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BRANTFORD AREABedrock Topography and Drift Thickness
AbstractAbout 450 water and gas wells were field- checked in ihc summer of I960 to study ihe bf J roc k topography. Part of Ihe buried Onondaga Escarpment extends around the southwestern periphery of the area. To the northeast is a depressed trough culled Ihe Salina Trench. Several depressions join as tributaries to a major buried valley in ihe bedrock extending from north of Paris to Cope town. At Copfluwn, btrdrock elevations are less than 200 feet, and drift is more than 500 feet thick. Elsewhere in the area, drift ranges from 25 to 200 feet thick. Spencer's hypothesis (SpenttT 1881) that the Dundas Buried Valley carried the drain age from Lake Erie is not supported by recent data. The valley is believed to have been eroded by annncestor of t lie present Grand River.
Introduction
During the summers of 1958 and 1959, the Pleistocene geology of the Hamilton und Gall areas was mapped. Preliminary reports covering these areas have been published (Karrow 1959; 1961). and a final report is being prepared. As part of these studies, outcrops and gas and water- well records were used to compile in formation on the depths to bedrock. In order to extend this work to include Ihe presumed entynsion of Ihe Dunrias Rnried Valley and to close the gap with previously published maps farther south, the Brantford area was studied ir I960,
Field WorkAs far us possible, all gas and water-well records were field-checked for location. An estimate was made of the ground sur face elevation at the well site from topo graphic maps. The locations of the wells were recorded on air photographs at a scale of l inch to 1,320 feci and were later transferred to Ihe topographic base- map. Most of the bedrock outcrops were field-checked for location and elevation. One new outcrop was located on the west bank of (he Grand River about a milu south nf Paris.
Over 450 wells were located, of which about half were water wells, and half were gas wells. The distribution of wells is uneven, and only scattered records exist for much of the western part of the area. The reliability of the contours can be judged from the density nf the data recorded. In some areas where few data were available, door-to-door interview ing was carried out in an attempt lo locale unrecorded wells. Only a few additional wells were located in this way.
Previous Work
The southeastern parl of the area was included in maps of bedrock topography and drift thickness published by the Geological Survey of Canada (Sanford 1954a). A similar report cover ing Norfolk County to the south of the area has also been published (Sanford I954b). Roth these reports are based on gas well data only. A drift-thickness map of an area near Woodstock and west of the Brantford area was included in Ontario Department of Mines Industrial Minerals Circular No. 5 (Hewitt I960).
AcknowledgmentsField-checking of well location!) was car ried out by D. L. Shorten. R. C. Brown, and R. C. Ostry. The co-operation of J. R. Mitchell of the Petrol Oil and Gas Company was appreciated. Thanks are also extended lo ihe many residents of the area who provided information. Primary sources of well data were the files of the Ontario Water Resources Commission and the Ontario Fuel Board.
Geology of the Brantford Area
The bedrock formations underlying the Brantford area have been described by Williams (1919) and Caley (1941). Only a brief summary will be given here.
The oldest rock unit, occurring in a small area near Capetown, is rod mud stone of the Qucenston hormation (Upper Ordovician age). Lack of data makes it impossible to locate the south and west contacts of this formation with overlying beds, but il probably extends west of Capetown for one or two miles. Several thin formations of Lower Silurian age probably form a narrow band of subcrop along Ihe extension of the Niagara Escarpment westward from Dundas. West of Copetown, they likely- form a sharp drop in elevation (i.e. u buried cliff such as that which forms the lip of Niagara Falls).
Guelph and Lockport dolomites form a gently sloping bedrock plain in Hie northeastern part of the area. Overlying these, and forming the most extensive bedrock unit in the area, is ihe Salina Formation, composed of interbedded shali; and dolomite with some lenses of white gypsum. H outcrops at several places in and near Paris. Brecciation is common in the formation northeast of Paris and may reflect solution and col lapse of the beds. Caley (1941) indicates the presence of the Bois Blanc Formation (limestone) in :i narrow band along the soLtih edge of the area.
The regional physiography has been dealt with by Chapman and Putnam (1951). East of Brantford ;m extensive plain underlain hy lake clay and silt is broken occasionally by small drumlins. Streams have severely dissected ihe lake plain m some areas. This lake plain probably represents deposition by glacial lakes Whittlesey and Warren. Near Copetown there are extensive deposits of fine sand forming a kame-delta complex.
West of Brantford, the Galt, Paris, Tillsonburg, and Norwich moraines form il group of subparallcl ridges separated by, and sometimes cut through by, melt water channels, in which are lo be found extensive gravel deposits. The Paris moraine apparently marks the west limit of the sandy Wentworth Till, deposited by ice of the Ontario lobe. The older Tillsonburg moraine is formed of silty to clayey till. Excellent stratigraphic sec tions along the Nith River show a se
quence of several tills that have been correlated with the Port Talbot section along Lake Erie (Da-imams 1958) and with the sequence of deposits near Kitchener (Karrow 196!). A more do lailed account of these sections has been included in Ihe report on the Hamilton- Galt area.
A small part of the area has been covered by soil reports of the Ontario Department of Agriculture (Wicklund and Richards 1961), Air photographs are available from the Ontario Department of Lands and Forests and from the National Air Photographic Library. Land-use surveys of parts of the area have been the subject of several theses at M c Master University in Hamilton.
Bedrock lopographvThe lowest bedrock elevations exist near Copetown. Wells drilled to elevations of 200 to 300 feet above sea-level have not reached rock, and the actual rock eleva tion m that viL-mity is unknown. The highest bedrock elevations are in the southwest near Harley where elevations over #00 feet have been recorded: there are extensive areas between 60U and 700 feet.
