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Maps, plates, charts, etc., may be filmed at different reduction ratios. Those too large to be entirely included in one exposure are filmed beginning in the upper left hand corner, left to right and top to bottom, as many frames as required. The following diagrams illustrate the method: Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent dtre filmds d des taux de rdductior diffdrents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour dtre reproduit en un seul cliche, il est filmd d partir de Tangle supdrieur gauche, de gauche d droite, et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images ndcessaire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la m^thode. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 I'ilo GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF CANADA. ALFRED It. C. SELWYN, Dni>;cTOR. REPORT A GEOLOGICAL EXPLORATION ON THK NOIITH SHORE OF THE LOWER ST. LAWRENCE, MR. JAMES RICHARDSON, AOURUBSED TO ALFRKD R. C. SELWYN, ESQ., DIRKCTOR OK THK ' iOLOOH^AL HUUVKY. Fiom llic Rriiortx ql the Geological Survey of the Dominion of Canmhi for 180T-G9 , DAWSON BROS. 1870. mm ■ipli GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF CANADA. ALFRED R. C. SELWYN, Diui^ctou. REPORT \ GEOLOGICAL EXPLORATION ON THK NORTH SlIORK OF THE LOWER ST. LAWRENCE, I MR. JAMES RICHARDSON, ADUIIKHSKU TO ALFUKD R. C. SELWYN, ESQ., UlRECTOR OK THK (IKOLOrtlOAL RDRVKY. Fiu.ii lilt' Ri'poils 0/ the Givlogkal Survey of the Dominion of Canadu for 18U7-(i9 I , > * ■ : ,.■:• . ;* ^ ;', r-*. •'•' DAWSON BROS. 1870. • - » • » • fc *■ KEPORT BY MR. JAMES RICHARDSON, ADDRESSED TU ALFRED R. C. SELWYN, Esq., DIKECTOR OF THE GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 01' CANADA. Sir,— In tho month of May last I was instructed by Sir W. E. Logan to make a geological examination of the north shore of tho Lower St. lIw- North Bhore rence from the River Saguenay to tho Bay of Seven Islands, a distance of °"*""'"'""" about 220 miles; I was also directed to ascend one or more of the princi- pal rivers on the coast. Those selected were the Manicouagan and Bcr- simis ; the former was surveyed for about forty miles up, while the latter, which had already been surveyed by Admiral Bayfield, was ascended for a distance of thirty miles. A map of the area examined has been constructed on a scale of four miles to one inch, on which the geological facts and other characteristics of the country aro laid down. Having completed my survey of the north shore, about the middle south shore, of September, I returned to Montreal, and was then ordered to proceed to Trois Pistoles, on the south shore of the St. Lawrence, and continue to the north-eastward my work of 1868, which had terminated at that point, and was resumed and carried along the coast as far as Father Point, a distance of about forty miles. Examinations were also made along several trans- verse lines of from four to ton miles, in a south-east direction ; more facts are, however, wanting before my results in this district can be given in a complete form. On the north shore the geological formations of the area examined are : 1. Laurentian meiss. 2. Labradorite rocks. The Laurcntian gneiss sometimes has little appearance of stratification ;Lanrpntian the strike is generally nearly north and south, with dips often approaching*"^'*'' vertical. The strata aro all more or less broken, contorted and faulted. tiEOLOOlCAI SURVEY OF OAMADA. IiitriiJlvo UlorltcK. Crystnlliiip UllipstDUP. Lnhrndtutti' robks. The Labratlorito rocks rest uncouformnWy on the Laurcntian ; they gene- rally strike nearly east and west, and dip at comparatively moderate angles, with little or no apponranco of contortion or disturbance. The Laurcntian rocks consist cliieHy of coarser and finer reddish and p;reyish gneiss, often syenitic and marked by dark bands holding much hornblende or mica. A coarsely granitoid reddish syenitic gneiss was observed at the following localities, viz: — Ten miles up the Bersimis ; on the Oatardc River from the tide-way, for a distance of five miles ; and on the coast a little east of the Papinachois. At Escoumains a fine white granitoid gneiss occurs, composed of pure white feldspar and (piartz, with, rarely, small grains ofb.aok hornblende. In the neighbourhood of Point do Monts and Trinity Bay, considerable masses of a fine gray diorite, which appears to be intrusive, are found among the gneisses, and numerous dykes of black fine-grained trap are also met with in the vicinity. On the coast, two miles cast of the Papinachois ; on the north side of the Government Road, about a mile east of the great Bergeron Cove ; and about sixteen miles up the Manicouagan