Society of Economic Geologists Student Chapter The University of Michigan-Ann Arbor Sudbury, Canada, Field Trip Report [August 28 September 2, 2015]

Transcription

1 Society of Economic Geologists Student Chapter The University of Michigan-Ann Arbor Sudbury, Canada, Field Trip Report [August 28 September 2, 2015] Address: Attn: Society of Economic Geologists Student Chapter The University of Michigan Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences 2534 C. C. Little Building 1100 North University Avenue Ann Arbor, MI Attendees: Adam Simon (Academic Sponsor; Trip leader) Brian Konecke (SEG President; Trip leader) Tristan Childress (SEG Secretary; Trip leader) Austin Boles (Chapter member) Daniel Korfeh (Chapter member) David Levine (Chapter member) Junjie Dong (Chapter member) Ngawang Tsetan (Chapter member) Nikita La Cruz (Chapter member) Will Bender (Chapter member)

2 Field Trip Summary In late-august early-september (2015), the SEG Student Chapter traveled to Sudbury, Ontario to visit the world-class platinum-group element (PGE) deposits. Sudbury was the site of a meteorite impact that penetrated through Earth s crust to the Moho at ~1.85 Ga and hosts some of the world s most important resources of platinum group metals, gold, copper, nickel, etc. During our trip, we visited two ore exploration projects, impact shatter cones, and uraninite-bearing quartz-pebble meta-conglomerates, which served as evidence for the Great Oxidation Event, as well as Grenville-age metamorphic rocks that preserve evidence for assembly of the Nuna supercontinent. The trip examined societal impacts associated with Sudbury mining, including environmental degradation and remediation, as well as the sustainable production of metals such as platinum and palladium, which are vital to renewable energy technologies. Daily Activities Friday, August 28th Ten attendees met on campus of University of Michigan in Ann Arbor at 9AM and departed in 3 vans for Serpent River campgrounds, located about 10 miles south of Elliot Lake, Canada. The group stopped for groceries and fuel before crossing the Canadian border, in the town of Gaylord, Michigan. Before arriving at the final destination, the group stopped at Ripple Rock, a ~2 Ga outcrop featuring sandstone layers with abrupt and dramatic changes in orientation. The group arrived at Serpent River campgrounds in the late afternoon around 6PM Saturday, August 29th The group explored and made several roadside geology stops in and around the Elliot Lake area including stops to examine outcrops from the Mississagi Fm., a uranium ore-bearing quartz-pebble conglomerate that fueled the local economy for decades, the Gowganda Fm., a stratified sequence of diamictites overlain by laminated mudstone-siltstone with some dropstones interpreted to represent a depositional environment proximal to a retreating glacial margin, and the Bruce Fm., a diamictite that overlies the Mississagi Fm. and has a Nipissing grabbro sill cutting through. The group also toured the Elliot Lake Nuclear and Mining Museum Community Survey, which offered a unique insight into the history of uranium mining in the area. Sunday, August 30th The group left Serpent River campground and traveled to Sudbury, Canada. Part of the day was spent exploring the Dynamic Earth science museum, which had mineral and rock exhibits and an interactive tour of a retired portion of an underground nickel mine. The group also visiting the High Falls of the Onaping

3 River, host to great outcrops of the Onaping Fm., a fall-back breccia and melt matrix which represents the edge of the Subdury impact crater. The group arrived at Fairbank Provincial Park in Worthington, ON, Canada, in the late afternoon. Monday, August 31st Dan Farrow and Lindsey Hall from the Ontario Geologic Survey lead the group throughout the day, introducing and describing rock units from within the Sudbury impact site, starting with the outer mega-breccia rocks that reflect impact shock, working inward through units of norite, quartz-gabbro, and granophyre which reflects differentiation within a giant magma lake. Originally the group had planned to visit the Laurentian University Geology Department; however, a visit was not possible due to the university being on a break. Tuesday, September 1st Lindsey Hall of the Ontario Geological Survey met the group at Fairbank Provincial Park and covered basic mapping techniques such as geologic orienteering, outcrop descriptions, strike and dip, and basic interpretation of outcrop features. Later in the afternoon Scott McLean, the CEO of Sudbury Platinum Corp., gave the group a tour of some of their property which mines sulphides for platinum group elements within offset dikes of the Sudbury impact crater and offered insight into the business of mineral mining. Wednesday, September 2nd Representatives from Wallbridge Co. gave the group a tour of their property that mines for platinum group elements within offset dikes of the Sudbury impact crater. They discussed exploration techniques and features unique to mining in the Sudbury area. Later that afternoon the group left the mining property and headed back to Ann Arbor, Michigan. The group arrived in Ann Arbor around 11PM that evening.

4 Expense report Item Cost $US van rental, 3 vans, $ per van Mackinac bridge toll, $4 per van Canada border bridge, $3.50 per van Serpent River camping Serpent River wood, Friday groceries Walmart, Friday gas, Sault Ste Marie, Friday gas, Sault Ste Marie, Friday Serpent River wood, Saturday Elliot Lake museum groceries, ice, Saturday, Elliot Lake groceries, Sunday, Chelmsford gas Sunday, Chelmsford gas Sunday, Chelmsford Fairbank camping site one Fairbank camping site two Fairbank camping extra vehicle + wood groceries, Walmart, Sunday, Sudbury groceries, ice, Walmart, Sunday, Sudbury Dynamic Earth mine tour, Sunday, Sudbury Dynamic Earth parking, Sunday, Sudbury Garmin GPS map for Canada data stick for GPS map for Canada Ambassador bridge toll, Detroit, $5 per van TOTAL $3,055.59

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