Alliston area - Geology Ontario

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Lefroy lin

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MARGINAL NOTES

To Barrie

\

44" 15'

Mapping was begun and completed during the summer of 1972 by the authors with the assistance of K. Girard, H, Lohse, and B. Tittley. Field techniques consisted of the examination of natural and man-made exposures. Air photographs at a scale of 1:40,000 were used. Bedrock Geology: Bedrock is exposed only near Rosemont in the extreme western part of the Alliston map-area. Here blue-gray shales and interbedded limestone of the Georgian Bay Formation and red shales of the overlying Queenston Formation, both of Upper Ordovician age, are found in several outcrops (Hewitt 1972; Liberty 1969). Three other units occur within the map-area but are not exposed at the surface. These are the Verulam and Lindsay Formations which are limestones of Middle Ordo vician age, and gray and black shale of the Whitby Formation of Upper Ordovician age. Other than the few outcrops near Rosemont and southwest of Hockley, in the Alliston area, bedrock is covered by 30 to 140 metres (100 to 450 feet) of Quaternary sediments (Deane 1950; Sibul and Choo-Ying 1971).

Ontario Division o1 Mines HONOURABLE LEO BERNIER, Minister of Natural Resources W. Q, MACNEE, Deputy Minister of Natural Resources C. A. Jewett. Executive Director. Division of Mines

E. G. Pye, Director, Geological Branch

PRELIMINARY MAP P. 835 GEOLOGICAL SERIES

Glacial Deposits: Till: All the Quaternary sediments exposed in the map-area were deposited during or after the Port Bruce Stadial (Dreimanis and Karrow 1972) of the Late Wiscon sinan Substage i.e., within the last 15,000 years. Four till formations constitute the framework of the exposed stratigraphic succession (Gwyn 1972). Three of the tills (northern till) were deposited by the south ward and southwestward flowing Georgian Bay-Lake Simcoe Lobe, The fourth till unit (southern till) was deposi ted by a northward flowing segment of the Ontario Lobe.

QUATERNARY GEOLOGY

ALLISTON AREA SOUTHERN ONTARIO Scale 1:50.000

i "

2000

The Bogarttown Till Is the oldest northern till (Gwyn 1972, p.145). It is a pebbly (5 percent), sandy silt till, dark brown In colour (10 YR 3/3, Munsell). In its five exposures within the area, it is massive, very compact,and has a strong vertical joint set. The unit is 2 to 4 metres (6 to 12 feet) thick and overlies ice-contact sand and gravel, but it does not occur at the surface.

NTS Reference:

31 D/4

Parts of this publication may be quoted If credit is given to the Ontario Division of Mines and the material is properly referenced.

The Newmarket Till overlies the Bogarttown Till. It is a sand to silty sand till containing 10 percent pebbles and is light yellowish brown (2.5Y 6/4). It is usually very compact and massive but develops a fissile structure after being exposed at the surface. This is the most prominent till in the map-area, having been traced from the Niagara Escarpment through the Newmarket area 65 kilometres (40 miles) east to Lake Scugog. The unit ranges from 0.5 metre to 12 metres thick (1.5 to 40 feet), and most commonly overlies outwash sand and gravel though in four locations it directly overlies Bogarttown Till. The Newmarket Till is the 'lower northern till 1 of White (1971). He concluded that the Newmarket ice built both the Singhampton and Gibraltar Moraines in the Bolton area. If this Is correct, the Newmarket Till is possibly correl ative with till 'N' of Karrow (1971), which was tentatively traced to the flank of the Singhampton Moraine northwest of Dundalk (Cowan 1972, p.149).

LEGEND CENOZOIC QUATERNARY RECENT Modern alluvium; unsubdivided Bog deposits; peat, muck, and marl Windblown deposits; sand and silt Older alluvium; unsubdivided PLEISTOCENE

The last northern till deposited, the Kettleby Till, is usually a brown coloured (7.5YR5/2), clayey silt to silt till containing l percent pebbles. It is moderately compact and has a blocky structure. The till unit ranges from 0.5 metre to 12 metres thick (1.5 to 40 feet). It typically overlies laminated or varved silt and clayey silt, from which it was derived, although in several sections the Newmarket Till is directly beneath it. Evidence was found for two minor advances of Kettleby ice. Several sections contain a thin (l metre) unit of varved silts within the Kettleby Till. Kettleby Till is the 'upper northern till' of White (1971), and it appears that the Ice advanced up to but did not override the Oak Ridges Moraine.

