada, Bull. No. 4.  61 pages, https://doi.org/10.4095/101580
                                
1946b: Brachiopoda of the Ottawa Formation of the Ottawa - St. Lawrence Lowland;
 Geological Survey of Canada, Bulletin 8,   149 pages, https://doi.org/10.4095/101577

1946c: Geology of the Ottawa-St. Lawrence Lowland, Ontario and Quebec.  Geological Survey of Canada  Memoir 241, 65 pages, four sheets   https://doi.org/10.4095/101632

1946d: A buried channel of the St. Lawrence River. American J. of Sc., v 244, 557-563
               
1947:  Trilobita of the Ottawa Formation of the Ottawa - St Lawrence Lowland
Geological Survey of Canada, Bulletin 9,   85 pages, https://doi.org/10.4095/101578

1948: Miscellaneous classes of fossils, Ottawa Formation, Ottawa - St. Lawrence Valley
 Geological Survey of Canada, Bulletin 11,  123 pages, https://doi.org/10.4095/101512

1948-49:  Life comes to a planet, Pt. 1: Canadian Min. Jour., v. 69, no. 7, p. 57-65, illus., July 1948; Pt. 2, no. 8, p. 80-84, illus. incl. index map, Aug. 1948; no. 9, p. 60-69, illus., Sept. 1948; Pt. 3, no. 11, p. 69-82, illus., Nov. 1948; Pt. 4, v. 70, no. 1, p. 77-88, illus., Jan. 1949; Pt. 5, no. 3, p. 79-88, illus., Mar. 1949. 

1951: Gastropoda and Conularida of the Ottawa formation of the Ottawa-St Lawrence lowland
 Geological Survey of Canada, Bulletin no. 17, 1951, 156 pages, https://doi.org/10.4095/101520

1951:  Log of Diamond Drill Hole (pages 2-7), and  List of Fossils from Piskoshi Point , James Bay (pages 8-9), in Preliminary report on drilling to determine stratigraphical succession at Piskoshi Point, James Bay: Ontario Department of Mines Preliminary Report. 1951-5, 9 p., 1951.
http://www.geologyontario.mndmf.gov.on.ca/mndmfiles/pub/data/imaging/PR1951-05/PR1951-05.pdf                                           

1953:  A report on fossil collections from the James Bay lowland, Appendix A of Martison, N. W., Petroleum possibilities of the James Bay lowland area: Ontario Dept. Mines Ann. Rept . 1952, v. 61, pt. 6, p. 59-81,1953. 
http://www.geologyontario.mndm.gov.on.ca/mndmfiles/pub/data/imaging/ARV61//ARV61.pdf

1955:  Memorial to Alfred W. G. Wilson (1873-1954): Geological  Society of America Proceedings, 1954, p. 143-145, July 1955.

1956: Pelecypoda of the Ottawa Formation of the Ottawa - St Lawrence Lowland
 Geological Survey of Canada, Bulletin 28,, 102 pages, https://doi.org/10.4095/101527

1957:  Life in the Proterozoic, in Gill, J. E., ed., The Proterozoic in Canada: Royal Soc. Canada Special Pub., no. 2, p. 18-27, illus., 1957. University of Toronto Press,  Pages: 204    
https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.3138/j.ctt1vgw7jv

1961: Cephalopoda of the Ottawa Formation of the Ottawa - St Lawrence Lowland
 Geological Survey of Canada, Bulletin 67, 106 pages, https://doi.org/10.4095/100585
    
1965;  Geology of Canada, p. 71-80a  in A collection of cartographic notes;   Edwards, B; Geological Survey of Canada, Topical Report 108, 1965, https://doi.org/10.4095/299631

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
   

CO-AUTHORED PAPERS

Burns, C. A.; Wilson, A. E.;
1949:  Geological notes on localities in James Bay, Hudson Bay, and Foxe Basin visited during an exploration cruise, Geological Survey of Canada, Paper 52-25, 1952, 16 pages,
[Geological Notes by C. A. Burns including lists of collected fossils identified by Alice E. Wilson]  https://doi.org/10.4095/101340        
   
Cole, L. H.,  Keele, J.  and Wilson, Alice E.
1922: Ordovician Fossils From St. Lawrence Canal System Localities, Ontario and Quebec; Appendix B in Keele, Joseph and Cole, L. Heber, Report on Structural Materials along the St. Lawrence River, between Prescott, Ont., and Lachine, Que., pages 109 -111;,  Canada, Mines Branch, 119 pages, maps, plates   https://archive.org/details/reportonstructur00cana/page/109

Hogg, Nelson, Satterly, Jack, and Wilson, Alice Evelyn,
1953: Drilling by the Ontario Department of Mines, Pt. 1 of Drilling in the James Bay lowland: Ontario Department of Mines Annual Report  1952, v. 61, pt. 6, p. 115-140, illus.
http://www.geologyontario.mndm.gov.on.ca/mndmfiles/pub/data/imaging/ARV61//ARV61.pdf    

Wilson, A E; Caley, J F; Okulitch, V J; Sproule, J C;
1936:  Contributions to the study of the Ordovician of Ontario and Quebec; Geological Survey of Canada, Memoir 202, 1936, 133 pages, https://doi.org/10.4095/100833
   
Wilson, A.E. and Mather, K.F.
1916:  Synopsis of the common fossils of the Kingston area; in Baker, M.B., The Geology of Kingston and vicinity; Appendix II, Ontario Bureau of mines, 1916, v.XXV., part III, p.45-67.
http://www.geologyontario.mndm.gov.on.ca/mndmfiles/pub/data/imaging/ARV25//ARV25.pdf

Wilson, A. E., Stewart, J . S., and Caley, J. F.,
1941:  Sedimentary Basins of Ontario, possible Sources of Oil and Gas; Roy. Soc . Canada,
Proc. and Trans., 3rd ser. 35, sec. 4, pp. 167-185.       

