July/August Reservoir 2020

In This Issue...

Inverted Volcanoes: A New Sedimentological Analysis of a Paleocene Fluvial Section from Cochrane, Alberta Rock the Wine Bar $7.00 JULY/AUGUST 2020 VOLUME 47, ISSUE 4 Canadian Publication Mail Contract – 40070050

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

JULY/AUGUST 2020 – VOLUME 47, ISSUE 4

MONTHLY SPONSORS...............................................................................................4 LETTER FROM THE EDITOR....................................................................................6 MESSAGE FROM THE CSPG PRESIDENT.............................................................7 FEATURE ARTICLE Inverted volcanoes: a new sedimentological analysis of a Paleocene fluvial section from Cochrane, Alberta................................................................................8 Go Take A Hike.........................................................................................................15 Rock the Wine Bar....................................................................................................20

SOCIETY NEWS Structural Geology Division Field Trip .................................................................28 I Was Wrong: Diversity and Inclusion at the CSPG..............................................29

FRONT COVER Pahoehoe Lava Flows, Galapagos Islands.

Complex lava flows occur at Sullivan Bay, Santiago Island in the Galapagos Islands of Ecuador.

The elongated shield volcano of Santiago Island has extruded fresh-looking lava flows as recently as 1897. Pahoehoe lavas are produced by the least viscous types of common lava and can form very spectacular and intricate surface structures. Photo By: Bob Leonhardt Photo By: Bob Leonhardt

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LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

T Tom Sneddon Professional Geologist (Alberta), Professional Geoscientist (B.C.) retired recently as Director of Geoscience and Outreach for APEGA, has been a member of the CSPG for over 40 years, and has pursued a career in geoscience since his university days. He has two degrees – both from Alberta: initially from the University of Calgary in 1969 (B.A. Geography), and from the University of Alberta (M.Sc. in Water Resources, Dept. of Civil Engineering, 1981). His initial industry experience was with Amoco Canada in 1967-69 as a “Geophysical Professional Assistant” for seismic data management, processing, and seismic section preparations.

Tom has taken his broad geoscience experience – over 30 years of earth sciences experience, including experimental watershed research, hydrology, hydrogeology, environmental geology, oil and gas prospect development, drilling programs, and extensive field work in minerals exploration and development – in both government and industry, and applied it to the promotion of professionalism within the geosciences, through his role at APEGA. Readers of The RECORDER, The Source, the CSPG Reservoir, and The PEG have seen Tom’s numerous articles on the role of the professional geoscientist.

T.I.H. Consulting Ltd. Geologic Well-Site Supervision

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he lights are just coming on from the long COVID-19 nightmare as I write this. It seems that the upside is that the Geoscience community used all that hide-in-place time to produce a bonanza of articles for us, some of which appear in this edition.

Jon Noad produced an intriguing article for us to kick off with, “Inverted Volcanoes: A New Sedimentological Analysis of a Paleocene Fluvial Section from Cochrane, Alberta”. Like the great scientist he is, Jon backs up his interpretation with sound field work and library research. It also appears he may have (cautiously) stumbled over a fossil species that is new to science. This is a good read.

Go Take A Hike features a guided tour of the Kootenai Brown Trail, Waterton Park Alberta by Dallin Laycock, Philip Benham and Clint Tippett. Maybe the time has come for all of us COVID-19 Stay-at-Homes to revisit Waterton this summer and fall. There is a lot of interesting rocks and structures to get up close and personal with there and our contributors lead us to them.

Terroir is near and deal to all geo’s hearts and Jon Noad makes it as an encore presentation in “Rock the Wine Bar” with a set of vintages from New Zealand, Germany, Spain, Argentina and British Columbia.

The Kiwi versions of Sauvignon Blanc have been showing up in our Canadian jar stores recently and are excellent buys. Jon gives us some good geological reasons why they are so good. Ditto with a great summer Riesling straight from the Mosel.

He has a nice finish with a Malbec Rose’ from the Okanagan and a Garnacha red from Spain, both at an attractive price.

An encore for the geophysicists in the readership, Jon added the Earthquake Zinfandel from California, which pairs nicely with BBQ beef. Another good read from Jon, with a serious need for validation experiments by all us wine lovers.

Features from this year’s summer edition include: • Reminders to all of us to nominate worthy candidates for the R.J.W. Douglas Medal and the Stanley Slipper Medal, both for outstanding service to our profession • The 2020 Ph.D. and M.Sc. Call for thesis awards – note the September 25 deadline for nominations • Notice for the popular Structural Division Field Trip, September 12 (we hope, Public Health Officials willing) • An essay on Diversity and Inclusion at the CSPG And announcements of upcoming lunchtime Division talks in the September/ October time frame.

That’s it for the summer edition of the Reservoir. A tip of the old 10 Gallon Sombrero to our sponsors, advertisers and authors. Please keep those articles, stories, scientific reports and ideas coming to fill out our progressively newer-look CSPG, bi-monthly geoscience magazine well into 2021.

1602 – 5th St N.E. Calgary, AB. T2E 7W3 Phone: 403-233-7729 www.tihconsulting.com e-mail: tih@shaw.ca

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MESSAGE FROM THE CSPG PRESIDENT

MESSAGE FROM THE CSPG PRESIDENT

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FEATURE ARTICLE

INVERTED VOLCANOES: A NEW SEDIMENTOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF A PALEOCENE FLUVIAL SECTION FROM COCHRANE, ALBERTA By: Jon Noad, Sedimental Services

W

hile there is an abundance of famous outcrops in Alberta, there are just as many hidden geological treasures. One of these is located just upstream from where the Cowboy Trail (Highway 22) crosses the Bow River in Cochrane (Figure 1: Google Maps).

A series of interbedded sandstone and mudstone beds outcrop on the steeper, northern cut bank of the river, and can be accessed with a little scrambling. Despite some fascinating depositional elements, this locality appears to have received scant attention in the literature beyond detailing its mammalian fossil fauna (Fox 1990), and because of this, its interpretation requires a return to basic geological principles. In addition, a potentially new species of trace fossil has been identified at the base of one of the sandstone beds.

1 Structural setting The outcrop is best viewed from the southern side of the river (Figure 2). The beds dip gently at around 8 degrees towards the East. This outcrop is thought to be located in the Triangle Zone, outboard of the Rocky Mountains structural belt, at the eastern margin of the Alberta foothills. A triangle zone is a wedge of sediment in which a third, foreland-vergent

Figure 1

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thrust completes a triangle in cross section.

Some sedimentary packages may be heavily contorted within this structural setting, but other areas (such as this outcrop) appear to have undergone only minor deformation.

at their centre, confirming their association with these molluscs. These striking trace fossils are beautifully exposed on a large, overturned, weathered fallen block (Figures 8 and 9).

2 Sedimentology

The trace fossils are interpreted as a bivalve resting trace Lockeia sp. nov. The upper half of this bed has pods of well preserved, non marine unionid bivalves (Fusconaia danae, pers. comm. P. Johnston), up to 10 cm in length, to which it is believed the Lockeia sp. nov. traces can be attributed. There are a variety of other trace fossils on this surface including Lockeia amygdaloides (smaller almond shaped traces in Figure 11), Planolites (Figure 12) and possible a Chondrites-like form.

Without doubt the exposed surface merits further ichnological study, particularly as the trace fossil Lockeia sp. nov. has not previously been reported (see section 4 below).

Looking across the Bow River, the outcrop can be subdivided into two portions. To the west is a mud dominated succession with some thin sheet-like, ironstone cemented sandstone beds (Figure 3). Few sedimentary structures are visible in the sandstone beds (Figure 4), although occasional rippled intervals have been recorded. These sandstone beds are dull orange in colour, while the overlying sandstone beds are a pale, chalky, beige colour. There are also several thin, heavily sideritized beds (Figure 5).

The first thick sandstone package occurs 8.5 m above the base of the exposed section (Figure 6). It is made up of four separate, tabular beds composed of almost white, fine grained sandstone. The lowermost bed is around 60 cm in thickness and has abundant trace fossils on the basal contact (Figure 7). The assemblage is dominated by many inverted, volcanic cone-like (inverted frustra) structures. These may reach 10 cm in diameter and at least 10 cm in depth.

