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ÿGeological Survey of Canada
Natural Resources Canada > Earth Sciences Sector > Geological Survey of Canada
Geological Survey of Canada
At work

Geologists, geophysicists and geochemists of the Geological Survey of Canada carry out their research all across Canada, in the field and in laboratories, on land and sea, in a wide variety of locations, climate, weather, and terrain. Sometimes the hours are long, work is difficult and conditions are less than ideal, but it's also fun, challenging, rewarding and always interesting.

This collection of images of the GSC at work is a subset of the collection of images on display at Discover Canada's Geoscience Heritage.

Note that all of these images are subject to Crown copyright guidelines.

'Pinch & Swell' structures in a pegmatite dyke within a Mylonite zone, Chesterfield Inlet, Northwest Territories. Tourists panning for gold, Bonanza Creek, Yukon. Orienting a paleomagnetic sample in Pleistocene deposits near Merritt British Columbia. Mr. Ivan Frydecky standing watch during seismic survey aboard CSS Vector. Summer student Mark Montgomery assisting on helicopter gravity survey, Northern British Columbia. Taking a close look, Great Bear Magmatic Zone, N.W.T. A bed of stone - Fly camp on gneiss dome in Piling Group, central Baffin Island. Checking samples, north-central Baffin Island. Reading gravity meter at base camp in Committee Bay. Spectrometer reading on porphyritic dacite dyke in rhyolite terrain of Mazenod Lake, southern Great Bear magmatic zone, N.W.T.; instant results on amount of U, Th & K in the rock; Exploranium spectrometer GR-256, latest in technology with built-in memory for easy field operation. On traverse, northern Bowser Basin (Skeena Range, northern B.C.). Fly camp dinner, northern Bowser Basin (Skeena Ranges, northern British Columbia). Clearing after the storm; fly camp, Melville Peninsula, N.W.T. Fly camp pick-up, Devon Island, Northwest Territories. Sun compass reading to orient precisely the drill core sample collected for paleomagnetic study of a Mackenzie diabase dyke (one at ca 1270Ma old swarm); northeast of the 'Gap', north shore of Pethei Peninsula, east arm of Great Slave Lake, N.W.T.  NOTE: Richard Ernst (U of Ottawa) on GSC supported project. 'Workhorse of the North,' the old 'Single Otter,' still servicing all of Yellowknife, with legendary old pilot Jimmy McEvoy. At Mar deposit near Mazenod Lake, Northwest Territories. Logan tent at Olga Lake, Northwest Territories. Sampling ice core from a permanent snow bank, Melville Island, Northwest Territories. Was that granite or garnet? Breakfast on the rocks. Watch your step, Bob. Taking a gravity measurement at the summit of Mt. Wapiti Eastern B.C. (in the photo David Seeman, PGC) Maurice Lamontagne checks the operation of a seismograph installed in the Nahanni region. Maurice Lamontagne from seismology section at the center of earthquake measurement instruments. Dennis Monsees, of the Yellowknife seismographic laboratory, installs an accelerograph near the epicentre of the Nahanni earthquake. Camp move; hooking-up a sling-load of field equipment. Striking camp on Cabbage Island one of the Gulf Islands in southwest British Columbia. Kayaks have proved ideal field vehicles for detailed examination of the cliff geology of these islands, part of the upper Cretaceous-Tertiary Georgia Basin. GSC student, Lina Letiecq, walking back to camp along east shore of Axel Heiberg Island. GSC student, Patti Harris, pausing in front of glacier on her way back to camp, southwestern Ellesmere Island. Maurice Lamontagne (on the left) and Steve Lapointe (on the right) of the Earthquake Hazards section, install a digital seismograph in preparation for a test in a quarry. Subglacial 'Pingo' above a whirl pool, Devon Island. Flash and natural light, 30 second exposure on 400 ASA print film. Student examining sandstone in northern Bowser Basin, B.C. The big leap, Hadley Bay, Victoria Island, N.W.T. Near Wynniatt Bay, Victoria Island, N.W.T. Worship the fossil forest, Strathcona Fiord, Ellesmere Island, John Fyles and Ken Babcock. Grounded, Northwest Territories. Low tech sampling for high tech geochronology. Dave Lentz collecting geochronological sample, southwest Great Bear magmatic zone, Northwest Territories. Meeting up with industry colleagues on a prospect, Norris Lake, Northwest Territories. Quitt'n Time, Clisbako River, central B.C. Early morning calm, Queen Charlotte Island, B.C. Geologist overlooking Greely Fiord, Central Ellesmere Island. End of the Season, Ross River, Yukon. The end of the day, Selwyn Lake fly-camp, N.W.T. Logging delta sediments, Pitt Island, Mackenzie Delta, Northwest Territories. Rainbow reward on a rainy day return, bode Lake camp, N.W.T. Geologist on the Cobalt conglomerate, Highway 11, Kenogami Lake, Ontario. Move necessitated by polar bear, Wager Bay. Smoke on horizon across lake sparks action at forestry camp, Forbes Lake Forestry Camp, N.W.T. Looking for new clues from the old drill core (Sunil Gandhi and Edward Williah, native of Rae-Edzo, N.W.T.) Bode Lake prospect, N.W.T. Coming home in the fog, Laughland Lake. GSC geochronology laboratory. Testing for Radon. Radon is a naturally occurring substance, derived ultimately from the underlying bedrock. The study of Canada's hydrocarbon resources constitutes a major component of the Survey's work. The Bowser Basin, shown here, is the largest discrete sedimentary basin in British Columbia; it was discovered by the Survey in 1956. GSC is still using time-honoured methods of