The Queenston Formation: shale-dominated, mixed terrigenous-carbonate deposits of Upper Ordovician, semiarid, muddy shores in Ontario, Canada

Brogly, P J; Martini, I P; Middleton, Gerard V.

doi:10.1139/e98-021

Cited by 24 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 8 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…9 The failure envelopes for: a the NTP-DISL and UBJT DY models, b the DGR-DISL and UBJT DY models, c the NTP-the laminated (LAM) models, and d the lamination Mohr-Coulomb envelopes Underground Excavation Behaviour of the Queenston Formation this case the intact modulus), E beam , a non-laminated rock mass modulus, E rm , can be equated using Eq. 3, as shown below (Brady and Brown 2006).…”

Section: Failure Criteriamentioning

confidence: 91%

Underground Excavation Behaviour of the Queenston Formation: Tunnel Back Analysis for Application to Shaft Damage Dimension Prediction

2014

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The Niagara Tunnel Project (NTP) is a 10.1 km long water-diversion tunnel in Niagara Falls, Ontario, which was excavated by a 7.2 m radius tunnel boring machine. Approximately half the tunnel length was excavated through the Queenston Formation, which locally is a shale to mudstone. Typical overbreak depths ranged between 2 and 4 m with a maximum of 6 m observed. Three modelling approaches were used to back analyse the brittle failure process at the NTP: damage initiation and spalling limit, laminated anisotropy modelling, and ubiquitous joint approaches. Analyses were conducted for three tunnel chainages: 3 ? 000, 3 ? 250, and 3 ? 500 m because the overbreak depth increased from 2 to 4 m. All approaches produced similar geometries to those measured. The laminated anisotropy modelling approach was able to produced chord closures closest to those measured, using a joint normal to shear stiffness ratio between 1 and 2. This understanding was applied to a shaft excavation model in the Queenston Formation at the proposed Deep Geological Repository (DGR) site for low and intermediate level nuclear waste storage in Canada. The maximum damage depth was 1.9 m; with an average of 1.0 m. Important differences are discussed between the tunnel and shaft orientation with respect to bedding. The models show that the observed normalized depth of failure at the NTP would over-predict the depth of damage expected in the Queenston Formation at the DGR.

show abstract

Section: Failure Criteriamentioning

confidence: 91%

Underground Excavation Behaviour of the Queenston Formation: Tunnel Back Analysis for Application to Shaft Damage Dimension Prediction

2014

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The Trafalgar Moraine is 27 km long and 4 km wide with a distinct ramp-like form where its crest lies close to its upglacier margin. The upglacier margin of the moraine slopes gently towards Lake Ontario, passing into narrow flutes that rest on exposed red-coloured shale bedrock (Queenston Shale; Johnson et al 1992;Ministry of Northern Development and Mines 1992;Brogly et al 1998; Fig. 2A).…”

Section: Physical Setting and Glacial History Of Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

End moraine construction by incremental till deposition below the Laurentide Ice Sheet: Southern Ontario, Canada

Eyles

Menzies

et al. 2010

Boreas

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Eyles, N., Eyles, C., Menzies, J. & Boyce, J. 2010: End moraine construction by incremental till deposition below the Laurentide Ice Sheet: Southern Ontario, Canada. Boreas, 10.1111/j.1502‐3885.2010.00171.x. ISSN 0300‐9483. Just after 13 300 14C a BP in central Canada, the retreating Ontario lobe of the Laurentide Ice Sheet briefly re‐advanced westwards through the Lake Ontario basin to build a large end moraine. The Trafalgar Moraine (27 km long, 4 km wide) is composed of a distinctly red‐coloured silt‐rich till (Wildfield Till, up to 16.5 m thick) formed by the reworking of proglacial lake deposits and soft shale bedrock. The moraine has a pronounced ramp‐like longitudinal form passing upglacier into fluted till resting on exposed shale. Analysis of water well stratigraphic data, drilled sediment cores, downhole gamma‐ray logs and exposures in deep test pits shows that within the moraine the Wildfield Till is built of superposed beds up to 7 m in thickness. These are inferred to result from the repeated incremental deposition of fine‐grained debris being moved towards the ice margin as a deforming bed such as identified at modern glaciers. A total till volume of 0.81 km3 was produced in a very brief time‐span along a transport path probably no greater than 10 km in length. Subglacial mixing of pre‐existing sediment and soft shale was clearly a very effective process for generating and moving large volumes of till to the ice margin. Similar till‐dominated end moraines occur widely around the margins of the Great Lake basins, where the markedly lobate margin of the retreating Laurentide Ice Sheet re‐advanced repeatedly into proglacial lakes and over fine‐grained sediment. This suggests the wider applicability of the till transport and incremental depositional model presented here.

show abstract

“…Another potential geological source in the aquifer is sulfate derived from the Queenston Formation, which outcrops in the Nottawasaga River Watershed to the west of the study area (R. Mulligan, personal communication, 2019). The Queenston Formation is a shallow coastal deposit from the upper Ordovician consisting primarily of red silty shales, with gypsum locally present (Brogly et al 1998).…”

Section: Dissolution Of Sulfate Mineralsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Isotopic Characterization of Sulfate in a Shallow Aquifer Impacted by Agricultural Fertilizer

et al. 2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The stable isotope ratios of groundwater sulfate ( 34 S/ 32 S, 18 O/ 16 O) are often used as tracers to help determine the origin of groundwater or groundwater contaminants. In agricultural watersheds, little is known about how the increased use of sulfur as a soil amendment to optimize crop production is affecting the isotopic composition of groundwater sulfate, especially in shallow aquifers. We investigated the isotopic composition of synthetic agricultural fertilizers and groundwater sulfate in an area of intensive agricultural activity, in Ontario, Canada. Groundwater samples from an unconfined surficial sand aquifer (Lake Algonquin Sand Aquifer) were analyzed from multi-level monitoring wells, riverbank seeps, and private domestic wells. Fertilizers used in the area were analyzed for sulfur/sulfate content and stable isotopic composition (δ 18 O and/or δ 34 S). Fertilizers were isotopically distinct from geological sources of groundwater sulfate in the watershed and groundwater sulfate exhibited a wide range of δ 34 S (−6.9 to +20.0‰) and δ 18 O (−5.0 to +13.7‰) values. Quantitative apportionment of sulfate sources based on stable isotope data alone was not possible, largely because two of the potential fertilizer sulfate sources had an isotopic composition on the mixing line between two natural geological sources of sulfate in the aquifer. This study demonstrates that, when sulfate isotope analysis is being used as a tracer or co-tracer of the origin of groundwater or of contaminants in groundwater, sulfate derived from synthetic fertilizer needs to be considered as a potential source, especially when other parameters such as nitrate independently indicate fertilizer impacts to groundwater quality.

show abstract

The Queenston Formation: shale-dominated, mixed terrigenous-carbonate deposits of Upper Ordovician, semiarid, muddy shores in Ontario, Canada

Cited by 24 publications

References 8 publications

Underground Excavation Behaviour of the Queenston Formation: Tunnel Back Analysis for Application to Shaft Damage Dimension Prediction

Underground Excavation Behaviour of the Queenston Formation: Tunnel Back Analysis for Application to Shaft Damage Dimension Prediction

End moraine construction by incremental till deposition below the Laurentide Ice Sheet: Southern Ontario, Canada

Isotopic Characterization of Sulfate in a Shallow Aquifer Impacted by Agricultural Fertilizer

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About