Occasionally these structures have a steinkern of a bivalve

Overlying this bed is a thicker bed with trough cross-bedding in the lower portion (Figure 13), as well as an interval with well developed dewatering structures in the upper portion (Figure 14). The rest of this bed, and the overlying two beds, is typically featureless, considered to be due to the uniform grain size rather than to a lack of sedimentary structures. Sometimes trough or wavy cross-beds can be delineated within these sandstone beds. Each of the beds has an erosional lower contact, and all of the beds can be traced laterally across the outcrop

Figure 2

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FEATURE ARTICLE

Figure 4

Figure 3 for at least 200 m. The overlying succession is dominated by mudstone beds, with two further, thin sandstone beds with low angle to wavy laminae, capped by rippled, silty sandstone.

Due to the dip of the beds, a slightly younger succession is exposed to the East (Figure 6). This comprises at least three stacked channels, viewed most easily from the southern side of the Bow River (Figure 15).

The lower channel passes laterally into one of the upper thin sandstone beds described above (logged sections in Figure 6). There is a well developed, shelly lag at the base of each channel (Figure 16), which includes unionid bivalves, some complete, as well as occasional gastropods. The lags also contain

Figure 6

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pieces of (fossil) wood up to 30 cm across.

Two of the channels are around 60 m across, while the third is around half this width, and all three have a heterolithic fill comprising stacked, thicker trough Figure 5 cross-bedded or rippled, fine grained sandstone beds (Figure 17), interbedded with thin grey mudstones. The beds are generally subhorizontal, although the second (most

easterly) channel appears to have some lateral accretion surfaces at its eastern edge (Figure 15). The younger channels incise into the channel beneath them. Palaeocurrent

Figure 7

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FEATURE ARTICLE

Figure 8 readings on the channel margins, together with the orientation of the trough crossbeds in the sandstone beds, indicate a flow direction towards the Northeast.

3 Interpretation These sediments are interpreted as having been deposited by low sinuosity channels crossing a flood plain. The thick grey mudstones with thin sandstone interbeds and sideritised beds are interpreted as overbank deposits. The sporadic, thin, ironstone cemented beds are interpreted as mature palaeosols. The thinner, laterally persistent, tabular sandstone beds are interpreted as crevasse splay deposits. These flood related deposits extend laterally for several hundred metres, which may indicate a floodplain with little relief. The splays are often made up of (climbing) rippled, silty sandstone, suggesting rapid deposition, which may also explain the dewatering structures.

The presence of abundant Lockeia traces, associated with many other diverse traces, is interpreted as relating to active currents.

Unionids prefer slower currents and a grain size that is not too coarse. Much like the famous Unionid Bed at Dinosaur Provincial Park (Johnston and Hendy 2005), the abundant Lockiea are generally restricted to one particular bed, and are concentrated at the sole of an interpreted crevasse splay.

This is thought to relate to a major flooding event that allowed the unionids to colonize a freshly flooded, low lying area, and it appears that they continued to flourish as deposition of the rest of the splay occurred.

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Figure 9 This is supported by the presence of pods of unionids further up this bed. It is probable that the river that originally flooded this area continued to flow across the floodplain for some time (several weeks?)

– the Stampede grounds saw a similar phenomenon during the Calgary Flood of 2013 (Noad 2016), when the Elbow River broke its banks.

The three channels Figure 10 range in size from around 20 m across and 1 m in thickness to 60 m across and as much as 5 m in thickness. The original depth of the younger, largest channel may have ranged from 3.5 m (using a rule of thumb for braided channels) to 5 m (for meandering channels, assuming that the full thickness of the channel is preserved). This is similar in size to the modern Bow River flowing past the outcrop.

Possible lateral accretion surfaces exposed in the basal channel, and the dominance of trough cross-bedded sandstone in most of the sandstone beds (at the expense of LAS), suggests a hybrid fluvial system with elements of both meandering and low sinuosity channels (as seen in the upper Oldman Formation in Dinosaur Provincial

Park, recorded in Noad and Eberth 2020, in prep.). The channels are concentrated at one point along the outcrop, which may indicate a subtle structural downwarping in this area, causing each channel to successively occupy a similar flow path.

4 A proposed new species: Lockeia pembertoni Discovering a potentially new species of fossil is always exciting, but requires great diligence not to “jump the gun” in naming a new species. There are literally thousands of examples where fossils (and indeed extant species) have received more than one name from separate researchers. Excellent examples include several dinosaurs named independently by Marsh and Cope during the Bone Wars (Jaffe 2000), as well as many

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FEATURE ARTICLE

Figure 11 invertebrates, often from contrasting phyla.

The striking bivalve resting traces seen in outcrop are a close match to a single photograph of fossils named as Lockeia czarnockii (in Pienkowski and Niedzwiedzki 2009). However, reference to the original description of this trace fossil details a hypichnal (having semi relief), asymmetric, (tear)drop shaped burrow (Karazewski 1974). This is in contrast to the large traces found in Cochrane, which are symmetrical, frustrum shaped burrows, depending from the sole surface of a sandstone bed, with no positive relief. Images and descriptions from a series of papers (references available upon

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Figure 12 request), each describing Lockeia czarnockii specimens, detail large, asymmetric, almond shaped traces, and beyond the photograph mentioned above, no other reference material could be found to match the Lockeia traces from the Cochrane outcrop (also reference pers. comm. S. Hasiotis 2018).

For this reason, it is proposed to erect a new species, Lockeia pembertoni. A full description will be provided in a forthcoming paper (Noad 2020, in prep.). However a variety of features immediately distinguish these traces from other Lockeia species: their large size (6 to 10 cm in diameter); their striking, symmetrical shape, reminiscent of

an inverted volcanic cone; the occasional presence of a unionid steinkern at the base of the inverted cone; and the featureless fill (thought to be due to fluidization by the unionid living in the burrow). The trace fossil is named in honour of George Pemberton, Canada’s most famous and respected ichnologist, who sadly passed away in 2018.

Note firstly that the literature search relating to Lockeia will be extended, and consultation with experienced ichnologists will be undertaken, prior to submitting a manuscript.

This is to ensure that the erection of a new species is justified. Note secondly that the debate on the possible distinction between

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FEATURE ARTICLE

Figure 14

Figure 13 Lockeia and Pelecypodichnus continues in ichnological publications. The author has chosen to use Lockeia for all bivalve resting traces described above, which is in line with the work of Maples and West (2009).

5 Dating of these deposits Age diagnostic fossils collected from lag deposits at the base of some of the channels confirm a Paleocene age for these deposits, and suggest that they are part of the Porcupine Hills Formation (Carrigy 1971), middle to late Paleocene in age, which overlies the Willow Creek Formation. However, it should be noted that differentiating the near contemporaneous Paskapoo, Porcupine Hills and Willow Creek Formations is challenging (Scott et al 2012). It is interesting that the typical “slabby” lateral accretion surfaces seen at various Paleocene fluvial outcrops around Calgary are not present in the channel sandstones at this locality.

6 Summary A previously unpublished outcrop provides an excellent section to study ancient fluvial deposits. Several interpreted crevasse splay deposits host a suite of trace fossils of the Mermia ichnofacies (Pienkowski and Niedzwiedzki 2009), dominated at one interval by freshwater bivalve trace fossils. The most striking of these is Lockeia pembertoni (species novum). The common crevasse splays allow an analysis of an obviously flood prone region and can be compared to exposures of the older Oldman Formation such as those in

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Dinosaur Provincial Park (Noad and Eberth 2020, in prep.).

The breathtaking array of geological data on display at this outcrop (Figure 18) demonstrates once again that local geologists should leave no stone unturned in their search for analogues to subsurface reservoirs.

References

Figure 15 Bromley, R.G. 1990. Trace Fossils: biology and taphonomy: Special Topics in Palaeontology. Published by Unwin Hyman, London.

Carrigy, M.A. 1971. Lithostratigraphy of the uppermost Cretaceous (Lance) and Paleocene strata of the Alberta Plains. Bulletin of the Research Council of Alberta, 27: 1–161.

Fox, R.C. 1990. The succession of Paleocene mammals in western Canada. In Bown, T.M. and Rose, K.D. Dawn of the Age of mammals in the northern part of the Rocky Mountain Interior, North America: Boulder, Colorado.