River, at the foot of the seventh portage, vitreous ([uartz rock occurs in masses of from 50 to 120 feet in thickness. Some of this rock is very pure, and might bo used for glass- making ; but much of it holds sparingly disseminated plates of flesh-red feldspar, anc' a pale green stcatitic mineral. About twelve miles up the river last named, there occurs in the gneiss a bed, twelve feet thick, of coarsely crystalline limestone, gray, yellowish, a ndoccasionally pinkish in colour, and holding grains of green pyroxene ; this, with the exception of a thin seam of dolomite found at Lobster Bay, is the only Laurcntian limestone observed during the season. The Labradorite rocks along the coast examined offer many varieties in character and aspect, but arc generally bluish or greenish in colour, much resembling those found to the north of jNIontreal ; in one case beds Avere met with holding considerable quantities of red garnets in lumps up to half an inch in diameter. Some of the beds contain much black mica, and other nodules of a gray fibrous hornblende approaching actinolite ; vario- ties of the Labradorite rock were also met with holding hypersthene, and small masses or layers of magnetic iron ore. The first locality to be noticed, where these rocks occur, is at the mouth of Pentecost River, and for about half a mile to the north-eastward. The rock is here banded with coarser and finer varieties, holding small lumps of red garnet, mica, actinolite and iron ore, which makes its stratification vex-y apparent; it dips with much regularity N. 23° E.< 30° to 40°, as may be seen for half a mile along the shore ; which here trends nearly north and south in a succession of low bluffs, seldom above thirty feet in height. REPORT OF MB. JAMES RICflAJlDSON, 8 I In Lobster Bay, lialf a mile farther to the eastward, after an interval of concealment, the reddish (juartzose granitoid rock of the Laurcntian is LnimnioritcK. n;;ain mot with, offering no evid.nce of stratification ; and in one phice is seen to bo distinctly overlaid by a patch only a few yards square, of Lahradoritc-rock, showing considerable varieties in character, a.id clearly stratified, with a strike N. 53^ E. Labradorites arc the only rocks seen from the May Islands to Point St. Margaret, and also at the falls of the river of that niiuie, the interval being concealed by sand. Hocks of Jic same scries are observed by Dr. Hunt at the head of the Bay of Seven Islands, enclosing a large mass of titanic iron ore, and they form also the great southern promontory of the bay, where the rock is generally more or less coarse-grained, greenish-blue in colour, and hoh.shypersthenoand titanic iron ore. The dip of the beds of Labradorite-rock, as seen here along a distance of throe or four inilcs, is generally uniform to the north, at angles of from 10° to 20°. At the falls of the St. Margaret the dip is N. 28° E. < 22°, while at Point St. Mar- garet it is S. 32° E. < 82°. Both the Laurentian gneiss and the Labradorites are cut by granitic veins, crunito win». sometimes of considerable width, made up of large crystalline masses of deep red orthoclase, often with a {lale green feldsjiar, probably oligoclase, black crystalline hornblende, vitreous cpiartz, and sometimes crystalline masses of magnetic iron ore. Beside the above crystalline rocks, a small patch of Silurian limestone siinrinn hhip- occurs on the east side of Manowin, one of the group of the Seven Islands. The beds of this light-coloured fossiliferous Silurian limestone are seen to repose on reddish gneiss, and dij) northward at an angle of from 2° to 0° ; The fossils, according to Mr. Billings, shew it to belong to the Trenton group ; it has been quarried for use at the Moisie iron- works, near by. In addition to the economic materials already mentioned, the iron sands iron sanriP. of this region, Avhich have attracted considerable attention, may bo noticed. The deposits of these sands at Moisie have been examined by Dr. Hunt, who has shewn that they belong to the stratified silicious sands of the dis- trict, which hefc overlie the old marine clays, at considerable heights above the present sea level. In many [daces I observed beds holding so much iron ore as to shew dark or nearly black layers among the gray and brown sili- cious sands. They were seen of this character, at various places along the coast, at heights u[) to 100 and even 200 feet above tide-level ; while on the Manicouagan River, twenty four miles from its mouth, .vhere it attains a height of 2.30 feet above tiie sea, the banks of sand exhibit the same dark-coloured bands of iron sand, from forty to fifty feet above the water. On the coast between Portneuf and Sault au Cochon, and also between