NWT RESEARCH DATABASE

Principal Investigator: Pratt, Brian R.
Licensed Year(s): 2019
Summary: Sedimentary rocks of Cambrian age (~500 million years old) are the oldest Phanerozoic strata in the Mackenzie River valley region and record the spread of a shallow sea over much older strata. The approximate age of these rocks is known via trilobite fossils based on reconnaissance collections made in the 1960s and 2010s. The purpose of the project is to make more closely spaced fossil collections...

Principal Investigator: Wilson, Mark V.H.
Licensed Year(s): 2013 1998 1996 1990
Summary: The 2 objectives of this research project are: 1) to recover some of the oldest-known body fossils of sharks and their relatives as well as other associated fossils. The anatomy of the fossil species will be described in detail and published in international journals. These fossils will allow identification of fragments of related species found at other sites worldwide, and will allow the researc...

Principal Investigator: Pratt, Brian R.
Licensed Year(s): 2012 2002 2000 1998
Summary: The principal investigator has been working off and on for many years on the stratigraphy and paleontology of Cambrian strata of the Mackenzie Mountains. This is a critical region of North America because the record of sedimentation on the flank of the continent as it was over half a billion years ago is particularly extensive with little interruption. At the section of interest the lower part of ...

Principal Investigator: Vavrek, Matthew J
Licensed Year(s): 2012
Summary: The research team will be prospecting for and collecting Cretaceous fossils from the Summit Creek Formation in order to better understand what terrestrial biodiversity was like at high latitudes at that time. This project is a continuation of the collaborative research program on ancient biodiversity in the Canadian Arctic. Recently, the research team completed work supported by Polar Continental ...

Principal Investigator: Osinski, Gordon
Licensed Year(s): 2015 2012
Summary: The objectives of this research are to: (1) Confirm of a meteorite impact origin for the Collinson Inlet structure. In order to confirm the meteorite impact origin of this structure, unequivocal shock metamorphic criteria need to be documented. Shatter cones are the only diagnostic shock effect visible to the naked eye (French and Koeberl 2010). The research team will seek out the potential s...

Principal Investigator: England, John H
Licensed Year(s): 2012 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002
Summary: The research team proposes to revisit Duck Hawk Bluffs (DHB), southwest Banks Island, the “type section” for the formerly reported subsurface record. DHB offers an exceptional exposure along the north shore of Thesiger Bay, measuring 8 km long and up to 60 m high. Previous work assumed that the bluffs were composed of an undeformed “layer-cake” stratigraphy recording discrete depositional events ...

Principal Investigator: Butterfield, Nicholas J
Licensed Year(s): 2010
Summary: The primary objective of this study is to document the sequence of trilobite occurrences in the Mount Cap Formation, and to apply this to the developing international scheme for correlating Cambrian rocks. The importance of the Mount Cap fossils lies in the identification of a key trilobite species that has not previously been reported from North America. The research plan is to collect fossils ...

Principal Investigator: Schneider, Christie L
Licensed Year(s): 2009
Summary: This year, the research purpose is to investigate potential geological localities for work next year, so direct involvement with local communities and guides will be minimal. The researcher intends to identify and talk with people who have outfitting and guide businesses, and those who have knowledge of potential research areas for next summer’s research. The objectives of the proposed researc...

Principal Investigator: Pope, Michael
Licensed Year(s): 2003 2002 2001
Summary: The Early Cambrian is an important time in Earth history for it records the widespread radiation of animals during significant climatic, sea level, and tectonic changes. This project will be a stratigraphic, geochemical, and paleontological study of high...

Principal Investigator: MacNaughton, Robert B.
Licensed Year(s): 1998 1997
Summary: Members of a field party will be transported to base camp by helicopter. Base-camp moves will also be done by helicopter. All ground work will be done on foot. Data collection involves photography of rock outcrops, measurement of stratigraphic sections using a Jacob's staff (measuring pole), and the following of key stratigraphic surfaces. Collection of rock samples is either from free-lying fl...