ES 2250Y

Earth Sciences 2250Y: Introductory Field Mapping Techniques

Location: Whitefish Falls, Ontario

Dates: May 1-11, 2025

Instructor: Patricia Corcoran

The field camp takes place near the village of Whitefish Falls, which is on the north shore of Lake Huron, approximately 25 km south of Espanola. The region is underlain by Precambrian (meta)-sedimentary rocks of the Huronian Supergroup, which is an up to 12 km thick Paleoproterozoic (2.4 – 2.2 Ga) succession, deposited on the southern margin of the Archean (>2.5 Ga) Superior Province of the Canadian Shield. The Huronian Supergroup forms part of the Southern Province of the Canadian Shield. To the east, the Huronian rocks are truncated by the northwestern edge of the Grenville Orogen or Province, which represents a continental collision that terminated at about 1.0 Ga. On its southern margin, the Southern Province is overlain unconformably by a thin succession of fossiliferous Ordovician (~480 Ma) rocks that regionally dip gently (a few degrees) to the SW and form the NE margin of a large circular structure called the Michigan Basin. The main task of participants in the field course is the production of a geological map and stratigraphic sections of local areas. Additional tasks include sketching a road outcrop, examining fossiliferous limestones, and measuring crossbeds for paleocurrent analysis. Students will participate in one-day field trips to Manitoulin Island and the Sudbury area, which is famous for being the site of a large meteorite impact that took place approximately 1.85 billion years ago. It is also world-famous for its economic deposits of Ni and Cu.

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