M OKOLOOICAI. SUnVET OF CANADA. Iron imndK. the River St. Marj:^nretnn(l the Bay of Seven Islaiuls, hills of post-tcrtlnry claya, containing; Marino fossils, and attainin;^ hoi;j;litM of from 'jO to loO feet, are often seen to he capped with from forty to fifty foot of similar fine and coarse brown sand, banded with da''k layers likewise char;:;od with black iron ore. The rich accunuilutions of ore whlcli are seen along the beach appear, as Dr. Hunt has remarked, to result from a natural process of concentra- tion by the action of the water upon these sandr. ; they were observed In a great many places on the coast, about lili^h-wator mark, in strips from three to nine and twelve feet wide, and from two inches to two feet in thickness, often extending, wlthcut Interru) tlon, for miles. It Is said tliat tlio visible extent and the richness of these local deposits Is somewhat eni'cted by the vorylng action of the Avind and water. The ])laccs at which I noticed these belts f)f iron sand along the portion of coast examined are as follows, viz : — 1. The vicinity of Tidousac, for a distance of tliree miles downwards. 2. From Jeremle to Borsiinls, and thence to the Papinachois, a distance of twelve miles. 3. The peninsula at the mouths of the Outarde and ^lanlcouagan rivers, for thirty miles. 4. From English Point to Pentecost River, for eight miles. 6. The coast on both sides of the St; Margaret River for ten miles ; making in all sixty-six miles. In all these places except the first named, near Tadousac, I think that the quantity of ore is such that it might be collected with profit, e/peclally by the aid of proper concentrating machinery. Water-power, if n'leded, is accessible in several localities near the iron sands ; among others at the falls of the River Buade, on the coast, three miles below Tadousac ; at the falls of the Papinachois, also on the coast ; at those of the Outarde and Manicouagan, at the head of tide-water, (respectively twelve and fifteen miles from the gcncal tronc' of coast) : at a fall in a stream, on the coast, half a mile north-east of Pentecost River ; and at the falls of the St. Mar- garet, three miles from the coast. The mouths of the Rcrslmis, Papinachois, Outarde, Manicouagan, Pen- tecost, ai.d St.jMargaret all afford safe harbours, with sandy bottoms, which vessels drawing twelve feet of Avater may enter at high tide, although the access is somewhat difficult, on account of numerous sand-banks. In a)iy of them a wharf extending from forty to fifty feet from the shore would be sufficient to reach the channel. The surface of the whole region examined, with the exceptions, men tioned bebw, is broken and irregular. The hills of hard rock occasionally attain a height of upwards of 2,000 feet, besides which, there are hilV nKPOr.T OP MR. JAME3 HICnARDSON. !■■ • stratified clajs, capped by sand, often rising 200 feet or more ; and in one instance near Tadoiisue, 400 feet. A very thin soil occasionally occurs on the rocky hills, but, fjenorally over largo tracts where fires have destroyed the vegetation, little remains hut a bare surface of solid stuno. On the portion of the coast between the Sagnenay and the Outarde, forosi frcM. where the soil peniiit-<, there i,^ tiuihor of fair size, cDusistiiig of yellow pine, spruce, balsani-fir, tamarack and white birch. Yellow pine was for- merly cut on tho Portnouf River, and considerable (piantities still remain on tho rivers li]scnumains, Sault au Moiiton, Sault au Coehon, Jjcrslmis, and raplnachois. I'ine lo<',s, as I saw tliem at the mills, and in tho forests, were (Vom twelve to twenty inches in diameter. IJeyoml the river Outarde no yi'llow pln(! is met with, and from thence to the h^even Islands, the other trees are smaller, and the barren portions are more extended. From Tadou.sac to the lliver JUiade, a distance of about three miles alonjisoii. the coast, there extends a belt, less than a mile in width, of yellowish- brown sand, mixed with thin layers of tho Iron sand already noticed. Following the river just named, for about two miles northwardly, the clays gradually come out from beneath the sand, and afford an excellent soil. The lion. David E. rrlce, Senator, informed mo that this kind of soil stretches nortlnvard towards tho St. Margaret River, and is of considerable extent ; but it is not accessible for want of a road. On the little Ij>.i- geron Cove and River, there is a strip of similar good soil, four or five miles long by about a mllo wide, and on tho great Jjergoron Cove, there are from 1,000 to l,oOO acres of excellent land, yielding good crops of vegetables, and all kinds of grain. From the cove last mentioned, to the Escoumain-!, a plain extends from tho shore to a bare ridge