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

GEOLOGICAL  MAPS

Wilson, A. E.
1938:  Ottawa Sheet, (East Half) , Carleton and Hull Counties, Ontario and Quebec, Geological Survey of Canada,  Map 413A, Scale 1 inch to 1 mile, Geology by A. E. Wilson, 1935
https://doi.org/10.4095/107511

1938:  Ottawa Sheet, (West  Half) , Carleton and Hull Counties, Ontario and Quebec, Geological Survey of Canada, Map 414A,  Scale 1 inch to 1 mile, Geology by A. E. Wilson, 1935
https://doi.org/10.4095/107545

1940: Casselman, Russell, Dundas, Stormont, Prescott, Carleton, and Papineau Counties, Ontario and Québec; Geological Survey of Canada, "A" Series Map 587A, 1940, 1 sheet, 1 inch to 2 miles,  https://doi.org/10.4095/107369
               
1940: Nepean, Carleton, Lanark, Grenville, Dundas, Gatineau and Papineau Counties, Ontario and Québec;  Geological Survey of Canada, "A" Series Map 588A, 1940, 1 sheet, 1 inch to 2 miles,  https://doi.org/10.4095/107428

1941: Valleyfield, Québec and Ontario; Geological Survey of Canada, "A" Series Map 660A, 1941, 1 sheet, 1 inch to 2 miles,  https://doi.org/10.4095/107850

1941:  L'Orignal, Ontario and Québec; Geological Survey of Canada, "A" Series Map 662A, 1 sheet, 1 inch to 2 miles, https://doi.org/10.4095/107972

1941: Maxville, Ontario and Québec; Geological Survey of Canada, "A" Series Map 661A, 1941, 1 sheet, 1 inch to 2 miles,  https://doi.org/10.4095/107973
           
1942:  Prescott, Ontario; Geological Survey of Canada, "A" Series Map 710A, 1942, 1 sheet, https://doi.org/10.4095/107616

1946: Ottawa-Cornwall , Ontario and Quebec, Geological Survey of Canada, "A" Series Map 852A,  Scale 1 inch to 4 Miles, Geology by A. E. Wilson, 1929 and 1935 to 1940   
https://doi.org/10.4095/107544

1954:  Ottawa, Carleton, Gatineau, and Papineau Counties, Ontario and Québec; Geological Survey of Canada, "A" Series Map 1038A, 1954, 1 sheet, https://doi.org/10.4095/107547

CO-AUTHORED GEOLOGICAL MAPS

Livingstone, K. W. , Hill, P. A., Wilson, Alice E. and  Kirwan, J. L., 1974,
Geology, Arnprior, Ontario;. Geological Survey of Canada, "A" Series Map 1363A, 1 sheet, scale 1:50,000   [Precambrian geology by K. W. Livingstone, P. A. Hill and others 1963, 1964, 1965, compiled by K. W. Livingstone 1965. Paleozoic geology by Alice E. Wilson, compiled by J. L. Kirwan 1963. Revised by P. A. Hill, 1972.]
  https://doi.org/10.4095/109148

Reinhardt, E W; Wilson, A E, 1964
Geology, Carleton Place, Ontario; Geological Survey of Canada, Preliminary Map 7-1964, 1964, 1 sheet,
[Precambrian geology by E. W. Reinhardt, 1963. Paleozoic geology by A. E. Wilson, 1946, compiled by B. A. Liberty, 1963]      https://doi.org/10.4095/108709

Reinhardt, E W; Wilson, A E; Liberty, B A, 1973
 Geology, Carleton Place, Ontario; Geological Survey of Canada, "A" Series Map 1362A, 1973, 1 sheet,
[Precambrian geology and compilation by E. W. Reinhardt, 1963, 1969, 1972. Paleozoic geology by A. E. Wilson, 1946.  Paleozoic compilation by B. A. Liberty, 1963, with minor changes and additions by E. W. Reinhardt, 1972.]   htps://doi.org/10.4095/109147       
                
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

FIELD TRIP GUIDE

Alice E. Wilson, 1956
 A Guide to the Geology of the Ottawa District, Volume 70, 1,  The Canadian Field-Naturalist, 73 pages, including five plates, and 1 map sheet
https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/90128#page/9/mode/1up
   
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CHILDREN’S BOOK ABOUT GEOLOGY

Alice E. Wilson, 1947
The Earth Beneath Our Feet.  Toronto: The MacMillan Company of Canada Limited, 294 pages
https://archive.org/details/earthbeneathourf033553mbp/page/n3


       

The Pike Lake Pluton - A Layered Syenite Intrusion in Lanark County - Part 2

In my July 17, 2017 blog posting I mentioned that Jean Dugas, in his 1952 doctoral thesis, had described  a syenite intrusion falling between Black Lake and Pike Lake, which he named the Black Lake body, but which is now known The Pike Lake Pluton.  I also mentioned that in the text of his thesis Dugas (1952) had remarked on the good bedding within the syenite body and included a spectacular photo of bedding in the syenite body (his photo number  54 at page 159 of his thesis).   Dugas placed the outcrop shown in  photo number 54 in Lot 24, Concession VI of North Burgess township.   Locating that outcrop is problematic as his Black Lake syenite body (the Pike Lake pluton) does not appear to outcrop in Lot 24 of Concession VI. Specifically, the map included with his thesis, and Wilson and Dugas’ (1961) map 1089A issued by the GSC, which replicates the map in the thesis, do not show the syenite body as outcropping on Lot 24 of Concession VI.

This past summer I visited friends who have a home on Black Lake and took the opportunity to visit a few of the outcrops of the syenite body that are visible on Google Earth. The outcrops are just to the north of Black Lake Road and about 400 meters west of  Pike Lake Route 16, and fall in Lot 23 very close to the southern  boundary of concession VII.   As such the outcrops are very close to Lot 24 of Concession VI.  The following photographs show layering, but are not close to the spectacular laying shown in Jean Dugas’ photograph.

The ruler in the photos is one meter (39 inches) long.

