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Regional Patterns

The regional distribution of kimberlite indicator minerals reveals variability in concentrations which strongly reflects the ice flow history and the principal zone of known kimberlites for the area. Samples with the highest concentrations of indicator minerals occur in the northern half of the Lac de Gras map area, either adjacent to or down ice from known clusters of kimberlite pipes. Abundant sites with low concentrations of indicator minerals were found in the Winter Lake map area; conversely, very few indicator minerals occur in the Aylmer Lake map area. Because of this distribution, what is considered a background or anomalous value of kimberlite indicator minerals varies throughout the region from map sheet to map sheet. Based on a sample density of one sample/165 km2, the following background and anomalous values should be considered approximate. The low numbers of indicator minerals in the Aylmer Lake map area suggests that background values are near zero and any indicator minerals found in this area should be considered anomalous. In the Winter Lake area, background values are relatively high with most samples containing several indicator minerals; therefore, only samples with 7-10 indicator minerals would be considered anomalous. The sample to the southwest of Winter Lake, containing almost 100 indicator minerals, is clearly anomalous. The southern portion of the Lac de Gras map area also contains few indicator minerals, but because of the ice flow history of the area, indicator minerals present could be from kimberlites to the west and northwest; therefore, samples containing >3 indicator minerals would be considered anomalous. Many of the samples in the northern portion of the Lac de Gras map area can be considered anomalous in the regional perspective but because the number of indicator minerals is highly variable over a small area, determining what is anomalous is difficult; it is likely that 15-20 indicator minerals are anomalous in this area. The highest concentration of indicator minerals represents the combined signature of the kimberlites to the north of Lac de Gras. However, concentrations of indicator minerals are quite variable over relatively small distances. This variability is likely caused by the small size of kimberlites and the resulting restricted width of their dispersal trains.

The regional distribution of the indicator minerals also reflects the glacial history of the area. The abundance of samples with low concentrations of indicator minerals in the Winter Lake map area can be explained mainly by glacial dispersal from the Lac de Gras cluster; earlier phases of southwestward and westward flow could have caused this diffuse pattern. This would imply that many of the indicator minerals in this area could have undergone >150 km of glacial transport.