GSA Spec. paper 243.

Hasiotis, S.T. 2002. Continental Trace Fossils.

SEPM Short course notes no. 51.

Jaffe, M. 2000. The Gilded Dinosaur: The Fossil War Between E.D. Cope and O.C. Marsh and the Rise of American Science: published by Crown Publishers.

Johnston, P.A. and Hendy, A.J.W. 2005.

Palaeoecology of mollusks from the Upper Cretaceous Belly River Group. In: Dinosaur Provincial Park: a spectacular ancient ecosystem revealed. eds. Currie, P.J. and Koppelhaus, E.B. Karazewski, W. 1974. A new trace fossil from the Lower Jurassic of the Holy Cross Mountains. Bulletin Acad. Pol. Sci. (Ser. Sci. Terre): 22(3-4) pages 157-160 (1974).

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Figure 16

Figure 17

Maples, C.G. and West, R.R. 2009. Lockeia not Pelecypodichnus. J. Paleont. 63 (5). Pp. 694 to 696.

Noad, J.J. 2019 The Calgary Flood of 2013, July/August issue, CSPG Reservoir magazine, pp. 7 to 11.

Noad, J.J. and Eberth, D.A. 2020. An analysis of changes in fluvial architecture through the Upper Oldman Formation, Belly River Group of the Upper Cretaceous of southern Alberta, Canada (in prep.).

Noad, J.J. 2020. A new species of bivalve resting trace, Lockeia pembertoni, from a Campanian outcrop in Cochrane, Alberta (in prep.).

Pienkowski, G. and Niedzwiedzki, G. 2009.

Invertebrate trace fossil assemblages from the Lower Hettangian of Soltykow, Holy Cross Mountains, Poland. Volumina Jurassica, Volumen VI, 109-131.

Figure 18

Scott, C.S., Spivak, D.N. and Sweet, A.R. 2013. First mammals from the Paleocene Porcupine Hills Formation of southwestern Alberta, Canada. Can. J. Earth Sci. 50: 355–378 (2013) Further references available upon request.

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FEATURE ARTICLE

R. J. W. Douglas Medal Call for Nominations

The R. J. W. Douglas Medal was established by the Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists in 1980 to honour the memory of one of Canada’s outstanding geologists, Dr. Robert J. W. Douglas. It recognizes those who best emulate the scientific qualities of this extraordinary geologist. This medal is awarded annually by the Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists to an individual for outstanding scientific contributions to the understanding of sedimentary geology and, just as importantly, commending major contributions to regional tectonics and structural geology that are important to petroleum geology in Canada.

Nominee Eligibility Open to any geoscientist who models the scientific attributes of Dr. R. J. W. Douglas VISIT CSPG.ORG/AWARDS TO FIND OUT NOMINATION INFORMATION (under Technical Awards) Nomination deadline is September 30, 2020

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FEATURE ARTICLE

GO TAKE A HIKE Kootenai Brown Trail, Waterton National Park, Alberta Dallin Laycock, Philip Benham, and Clint Tippett Trailhead: The Kootenai Brown Trail extends from the base of the Prince of Wales Hotel to the park entrance. You can park at either the Prince of Wales Hotel or at the adjacent Lake Linnet parking lot.

Distance: 16 km return on a paved trail that parallels Highway 5. Potential detours on the Red Rock Canyon road or to the Bison Paddock are also possible.

Elevation Gain: Negligible.

After the 2017 Kenow Wildfire ripped through Waterton Park, many of the park’s trails were closed for repairs. One of the few trails currently open is the paved Kootenai Brown hiking / biking Trail that connects the townsite to the park entrance. It offers a great chance to observe the 1.5 billion years of geology recorded in Waterton.

Precambrian strata of the Belt-Purcell Supergroup comprise the majority of the rocks around you on this trail. A keen eye can spot faults and folds throughout the mountains on your journey. You also will see the influences of more recent processes such as Cenozoic weathering, Pleistocene glaciation, and sediment transport (Figures 1, 2, 3, and 11).

Sofa Creek Delta

2 km Linnet Lake

P

Blakiston Creek Delta

1 km

1 Figure 1: Google Earth image of the northern portion of Waterton National Park. The Kootenai Brown Trail is highlighted in yellow, alluvial fans in red, glacial outwash plain in white, glacial kame terraces in blue, cordilleran tills in pink, and the Lewis Fault is traced in black (See Eyles et al., 2000). Yellow stars mark start (P) and end of trail.

Figure 2: A handful of rocks from Driftwood Beach shows the wide variety of lithologies in the Belt-Purcell Supergroup.

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Although the trail begins at the Lake Linnet parking lot, the Prince of Wales Hotel is a good place to leave your car and take a quick look around before starting your journey. That location provides a viewpoint to visualize the geology of the park. If you look toward the head of the lake (south), the rocks on your right (west) have moved to the left (east) over ~50 km at this location. They were carried on a deep underlying fault called the Lewis Thrust. Associated deformation can clearly be seen in both Mount Crandall to the west (pink dot) and Vimy Peak to the east (red dot) as shown in Figures 6 and 7.

The hotel was built on a mound of glacial debris (called a kame) separating the Upper and Middle Waterton Lakes.

As you journey down from the Prince of Wales and head East on the trail, keep your eyes peeled for faults and folds, which are visible in exposed mountainsides (Figures 6 and 7). The path crosses the Lewis Thrust, which is invisible underfoot, as it has been buried by the large alluvial fan you are traversing (see Figures 1 and 2).

Two large alluvial fans (related to Blakiston and Sofa creeks) have prograded into Waterton Lake since the Ice Age from opposing sides of the valley, separating Middle and Lower Waterton lakes. A stop at Driftwood Beach (Figure 2) provides an ideal location to look at the alluvial fan sediments. They display a full range of colourful lithologies found within the Belt-Purcell Supergroup (Figure 4). The reds and greens of the argillites (slightly metamorphosed shales) relate to iron oxidation states.

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FEATURE ARTICLE

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Figure 3: Glacial drumlins, eskers, and kettles near the Bison Paddock.

Figure 4: Stromatolite boulder found near the base of the Prince of Wales Hotel. Other pebbles show the variety of colours sourced from the Belt-Purcell.

Figure 5: Stylolites visible in dolomites in a roadcut through the Altyn Formation.

Figure 6: Annotated photo of Mt. Crandell, as seen from the Prince of Wales Hotel parking lot showing approximate location of major thrusts, splay faults, and stratigraphic boundaries.

Figure 7: Annotated photo of Vimy Peak as seen from the hotel trailhead showing approximate location of major thrusts and unit boundaries (see Gordy et al., 1977).

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The stratigraphy (Figure 9) of the Belt-Purcell Supergroup is a large part of what makes Waterton so beautiful. The limestones of the Waterton Formation (Figure 8) and the grey / tan limestones and dolomites of the Altyn, Siyeh, and Sheppard formations are punctuated by the colourful reds, browns, and greens of the Grinnell and Appekunny formations (Figures 4, 5, 6, and 7).

Despite their great age (about 1.5 Ga), these sedimentary rocks are mostly un-metamorphosed. As a result, fossils known as stromatolites can often be found within various strata throughout the park. These are seen in large boulders on beaches and stream beds, such as the one seen in Figure 4.

As you continue along the path to the NE, you follow the edge of a large glacial outwash plain, characterized by drumlins, eskers, and kettles. Perhaps the best place to observe the glacial influence on the topography is a short detour to the outskirts of the park at the Bison Paddock (Figure 3).

The views there provide spectacular examples of this pristine scalloped glacial topography (Figure 11). The juxtaposition of Precambrian rocks, complex Mesozoic structural deformation, Pleistocene glaciation, and ongoing modern processes visible along this path make it a spectacular laboratory to examine geologic time.

(Continued on page 12...)

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Figure 8: View of nearby Cameron Falls where a scenic anticline of Waterton Formation carbonates can be examined.

Figure 9: Stratigraphic column for the Purcell Supergroup in the Waterton area (after Gordy et al., 1977).

The colouring roughly represents the colour of fresh rock surfaces.

Colour gradations represent lateral or vertical changes.

Lateral changes assume SW direction to left and NE direction to right of the chart.