geochemical prospecting. Sampling a thermal sulphur spring near Kraus Hotspring, east of First Canyon on south Nahanni River, N.W.T. Sampling a thermal sulphur spring near Kraus Hotspring, east of First Canyon on South Nahanni River, N.W.T. Skyvan, July 1971. GSC Queen Air aircraft used for magnetometer development from 1968 to 1986, showing 3-axis configuration. Maurice Haycock, 1900-1988, at Beechey Island, 1975. Richard Baldwin of Earthquakes Canada monitors operation of the Western Canada digital Telemetered seismic Network at the western data centre located in Sidney, BC. Measuring angle of contact, Devco Transport and handling, Glace Bay, Nova Scotia. GIS Chemical technologist in one of the geochronology laboratories using micro ion-exchange column chemistry to purify uranium and lead prior to isotopic mass analysis. One of the major projects supported by PCSP in the 1990 field season was the test by the Canadian Hydrographic Service of an airborne Through-Ice Bathymetry System (TIBS). This new technology is successfully overcoming difficulties of measuring depths in ice-covered waters. Canadian scientists continued to take advantage of the unique research opportunities available at PCSP's Ice Island Research Station adrift in the Arctic Ocean. Dense billowing plumes of mineral-laden water gush from hydrothermal vents along the Juan de Fuca Ridge. As this 'solution' hits the near-freezing seawater, the minerals precipitate forming chimney structures known as the 'black smoker' shown here. Knowledge gained by studying the formation of underwater metal deposits has helped the search for mineral deposits on land. GSC at Work. Computers are revolutionizing geological fieldwork, even in the most remote locations. Canoe travel on Atlin Lake, June 1951, the east lift looking south from south end of Atlin Lake. Helicopter hovering prior to landing at Ennadai Lake radio station. Frozen lake in lower left foreground. Basket rope (diamond hitch rope) a set of hobbles attached to halter. Packer Leland Bradford, Kimberly B.C.; Erik Ostensoe, student, Lillooet B.C., at head. Far side: H.Wilkinson, student, Calgary.
Devonian carbonate and slate of Kaskawulsh Group in Kluane Ranges, St. Elias Mountains, Yukon Territory, 1954. R.O.V. (Remote Operated Vehicle) recovery after successful sand wave observations. Launching 'Nobel' (deep ocean seismic source) from stern of 'CSS Tully'. London Ridge Slogan District British Columbia - The Shows of June (1989). Deciphering a red bed sequence, Ellesmere Island, N.W.T. Testing seismographic field equipment: seismograph (blue box), seismometer (metal cylinder) and portable computer. Maurice Lamontagne, Janet Drysdale. Testing equipment. Collecting oriented drill core sample from the margin of a diabase dyke of the Mackenzie swarm (ca 1270 Ma old) for paleomagnetic study. East of the 'Gap', north shore of Pethei Peninsula, east arm of Great Slave Lake, N.W.T. NOTE: Sun compass, drill hole collar etched prior to drilling to precisely orient the drill core sample. Etching a grid on rock surface at selected site for drilling for oriented sample from margin of a diabase dyke of Mackenzie (ca 1270 Ma old) for paleomagnetic study; north east of the 'Gap', north shore of Pethei Peninsula, east arm of Great Slave Lake, N.W.T. Philip Munro, of Seismology Technical Operations, installing an accelerograph after the 1988 Saguenay earthquake. GSC field camp, Fosheim Penn., Ellesmere Island, N.W.T. Entering the ice cave. Natural light, Sverdrup Glacier, Devon Island. GSC student, Patti Harris, heading towards a Permian outcrop, southwestern Ellesmere Island. GSC students heading back to Blind Fiord base camp late at night, southwestern Ellesmere Island. Steve Lapointe (on the left) and Maurice Lamontagne install a PRS-4 digital seismograph for a test in a quarry. Mapping Mitchell Glacier area, northwestern British Columbia (J.R. Henderson, August 1991) Ridge traverse, Yukon. Coast mountains viewpoint, northwestern B.C. Peat sampling, Mountain River, N.W.T. Repairs (S.M. Roscoe), Kasba Lake, N.W.T. The gravel fluviraptor, Zinc Lake, Newfoundland. Starting a ground penetrating radar survey across the parking lot at the Hope Slide, S.W. British Columbia. GSC laboratories: filtering of samples, one of the many steps required in the multi-acid dissolution of rock samples. GSC field party at work. GSC student Jonathan Devaney looking at trace fossils in Lower Permian Sabine Bay formation, Hamilton Peninsula, Ellesmere Island. Lab work Measuring core samples, Devco Transport and Handling. (Glace Bay, Nova Scotia). Maps are a major product of the Survey and their production is greatly assisted by the latest in computer innovation, both in the collection of data in the field and in the GSC's cartographic units. The Survey also maintains a map library (601 Booth Street in Ottawa) which is open to the public. With over 230,000 geoscience maps, it is one of the country's finest map collections. Filtering of samples. One of many steps required in the multi-acid dissolution of rock samples (GSC, Ottawa, Ontario). Dr. Bruce E. Taylor (Research Scientist, Isotope Geologist) extracts water from a mineral sample for hydrogen isotope analysis. The procedure requires about 35 minutes. The isotopic analysis will provide information on the origin of the mineral. (GSC, Ottawa, Ontario). GSC at Work. Field testing airborne gravity survey system. Peary Cairn of 1906 on cape west of Cape Bourne, northern Ellesmere Island. Geoff Hattersley-Smith opening bottle left in cairn by Peary. May '54.

2006-07-06Important notices