Christopher Brett
Ottawa

References

Dugas, Jean, 1952,
 Geology of the Perth map area, Lanark and Leeds Counties, Ontario; Ph. D., McGill, 189 pages, four  maps.    [ Map 1089A  replicates a map that is part of the  thesis.]
http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/obj/thesescanada/vol2/QMM/TC-QMM-124004.pdf
http://digitool.library.mcgill.ca/thesisfile124004.pdf

Wilson, Morley E. and  Dugas, Jean,  1961,
Map 1089A, Geology, Perth, Lanark and Leeds Counties, Ontario, Geological Survey of Canada; Geology by Morley E. Wilson, 1930 and Jean Dugas, 1949; Descriptive notes by Jean Dugas.
https://doi.org/10.4095/107951

In 1916 a Slab with Tracks of Climactichnites found in Arabia was donated to the British Museum of Natural History by Captain W. H. I. Shakespear

Captain William Shakespear (1878-1915) ... soldier, diplomat, amateur photographer, botanist, geographer and not least, an adventurer.  He was the second British explorer to cross Arabia from east to west and seemed to have done it in some style.      ( Peter Vincent, 2008)

For some time I’ve been thinking of writing a blog posting on oddities relating to Climactichnites and Protichnites that I’ve uncovered in my research.   One odd reference that my research turned up is a mention of the acquisition of a slab with tracks of Climactichnites from Arabia in the accounts of the British Museum for the Year ending the 31st day of March 1916.   If the slab from Arabia does indeed bear the trace fossil Climactichnites it would be quite interesting, as Climactichnites has thus far been reported only from late Cambrian littoral sandstones of North America, from occurrences in Texas, Wisconsin, Missouri and New York State in the United States and Quebec and Ontario in Canada.

The reference to the donated slab is as follows:

Return British Museum.   1916
British Museum - British Museum (Natural History)
page 132: V.– Acquisitions.
A. – By Donation.
page 137:  Tracks. — A slab with tracks (Climatichnites), four specimens illustrating wind-action, and two fragments of limestone, obtained by the donor on his journey across Northern Arabia from Koweit to Suez (Geographical  Journal., vol. xliv, p. 96 ; 1914). Capt. W. H. T. Shakespear. 
https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/110734#page/411/mode/1up

[Note that in addition to the misspelling of Climactichnites, the British Museum’s report contains a typographic error in Captain William Henry Irving Shakespear’s initials:  W. H. T. Should be W. H. I.]

Intriguingly, the donor of the slab, Captain Shakespear, was a  British army officer, diplomat, explorer, amateur botanist, and amateur photographer, most famous for being the first European to meet Ibn Saud, the founder of Saudi Arabia, for his friendship with Ibn Saud, for his photographs taken in Arabia, and for his trek across Arabia mentioned above.  Though not as well known as T. E. Lawrence (more commonly known as Lawrence of Arabia), Captain Shakespear performed similar duties for the British in Arabia as those performed by T. E. Lawrence.    While T. E. Lawrence survived the First World War, Captain Shakespear was killed in action in January, 1915 in a battle between Ibn Saud's army and the army of Ibn Rashid, who was an ally of the Ottoman Turks.

The reference to the donation of the slab in Return British Museum (1916) refers to an article in the Geographical Journal.  Here is the whole of that article, which appeared in the column with the heading ‘The Monthly Record’:

“Captain Shakespear’s Journey across Northern Arabia.– It was announced from Cairo early in June that Captain Shakespear, British Resident at Koweit, on the Persian gulf, had just passed through, after completing a journey across Northern Arabia from Koweit to Suez.  The route followed is only briefly indicated as passing through Riadh, Boreidah and El Jauf (or Jauf al Amir), but it is stated that between the last two places it was one not previously traversed. Riadh and Boreiday have been visited within the past two years by both the Danish traveler, Mr. Barclay Raunikier (Journal, vol. 40, p. 331) and by Captain Leachman (ibid, vol. 43, pp. 500 et seq.) though neither of these took the direct route between Koweit and Riadh.  It remains to be seen whether, and to what extent, the traveler deviated from the route of his predecessors in this part of the journey.  Captain Shakespear has since reached this country.”

The Geographical Journal, Vol. 44, No. 1, Jul., 1914, pp. 95-103 at page 96
https://www.jstor.org/stable/1778799

That report does not do justice to Captain Shakespear’s trek.   In 1914 Shakespear completed a three and a half month, 2,900-kilometre (1,810 mile) journey from Kuwait to Riyadh and on to Aqaba via the Nafud Desert, which he mapped in great detail, taking and developing photographs along the way.  Almost two-thirds of Shakespear's 1,800-mile route was uncharted territory, which he mapped for the first time. Shakespear was an accomplished horse and camel rider, an expert shot and was fluent in Arabic (as well as Punjabi, Urdu, Pushtu and Farsi).   On February 3, 1914 Shakespear left Koweit with a caravan of 10 men, 7 riding camels, 11 baggage camels, 4 sheep and a camera that required the plates to be developed on site.   By mid- May Shakespear had made it to Suez (with fewer camels and men) and Cairo.   Douglas Carruthers (1922), who wrote a detailed description of Captain  Shakespear’s trek,  mentions (at page 324) that  “Shakespear’s trans-Arabian journey covered 1200 miles of unknown territory. ... For the whole distance, 1810 miles, Shakespear kept up a continuous route-traverse, checked at intervals by observations for latitude. He also took, as on his previous journey,  hypsometric readings for altitude, which give a most useful string of heights between the Gulf and the Hijaz Railway.   ... Routes that had hitherto been mere conjecture could now be drawn more or less accurately, many errors were put right, and many a problem solved."  The information Captain Shakespear provided  proved useful to the British War Office and was used when preparing maps of Arabia.

Douglas Carruthers’ (1922) article is entitled  “Captain Shakespear’s Last Journey” and  appeared in volume 59 of the Geographical Journal:  Part 1 in issue number 5, May 1922, at pages  321-334; Part 2 in issue number 6, June 1922, at pages  401-418.  The article includes  numerous photographs taken by Captain Shakespear on his trek and a detailed map.
https://www.jstor.org/stable/1780609
https://www.jstor.org/stable/1780633

Carruthers notes (page 325) that “Shakespear set out on his last journey with the full intention of gathering as much geographical knowledge as possible” and mentions that Shakespear noted that buildings were made of limestone (page 327), describes sand dunes (328-9, etc.), indicates the direction of waterflow (333) and the headwaters for certain streams, identified  basalt (page 415) and identified sandstone ridges (page 416).    Carruthers (in footnotes at pages 412-3) mentions that “ Shakespear made some interesting natural history observations on these stages.  His men dug out a wolf’s earth (like the jackal the Eastern wolves go to ground) and he kept and nursed one of the pups for some time.  Later, three days east of Jauf, he was brought an ostrich chick. ...Shakespear also found Hubara Bustard eggs on April 11, and he caught and bottled the venomous Horned Viper, Umm Jeneyb, and another called Zarag (this is described by Huber as Zerraq, a common harmless variety, attaining a length of 4-5 feet).”    Carruthers article makes no mention of Climactichnites.