8 9 The Belt-Purcell Supergroup is part of a lateral continuous series of age-equivalent strata extending along a NW trend from FORMATION THICKNESS (m) LITHOLOGICAL DESCRIPTION KINTLA 900 red, green, and grey argillite and quartzite southern Idaho into southeastern BC, where they are overlain by grey dolomite and dolomitic argillite; recessive brown the slightly younger Windermere Supergroup (Figure 10). This weathering 180 massively thick package of rocks appears to be associated with SHEPPARD PURCELL dark purplish green, amygdaloidal basalt, resistant, dark the rifting of Supercontinent Columbia (a precursor to Rodinia).

LAVA grey weathering 60 Columbia assembled during a lengthy orogeny between 2.1 and 1.8 Ga and consisted of virtually all the Earth’s continental upper: interbedded dolomite, quartzite, algal limestone, landmasses (Meert, 2014). One of several viable interpretations green argillite, three distinct red argillite bands 180 has the predecessor Antarctica, Australia, Siberia, and part of middle: massive to thickly bedded dolomite, molar tooth China joined to Laurentia (a.k.a. Western North America) (Zhao SIYEH and algal limestone, grey argillite, resistant, cliff forming, et al., 2004). Some evidence for this configuration is the grey weathering 275 presence of zircons in Belt-Purcell sediments resembling those lower: interbedded grey dolomite, quartzite, green and from the Australian craton. Around 1.5 to 1.4 Ga the black argillite, recessive, buff weathering 150 supercontinent was already rifting and partially breaking up. recessive bright red argillite at base, interbedded with During this time, the subsidence associated with the event green argillite and white, green and red quartzite and allowed for up to 18 km of lacustrine and shallow marine strata to conglomerate in upper part GRINNELL 230-300 accumulate (Winston and Link, 1993; Zhao et al., 2004). These upper: massive laminated green argillite and thinly strata make up the Belt-Purcell Supergroup.

Associated with the rifting event are extrusive events (such as the amygdaloidal and sometimes pillowed Purcell lavas), intrusive vertical dikes, and horizontal sills (with attendant contact metamorphosed white marble bands seen in nearby Mounts Cleveland, Anderson, and Blakiston). To the west in BC and south into Montana and Idaho, rift-related sedimentary-hosted hydrothermal seafloor exhalative ore deposits (SedEx deposits) formed on a massive scale (Lydon, 2005; 2010). One nearby example is BC’s prolific Sullivan lead-zinc mine that closed in 2001 after 92 years of continuous production.

APPEKUNNY

180-300

150-180 30-60 ALTYN 60-120

WATERTON

60-250 180

bedded green quartzite with maroon / red argillite in NE lower: massive green laminated argillite and thinly bedded quartzite with maroon and red argillite grading to SW into massive green laminated argillite upper: thinly bedded sandy, gritty dolomite, algal dolomite, black argillite middle: massive cliff forming sandy dolomite, algal dolomite, dolomite & quartz pebble conglomerate: lt grey weathering. Brown weathering gritty dolomite at base

lower: thinly bedded laminated grey dolomite light buff weathering, recessive red, green, grey dolomite and limestone

Of historic note, the trail is named after the adventurous Kootenai Brown who first made a name for himself in the Caribou Gold Rush in 1862 before taking on jobs as a policeman, a rider in the Pony Express, a hunter of buffalo, a forester, and as the head scout of the Rocky Mountain Rangers (during the 1885 Northwest Rebellion). He was acquitted of murder after a gunfight with another hunter. Importantly for Waterton he argued for the establishment of Kootenay Forest Reserve that was expanded in his lifetime to Waterton Lakes National Park. He is buried in the park along with his two wives.

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• Eyles, N., Boyceb, J. I., Halfman, J. D., Koseoglu, B., 2000; Seismic stratigraphy of Waterton Lake, a sediment-starved glaciated basin in the Rocky Mountains of Alberta, Canada and Montana, USA; Sedimentary Geology, v. 130, p. 283-311.

• Gordy, P. L., Frey, F. R., and Norris, D. K. (eds.), 1977; Geological guide for the CSPG 1977 Waterton-Glacier Park Field Conference, 93 p.

• Harrison, J. E., 1976; Quaternary Geology, Waterton National Park; Geological Survey of Canada Map 1422A; https://geoscan.nrcan.gc.ca/starweb/geoscan/servlet.starwe b?path=geoscan/fulle.web&search1=R=109163.

• Lebel, D., Douglas, R. J. W., and Norris, D. K., 1994; Geology, Waterton Lakes, Alberta; Geological Survey of Canada Open File 2855, 1 sheet; https://doi.org/10.4095/203331.

• Lydon, J. W., 2005; Synopsis of the Belt-Purcell Basin; Geological Survey of Canada, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/260302384_SYN OPSIS_OF_THE_BELT-PURCELL_BASIN/.

• Lydon, J. W., 2010; Tectonic evolution of the Belt-Purcell Basin: Implications for the metallogeny of the Purcell Anticlinorium; Geological Survey of Canada Open File 6411.

• Meert, J., 2014; Strange Attractors, Spiritual Interlopers and Lonely Wanderers: The Search for Pre-Pangean Supercontinents; Geoscience Frontiers, v. 5, issue 2, p. 155166.

• Meert, Joseph G. and Santosh, M., 2017; The Columbia supercontinent revisited; Gondwana Research, v. 50, p. 6783.

• Rogers, John W. and Santosh, M., 2002; Configuration of Columbia, a Mesoproterozoic supercontinent; Gondwana Research, v. 5, issue 1, p. 5-22.

• Sears, J. W., and Price, R. A., 1978; The Siberian connection: a case for Precambrian separation of the North American and Siberian cratons; Geology, v. 6, p. 267-270.

• Sears, J. W., 2007; Rift destabilization of a Proterozoic epicontinental pediment: A model for the Belt-Purcell Basin, North America; In: P. K. Link, and R. S. Lewis, (eds.); Proterozoic geology of western North America and Siberia; SEPM Society for Sedimentary Geology, Special Publication 86, p. 55-64.

• Stockmal, G. S. and Fallas, K. M., 2015; Geology, Chinook South, Alberta – British Columbia; Geological Survey of Canada Open File 7476, 48 p., 1 sheet; https://doi.org/10.4095/297169.

• Winston, D. and Link, P. K., 1993; Middle Proterozoic rocks of Montana, Idaho and eastern Washington, the Belt Supergroup; In J. C. Reed et al. (eds.); Precambrian, Conterminous U.S., The Geology of North America C-2; Geological Society of America, p. 487-521.

• Zhao, G., Sun, M., Wilde, S. A., and Li, S. Z., 2004; A PaleoMesoproterozoic supercontinent: assembly, growth and breakup; Earth Science Reviews, v. 59, p. 125-162.

• https://blogs.agu.org/mountainbeltway/2013/08/27/guestpost-the-belt-supergroup-in-glacier-national-park/.

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belt_Supergroup.

• http://geology.isu.edu/Digital_Geology_Idaho/Module2/mo d2.htm. (All URL lreferences current as of May 2020).

Figure 10: The NW-SE trending Belt-Purcell Supergroup aligns with the Rodinia break-up rifting activity. A tremendous thickness of sedimentary rocks accumulated (starting about 1.5 Ga). It is exposed, albeit in deformed fashion, by the Lewis Thrust. Source: Tapanila and Link online: (http://geology.isu.edu/Digital_Geology_Idaho/Module2/mod2.htm).

Figure 11: (A) displays the glacial geomorphology and surficial sediments around Waterton Lakes. Note the drumlins and eskers all oriented to the northeast as well as extensive glacial lake deposits. A study of the extant Waterton Lakes by Eyles et al. (2000) showed that the lakes are surprisingly sediment-poor, having been swept clean during the peak of the glaciation. They are filled with only varves from late stage glacial lakes and Holocene alluvial fan delta and slump deposits. Most of the glacial lake sediment was likely provided by Blakiston and Cameron creeks. The lakes themselves have subbasins related to bedrock promontories (reigels or resistant submarine “peaks” of BeltPurcell strata). Inset (B) shows that in the region around Waterton Lakes the Cordilleran and Laurentide Ice Sheets were not in contact as compared to the north (towards Calgary). The figure is from Eyles et al., 2000. See also Harrison (1976) for colour map of Quaternary geology of the park area.

