30
PLEISTOCENE AND RECENT

Boulder clay is present in a few places in upland country, notably
near the head of Goat creek, Alice Arm district; and in valleys, as along
Bitter creek and upper Bear river. Much of the lower part of Cascade
Creek valley, Salmon River district, is covered with boulder clay. Recent
moraines built by the present glaciers exist along their sides and lower
ends. Boulders or erratics occur throughout the area up to 6,000 feet
above sea-level. Glacial strie are present in many places and parallel the
main valleys.

Stratified blue clays occur in Kitsault, Dak, Illiance, Bear, Salmon,
and Marmot Rivers valleys. They lie at elevations of from 400 to 550
feet above sea-level. McConnell has described the clays of Bear river
and by finding marine shells proved their recent age. He estimates the
clays to be 155 feet thick. Clays and silts also occur on the flat on which
the town of Anyox has been built, and around Carney lake at elevations
of about 100 feet above sea-level. Bancroft collected marine shells from
the clays at Anyox 120 feet above sea-level. He supplies the following
list: Neptuna despecta, Natica clausa, Bela turricula, Acmaea caeca,
Acmaea testudinalis, fissurella, Cardium islandicum. Pecten aslandicus, Mya
truncata, Leda permula, Marcra ovalis, Terebratella transversa, and frag-
ments of serpula and a large barnacle.

Varved clays occur on Tide Lake flat at the northern end of the area.
The clays cover an area of 3 or more square miles and are estimated to be
about 150 feet thick at the thickest place. The clays were formed from
very fine material carried into a lake by glacial streams. The top clay
layer was formed about the year 1929 and it is roughly estimated that the
lowest layer is 2,000 to 3,000 years old. The clays have been described by
the writer.1

Small flood-plains of Recent gravels exist along the three main valleys
of Alice Arm district. Gravel deltas exist at the mouths of the smaller
streams. The flat at Alice Arm, about 2 square miles in area, has been
built up of silt carried by Kitsault, Dak, and Illiance rivers. At the edge
of the flat on the south side of Dak river are three gravel terraces, re-
spectively 150, 275, and 300 feet above sea-level. At the mouth of Illiance
river on the south side there is also a mound or terrace of coarse gravel
about 100 feet high. On Lime creek, gravel terraces exist at about 275,
300, and 450 feet above sea-level. It is difficult to understand how the
gravel terraces at the mouths of Illiance and Dak rivers could have been
built unless at the time of their formation the sea stood at a higher relative
elevation than now.

Coarse, bouldery gravel exists at the mouths of the streams entering
Kitsault river from West creek south to Alice arm. At Klayduc creek
gravels of this nature are between 150 and 400 feet thick and lie north of
the junction of Klaydue creek and Kitsault river. The top of the gravel
is somewhat over 500 feet above sea-level. Granite creek some years
ago became partly dammed by rock debris from slides and the water

*“Varved Clays of Tide Lake, B.C.”; Trans. Royal Soc. Canada, 1932, sec. IV,
pp. 335-343.