A map showing the route of  Captain Shakespear’s trek across Arabia can be found in Peter Harrigan’s 2008 article on Captain Shakespear entitled “ The Captain and the King”, that includes photographs by William Henry Irvine Shakespear, that appeared in AramcoWorld,  Volume 59, Number 7, Compilation Issue 2008
http://archive.aramcoworld.com/issue/200807/the.captain.and.the.king-.compilation.htm

When that map is compared with a geologic map of Arabia and recent articles on the geology Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Israel, it is clear that Captain Shakespear’s route took him over Cambrian age sandstones, including  the Cambrian Siq Sandstone  Member and the Saq Sandstone of Saudi Arabia,  Cambrian tide dominated marine sandstones in Jordan, and shallow marine Lower to Middle Cambrian sandstone in the Negev region (Israel).   Those are the right age and type of rocks for Climactichnites.  Interestingly, the Saudi Stratigraphic Committee mentions that the Siq contains “fossil trails, which occur in the sand-flat deposits.”   Promising.  However, trace fossils have been reported from the Cambrian sandstones of Saudi Arabia and Jordan by numerous authors, but no one has reported finding Climactichnites (other than Brown, Schmidt and Huffman (1963) who mention  ‘Climactichnites’ in the text of their report  and in the description for a photograph , but use the term to refer to the radula marks of a large grazing gastropod, rather than to the trail defined by Logan).

A check on the location of the Arabian plate in Cambrian times reveals that it was not close to the Cambrian sandstones of the Laurentian plate  which have yielded specimens of Climactichnites.

My research suggests that Captain Shakespear had an interest in botany and  knew a bit more geology than is revealed by Carruthers article (Captain Shakespear was directly involved in Britain’s negotiations to provide drinking water to Kuwait and to acquire oil from Kuwait, and helped map parts of Kuwait), but is unlikely to have known enough geology to have been able to identify Climactichnites.  I suspect that the identification put on the donated slab was by an employee of the British Museum.  

I have contacted the British Museum to see if they have information on the specimen of Climactichnites.     With luck they will be able to locate it in their collection.

H.V.F. Winstone  has written a biography on Captain Shakespear entitled simply “Captain Shakespear” that was published by Jonathan Cape Ltd., London in 1976.  Though no longer in print it is available from Abe Books, and I’ll order a copy.   I’m particularly interested whether Winstone mentions the slab of Climactichnites and his description of an automobile trip taken by Shakespear in 1907.   Shakespear purchased a Rover automobile in Karachi and drove from the Persian Gulf  across Persia, Turkey, Greece, Macedonia, along the Adriatic Coast to Italy, and on to England —  an incredible accomplishment when you consider that in 1907 there were few roads, no petrol stations,  and that the Rover 8 was a small  two seater:  a single-cylinder, eight-horsepower  car with a  gearbox that allowed the following speeds:   1st gear - 8 mph;    2nd gear - 16 mph;    3rd or top gear - 24 mph;   reverse - 8 mph.

Captain Shakespear’s diaries, maps and papers are available in England.  They might be worth a look should the British Museum not be able to find the specimen, and should H.V.F. Winstone not have covered the specimen in his biography on Captain Shakepear.

I found a number of additional references to Captain Shakespear’s interest in botany and natural history.  I’ve provided them below.

An article on Captain Shakespear that is on King William's College’s web site mentions that Shakespear's collection of pressed plants went to the Natural History Museum, "in many instances the first of their kind to find their way to a western museum, where they remain as evidence of his wide-ranging scientific curiosity and his thoroughness as an explorer."

A few additional sources suggest that Captain Shakespear's collection of pressed plants from Kuwait or Arabia  was donated to Natural History Museum, but I could find little  record of this in the British Museum’s published lists of donations for the years of interest.  The volume Return British Museum 1915 reveals “An Egg of Eupodotis arabs from Central Arabia ; presented by Capt. W. H. I. Shakespear.” was donated British Museum of Natural History.    A check on the British Museum’s online database reveals the following two specimens:

– BM000598601, Family: Orobanchaceae, Genus: Cistanche, Species: lutea, Country: Saudi Arabia , recorded by William Henry Irvine Shakespear.    
– 1920.1.19.2, Scientific name: Felis lybica iraki Cheesman 1920; Class: Mammalia; Order: Carnivora; Locality: Koweit, north-eastern Arabia on the Persian Gulf ; Recorded by: Shakespeare WH;  Collection date: 5 / 1913; Type status: HOLOTYPE ; Other catalog numbers: NHMUK:ecatalogue:4286709; Part type: Skull     http://data.nhm.ac.uk/object/f0cf46ba-5e84-4bbb-9421-009d738565d4

James P. Mandaville (1990), in a book entitled ‘Flora of Eastern Saudi Arabia’ mentions that “Captain W. H. I. Shakespear , was the son of a former Indian forestry officer and according to Blatter (1933) collected plants at Kuwait that were sent to the British Museum.”    Professor Blatter commented briefly on Shakespear:  “1915.– Shakespear, William Henry.– He joined the Indian Army in 1898 and entered the political service in 1903.   Was political agent at Koweit.  Here he made a collection of plants which are at the British Museum.  He was killed in the course of tribal fighting in 1915.”

Christopher Brett
Ottawa, Ontario

Addendum (October 24, 2018)
I have finished reading H.V.F. Winstone’s biography on Captain Shakespear, which  contains numerous references to sand dunes, but few references to rocks and no mention of climactichnites or any other fossil. 

For the trip across Arabia Winstone (at page 173)  quotes from Captain Shakepear’s diary notes from Tuesday, April 28, 1914, as follows:
“Off early over very flat plain until we reached top of Jauf basin.  Got some bearings to hills, etc.  Descent into Jauf drops over four successive ledges, a white limestone, and red slatey-looking close-grain stone, similar to that at Majmaa, and greyish close-grain stone, almost a green colour, and again limestone or chalk.  This is the order of descent.  In the basin immediately struck three new plants (or rather not seen since Kuwait), a red Hamth, Shigara and useless though pretty shrub called ... (must find out what this one is)...”