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“This pioneer and explorer in geology, engineering and natural gas technology bequeathed a fundamental knowledge, years ahead of his ti tim me and was considered by many a virtual Leonardo da Vinci of the Petroleum Industry. Slipper, our First President, deserved the honour (unbeknownst to him) of our highest award in the Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists” - Aubrey Kerr The Stanley Slipper Medal is amongst the CSPG’s highest honours.

The medal is presented annually for outstanding contributions to petroleum exploration and development either in Canada or by Canadian-based petroleum geologists working internationally. The contributions of the winner of this award may encompass one or more activities including initiating and/or leading exploration or development programs, making significant discoveries on new or existing exploration trends, applying new technologies to exploration and exploitation, and teaching and/or training of petroleum geologists. In contrast to other CSPG awards, the Stanley Slipper Award recognizes, in part, accomplishments in business and in the broader petroleum industry through the application of the knowledge of petroleum geology. The award is limited to individuals. Candidates must be alive at the time of their selection. The winner must be a petroleum geologist and a CSPG member.

The committee is currently calling on the CSPG membership to provide nominations for this prestigious award.

2019 Stanley Slipper Recipient

Jim Gray

Please include an updated biography and letters in support of your nominee. It is recommended that potential nominations be vetted with the Committee Chair early in the process in order to avoid, if possible, duplicate nominations for the same person. Please consult the Career Achievement Awards section of the website for additional requirements and expectations related to the nomination process.

Nominations should be mailed or emailed before September 30, 2020 to:

CSPG Stanley Slipper Committee – Clinton Tippett 150, 540 – 5 Ave SW Calgary, AB T2P 0M2 Email: clintontippett88@gmail.com

Stanley Slipper Medal

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ROCK THE WINE BAR

By Jon Noad, SediMental Services In these uncertain times, it may seem flippant to discuss wine tasting, but with the blossoming of Zoom this is something that geologists can share even when physically isolated.

Consequently, I was asked to suggest some wines that can be quaffed online, and have chosen five wines (Figure 1) with geological nomenclature. They span whites to rosé to reds and are all highly recommended. Tasting notes are detailed in Table 1, and the wines can be sourced either from local liquor stores or online. I apologize to those readers who do not drink alcohol, but hopefully the geological details below will be of interest to all.

Greywacke Sauvignon Blanc, Marlborough, New Zealand We begin at the SB – which stands for either sequence boundary or Sauvignon Blanc. Today Marlborough is justifiably famous for its dry wines with fruit flavours, due in part to the high UV levels, to differing biomes on the grape skins and to cold fermentation.

However, as we will see, the area’s history reads more like an oil and gas discovery. Cultivation began in 1873 with the planting of Brown Muscat grapes, and continued until 1931 (in oil terms, historical production on a very small scale). One hundred years after that first planting Montana, New Zealand’s largest wine producer (read oil company), was looking for cheap land to expand into (AKA searching for a new oil exploration play).

Their company viticulturist (or oil explorationist) identified the Marlborough region, and founder Frank Yukich secretly bought 1173 hectares under the name of Cloudy Bay Developments (picked up some cheap oil acreage).

Figure 1: The wines discussed in the article

Despite the Montana board turning down his proposal to develop a vineyard (like the board of any oil company would do with a potential new field), he persevered and eventually they agreed. The land price was $1146 a hectare, compared Figure 2: View of braided rivers flowing through the Marlborough region, New to planted land in Sancerre, France at €150,000 per hectare, Zealand (James Rowe) an absolute steal. Rumours began that someone from out of town wanted land to develop lucerne production, a giant wheat farm and a thoroughbred horse stud (or that there was a hot oil play). There was much amusement and curiosity when Montana began developing its first vineyard (they said the same about the Montney Formation), and they experienced several disasters over the first few months (like any oil company). The cuttings refused to take root, and then cones used to protect the young vines blew away in high winds. Over the following decade several other producers had to fight their own battles to be allowed to develop vineyards in the face of local dissent (or eco activists). The vintners overcame this and pioneers like Hunter’s Fume Blanc and Cloudy Bay became the darlings of the industry (like Tourmaline in the Montney; and Spur’s multilaterals).

Marlborough’s success lies in its diurnal temperature variation, Figure 3: Greywacke vineyard (Kevin Judd)

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Figure 4: Greywacke soil, showing the ubiquitous pebbles

Figure 5: Aerial view of the Mosel region (NASA)

long autumns and diverse soils (successful play elements), ranging from stony, former riverbed gravels to deep fertile silts, mostly deposited on braid plains (Figure 2). Greywacke’s name indicates the bedrock that underlies these gravels, with numerous, rounded greywacke clasts littering the soils, which weather into rolling countryside (Figure 3). Greywacke is characterized by its hardness, dark color, and poorly sorted angular grains of quartz, feldspar, and small rock fragments or lithic fragments set in a compact, clay-fine matrix (Figure 4). It is a texturally immature sedimentary rock. In Marlborough, layers of hard, muddy grey sandstone alternate with thinner layers of darker mudstone. The vineyard is located close to the famous braided rivers of this region and the geology reflects that.

Clean Slate Riesling, Mosel, Germany Our second wine is a Riesling, and possibly the best pairing for Thai and Indian food that I have ever tried. Its name is Clean Slate, and it hails from the Mosel River Valley in Germany, home of the world’s most celebrated Rieslings. The geology of this region dates back to the lower Devonian. At that time there was a shallow sea in this region, bounded in the north by the Old Red Continent and to the south by the island structures of the Central German Uplands.

From these land masses, sediments washed into the slowly sinking shallow sea over millions of years, filling the Moselle Trough (Moseltrog) with up to 14 kilometres of sediment. The deposits were later metamorphosed into slates, when squeezed between the colliding continents of Gondwana and Laurussia, forming the Rhenish Slate Mountains.

The erosion of the Moselle landscape began in the Tertiary period, and continues today. The river meanders strongly through the Central Moselle (Figure 5), where it has cut a gorge more than 300 meters deep into a relatively flat plateau. The climate is relatively cool, but the vines are warmed by local microclimates, and even by reflected sunlight from the river itself. Less favorable slopes have been planted with hardier grapes of lower quality. The village of

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Figure 6: Slatey soils at Clean Slate, Mosel

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Figure 7: Slate outcrop and steep slopes typical of the Mosel region

Bremm has the steepest documented vineyard in the world, with vines growing on a 65-degree slope, which obviously have to be harvested by hand.

The resulting soils are dominated by blue and red slate, with a high proportion of stone to loam (Figure 6). Unusually there is no lime component, which influences the grape growth. The rocks weather easily (the slate can be broken by hand: Figure 7) with its constituent minerals enriching the soils, although they are still of relatively poor quality. The dark Devonian slates are most common, with the red soil areas only occurring at the start of the Middle Mosel, with more clay producing a richer, more lush style of Riesling. The blue slates produce more floral Rieslings, and the slaty soils enhance drainage and promote microbial growth. The slates reflect and retain heat, with any slates slipping into the river laboriously carried back up the steep slopes to the vineyard. The thin, stony topsoil forces the vines to root deep through the rocks for water and nutrients

Figure 8: Map of vineyards in the Osoyoos region

River Stone Estate Winery Malbec Rosé, Okanagan Valley, BC, Canada Our third wine is a deeply pink hued rosé, chilled and ready for long warm summer evenings on the deck. Unusually it is made from Malbec grapes grown on a vineyard just outside Oliver, arguably the best grape growing region of Canada (Figure 9). The vineyard is located in the Okanagan Valley (Figure 8), with a short growing season but sharing characteristics with some of Europe’s premier wine growing areas. Oliver produces over a third of BC’s wines and is divided into two distinct regions: the west bench is recognized as a distinctive viticultural area that is rich with glacial deposits formed from the ice age while the eastern “Black Sage” bench has equally unique growing climates with deep sandy deposits.

