A catchment analysis approach to Processing Regional Stream Sediment Data from the Yukon, Canada

The following article recently appeared in Explore magazine: Arne, D., Mackie, R. and Pennimpede, C., 2018, Catchment Analysis of Re-analyzed Regional Stream Sediment Geochemical Data from the Yukon, Explore No. 179, pp. 1-13. 

The article summarizes an interpretive approach used on regional stream sediment data from the southern Yukon Territory, Canada involving the use of regression of commodity and key exploration pathfinder elements against principal components known to describe the geochemistry of either background lithologies or scavenging by secondary iron hydroxides. Although not new, this is the first time the approach has been used systematically to interpret regional stream sediment data from a large area - in this case the southern 2/3 of the Yukon  involving just over 24,000 samples. The approach has many advantages over the use of conventional data processing and interpretation methods and effectively highlights areas of known mineral deposits, as well as areas that have been affected by metal scavenging of pathfinder and commodity elements onto organic material, clays and secondary iron hyroxides. This project was funded by the Yukon Geological Survey.