Winstone mentions (at pages 187-188) that upon Captain Shakepear’s return to London “[Shakespear] worked at a tremendous pace in his hotel room, completing his journals of the trans-Arabia journey and labelling his natural history specimens, ...  He was proposed for fellowship in the Royal Geographical Society... The collection of plants that he made on his way across the desert and carefully preserved, was presented to the Natural History Museum.  His botanical specimens were in many instances the first of their kind to find their way to a British, or indeed a western, museum; and they remain to the present day as evidence of his wide-ranging scientific curiosity and thoroughness as an explorer.  Another collection, left with Douglas Baird in India, was presented to the same museum in 1916 and in 1920 the Bombay Natural History Society sent it the wildcat he shot near Kuwait which became the named example of the sub-species felis ocreata iraki, or as the badu call it, burr.”

The Natural History Museum acknowledged receipt of my enquiry, but has not yet reported that they have been able to locate the slab with tracks (climactichnites) donated by Capt. Shakespear.

References

Ethelbert Blatter, 1933,
Flora Arabica, The Botanical Exploration of Arabia.  Records of the Botanical Survey of India, Volume VIII, No. 5, pages 451-487 at page 493
https://www.wdl.org/en/item/17115/view/1/49/

Glen F. Brown, Dwight L. Schmidt and A. Curtis Huffman, Jr., 1963
Geology of the Arabian Peninsula, Shield Area of Western Saudi Arabia
U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 560-A, 147 pages plus maps and plates.
https://pubs.usgs.gov/pp/0560a/report.pdf
The report refers to ‘Climactichnites’  at pages A106 and A107 and in the description for  photograph C in Figure 39, as follows:
A106:   Siq sandstone ... The fossils are Cruziana sp. (Not ...)  and what appear to be radula marks of a large grazing gastropod, possibly Climactichnites sp. (Fig. 39C), which is found elsewhere in the Potsdam sandstone of Late Cambrian age.
A107: “If this correlation is valid and if the Cruziana sp. And Climactichnites (?) bed 275 km southeast are Upper Cambrian (Potsdamian), the sandstone becomes progressively younger toward the southeast and represents and onlapping shallow marine tongue.”
Figure 39 – The Siq Sandstone... C. Cruziana sp. track in Siq Sandstone. Markings to the right of the knife appear to be grazing marks of a gastropod, probably Climactichnites (?) Sp. Of late Cambrian (?) Age. Near Jabal Abadiyah (lat 26∘24' N., long 38∘ 42' E.)

A Glacial Sand and Clay Deposit in the Basement of St. Paul's United Church on Gore Street in Perth, Ontario

On Tuesday of last week I received an email from Bob Sneyd who wanted to know if I would be interested in a “fascinating cross section of the last 10,000 years or so...in a dry and covered location.”   That piqued my interest.  We spoke on the phone and I determined that in the course of renovations, and excavating in the basement to install an elevator, a cross-section of glacial clay and sediment that had been revealed under St. Paul's United Church on Gore Street in Perth.  I visited the church on Thursday and took the following photographs.

Bob pointed out that the layers alternate sandy layers with clay layers,  with a massive grey clay at the bottom of the pit, and a thin layer of soil forming the top layer of the sequence.   In the photographs the clay layers are dark grey while the sandy layers are a buff to beige colour.

An interesting question is whether these sediments were deposited in the Champlain Sea or in Lake Iroquois.   Lake Iroquois, a precursor of Lake Ontario, was a freshwater lake that formed adjacent to the retreating glacier, encompassed all of present day Lake Ontario and covered Prince Edward County, Kingston and what is now the town of Perth.  In contrast, the Champlain Sea was a marine body of water that formed after the glacier had retreated far enough north for the ocean to flood the St. Lawrence River valley, the lower Ottawa River valley and much of Eastern Ontario.   The maximum westward extent of the Champlain Sea is generally considered to fall just east of the town of Perth.  The sediments deposited in both the Champlain Sea and Lake Iroquois can consist of stratified clay, silt and sand, with one of the differences between the deposits being that marine fossils are found in the Champlain Sea deposits while freshwater fossils are found in Lake Iroquois deposits.    A further complication is that the western part of the Champlain Sea basin displays a “sequence of depositional environments from freshwater [glacial lake] to marine (Champlain Sea) to freshwater" (Rodriques, 1987).   While the Leda clay deposits of the Champlain Sea are well exposed throughout Eastern Ontario, and have been extensively described in the literature (e.g., see Gadd, 1986), comparatively little has been written about the deposits of Lake Iroquois other than the deposits which are exposed in the Toronto-Hamilton region.

I included a map of the maximum extent of the Champlain Sea as part of my April 24, 2015 blog posting entitled ‘Hunting for Whales in Eastern Ontario.’    I included a map of Lake Iroquois as part of my  September 17,  2014 blog posting entitled ‘Lake Iroquois and the Glaciofluvial Deltaic Deposit at Joes Lake, Lanark Highlands, Ontario.’   That map of Lake Iroquois was prepared in 1936 by A.P. Coleman of the Ontario Department of Mines.  Since Coleman prepared his map, new investigations have found Lake Iroquois deposits further north.  Below is a map that I adapted from a map that appeared in Anderson (1987), which is part of Fulton (1987), showing both (A) the boundaries of Lake Iroquois and other proglacial freshwater lakes (including Glacial Lake Vermont that formed in the Lake Champlain valley) and (B)  the extent of the Champlain Sea.

I  referenced  I. M. Kettles’ map showing the Surficial Geology of the Perth Area with my April 18, 2013 blog posting entitled ‘Glacial Erratics and Eskers in the Township of Lanark Highlands, Lanark County, Ontario’ and included extracts from her map as part of that posting.  Below is an additional extract from her map on which I have marked with a florescent pink square the location of St. Paul's United Church in Perth, Ontario .