Figure 9:View of vineyards in Oliver

The Eocene Okanagan Valley shear zone (OVSZ) is a major extensional detachment within the southern Canadian Cordillera in British Columbia, juxtaposing the Shuswap metamorphic complex (mid-crustal, sillimanite-grade crystalline rocks) to the East

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Wine

Tasting notes

Pairs with…

Approx. cost

Greywacke Sauvignon Blanc

An aromatic salsa-like fusion of ripe summer fruit and fragrant Asian spices. Nectarines and yellow peaches, rock melon, grapefruit and a splash of passionfruit – mingled with ginger and lemongrass, jasmine flowers and cassis.

Cheese (especially goat cheese), $28 shellfish, vegetarian dishes, Caesar salad, corned beef and cabbage, turkey pot pie. Particularly refreshing served chilled on a hot summer day

Clean Slate Riesling

Floral and citrus aromas; fresh peach, crisp lime, tangerine and subtle mineral flavours. Light-bodied, with crisp acidity that balances the wine's honeyed sweetness, with a hint of spiciness; refreshing

Spicy Mexican, Indian and Thai; also sushi, fish, poultry and pork.

$16

River Stone Estate Winery Malbec Rosé

Aromas and flavors reminiscent of pressed strawberries, raspberries, rhubarb, juicy plum, pomegranate and rose petals and has a luscious, dry, savory finish. Some earthy notes and lime blossoms on the nose. Bright acidity and slight tannins.

Brilliant with cheese and charcuterie on the deck in the early afternoon or have it with light grilled seafood.

There is enough structure in this wine to be very food versatile or you can just enjoy it on its own.

$20

Las Rocas de San Alejandro Garnacha

Intense nose and palate. Vibrant red, medium bodied with rich dark cherry, raspberry and blackberry aromas and flavors; notes of anise and flowers; nuances of oak spice and Mediterranean herbs with round tannins, supple textured and round and full in the mouth, very long-lasting.

Beef and roasts, pasta, lamb, game (deer, venison), poultry, white meats with sauce

$20

Earthquake Zinfandel

A rich burly wine with peppery spice and baked cherry pie. Jammy and chewy with berry, plum, vanilla, spice, and pepper. Super rich aromas and deep saturated fruit and oak flavors make this extremely-full-bodied wine hard to resist. Vanilla and baking spices round out the finish with a slight hint of tobacco.

Beef, lamb and poultry

$38

Table 1: Tasting notes and pairings against dominantly non-metamorphosed sedimentary and volcanic rocks to the West. The differential weathering means that the two sides of the valley have contrasting topographies, which have affected the distribution of the younger glacial sediments. A thick blanket of these ensures that it is these diverse Ice Age sediments that give the local wines their character. Imagine a glacial outwash plain with fans, moraines, frozen lakes and glacial soils like loams (defined as containing equal parts of sand, silt and clay), the sort of terrain that you might encounter on a drive through central Iceland. Sometimes small changes in elevation will separate fine grained lacustrine deposits from coarse, gravelly alluvial outwash fans. Add to these sediments the river terraces and fast flowing, glacial meltwater-fed rivers, much like those flowing through Banff National Park today, and you get a picture of the depositional setting of this region (Figure 10).

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It is the fluvial gravels, laid down at the end of the last Ice Age, that make up the soils at the Riverstone vineyard. McIntyre Bluff is located at the narrowest part of the valley and hosted an ice dam during the last Ice Age. When the dam foundered, rivers carrying high volumes of sediment careered southward through the valley, depositing thick gravels at Riverstone in the valley centre (Figure 11). Many of the clasts are reworked volcanics. The abundant gravels help to supply good drainage, and to retain the sun’s warmth.

Like so many of the vineyards in the Okanagan, the owners have an impressive grasp on the local geology, and it is always worth calling ahead if you want to find out more about a vineyard’s geology.

Las Rocas de San Alejandro Garnacha, Galicia, Spain Our fourth wine is a vibrant, red, medium bodied Garnacha from Spain, available (like so many Spanish wines) at a bargain price. Las Rocas, meaning literally “The

Rocks”, is grown at high altitude in “Green Spain”, close to the Atlantic, which keeps the area cool and damp. The upland area is part of the Iberian System mountain range (Figure 12). Robert Parker, wine critic describes this wine as “undeniably the greatest value from Europe I have ever tasted”.

The Calatayud Basin is an elongated NWSE depression in northeastern Spain, geographically similar to the Ebro Basin.

It is filled with continental Miocene sediments resulting from erosion of Palaeozoic and Mesozoic rocks of the Castilian and Aragonese branches of the Iberian Range. Quaternary alluvial deposits are underlain by gypsum and other soluble rocks (evaporite outcrops cover approximately 7% of the total area of Spain). As a result, the city’s development has been strongly influenced by geohazards including flooding, subsidence and slope movements. Sinkholes are alarmingly common throughout the region, while the

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Figure 10: Geological cross-section through Oliver (Toews et al 2007)

Figure 11: Soil profile through Coolshanagh Vineyard, Naramata Bench, similar to River Stone Estate worst building subsidence is concentrated along the line of a buried channel that runs underneath the gypsiferous silt alluvial fan. Two collapse grabens record subsidence of over 200 metres, and several cave systems have been mapped.

Bodegas San Alejandro was founded in 1962 in Calatayud, Zaragoza, and grows wine at altitude with soils of black and red slate, rocks and clays (Figure 13). The topography is typically complex with many channels and valleys. The different grape varieties are matched to the most suitable soils, with Las Rocas’ Garnacha grapes grown in vineyards that are between 40 and 60 years old, located more than 800 meters above sea level on very rocky, slate soils with a red clay matrix. This is in contrast to the white limestone dominated soils on the plains below. The arid climate stresses the grapes, helping to concentrate the flavours within, and there is a great difference in temperature between night and day during the ripening period of the grape. The grapes are picked by hand.

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Earthquake Zinfandel, California, USA

Lodi,

Our final wine is named after San Francisco's great Earthquake of 1906, and is grown in the Lodi region of California, located between the San Francisco Bay and The Sierra Nevada Mountains (Figure 14). Lodi has a Mediterranean climate and is most famous for its old vine Zinfandels, reputedly the best in the world, but also harvests a diverse variety of grapes. Generally, Lodi produces a softer, more fruit-forward and fragrant style of Zinfandel, and our selected wine packs vibrant fruit and jammy flavours and is very full bodied, perfect with red meat from the barbeque. The old growth vines are naturally low-yielding due to their age and consistently produce high quality fruit.

The regional geology is floored by marine Cretaceous sediments, overlain by younger Miocene fluvial deposits and capped by Quaternary deltaic sediments of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. The

sediment package may reach 10 kilometres in thickness. Natural gas is produced from fields like the large Rio Vista Gas Field, which has produced 3.6 Tcf of gas since the 1930s from 189 wells. The main reservoirs are the Eocene Domengine and Margaret Hamilton sands, although there is subsidiary production from the Paleocene and Upper Cretaceous. The anticlinal structure is cut by the large Midland Fault, with throws of up to 200 metres, and numerous smaller faults. The Quaternary sediments were deposited in very varied depositional settings, typical of deltaic sediments, and have been subject to synsedimentary faulting.

Lodi’s diverse soils were formed thousands of years ago through geological events and alluvial waters. Two major rivers originating in the Sierra Nevada mountain range feed the Lodi appellation – the Mokelumne and Cosumnes. These rivers have brought soils rich in graniticbased minerals that lend complex flavors to the wines of Lodi. The MichaelDavid vineyards, home of the Earthquake

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Figure 12:View of the Bodegas San Alejandro vineyard, Calatayud Basin

Figure 13: Soil at Bodegas San Alejandro, home of Las Rocas brand, are developed in the fine sandy soils surrounding the community of Lodi, falling under the Mokelumne River appellation, and somewhat loamier than the sandier soils on the eastern side of the city (Figure 15). This tends to lead to weightier and larger berries on the west side, with less tannins and acidity. Further to the east the soils become less fertile and clay-based or stony.

In summary….

