THE STRUCTURAL GEOLOGY OF THE BOULE AND BOSCHE RANGES IN THE CANADIAN ROCKY MOUNTAINS

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Abstract
The paper records the results of geological mapping over the Boule and Bosehe Ranges which form a part of the Front Ranges and adjacent foothills of the Rocky Mountains of Canada in an area near the Athabaska River Valley. The structure of the area comprises a series of individual thrust-blocks, each successively overlying the contiguous block from south-west to north-east. Each block has been subjected to intense folding and faulting. Folding is moderately disharmonic at the surface, with the sedimentary column displaying three competent groups separated by incompetent formations with strong tendencies towards plastic deformation. Near the base of the column is a thick section of chloritic shales of Lower Cambrian age, whose importance is stressed as a potential lubricating medium for the main thrust movements. The possibility of the existence of a plane of décollement in this lubricating medium is discussed, with the attendant suggestion that the Front Ranges may have been pushed north-eastwards over a largely unbroken Lower Cambrian and Pre-Cambrian basement.

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