Map units 5a and 5b, which are blue, represent Champlain Sea deposits.  Map units 4a and 4b, which are purple, represent glacial lake deposits.    Map unit 5a is just to the east of Perth and within about 300 meters of  St. Paul's United Church.  Map unit 4a can be found east, west, north and south of Perth.  

On her map I. M. Kettles  used the symbol of a lower case letter ‘f’ within a circle to identify a fossil locality for a freshwater species and an upper case letter ‘F’ in a circle to identify a fossil locality for a marine species.   I do not see any such localities on the extract that I have provided.
       
Those wanting to look at the layered deposit in the basement of  St. Paul's United Church should act promptly, as the construction of the elevator will destroy the view.

Christopher Brett
Perth and Ottawa

+++++++++++++++++++++++++
Suggested Reading and References:


Anderson, T. W., 1987
Terrestrial Environments and age of the Champlain Sea based on Pollen Stratigraphy of the Ottawa Valley - Lake Ontario region, pages 31-42, in Fulton, R. J., editor, 1987,  Quaternary Geology of the Ottawa Region, Ontario and Quebec.  Geological Survey of Canada Paper 86-23, 47 pages https://doi.org/10.4095/122374

Barnett, P. J., 1992
Quaternary Geology of Ontario, Chapter 21 in Geology of Ontario, Special Volume 4, Part 2, Ontario Geological Survey, Special Publication, SV04-02
http://www.geologyontario.mndmf.gov.on.ca/mndmfiles/pub/data/imaging/SV04-02/SV04-02.pdf
   
Donnelly,  Jeffrey P.,  Neal W. Driscoll, Elazar Uchupi, Lloyd D. Keigwin, William C. Schwab, E. Robert Thieler, Stephen A. Swift, 2005
Catastrophic meltwater discharge down the Hudson Valley: A potential trigger for the Intra-Allerød cold period.   Geology (2005) 33 (2): 89-92.
https://doi.org/10.1130/G21043.1

Fulton, R. J., 1987
Quaternary Geology of the Ottawa Region, Ontario and Quebec.  Geological Survey of Canada Paper 86-23, 47 pages    https://doi.org/10.4095/122374

Gadd, N. R., 1986
Lithofacies of Leda Clay in the Ottawa Basin of the Champlain Sea. Geological Survey of Canada Paper 85-21, 44 pages    https://doi.org/10.4095/120619

Karrow, P. F., 1989
Quaternary geology Great Lakes subregion; in Chapter 4 Quaternary Geology of Canada an Greenland, ed., R. J. Fulton, J. A. Heginbottom, and S. Funder; Geological Survey of Canada. Geology of Canada, No. 1.,  1989 p. 326-350,  839 pages (5 sheets) https://doi.org/10.4095/131535
   
Karrow, P. F. , Clarke,  A. H. and  Herrington, H. B., 1972
Pleistocene Molluscs from Lake Iroquois Deposits in Ontario. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, 1972, 9(5): 589-595, https://doi.org/10.1139/e72-047

Kettles, I. M., 1992
Surficial Geology, Perth, Ontario.  Geological Survey of Canada,  "A" Series Map 1800A, 1992, 1 sheet,
https://doi.org/10.4095/183815

Kettles, I. M., 1992
Glacial geology and glacial sediment geochemistry in the Clyde Forks - Westport area of Ontario, Geological Survey of Canada, Paper no. 91-17, 39 pages,
https://doi.org/10.4095/133492
   
Kettles, I. M. And  Rodrigues, C. G., 1993
Evaluation of glacial Lake Iroquois shoreline data from south-central and eastern Ontario;  in, Current Research, Part E; Geological Survey of Canada; Paper no. 93-1E, 1993 p. 271-274, https://doi.org/10.4095/184120

Lewis, C. F. M.; Todd, B. J.; 1995   
Sediments and Late Quaternary history of Lake Ontario, in, Regional geology and tectonic setting of Lake Ontario region; Sharpe, D R; Geological Survey of Canada, Open File 3114, 1995 p. 1-14,   https://doi.org/10.4095/205054

Lougheed, Stephen C. and Morrill, Natalie
Quaternary History of Eastern Ontario: Impacts on Physical Landscape and Biota
http://opinicon.wordpress.com/physical-environment/quaternary/

Rodriquez, Cyril G., 1987
Late Pleistocene Invertebrate Macrofossils, Microfossils and Depositional Environments of the Western Basin of the Champlain Sea, pages 16-23, in Fulton, R. J., editor, 1987,  Quaternary Geology of the Ottawa Region, Ontario and Quebec.  Geological Survey of Canada Paper 86-23, 47 pages     https://doi.org/10.4095/122374

The Ontario Geological Survey has issued a Guidebook on the Rocks of the Grenville Province near Renfrew, Ontario (OFR6331); and a Report on the Chenaux gabbro intrusion near Renfrew (OFR6299)

                           
I don’t often venture up the Ottawa valley to the Town of Renfrew or to Renfrew County, as there is so much to explore in Lanark County, southern Frontenac County and Carleton County.   However, on October 3, 2017 the Ontario Geological Survey released a field trip guide that might temp me to venture up the Ottawa valley (once the snow melts):

Duguet, M. and Easton R.M. 2017.
Tectonic and metamorphic architecture of the northeastern Composite Arc Belt and the Central Metasedimentary Belt boundary tectonic zone, Grenville Orogen: A geological guidebook; Ontario Geological Survey, Open File Report 6331, 115p.  
           
Three day-long  excursions are included in this guidebook.   The Abstract provides the following summary for the three ‘day trips’:

-“Day 1 focusses on the Black Donald domain, which is characterized by a distinctive lithotectonic package containing abundant garnetiferous migmatites and which was subjected to Shawinigan orogenic (circa 1190–1130 Ma) magmatic, metamorphic and deformational events.

- Day 2 focusses on the Mazinaw domain, which has many similarities to the Mazinaw domain rocks exposed in the Cloyne–Plevna area, albeit at much high metamorphic grades. Day 2 also includes a field trip stop in the Flinton Group near Renfrew.

-  Day 3 focusses on the geology of the Cobden map area. The first part of Day 3 focusses on metasomatic and Late Syenite suite intrusive rocks present in Bancroft terrane to the west of the Ross fault. The second half of Day 3 focusses on the lower grade marbles and gabbros present to the east of the Ross fault, as well as the northernmost slivers of Mazinaw domain rocks preserved along the west side of the Ross fault north of Renfrew.”