We have only scratched the tip of the inselberg today. There are literally hundreds of wines with geological names: The Geologist, Cold Springs Geology, Hardy’s Tintara Geology; Mallee Rock, Seal Rock, Lightning Rock, Painted Rock, The Rock, Heart Rock, Red Rock, Castle Rock, Flat Rock, Chimney Rock, White Rock, Prophets Rock, April Wine (soft rock ha ha), Rock Wall, Lucky Rock (rocks commonly outcrop close to vineyards - (we could do a whole article on “rocky” wines alone); Redstone, Broken Stone, Stoneboat, Seven Stones, Vinestone, Stoneleigh, Skipping Stone, Fieldstone (another potential article on “stony” wines); Geco di Tufa, Sandstone, Sandstone Creek, Wente Sandstone, Silt Wine, Shale Canyon, Red Shale, Limestone South, King Coal, Coal Pit, Kuhlman Gypsum, Chalk Hill For the hard rockers there are Igneous Vineyards, Igneo y Tectonica, Granite White, Granite Coast, Schist, Terre de Schistes, Gabbro, Cinnabar, Aragonite, Amphibolite, Obsidian, Hornfels, Vigna Breccia, Galena; Rhyolite, Lava Cap, Lava, Volcanic Hills, Volcano; Orogeny,

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Orthogneiss, Syncline, Subduction; Braided River, Rocks and Gravel; and for the palaeontologists we have Jurassic Ridge, Saurus, Ancient Coast, Terroir des Dinosaures, Stegosaurus (yes, really), Ammonite and many, many more. Then there are all the wines featuring geology on their labels: Zorzal Terroir Unico (gravels), Gestos (cross-section, Figure 16), Tierra Andina (stratified mountains), Creta, Aconcagua (both with ammonites)… and vineyards located on interesting rock formations, such as the dinosaur nest bearing sediments in Provence. It never stops!

https://www.riverstoneestatewinery.ca/ Wines/Rose

At the end of the day, not every “rocky” wine is a great wine, but you should never be embarrassed to buy your wine by the name or the label.

https://www.san-alejandro.com/en/

w w w . w i n e. c o m / p ro d u c t / l a s - ro c a s garnacha-2016 https ://www.totalwine.com/wine/ red-wine/grenache/las-rocasgarnacha/p/14477750 https://www.chateauwineonline.com/ las-rocas-garnacha-1/ https ://www.decantalo.com/en/lasrocas-de-san-alejandro-garnacha.html

http://www.docalatayud.com/en/ location/geography/

References http://www.wine-marlborough.co.nz/ about-marlborough/marlboroughs-winehistory/

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/ article/abs/pii/0009254195001859

https://winefolly.com/deep-dive/moselvalley-wine-guide/

Geological and environmental implications of evaporite karst in Spain

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lower_ Moselle

Article (PDF Available) in Environmental Geology 53(5):951-965 · January 2007

htt p s : / / ea r t h o b s e r vato r y . na sa. g ov / i m a g e s / 8 7 5 6 / m o s e l l e - r i v e r- g o r g e germany

Gutierrez et al

https://www.weinland-mosel.de/media/ File/WeinbroschuereMosel2010GB.pdf www.prowein.com

http://www.ter roircongress.org/en/ location/technical-visits-regulator ycouncils/dop-calatayud/ https://californiawineryadvisor.com/8best-lodi-wineries/

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Figure 14:View of MichaelDavid Vineyard, Lodi, California

https://michaeldavidwinery.com/wines/

Figure 15: Soil pit in Bechthold (near MichaelDavid Vineyard, home of Earthquake Zinfandel), exposing the deep, fine grained sandy loam soil of the Mokelumne River-Lodi appellation.

https://www.lodiwine.com/About-Lodi https://www.lodiwine.com/blog/A-grapevisual-of-why-Lodi-grows-what-it-grows-and-its-impact-on-wine-variations

Figure 16: A stratigraphic section from Gestos Winery in Argentina

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2020 Ph.D. and M.Sc. CALL FOR THESES Ph. D. AWARD Win $5,000, a framed certificate, and a one-year CSPG membership for the Doctoral thesis that makes the most significant contribution to Canadian sedimentary geology in 2020.

M. Sc. AWARD Win $4,000, a framed certificate, and a one-year CSPG membership for the Masters thesis that makes the most significant contribution to Canadian sedimentary geology in 2020.

Topics of winning thesis in recent years have included: a study which re-interprets the popularly held idea of the deposition of diamictites from a glaciogenic origin to a rift basin genesis using outcrop (Death Valley area of California) and core (Grand Conglomerat in Congo); a detailed and thorough reservoir study using petrophysical and core data in an old under-produced Pekisko oil pool in the Hawk Hills area of northern Alberta; a study in which the primary objective documented the Great Ordovician Biodiversification event from an exposed carbonate ramp succession in the Tarim Basin of NW China and also outlined areas for petroleum exploration; a field-base study examining a large-scale, long lived slope channel system of the Late Cretaceous Nanaimo Group on Hornby and Denman islands of coastal British Columbia; a study on the evolution of fluvial meander belts with a focus on the resulting facies architecture and facies distribution using outcrop data, 3-D seismic and geocellular modelling; a 3-D seismic driven study of the excess pressure and reservoir compartmentalization in the Jurassic and Early Cretaceous gas reservoirs of the Sable Subbasin in offshore Nova Scotia.

DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS IS SEPTEMBER 25, 2020 For submission, an electronic copy (.pdf format) of the thesis is preferred but a hard copy if properly bound will be accepted. Submitted hard-copy theses will be returned in late January 2020.

Eligible theses are either produced in a Canadian university, regardless of project location, or deal with a Canadian sedimentary/petroleum geology topic, regardless of the university of origin. Theses entered for the 2020 awards must have been submitted to a recognized university inside or outside of Canada and must have formed part of the requirements for degrees awarded at the Fall 2019 or Spring 2020 convocations.

Candidates theses must be well written and clearly and adequately illustrated

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Please submit electronic copy of thesis for judging to: Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists (CSPG) Graduate Thesis Awards Committee

c/o Andre Chow amcchow@gmail.com For submission of a hard copy thesis or additional information please contact Andre Chow at the above email or tel: 587-777-2154

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SOCIETY NEWS

STRUCTURAL GEOLOGY DIVISION FIELD TRIP Geo-hike to the Lewis Thrust at Little Highwood Pass, Kananaskis Rocky Mountain Front Ranges of Alberta LEADER Normand Begin | Nanook Geo-Exploration Inc.

September 12, 2020* *subject to change or cancellation 7:30 am departure ABSTRACT This field trip will examine great exposures of deformation across one of the most prominent thrust faults in the Eastern Canadian Rockies, the Lewis Thrust. The thrust fault extends over 450 km in mapped view length, from the US Rockies in Montana to the Southern Canadian Cordillera, where it dies into folded carbonate beds of the Mississippian- age Rundle Group at Mount Kidd in the Kananaskis Area. South of Mount Kidd and along the Highway 40, the thrust juxtaposes steeply SW-dipping (50-70 degrees) carbonaceous units of the Rundle Group in the hangingwall, against also complexly deformed clastic units of Jurassic- age in the footwall. Several aspects of the folding geometry with respect to the Lewis Thrust development will be discussed in the field, as well as showing examples of displacement transfer between major (thrust) faults on a regional scale and controls of the mechanical stratigraphy on the deformation style.

The trip is not only suited for geologists and geophysicists working in thrust-fold belt regimes worldwide, but also useful to drilling engineers challenged to properly steer wells in heavily folded, faulted and fractured carbonate and clastic lithologies.

HIKE LEVEL The return hike distance from the parking lot at Highwood Pass (2206 m ASL) on Highway 40, to the summit of Pocaterra Ridge (2639 m ASL) and overlooking Little Highwood Pass will be 8.5 kilometers, with an elevation gain of 433 meters. The hiking level of difficulty ranges from easy to moderate along the trail; called moderate

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just because there is elevation gain. The hiking will be entirely on a well-established summer trail, involving no scrambling, climbing and exposure. If the weather turns out poor while hiking, there will be a shorter version of the geo-hike as an option, while not compromising the learning experience and delivery content in the field. Although the hike is on a trail, hiking boots with good ankle support are recommended especially for walking downhill. Running/track shoes are discouraged, while hiking poles can be useful to go up and down if some participants are used to them. Cameras and binoculars are very good to have, while wind and rain protective wear are a must as we will always be in alpine terrain conditions, subject its weather conditions.

