A copy of this thesis is available at the EMR library – QE195.M368 2011. This thesis is available online at https://emrlibrary.gov.yk.ca/theses/mcquilkin_m_2011.pdf.

This map accompanies paper: Johnston, S.T. and Shives, R.B.K., 1995. Interpretation of an airborne multiparameter geophysical survey of the northern Dawson Range, central Yukon: A progress report. In: Yukon Exploration and Geology, 1994. Exploration and Geological Services Division, Yukon, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, p. 105-111.

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A copy of this thesis is available at the EMR library – QE187 J32. This thesis is available online at https://repository.arizona.edu/handle/10150/185864.

A copy of this thesis is available at the EMR library – QE195 M321.

Fieldwork was completed in July/August, 2001 in northern Yukon. Fieldwork included investigating results from the stream sediment geochemical survey commissioned to the GSC in the summer of 2000. This survey had been designed to complete the geochemical coverage over the Eagle Plains ecoregion, cover the transition zone between neighboring ecoregions and fill a gap in RGS coverage between pre-existing surveys. The 2001 fieldwork was designed to investigate the most significant RGS anomalies, prospect for mineral occurrences, sample the stratigraphy to determine background metal content, document the geological environment and collect information with the objective of adding to the understanding of the mineral potential of the area.

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Results of multi-sensor (gamma ray spectrometer, magnetometer) contracted, helicopter surveys flown July-September, 2000 (phase 1) and July-September, 2001 (phase 2) are available in a variety of digital and printed formats. This is a joint release from the Geological Survey of Canada (GSC) and the Yukon Exploration and Geological Services Division (EGSD). Flight lines were positioned every 500 m. The survey was funded by the Geological Survey of Canada through the Targeted Geoscience Initiative. GSC Open File 4311, EGSD 2002-17D contains 120 digital images (in PDF format): 10 1:250,000 maps and 110 1:50,000 maps for 10 variables.

In collaboration with the Yukon Geological Survey, the Geological Survey of Canada, and other project partners, Innovate Geothermal Ltd. performed an analysis of geoscience data in southwestern Yukon as part of an effort to better understand the potential for geothermal energy resources that, if present, could be utilized to help reduce fossil fuel use. The study area for this project is located in the vicinity of the Village of Haines Junction (Dakwäkäda) and lies between the Denali and Shakwak fault zones. The main aim of this project is to analyze and interpret a variety of pre-existing and newly acquired geological and geophysical datasets to evaluate where geothermal reservoirs may be present within the study area. A secondary aim is to propose favourable drilling locations, if warranted, for exploratory wells to collect information on subsurface temperature and permeability. The geoscience work accomplished here includes both 2D map interpretation as well as construction of a 3D geologic model that was guided by geophysical inversion modelling of gravity, magnetic and audio-magnetotelluric survey data. At a regional scale, multiple lines of evidence suggest that subsurface temperatures are above the crustal average. More importantly, a municipal water well drilled in 2002 in the Village of Haines Junction produce warm (~20 °C) water from a depth of ~350 m. This water well proves that at least one permeable sediment-hosted geothermal aquifer is present under Haines Junction. Additional geothermal aquifers within the pile of young sediment that sits atop the bedrock are likely present. However, due to a lack of deep drilling in the area, the exact location, temperature, thickness and permeability of such aquifers remains unknown. In this study, a depth-to-bedrock model has been generated to aid with the identification of favourable target areas for exploratory drilling of geothermal wells. The four areas where the top-of-bedrock is deepest have estimated depths in the range 650 to 1225 m below ground surface. Temperature data from two wells in the Haines Junction area suggests the temperature gradient is ~60 °C/km. Thus, geothermal aquifers located near the top-of-bedrock in the four areas identified could have temperatures in the range of 39–74 °C. Production of geothermal fluids from these areas requires permeability in the sediments that sit above the bedrock. Deeper drilling is needed to measure actual subsurface temperatures beneath the village and to identify permeable intervals. Geologic structures and faults that may control permeability in the bedrock remain poorly constrained.

A 250 km long east-west geological and geophysical transect has been constructed at about 66 degrees 40'N latitude, from near the Yukon-Alaska border, across the Eagle Plains and Richardson Mountains Anticlinorium (RMA), to the Interior Platform in northwestern Canada. It includes reprocessed industry seismic reflection profiles, regional gravity data and drill hole information. The north trending RMA is interpreted as a contractional (pop-up) structure, bounded on the east and west by post-Carboniferous, pre- or syn-Cretaceous thrust faults, that is cored by lower Paleozoic and Proterozoic rocks. The location of the pop-up may have been controlled by a pre-existing west-facing crustal scale ramp at the top of the crystalline basement, because horizontal displacement required to accommodate the pop-up, about 33 km, probably occurred above regional detachment(s) which project westward beneath the Eagle Plains. Contractional deformation in the Eagle Plain fold belt is probably the same age.