<p> The Dundas Valley is a deep bedrock valley underlying the Hamilton-Wentworth
region of southern Ontario that has been infilled with up to 180m of Quaternary
sediment. These sediments contain a valuable record of past environmental change, as
well as control groundwater and contaminant migration pathways throughout the region.
Unfortunately, the nature, origin and spatial distribution of sedimentary units comprising
the infill are poorly understood. This thesis demonstrates the use of 3-D modeling of
subsurface geological data obtained from water well and borehole records, engineering
and construction reports to delineate the form and geometry of the sedimentary infill of
the Dundas Valley. ROCKWORKS 2002 is used to analyze and model over 2000 data
points and create a variety of 3-D images used as an aid to the interpretation of the late
Quaternary geological history of the study area. </p> <p> Sediments identified within the valley include fine-grained diamicts, clays, silty clays, sands, gravels and silty sands. These sediment types are grouped into five stratigraphic units that record changing environmental conditions during the late
Quaternary. Unit 1 represents the eroded Paleozoic bedrock surface and is overlain by a
patchy veneer of sandy gravel (Unit 2), probably deposited under fluvial or shallow
lacustrine conditions. Fine-grained deposits of Unit 3 record glacially-influenced
lacustrine deposition in the Dundas Valley, possibly during a subsequent episode of ice
advance. Unit 4 consists of coarse-grained nearshore deposits associated with the
development of post-glacial Lake Iroquois and uppermost silts and sands of Unit 5 record
the development of protected lagoonal conditions at the western end of the Ontario basin. </p> <p> The 3-D images of the Dundas Valley infill are also used to identify and delineate
the geometry of aquifers and aquitards and to help predict potential directions of
groundwater flow and potential contaminant movement. </p> / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc)
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:mcmaster.ca/oai:macsphere.mcmaster.ca:11375/21205 |
| Date | 08 1900 |
| Creators | MacCormack, Kelsey |
| Contributors | Eyles, C. H., Earth Sciences |
| Source Sets | McMaster University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
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