Glacial history of Howard’s Pass and applications to drift prospecting.

Four stages of ice-flow occurred in Howard’s Pass during the late Wisconsinan McConnell glaciation. The first stage is marked by ice growth from local cirques. During the second stage, an ice divide developed east of the Nahanni River, with ice flowing southwest across Howard’s Pass. Ice sheet growth continued during stage 3 and the ice divide migrated southwest into the Logan Mountains. At this time ice flowed northward across the study area. Stage 4 is marked by deglaciation and more topographically influenced ice-flow. This last phase of ice-flow is the most important for drift prospecting in the valley bottoms. Conversely, drift transport directions at higher elevation are likely remnant from earlier stages of ice-flow. A mobile-metal-ion survey over a known deposit returned promising results, supporting the potential of this geochemical technique in other drift-covered areas of Howard’s Pass.

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Last Updated April 17, 2026, 21:29 (UTC)
Created April 17, 2026, 21:29 (UTC)
contact_email eservices@gov.yk.ca
contact_person {"en": "Yukon Geological Survey", "fr": "Yukon Geological Survey"}
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open_canada_collection federated
open_canada_date_published 2011-04-04 00:00:00
open_canada_keywords {"en": ["geochemistry", "mcconnell-glaciation", "ygs-import", "ygs-import-20250711", "ygs-publications", "yukon-geological-survey"], "fr-t-en": ["géochimie", "glaciation de McConnell", "importation d'ygs", "ygs-import-20250711", "publications de l'YGS", "enquête géologique du yukon"]}
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