187 Report of Activities 2014 Summary This report presents a summary of activities related to four weeks of fieldwork undertaken in the Gillam area of northeastern Manitoba, in the summer of 2014. This is the second of a multiyear collaboration between the Manitoba Geological Survey, the Geological Survey of Canada and the University of Waterloo. Field sites were accessed by truck, boat and a helicopter with floats. Quaternary geol- ogy investigations included site characterization (sedi- mentology, geomorphology, type and thickness of glacial sediments), collection of representative till samples for compositional analysis of provenance, and till fabric analyses. Where possible, mainly within NTS 54D6, ice- flow indicators were collected to augment the current understanding of the regional ice-flow history. Geologi- cal observations, sampling of till, and/or measurements of ice-flow indicators were recorded at 270 stations within a 7380 km 2 area. Thirty-two stratigraphic sections were documented along the Nelson, Limestone, Kettle, Angling and Weir rivers, and at Stephens and Gull lakes. Road accessible field sites were mainly documented in 2013. Introduction In July and August 2014, Quaternary geology stud- ies were conducted in northeastern Manitoba by use of a truck, a boat on Stephens Lake, and a Bell 206 helicop- ter with floats. The work focussed primarily on 1:50 000 scale mapping of NTS 54D6, 7 and 8 (Figure GS-17- 1). Additionally, sites outside of that area were visited because they answered specific questions or they were made accessible by new roads. This report presents a summary of fieldwork activities, which included mapping of surficial materials, ice-flow indicators and stratigraphic sections, till fabric analyses, collection of shell material for radiocarbon dating, and regional till sampling surveys. Surficial geology in the Gillam area was mapped from 1971 to 1974 at a 1:250 000 scale by Klassen and Netter- ville (1980). Though released as a Geological Survey of Canada “A” series colour map, this map is considered to be reconnaissance-scale because the region was subjected only to limited ground-truthing. Stratigraphy along the Nelson River, prior to building of the Long Spruce and Limestone generating stations, was investigated in greater detail and was the subject of two M.Sc. theses and a field trip guidebook (Klassen, 1972; Klassen and Netterville, 1973; Nielsen and Dredge, 1982; Dredge and Nielsen, 1985; Klas- sen, 1986; Nielsen et al., 1986; Roy, 1998). This work builds on a reconnaissance field study undertaken in 2013 (Trommelen, 2013a) and sup- ports the M.Sc. project of the second author. Physiography The study area is located in the northeastern part of Manitoba. Elevation varies from 21 to 291 m asl with local relief reaching up to 40 m (Figure GS-17-1). The Nelson River, with Gull and Stephens lakes as widened expanses, is the major northeast-flowing drain- age channel that eventually drains into Hudson Bay. The study area is dominated by poorly to moderately drained topography. Stunted spruce bogs and spruce-tamarack/ Labrador tea forests drape most of the region. Moderately drained areas, where sediment is at or near surface, may contain aspen, poplar, willow and alder, in addition to spruce. Well to very well drained areas, where sediments are at surface, are vegetated by jack pine. Surface perma- frost is common beneath a cover of more than 0.2 m of organic deposits. Bedrock is deeply buried throughout most of the road-accessible area, with the exception of limestone out- crops at the Limestone hydroelectric dam and two inac- cessible gneissic islands just north of the Long Spruce hydroelectric dam. Bedrock can be found along the high- way at, and west of, the northwesternmost tip of Stephens Lake, where ditch excavations have removed the overly- ing glaciolacustrine clays. Regionally, low-lying bedrock outcrops within NTS 54D6 were visible from air due to the massive 2013 forest fire. Methods Fieldwork was undertaken during a four-week period in the summer of 2014, to follow up on reconnaissance road-accessible fieldwork completed in 2013. Road work permitted the collection of till fabric data at six strati- graphic sections. Boat work was completed along the shores and islands of Stephens Lake. Float-equipped, helicopter work was based out of Landing Lake at Gil- lam and completed in the surrounding (<45 km) region. The thick vegetation cover made access difficult, and 1 Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1 Preliminary Quaternary geology in the Gillam area, northeastern Manitoba (parts of NTS 54D5–11, 54C12) – Year Two by M.S. Trommelen, Y. Wang 1 and M. Ross 1 GS-17 Trommelen, M.S., Wang, Y. and Ross, M. 2014: Preliminary Quaternary geology in the Gillam area, northeastern Mani- toba (parts of NTS 54D5–11, 54C12) – Year Two; in Report of Activities 2014, Manitoba Mineral Resources, Manitoba Geological Survey, p. 187–195.