The deep valley at Copetown, referred to as the Dundas Buried Valley, appears to represent an ancient slrearn-ci.il gorge with its mouth to the east. Several de pressions appear to be tributary to the valley, but the most prominent one ap pears to swing south of St. George and to the northwest towards Ayr. An im portant tributary passes west of the village of Scotland, under the city of Brantford, and joins Ihe main valley southeast of Harrisburg. The depression contours at Brantford may represent a closed depression in the bedrock surface or may reflect lack of data tn connect these low spots with the main valley farther northeast. Such closed depres sions may reJlect solution topography in the Salina Formation ami (or) glacial erosion.
A belt of higher ground around the western and southern periphery ol" the area probably represents part of the Onondaga Escarpment, completely buried in this region by drift. Its exten sion can be traced intermittently south eastward to the vicinity of Fort Erie (Sanford I954;i: 1956). This escarpment is accompanied on the northeast by a broad depression known as the Salina Trench, caused b\ erosion of the softer rocks of the Salina Formation. In the extreme northeast corner of the area, the Dutidas Buried Valley forms a re-entrant in the Niagara Escarpment.
Spencer (1881) postulated that the Dundas Buried Valley was formed through erosion by the combined drain age of the ancient Grand River and Lake Erie. The present studies and those of Sanford do not support Ihe theory of drainage of Lake Erie down the f) unda s valley; it seems more probable that the valley was cut by the ancient Grand River and tributaries from Ihe west, and modified by glacial action.
Drift ThicknessDrift thickness ranges from 25 to 75 feet through Tuscarora Township. An In crease in thickness can bc noted north ward and westward. In the west half of the area, thicknesses average from 100 to 150 feet near Paris and north of Brantford, and from 75 to 200 feet south of Brantford. Drift thickens northwest ward through Ancaster Township from 50 to ISO feet, then increases rapidly to over 500 feet in the Dundas Buried Valley near Capetown.
References CALLV, J. F.
1941: Palaeozoic geology of the Brantford area. Onlario; Gen], Surv. Canada. Mem. 226.
CHAPMAN, L. J. and PUTNAM, D. F,1951: The physiography of south
ern Ontario: Ontario Re search Foundation.
DRLIMANIS. A.1958: Wisconsin stratigraphy at
Port Talbot on the north shore of Lake Eric, Ontario; Ohio Jour. Science, Vol. 58, No. 2, pp. f.5-84.
HEWITT, D. F.1960: The limestone industries of
Ontario; Ontario Dept.Mines. Industrial MineralsCirc. No. 5.
KARROW, P. F.1959: Pleistocene geology of the
Hamilton map-area; OntarioDcpt. Mines, Geul. Circ.No. 8.
1961; Pleistocene geology of theGall map-area; Ontario Dept.Mines, Geol. Circ. No. 9.
SANFORD, B. V.1954a: Preliminary maps. Haldimand
County and parts nf Brant, Wentworth, and Lincoln counties. Ontario: Geol. Surv. Canada, Paper 53-30.
1954b: Preliminary maps, Norfolk County, Onlario; Geol. Surv. Canada, Paper 53-31.
1956- Welland County. Ontario; Geol. Surv. Canada, Paper 55-20.
SPENCER, J. W.1881: Discovery of the preglacial
outlet of the basin of Lake Erie into that of Lake Ontario; Canadian Naturalist (new series), Vol. 10, pp. 65-79,
WICK LUND, R. E. and RICHARDS. N. R. 1961; SoilsurveyofOxfordCounty;
Repi. No. 28 of the Ontario Soil Survey.
WILLIAMS. M. Y.1919: The Silurian geology and
faunas of Ontario peninsula, and Manitoulin and adjacent islands; Geol. SLJIV, Canada, Mem. Ml.
ONTARIO
DEPARTMENT OF MINES
HON. Ci. C. \\AKJJHOFE, Minister of Mines D. i' Douglass, Deputy Minister M. E. Hurst, Director, Geological Branch
tt* 15' 43 0 15'
43" 10'
f f f f/
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BRANTFOR
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TUSCA^OR^ ^V, .. l N D.rft
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Map 2035 BRANTFORD AREA Bedrock Topography
43=00 43" 00'
NORFOLK COUNTY BRANT COUNTY
Scale l inch lo 50 mi:es
SYMBOLS
Lifiit ol raft oule f op.
Fat other contention* s/ffns refer fo f '50,000 Nstlcnat Topographic Map Seftes.
SOURCES QF INFORMATION
Geology Oy f. F. Karrow ami ass/sfwfs, 1360.
Cartography by O. F Jupe, Ontario Department ol
Topof'aohf Ouectty from .-nspc 40PI (fast ana West sheet) of the National Topasraobic Se/ies,
ffi' additional inlQCrnati&n refer to tne following sources'
Aerial photography: Forests Resources Inventory, Ontario Deoarimcr.t of Lands Bid Forests; National Air Photo ubtair. Qmmhnent ol Mines ana TKh- ntcal Suws, Qtiaws.
finOitie* geology. PaJeOTO'; deologr of fie B'tntfcfd Area, Ontario, J. r. Caley; Geological Surrfy of Canada, ncmofr f IS, 1341.
Pt-:,5iograpny: The Phytingrspf!? oi Southern Ontario, L. J. Chaoman ana D, F, Putman, ISSf,
Magnetic decimation in the map area app/uxinmtvlrS1 W.. 1362.
Chain; 40
Feet 10,000
Map 2035 Bedrock Topography of the
BRANTFORD AREASouthern Ontario
Scale l: 63.360 or l Inch to l Mile
10.030
5 Mile
20.0K Feet
Mei-es 1000