Landscape analysis, mapping, sedimentology, shallow geophysics, and borehole data are integrated to better understand the complex landform-sediment geometries and event sequences of the Oak Ridges Moraine, southern Ontario. A model for the origin of the Oak Ridges Moraine is based on the recognition that the moraine is built on a high-relief, erosional surface (unconformity) consisting of drumlin uplands and a network of deep, steep-walled, interconnected valleys (tunnel channels). The development of the moraine is thought to have occurred in four stages: I, subglacial sedimentation; II, subaqueous fan sedimentation; III, fan to delta sedimentation; IV, ice-marginal sedimentation. The model traces the transition from subglacial to proglacial conditions during moraine formation and examines the order and timing of sedimentation. It is thought that the early stages of moraine construction are better exposed in the east; in the west, these stages are buried by later stages.
A basin analysis approach is used to help understand a complex aquifer system in the Oak Ridges Moraine and Greater Toronto areas, southern Ontario, Canada. The aquifer complex consists of a sequence of discontinuous strata that have a prominent regional
unconformity. To help visualize this architecture, a stratigraphic database has been developed and used to construct a 3-D stratigraphic model, through selective integration of disparate data. To accurately interpret borehole logs, geological context was supplied by using expert knowledge
constrained with a conceptual stratigraphic framework. Utilizing a digital stratigraphic training framework derived from manually coded, high-quality data, an expert system automatically interpreted and coded a large number of low-quality water well records. The expert system was designed to emulate
the manual borehole interpretation process by applying knowledge-based geological rules,
within the constraints of the digital training framework. Issues of poorly constrained interpolation due to sparse data are addressed by the integration of additional spatial rules defined by thematic map coverages within the expert system. As quantitative hydrogeological modelling moves to more
regional scales, geological knowledge input becomes increasingly more valuable. The availability of seamless geological mapping improves 3-D modelling and helps to limit the effect of deficiencies in data coverage and data quality, often encountered in regional hydrogeological
studies.
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