A distinct feature of the surficial geology at the Kearl Mine site is the Kearl Channel present on the western part of the site. The Kearl Channel incises overburden and underlying geological formations to the Devonian age and is one of the regional buried channels in northern Alberta.
Dense drilling has allowed the opportunity to characterize another Quaternary Channel and it’s relationship to the Kearl Channel. The study indicates that while the Quaternary Channel trends in a similar direction and intersects the Kearl Channel, the Quaternary Chanel is narrower, shallower, only incising into the upper units of the middle McMurray, and is primarily filled with well-sorted fine to medium sands.
Photo of overburdened cores from sand channel
