54

been already mentioned that this is a mode of occurrence to be
expected because of the situation of the Queen Charlotte islands
on the flanks of the batholith.

QUEEN CHARLOTTE SERIES.

The Queen Charlotte series comprises the detrital sediments
of Cretaceous age on the Queen Charlotte islands. This series
has been divided by Clapp on lithologic grounds, into three
formations, the Haida, the Honna, and the Skidegate. He
also included a basal conglomerate as a fourth member, but
more detailed work has shown that these basal beds belong to
the Yakoun formation.

The three members will be first described separately, and
then the structure and correlation of the Queen Charlotte series
as a unit will be taken up.

HAIDA FORMATION.

Distribution.

The Haida formation is typically exposed in many localities
about Skidegate inlet, and the devious channels of this water-
way afford several sections of these rocks. Areally it is the most
extensive member of the Queen Charlotte series. A band 2 or
3 miles wide extends northwestward from Bearskin bay up the
Honna valley, and, in the vicinity of Camp Robertson, expands
westward nearly to Yakoun lake. This expansion is caused by
low, undulating folds. Basal beds of the formation are exposed at
Yakoun lake, and in several small, separate basins in the Yakoun
valley. A small area also occurs on the Tlell river, between
Camp Robertson and Camp Wilson. Other areas doubtless
occur throughout the Queen Charlotte range, as Haida fossils
have been found in stream drift from these mountains.

The Haida formation forms the only representative of the
Queen Charlotte series in the so-called Yakoun basin, which
contains the coal seam of Camp Wilson.

1Clapp, C. H., Geol. Surv., Can., Sum. Rept., 1912, p. 18.