Glaciolacustrine beach, bar, and spit; gravel Glaciolacustrine shallow water; sand 9b Lake Algonquin deposits 9a Schomberg Ponds deposits Glaciolacustrine deep water; stratified to varved silt and clay 8b Lake Algonquin deposits Sa Schomberg Ponds deposits Glaciofluvial deposits; sand and minor gravel Glaciofluvial deposits; gravel and minor sand

The last till (southern till) to be deposited by the Ontario Lobe In the Newmarket map-area Is the Halton (upper Leaside) Till. It is silt to sandy silt till containing 5 percent pebbles, usually moderately compact', and weathers to a yellowish brown colour ClOYR 5/6), No direct evidence was found to indicate the age relation ship between northern and southern tills. However, the ^ relationship suggested by White (1971, p. 217) that the "S, Halton Till is slightly older than the Kettleby Till appears correct.

Ice-contact stratified drift; sand and gravel Kettleby Till; silt to clayey silt till Halton Till; silt to sandy silt tilla Newmarket Till; sand to silty sand till

Following the deposition of the Bogarttown Till the Newmarket ice first advanced to construct the Singhamp ton Moraine and advanced again to build the Gibraltar Moraine (White 1971). During the retreat of Newmarket Ice pro-glacial lakes developed between the ice front and the drainage divide to the south. This episode was ended by the advance of Kettleby Ice up to the Oak Ridges Moraine. However It appears that it did not override the moraine.

Bedrock 11

Iqu Queenston Formation Igb Georgian Bay Formation Till-Bedrock Complex Note:

The Oak Ridges Moraine is a broad interlobatemoraine complex extending from Schomberg in the Bolton map-area (White and Karrow 1968) across the southern part of tne Newmarket area for 140 kilometres (90 miles) eastward to Colborne. The last ice to override the Oak Ridges Moraine was the Ontario Lobe during which Halton Till was deposited up to the crest of the moraine complex. The maximum extent of this advance is clearly marked by the Palgrave Moraine (White 1971) which is composed mainly of Halton Till, It was developed on the flank of the Oak Ridges Moraine and forms a part of the, moraine complex.

S1 l

a. Occurs only in the Newmarket map-area. b. Occurs only in the Alliston map-area.

SYMBOLS

Ice-Contact Stratified Drift: Ice-contact sand and gravel deposits in the Alliston and Newmarket areas can, In general, be divided into two categories based on texture. The first group comprises small deposits composed mainly of crushable material. Included are two eskers in the Newmarket area, one east of Ravenshoe and one west of Blackwater, and scattered small deposits associated with drumlins, or deposits stratigraphically underlying till. The second category is typified by extensive areas of medium-grained to fine-grained silty sand with only occasional bodies of gravel. These largedeposits are found in the southwestern part of the Alliston area and the southern half of the Newmarket area (Uxbridge and Whitchurch Townships). There is evidence that gravel is concentrated along the northern edge of the Halton Till sheet and that there is a general decrease in grain size northward in this deposit (P.B. Duckworth, University of Toronto, personal commu nication). This agrees with the general northwest trend of paleocurrent indicators. In Uxbridge and whitchurch Townships the deposit has the appearance of an outwash plain laid down in front of the Palgrave Moraine. The sand and gravel is directly associated with Halton Till. However, deformation structures of an ice-contact nature are ubiquitous in the sediments, and for this reason they are mapped as ice-contact stratified drift.

Geological boundary (actual or interpreted). X

l Small bedrock outcrop.

Y

l Sand or gravel pit. ~^ Glacial fluting in till. Drumlin. Esker (arrowheads show current direction). River terrace escarpment or wave-cut bluff. Three dimensional orientation diagram of long axis of till pebbles, showing sense of plunge; 100 pebbles were measured for each diagram. Unit in which pebble orientation was measured.

The sediments in the southwestern part of the Alliston area appear to have a somewhat different origin. There is no discernable trend in the distribution of sand and gravel bodies. The sediments are mainly fine silty sand to sandy silt with scattered small gravel bodies. Further, a knob and kettle topography is well developed. This is thought to be an area where the ice stagnated, and ponds formed in which the fine-grained sediments were deposited.

SOURCES OF INFORMATION Geology by Q.H.J. Gwyn and S. White and assistants, 1972. Topography from Map 31 D/4 of the National Topographic Series. Aerial Photography, National Air Photo Library, Ottawa.