This is a field trip guide for those with a serious interest in the Grenville province of the Canadian Shield and an interest in metamorphic petrology.

A print copy of the field trip guide can be purchased from the Ontario Geological Survey’s Publication Sales office in Sudbury  for $26.80 (plus shipping charges and taxes) or downloaded free in pdf  format from
       
http://www.geologyontario.mndm.gov.on.ca/mndmaccess/mndm_dir.asp?type=pub&id=OFR6331       - Or -

http://www.geologyontario.mndm.gov.on.ca/mndmfiles/pub/data/imaging/OFR6331//OFR6331.pdf

Stop 32 on the field trip is an outcrop of coarse grained, bronzite-bearing, Chenaux gabbro, on County Road 653 north of the Town of Renfrew.  The field trip guide mentions that other outcrops record igneous layering in the Chenaux gabbro intrusion,  that “ The intrusion is interpreted to have formed within a primitive island arc”, and includes a reference to the following publication and map:

Azar, B. 2015.
Geology, geochemistry and mineral potential of the Chenaux gabbro, northeastern Central Metasedimentary Belt, Grenville Province; Ontario Geological Survey, Open File Report 6299, 87p.
http://www.geologyontario.mndmf.gov.on.ca/mndmfiles/pub/data/imaging/OFR6299//ofr6299.pdf

Azar, B. and Easton, R.M. 2015.
Precambrian geology of the Chenaux gabbro, Grenville Province; Ontario Geological Survey, Preliminary Map P.3781, scale 1:20 000.
http://www.geologyontario.mndmf.gov.on.ca/mndmfiles/pub/data/imaging/P3781//p3781.pdf

Bronwyn Azar’s Open File Report 6299 is worth a read if, like me, one has an interest in layered mafic intrusions.   She includes photos of igneous layering:
 - photo 8C at page 18 showing “ Primary igneous layering with alternating layers of leucogabbro (Unit 5c) and melagabbro (Unit 5b). Along Highway 17 south side in Horton Township looking east south (UTM 365323E 5044699N).” 
- photo 10D at page 20 showing “ Primary igneous layering with alternating metaleucogabbro and metamelagabbro layers. South side of Highway 17 near Cobden. Horton Township, ...looking south (UTM 365219E 5044804N).”

Map P.3781 shows the locations of the layering.

Christopher Brett
Ottawa

The Ontario Geological Survey has Reported on the Gold, Carbon and Nickle-Copper Deposits of South-Eastern Ontario (OFR6329); has issued a Guidebook on the Composite Arc Belt and the Frontenac – Adirondack Belt near Perth, Ontario (OFR6330); and is Remapping Both the Precambrian and Paleozoic Rocks of Eastern Ontario (Summary of Field Work, 2017: OFR 6333)

In 2017 the Ontario Geological Survey released three publications dealing  with the geology of Eastern Ontario.
           
In April, 2017  the Ontario Geological Survey released the Southern Ontario Regional Resident Geologist Report for 2016 that contains a number of papers of interest for those in Eastern Ontario.  See: Open File Report 6329: Report of Activities 2016, Resident Geologist Program, Southern Ontario Regional Resident Geologist Report: Southeastern Ontario and Southwestern Ontario Districts, and Petroleum Operations; by A.C. Tessier, P.S. LeBaron, S.J. Charbonneau, D.A. Laidlaw, A.C. Wilson and L. Fortner. 73p., which includes the papers:

- Union Glory Gold Limited, Addington Property, Kaladar Township, pages 30-36
- Crown William Mining Corporation, Bannockburn Gold Project, Madoc Township, 36-41
- Flake Graphite in the Grenville Province of Southern Ontario, pages 42 - 45
- Nickel-Copper-(Cobalt-Platinum Group Metals) Mineralization in Southeastern Ontario, 46-50

The last two papers were also published in another OGS publication– Recommendations for Exploration 2016–2017.   All four are worth a read by anyone with an interest in the gold, graphite or nickel-copper occurrences of Eastern Ontario.   

In July, 2017  the Ontario Geological Survey released a new field trip guidebook by Dr. R. M. Easton entitled  Insights into the tectonic and metamorphic architecture of the Composite Arc Belt and the  Frontenac  – Adirondack  Belt  near  Perth,  Ontario,  Grenville  Orogen:  A  geological  guidebook ;  Ontario   Geological Survey, Open File Report 6330,  54p.
http://www.geologyontario.mndm.gov.on.ca/mndmfiles/pub/data/imaging/OFR6330//OFR6330.pdf

The guide is very informative, has great photos and good directions, will appeal to both academics that work on the Grenville and field naturalists with an interest in geology, and I’ll be using it next summer.   Worth mentioning is his Figure 5 which provides a pressure –temperature diagram showing the bathozones defined by Carmichael and the high pressure-temperature conditions of metamorphism in the Wolf Grove and Perth map areas. 

This guide repeats part of Dr. Easton’s  paper from 2016, and contains  information about a number of  faults he found, including the one he named the Chaffey’s Lock fault, a “fault that trends north-northeast from Chaffey’s Lock to Portland to Glen Elm just south-southeast of Smiths Falls, herein termed the Chaffey’s  Lock fault. In the Perth map area, this fault is downdropped to the east, and places rocks of the Nepean  Formation against rocks of the upper March and Oxford formations. This probably indicates no more than  100 m of post -Ordovician displacement across the fault. A difference of 2 kilobars between the Perth and Lyndhurst areas would involve at least a vertical displacement of 7 km (considering a lithostatic pressure for an average crustal density of 2.8×10 3  kg/m 3 ). It is not known if this displacement occurred rapidly during the Proterozoic, or if it occurred in  several stages in both the Proterozoic and the Phanerozoic.”

Also worth mentioning is that Dr. Easton describes the granite exposed throughout downtown Perth, Lanark County, and notes that it “was sampled for geochronology and yielded a thermal ionization mass spectrometry U/Pb  age on zircon of 1103.5±2.1 Ma  with a similar age on titanite of 1090±16 Ma . This  age is so far unique in Frontenac terrane.  It is 55 million years younger than any  known Frontenac suite intrusion, and 10 to 15 million years older than the oldest known Kensington–Skootamatta suite intrusion.    As such, it may represent a magmatic event transitional between the 2 suites.”

