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Landscape analysis, mapping, sedimentology, shallow geophysics, and borehole data are integrated to better understand the complex landform-sediment geometries and event sequences of the Oak Ridges Moraine, southern Ontario. A model for the origin of the Oak Ridges Moraine is based on the recognition that the moraine is built on a high-relief, erosional surface (unconformity) consisting of drumlin uplands and a network of deep, steep-walled, interconnected valleys (tunnel channels). The development of the moraine is thought to have occurred in four stages: I, subglacial sedimentation; II, subaqueous fan sedimentation; III, fan to delta sedimentation; IV, ice-marginal sedimentation. The model traces the transition from subglacial to proglacial conditions during moraine formation and examines the order and timing of sedimentation. It is thought that the early stages of moraine construction are better exposed in the east; in the west, these stages are buried by later stages.

The Geological Survey of Canada (GSC) Aurora cored borehole intersects the Yonge Street aquifer (YSA), an important groundwater source in Ontario. The borehole, sited along a 7 km long seismic profile, was drilled in order to provide data to improve sustainable use and management of groundwater in Aurora well fields and the regional aquifer system. Results provide high-quality hydrostratigraphic reference data, geological context, and a prospecting model for this significant buried-valley aquifer. The improved conceptual hydrogeological model offers a plan to effectively stress and assess the YSA system. A 130 m sedimentary succession unconformably overlies subhorizontal Whitby shale and a low-relief bedrock surface with no defined valleys. Gas seeping from the shale is trapped in Thorncliffe Formation, a regional aquifer below confining aquitards. The regional aquifer occurs below ~209 m a.s.l. and is a 80 m thick, fining-upward, sand and gravel sequence. It appears to represent a portion of a northeast-southwest-oriented channel, esker, and subaqueous fan system that fed Thorncliffe Formation aquifer sediments to the south. The newly identified aquifer system occurs above a regional unconformity within the succession. A 25 m thick Newmarket Till and silt-clay rhythmite sequence confines this aquifer. This aquitard drapes into Aurora basin, a possible pre-existing sediment valley. High clay content in aquitard rhythmites may allow conductivity logs to map it as a marker horizon. The overlying Oak Ridges Moraine (ORM) aquifer occurs as a 30 m thick gravel-sand-mud sequence above a second regional unconformity within the succession. This channel fill sequence is thinner than nearby 100 m thick ORM channel sediments.

RÉSUMÉOn fait ici la description de grandes structures sédimentaires du lit, soit des dunes graveleuses, que l'on trouve dans un site situé entre les drumiins du champ de drumiins de Trenton. Ces formes asymétriques et regroupées, qui font jusqu'à 10 m de haut, renferment d'importantes stratifications entrecroisées. Les dunes graveleuses occupent des conduits sous-glaciaires et sont souvent associées aux eskers. La structure interne des dunes laisse voir des surfaces de réactivation comme celles qui ont été décrites pour les structures sédimentaires en milieux éolien, marin et fluviatile. Les lits frontaux distincts et granoclassés sont caractérisés par une diminution verticale de la taille des matériaux grossiers, accompagnée soit d'une augmentation de la taille des particules de la matrice, soit d'une diminution du volume matriciel. Ces relations s'expliquent par le tri longitudinal de la charge de fond et le dépôt des particules en suspension dans la zone de division du courant formée du côté abrité de la dune. Les sédiments plus fins, surtout du sable, se trouvent en aval des dunes. Des matériaux provenant de la charge de fond et du transport des particules en suspension sont accumulés dans les lits en avant des dunes et ce, en fonction de la position par rapport à l'emplacement du point de raccordement du vortex de séparation. On croit que les dunes ont été formées dans des conduits sous-glaciaires sous des courants d'une profondeur de plusieurs dizaines de mètres.

Hydrogeological models need to be supported by a clear understanding of the subsurface geology to provide effective assessment, flow modelling, or management of groundwater regimes. This paper illustrates how geophysical and sedimentological data can be used to significantly improve watershed-scale hydrostratigraphic models by advancing our understanding of the subsurface through regional hydrogeological investigations in the Greater Toronto Area. The example of a 3 km shallow seismic reflection survey that traverses a buried channel within Bowmanville Creek watershed, Oak Ridges Moraine, Ontario, illustrates a basis for linking geophysical and sedimentological properties to regional hydrostratigraphic parameters. Seismic reflection methods plus seismic stratigraphy and a well-constrained three-dimensional geological framework have helped to (i) identify regional hydrostratigraphic units, (ii) define properties and trends of these units–facies, (iii) improve depositional models that assist hydrogeological analysis, and (iv) establish a hydrostratigraphic framework within a watershed. The extent, proportions, boundaries, and variation in internal properties of major hydrostratigraphic units could be identified to greater than 100 m depth. Geostatistical analysis of seismic amplitudes was used to provide a quantitative measure of heterogeneity in a glaciofluvial aquifer with inadequate parameter support. Benefits to engineering practice include improved siting of monitors and tests from portrayal of the spatial organization, geometry, and variability of hydrostratigraphic units based on sedimentary architecture and environments of deposition. Hydrogeological modelling can be improved with better knowledge of the geometry of aquifers and aquitards and grid-cell boundaries that correspond with the defined sediment boundaries that control properties.Key words: Oak Ridges Moraine, hydrogeology, seismic stratigraphy, southern Ontario, sedimentology.