Outwash Sand and Gravel: Outwash sediments are found throughout the map-area. The largest deposits occur along the western border of the Alliston area where they form a pitted outwash plain at 975 feet above sea level. In several sections they overlie Kettleby Till. It has since been partially dissected especially northwest of Everett. The material is predominantly medium-grained to fine-grained sand with small amounts of pebbly sand. Gravel is rarely found at the surface, usually occurr ing under a blanket of silty sand. Other moderate sized deposits of outwash gravel in the Alliston area occur north of Sharps Hill, south of Beeton, and south of The Hollows. In the Newmarket area, the only economically important outwash sand and gravel occur in the Oak " Ridges Moraine. The outwash in the valleys north of S the moraine In the Newmarket area is typically silty o sand. Numerous small outwash gravel bodies are associ- ~ ated with drumlins and drumlinoid forms. The origin of these deposits has been discussed by Deane (1950), Lacustrine and Beach Deposits: Glac i al lake silt and silty sand are widespread and most of it was deposited during the retreat of the Newmarket and Kettleby ice, The oldest sediments were laid down in ponds, known as early Schomberg Ponds, formed between the tee margin and the northern flank of the Oak Ridges Moraine, during the retreat of Newmarket ice. They have been found up to 1,000 feet above sea level and a maximum of 90 verves have been counted. The early Schomberg sediments were overridden by Kettleby Ice, and upon Its retreat late Schomberg Ponds formed and massive, laminated, and varved silts were deposited in the ponds. These sedi ments range in elevation from 750 feet and 1,150 feet above sea level. It is not known whether the glacial lakes were lowered to the level of Glacial Lake Algonquin gradually, or in stages. However, no shore line features were found in the map-areas other than those associated with Lake Algonquin at 740 feet. At this elevation well developed beaches, spits, and off shore bars are present as well as prominent wave-cut bluffs.

Deposits less than three feet thick are not shown as separate units.

Issued 1973. Parts of this publication may be quoted if credit is given to the Ontario Division of Mines. It is recommended that reference to this map be made in the following form: Gwyn, Q.H.J., and White, S. 1973: Quaternary Geology of the Alliston Area, Southern Ontario; Ontario Div. Mines, Prelim. Map P.835, Geol. Ser. , scale 1:50,000. Geology 1972.

References: Wind-Blown Deposit^: Wind-blown fine-grained sand is common throughout the map-area. Well developed dunes are present on the outwash plain in Nottawasaga River Valley, especially north of Dunns Hill, and on the lacustrine sand plain west of Baxter in the Alliston area. Some of the dunes in the Nottawasaga River Valley were formed before the river had cut down to Its present level and possibly while Lake Algonquin still existed. Low dunes and an associated wind-blown fine-grained sand blankets a large area of the Lake Algonquin plain, L mile northeast of Alder in the Newmarket area. Thin sheets of wind-blown sand are present in scattered areas burying what appear to be well developed recent soil profiles.

Bog and Marsh Deposits: Peat, marl, and organic rich silts are important recent deposits in the map-area. Large areas of the larger bogs have been developed for market gardening and sod production, especially in the Alliston map-area. Very few of the bogs exceed 2 to 3 metres in depth, however, a notable exception is the bog directly west of Husselman Lake in the Newmarket area. It lies at the very edge of the Halton Till sheet and it exceeds 3 metres In depth. Mineral Resources: The exposed bedrock units have not been exploited as building materials In the Alliston area, although the Queenston shale is used by several brick making firms in the Hamilton-Toronto region. Because of differences in composition and degree of weathering, selective quarrying Is possible to obtain various colouring effects using this bedrock unit (Guillet 1967). Except for the extreme western part of the Alliston area, the overlying drift is usually more than 15 metres thick,

Sand and gravel are the principal mineral resources, and clearly the most important deposits are in the Oak Ridges Moraine. Less extensive, but locally important deposits, occur throughout the area. In 1970, the reported production from Uxbridge and Whitchurch Townships, which straddle the Oak Ridges Moraine, was just over 5 million tons. In contrast, the combined reported production in the other 12 townships, wholly or partly within the map-area, was 0.8 million to'ns. The producing deposits are both outwash and ice-contact stratified drift, and most of the production in the Oak Ridges Moraine is from deposits buried under Halton Till, Although there is an enormous amount of granular material, most of it is silty sand and only a small pro portion is crushable material. The gravel deposits have a localized and irregular distribution rather than being widespread sheetlike bodies. This Implies that consid erable systematic exploration must be done for coarse

granular material, and that the reserves of such material are not as great as might be expected in a landform of this type and proportion. Most of the exploration work should be concentrated in Uxbridge and Whitchurch Townships. Regional mapping and airborne resistivity surveys (Middleton 1971a,b) have been done. It would now be useful to do detailed mapping followed by a drilling program. The following comments can be made concerning | reserves in the parts of the townships within the maparea. Sufficient reserves, for local needs only, were found in Essa, Georgina, East Gwillimbury, North Gwillimbury, West Gwilllrnbury, Scott, Tecumseth, and Tosorontio Townships. Both Adjala and Brock Townships have sufficient gravel to support small commercial operations. Only Reach, Uxbridge, and Whitchurch Townships have sand and gravel supplies to sustain several large operat ions.