In December, 2017 the Ontario Geological Survey released the Summary of Field Work and Other Activities, 2017 (Open File Report 6333).  This  file  can be downloaded from:
http://www.geologyontario.mndm.gov.on.ca/mndmfiles/pub/data/imaging/ofr6333//ofr6333.pdf

Two papers in the report deal with the geology of Eastern Ontario:
-  first, a paper by Dr. Easton entitled  ‘Precambrian and Paleozoic Geology of the Carleton Place Area, Grenville Province’;
- second, a paper by Catherine Béland Otis entitled ‘Paleozoic Mapping of Eastern Ontario’
both of which I discuss further below.

Precambrian and Paleozoic Geology of the Carleton Place Area, Grenville Province by  Dr. R. Michael Easton,  pages 18-1 to 18-18 (OFR 6333)

   
In my December 31, 2016 blog posting entitled ‘Ontario Geological Survey Remapping the Perth Map Sheet’ I mentioned that Dr.  Michael  Easton of the Ontario Geological Survey had been mapping the Precambrian rocks of the Perth Map sheet and briefly summarized parts of his reports for the field seasons of 2015 and 2016.   He has extended his mapping north to the Carleton Place map sheet.
   
Parts of his current paper that I liked are Figure 18.1 which is a Simplified geology map of the Central Metasedimentary Belt in eastern Ontario; Figure 18.2, a Simplified geology map of the western two-thirds of the Carleton Place map area, showing the location of the Pakenham and Wolf Grove structures and the Maberly shear zone;  and Photo 18.1 A, a photograph of a pillowed lava unit in the Sharbot Lake  domain, on the east side of Lanark County Road 8 south of Middleville.    Unfortunately, Dr. Easton states that “Photograph was taken by the author in 1997 soon after the outcrop was exposed during road construction. Pillows are less well exposed today.” 

In my previous blog posting I mentioned that Dr. Easton had found a number of  previously unknown exposures of Potsdam Group sandstone and conglomerate (both Covey Hill and Nepean formations).    In his latest report he mentions that “a  previously undocumented inlier of Nepean Formation rocks occurs at Gillies Corners (UTM 413795E 4984105N), 4.3 km southwest of Frankto[w]n, immediately south of the northwestern boundary of the geophysical anomaly (see Figure 18.3A).”     Dr. Easton adds that “ This sudden appearance of a stratigraphically lower unit in an area underlain by rocks of the stratigraphically higher March Formation, suggests that if a fault is present, it is down-dropped to the north. Further study of the Paleozoic rocks in the area of the Smiths Falls geophysical anomaly is warranted because, in addition to causing changes in the thickness and distribution of Paleozoic strata, the bounding faults may have also served as post-depositional fluid conduits.” 

In previous reports Dr. Easton (2016, OFR 6323,  p. 17-11 and 18-1 to 18-9) has reported on mica-apatite veins in the Bancroft and Frontenac terranes of the Central Metasedimentary Belt,  has linked these metasomatic deposits  with syenite intrusions,  has reported rare earth element mineralization in association with those metasomatic deposits, and has suggested that “the carbonate rocks at some mica-apatite occurrences may be potential sources of extractable rare earth element minerals.”   In OFR 6333 Dr. Easton mentions finding three additional mica-apatite veins in the Carleton Place area:
-  “One ... dominated by fine- to-medium-grained diopside and mica (UTM 406485E 4990485N).
 -  The second is exposed on Highway 7 (UTM 403285E 4995170N), ....
- The third is exposed on Wolf Grove road east of Taylor Lake  (UTM 395220 4998260;...) ”

Paleozoic Mapping of Eastern Ontario by Catherine Béland Otis, pages 22-1 to 22-11 (OFR 6333)   

Catherine Béland Otis starts off her report by mentioning that  the Ontario Geological Survey  has “initiated a multi-year project focussing on the Paleozoic geology of eastern Ontario ... [The OGS  intends]  to map all of eastern Ontario underlain by Paleozoic rocks and to evaluate and refine the structural framework affecting those same rocks.”  She notes that “In the last 3 decades, almost all Cambro-Ordovician stratigraphic units of eastern Ontario have been the focus of academic research. These studies have introduced new stratigraphic units (or re-introduced old terms), revised geological contact definitions and/or proposed the application in Ontario of stratigraphic names used in adjacent jurisdictions instead of the current OGS nomenclature.”   She promises that those stratigraphic units proposed since the last OGS mapping in the 1980s “will be evaluated and may be incorporated in a newly revised OGS stratigraphic framework for the area.”
   
Catherine Béland Otis’ Figure 22.3 provides the terminology for Paleozoic strata for eastern Ontario, and compares (A) the stratigraphic nomenclature for eastern Ontario currently used by the OGS with (B) the nomenclature in use or proposed in more recent publications.   Much of her report summarizes the stratigraphic names proposed over the last three decades, including (A)  Lowe et al.’s  (2017) division of the Potsdam Group into the Ausable, Hannawa Falls and Keeseville formations; and (B) Salad Hersi and Dix’s (1997, 1999) suggested revision for the Rockcliffe Formation and the Ottawa Group.
        
One of her objectives for the year 2017–2018 is to gather additional geological information from cores drilled in the study area.  She notes that “Geological mapping will be undertaken in subsequent field seasons, beginning in the summer of 2018.”   Catherine Béland Otis promises that “A structural framework of the basin will also be developed as the mapping progresses in the region.   Depending upon the results and if the data warrant it, a compilation map of the Ottawa Embayment may be produced near the end of the project.  Regional stratigraphic correlation with other jurisdictions is another goal of this project.”

She also reports that she has been looking at ages determined from zircons found in  bentonite beds in Eastern Ontario and hopes to correlate strata in Eastern Ontario with adjacent jurisdictions.  Interestingly,  “The bentonite beds  represent Late Ordovician volcanic ash deposits from a volcanic arc, now disappeared, located hundreds of kilometres to the east.”

Christopher Brett
Ottawa