of reddish gneiss, from two to seven miles inland, and occupies an area of forty to fifty scjuare miles. The soil of this plain is a coarso brown sand, with patches of moss, probably in depres- sions, and sustains a growth of blue-berry and other shrubs, with a few- stunted spruces, balsam-firs and white birches. Some attempts have hero been made at farming, but with very little success, except at a few spots on the coast, just to the west of Capo Bon Desir, where the clay, which underlies the sand, has been uncovered by land slides. From the village of Escoumains, at the mouth of the river of that name, to Mille Vaches Bay, a distance of about twenty miles, extends a bolt of sand like that just described, and from one to two miles in breadth, with occasional protruding spurs of gneiss rock. Here as before, the only suc- cessful attem{)ts at cultivation are confined to spots where tho underlying clay has been exposed by the cause above mentioned. From jNIille Vaches Bay to Sault au Coehon, a distance of twelve miles GEO Logical suhvey of Canada. T ciiffp^ of oiny a timilar aand plain provailH alori;^ tlio coast, also cxtcndin;:; about two miloa inland. Ki'otn tlio last incintioncd jM)int to tlio I'octiKMif River, (;li(^^ of clay, capped by sand, rise bolily np IVo'ii the ?iiorc to li('i;^lits of from 100 to 'JOO foot. Those clills, which have already been mentioned in speaking of the iron sands, have in the lower part from fifty to [jrobably one hun- dred and fil'ty feet of fine blue clay, in which the fossil remai!is af the MaUolus villuH, or capeHiu;^, aud several species of recent marine slnd's, were fo\ind imbedded. The brown sand, often forty or fifty foot in tliickness, whicii overlies tliosc cl.iy-i, presents al> .*rnato coarse and fine layers, and is banded with others holding black iron sand, llcyond I'ortncuf to Jerc- mio, a distance of about fourteen uiiles, the coast is rocky, and affords only a few isolated [latches of sandy soil ; but from Jercmio to Point St. (Jilos, at the mouth of the Manicouagan, a di.stanco of nearly forty miles, there is a recurrence of the sandy jibiins, with occasional ))rotruding mass'^sof hard gneiss rock. Along this coast considerable portions of land are covered with moss, as may bo seen just to the cast of the Indian Village and Hudson JJay Com- pany's post at Bersimis. These sandy '.racta include a part of the Bersi- niis Indian Reserve, together with the peninsula between the mouth of the Outardo and Manicouagan Rivers, and have an extent which may bo af)pi ox- imatoly estimated at 200 s(puiro milos. In ascending the J»(!rsiinis Jiivor for about thirty miles, occasional patches of from 200 to J, 000 acres of sandy soil arc met with, lying between rocky ridges. In ascending the Manicouagan River from a point twcnty-foiu' miles from its month to the Forks, fourteen miles furtlier, is a roach of deep water with a gentle current, between banks from ten to fifty fejt high, composed of brown sand, with layers holding the usual black iron ore. The river here, as already met.lionod, is 'IM feet above the sea, and the valley, which is about a mile in width, is walled in by ridges of gneiss rock, rising above it to heights estimated at from -JOO to l/){)0 feet, often bare of vogo- tation. This sandy valley sup[)orts in most places a stunted growth of 8i)rucc, balsam-fir and white bi;ch, but at the Forks, and for about four miles below, the soil is a loam, and produces a growth chiefly )f poplars ami white birches, which attain a fair size ; one of the latter, wiiich 1 cut down, was eight inches in diameter at the base, and 102 feet itigh ; its age, judg- ing from the rings of growth, was between sixty and s(!vcnty years. From l*oint 8*, (iiles to the («odbou.u Hiver, a distance of twenty-six miles, the coast is mostly rocky and barren, with the exception of about tiOO acres of sandy soil at the mo\jth of the; river, surroundo■ Tf 1 REI'OIIT OF MR. JAMliS RICHARDSON. 7 Krom Pentecost Kiver to Point St. Margaret, t^yontJ-seven miles, it is Zrir^'T '"^^''{-^'--^ t« Soven-Island Bay, a distance of en y-four nn os, and also to a lew miles beyond the River MoiHie, a fur- ther distance o Inrty miles, a similar sandy soil occupies a belt of country varyn.g m wk th from one to about twelve miles; the whole givin. an area about .000 .pna-o n/.les. In the rear of the bolt betwe'er pti" fet. Margare and the Moi.ie Hiver, bare rocky hills are seen, having an average ncigbt of rearly 1 ,000 feet. ^ kn Id e 01 tl "" ' "'■' "' "^^'^''° ^^' '«'"^' -Itivated, a superior knowledge ol thei:- •.nanagen.ent is required to do so successfully. I have tho honour to be, Sir, Montreal, 18th April, 1870. Your most obedient servant, JAMES RICHARDSON,