Bedrock Geology and Topography Hewitt, D.F. 1972: Paleozoic Geology of Southern Ontario; Ontario Div. Mines, GR105, L8p. Accom panied by Map 2254, scale l inch to 16 miles. Liberty, B.A. 1969: Paleozoic geology of the Lake Simcoe Area. Ontario; Geol. Surv. Canada, Memoir 355, 201p. Accompanied by Map 1228A, scale l inch to 4 miles. Sibul, U., and Choo-Ying, A.V. 1971: Water Resources of the Upper Nottawasaga River Drainage Basin; Ontario Water Resources Commission, Water Resources Report 3, 128p.

Quaternary Geology Cowan, W.R, 1972: Quaternary geology. Orangeville Area, West Half, and Palmerston Area, East Half, Southern Ontario; p. 148-151 ijn Summary of Field Work, 1972, by the Geological Branch, edited by V.G. Milne and D.F. Hewitt, Ontario Div. Mines, MP53, 165p. Deane, R.E. 1950: Pleistocene Geology of the Lake Simcoe. District, Ontario; Geol. Surv. Canada, Memoir 256, 108p. Accompanied by 4 maps. Dreimanis, A., and Karrow, F.F. 1972: Glacial History in the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Region, the Classification of the Wisconsin(an) Stage, and its Correlatives; Internat'l. Geol. Congress, 24th Session, Section 12, p.5-15.

Gwyn, Q ,H.J. Quaternary Geology of the Alliston1972 Newmarket Area, Southern Ontario; p.144-147 in Summary of Field Work, 1972, by the Geological Branch, edited by V.G. Milne and D.F. Hewitt, Ontario Div. Mines, MP53, 165p. Karrow, P.F. 1971: Quaternary Geology of the StratfordConestogo Area, Ontario; Geol. Surv, Canada, Paper 70-34, lip. Accompanied by 4 maps. White, O.L. 1971: Pleistocene Geology of the Bolton Area (30M-13), Southern Ontario; Ontario Dept. Mines and Northern Affairs, OFR5067, 249p. Accompanied by 2 maps. White, O.L., and Karrow, P.F. 1968: Pleistocene Geology of the Bolton Area, Southern Ontario; Ontario Dept. Mines, Prelim. Map P.477, Geol. Ser., scale 1:50,000. Geology 1962,1963,1964,1965.

Pedology Hoffman, D.W., Wicklund, R.E., and Richards, N.R. Soil Survey of Simcoe County; Rept. No.29 1962: of the Ontario Soil Survey, 109p. Accompanied by 2 maps. Olding, A.B., Wicklund, R.E., and Richards, N.R. Rept. No.23 of the Ontario Soil Survey, 1957 60p. Accompanied by l map. Industrial Minerals Guillet G.R. The Clay Products Industry of Ontario; 1967 Ontario Dept. Mines, IMR22, 206p. Accompanied by Maps 2130 and 2131, scale l inch to 16 miles. Hewitt, D.F. Industrial Mineral Resources of the 1969 Markham-Newmarket Area; Ontario Dept. Mines, IMR24, 41p. Accompanied by Map 2124. scale l Inch to l mile.

Middleton, R.S. 1971a: Uxbridge, Whitchurch, and Markham Townships (parts of), York and Ontario Counties, Airborne Broadcast-Band E-Phase R Survey Apparent Resistivity Contours; Ontario Dept. Mines and Northern Affairs, Prelim. Map P.725, Geophys. Ser. scale l inch to 2,640 feet. Survey 1970.' 197lb: Uxbridge, Whitchurch, and Markham Townships (parts of), York and Ontario Counties, Airborne VLF E-Phase R Survey Apparent Resistivity Contours; Ontario Dept. Mines and Northern Affairs, Prelim Map P.726, Geophys. Ser., scale l inch to 2,640 feet. Survey 1970.

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