Bring a lunch, snacks and water. The pace of the hike will be slow, with multiple stops along the trail to outline key features of the local structural geology and have time for discussion on the outcrops. The total time expected to complete the hike alone will be between 5 to 6 hours, from 10 am to 4 pm at the most on the trail. So, hiking 8.5 km in 6 hours at most, including geology and lunch

stops on the trail.

BIOGRAPHY Normand Bégin (P.Geol.) graduated with a BSc in Geological Engineering at Laval University in 1985, then completed a Ph.D. in Geology at Queen’s University in 1989.

He worked as a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Calgary (1990- 1992), then in mining exploration in the NWT for 2 years as a structural geologist and field mapper.

He worked as a structural geologist with the Foothills Research Project (University of Calgary) from 1994 to 1996, before joining Talisman Energy as an exploration and structural geoscientist in various deformed belts around the world. Along with his coworkers, he has successfully geosteered over 50 wells with several commercial hydrocarbon discoveries in thrust-fold belts of the Canadian Rockies Foothills, Llanos Foothills of Columbia, Zagros Belt of Kurdistan. From 2015 to 2019 with Repsol Canada, he worked on projects in Papua New Guinea, Russia, Algeria and Bolivia. In July 2019, incorporated Nanook Geo-Exploration Inc., offering expertise

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SOCIETY NEWS

in structural geology for exploration and development of natural resources in deformed mountain belts, such as field mapping, seismic interpretation, generation of drilling prospects and wellbore geosteering.

Since the mid 1990’s, he has safely led several structural geology trips for the industry in areas of various remoteness

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of mountain belts of Canada (Alberta, BC, NWT),Iraq (Kurdistan) and Australia (Queensland). In addition of extensive knowledge about structural geology in the Eastern Canadian Rockies, Normand has also hiked and scrambled to several peaks over the last 30 years in the Kananaskis and Banff parks, capturing photos of stunning mountain structural geology features. His vast outdoor experience also includes over

25 self-guided ski mountaineering and backpacking expeditions in mountainous and icefield terrains of Western Canadian Rockies and Baffin Island. His passion for the outdoors transcends to his keen desire to transmit his knowledge of mountain geology in the field, to anyone in the general public or geoscientists and engineers in the resources industry.

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SOCIETY NEWS

I WAS WRONG: DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION AT THE CSPG

By Kiersten Mohr, Terra Firma Transition

M

y first exposure to the CSPG was attending GeoConvention for the first time as a summer student in 2001. I recall being in awe of the richness in technical content and how engaging and welcoming every professional I met was.

Later, in 2002, during my last year at the University of Saskatchewan, I was awarded the CSPG Undergraduate Award, which solidified the beginning of my relationship with the organization.

As I began a full-time career the following year, I started to take part in technical luncheons, division lectures and continued to be a consistent attendee of GeoConvention. As the years progressed, I forged meaningful relationships with numerous fellow members. I became increasingly enthusiastic about becoming involved in an organization that provided me with a great deal of professional and personal growth.

In 2009 I joined the Technical Luncheon Committee. For the next five years, I had the privilege to be part of a passionate team that would seek out the leading science around North America and bring it to our members each month.

In 2013, I was asked to co-chair the Gussow Conference, which was my first genuine appreciation for the amount of work these events take and an opportunity to develop friendships with many of the fantastic CSPG staff.

Next, and what has been my highest honour as a CSPG volunteer, I was invited to work with Paul McKay, Jen Russel-Houston and Laurie Bellman as the Technical Co-Chair on the 2016 AAPG Annual Convention and Exhibition. Not only was this event the premier geoscience convention in the world, it was also an unbelievable opportunity to collaborate and work with a team of industry geoscientists whom I respected deeply. It was, without question, the most significant commitment of time and energy I had ever invested into any volunteer role, but turned out also to be the most rewarding and fulfilling experience

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in all of my time with the CSPG. As I drove home from the last day of what had turned out to be a very successful, inspirational and rewarding convention, my heart was heavy with what I believed was my reality: my days with the CSPG had come to an end.

Less than a year after that last day of ACE, and after a lifetime of a hard-fought battle for self-acceptance in my personal life, I would come out as transgender and navigate gender transition in my professional and personal life. While driving home that day, I pondered this upcoming transition, which, at the time, was something I genuinely believed was going to impact my acceptance in the CSPG dramatically. In all the years I had been part of this organization, there had never been any discussions, examples or exposure to other gender-diverse professionals like me. In fact, in the entirety of our industry, as much as I wanted to see someone "go first" to show that there was space for my authentic self in the CSPG, the path had remained dark and very uncertain.

My process of preparing for gender transition involved a lot of time spent assessing the parts of my life that I stood to lose once I made my change. As you may well imagine, there were plenty of things on my mind as I prepared for a momentous loss in my life, not least of all being my professional status. Few guarantees faced me as I embarked on my path to gender transition, and I had a limited amount of energy to maneuver each aspect of the change. So, like assessing the risk in any uncertain situation, it came down to predicting a chance of success relative to the amount of investment (emotional currency in this case). When I thought of my sixteen years in the CSPG, the math didn't work, and it didn't seem like a good investment. As an act of self-preservation, I began the early process of distancing myself from certain areas of my life, like the CSPG, to mourn the losses proactively.

When I eventually went through gender transition, I sent a letter to my professional network, including many CSPG colleagues.

I recall that, almost immediately, some of the first supportive and accepting responses I got back were from these professionals. Consistently there was a message of acceptance and respect for me having the courage to live my authentic life.

This immediate support was significantly appreciated, but I remained hesitant, and over the next couple of years, I maintained my membership but remained distanced from the organization. I took some time to get my feet back under me, and, to be honest, I remained intimidated to attend events and 're-engage' with this network.

It wasn't until a tea date with Jen RusselHouston in mid-2019 that the path back to the CSPG began to illuminate. Jen and I had met a few times since organizing ACE. On this day, we talked about our careers and the good, bad and challenges around the industry. Additionally, as part of this conversation, and as incoming president, she shared her vision for the CSPG going forward and her passion for change and evolution to bring the organization into a new era. As she finished sharing her vision, she asked me if I would be willing to help with this change as a board member. She reinforced that she thought I had many skills and experiences that could help bring her vision to life in the organization.

At the moment, I was shocked by her invitation. She looked at me, smiled with confidence, and reinforced what she thought I would bring to the board. Jen enthusiastically asked me again to consider again getting involved.

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SOCIETY NEWS

I can say that over the past three years, as an openly transgender woman, I have become proficient at knowing when I am invited because of who I am versus what I can bring.

With that said, I think I was most taken back by the fact that as I looked back at her, I was 100% confident that she was asking me to join because of what she believed I could bring. It was this immediate feeling of complete inclusion that made me say 'yes' and choose to face the intimidating reality of meaningfully re-engaging in the CSPG as my authentic self.

Over the last six months, I have quickly become integrated again. Relationships have picked up where they left off, and I quickly learned how incredibly wrong I was about the amount of acceptance and support in this organization. The board, the office staff and volunteers, have been open and welcoming in every aspect and on every occasion. I have been grateful that for as much as has changed for me, it feels

like nothing has changed at all.

Most recently, I have been proud to see the CSPG executive team put forward an official declaration on diversity and inclusivity within the CSPG. The discussion amongst the board was full of understanding, compassion, and a tremendous motivation to ensure there is space for everyone at the CSPG. I am comforted knowing that this statement is more than words to every single board member. Every one of us understands entirely that this statement is the beginning of an ongoing conversation to ensure diversity and inclusion in the CSPG. Perhaps most importantly, I trust that our board authentically believes that diversity in our membership enriches our society and each person is passionate about making this statement publicly to ensure that nobody else makes the mistake that I did.

involved and volunteer in the CSPG community. There is room for all of us, and I believe that we are in a time where a sense of community and inclusion can make a meaningful difference for everyone. As importantly, I trust that many professionals out there have the skills and experience to enrich our organization and help lead it powerfully into the next era.

Official CSPG Diversity Statement We are enriched by the diversity of our members! We celebrate and encourage multiple approaches and points of view.

We believe diversity drives success and are therefore committed to inclusion across race, gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation or preference, age, language, nationality, socio-economic status, or religion.

I encourage everyone to become more

Take charge of your career today.

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e-MENTORING

THE CORE TO CAREER SUCCESS

Your next mentoring connection is closer than you think.

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