[TYRRELL] THE GOLD OF THE KLONDIKE 51 
The bedding planes, as a rule, are inconspicuous, and there has been 
no sorting of the various constituets into separate beds. 
“The deposits, unlike the creek and gulch gravels, appear to be 
destitute of vegetable and animal remains. None were found by the 
writer and the few reported discoveries by miners lack confirmation. 
“The thickness of the White Channel gravels varies from a few 
feet to 150 feet and the original width from a couple of hundred yards 
to overamile. The volume of the deposit on both Hunker and Bonanza 
creeks increases steadily down stream. 
“On Gold, Adams and other hills on Bonanza creek the typical 
compact white variety of the White Channel deposit is replaced towards 
the sides of the old valley by flat rusty coloured gravels, more loosely 
bedded and containing a smaller proportion of quartz than the ordinary 
white variety. These probably represent flood plain deposits. They 
have the appearance of overlying the white variety and were formerly, 
in the absence of sections, considered to be younger. The long expo- 
sures, however, now available for study in the various hydraulic cuts, 
show that the two varieties pass gradually one into the other both 
horizontally and vertically and in places are interbanded, evidence of 
contemporaneous deposition. The loose yellow variety is seldom pro- 
ductive. 
“The age of the White Channel gravels has not been determined, 
but they must take back to the Pleiocene at least. They were certainly 
deposited before the advent of the present severe climatic conditions, 
as the white coloration is largely due to the leaching out of the greater 
portion of the iron by circulating surface waters, and this must have 
taken place before they were permanently frozen.” ! 
“On Dominion creek and its tributaries, Sulphur and Gold-run 
creeks, white gravels, almost identical in character with the high level 
White Ghannel gravels of Bonanza and Hunker creeks, occur in the bot- 
toms of the valleys underlying the present stream gravels. Their low 
position is due to the fact that the present valley of Dominion creek, 
corresponds, not to the present valley of Bonanza and Hunker creeks, 
but to the old valleys cut through by them.’’? 
On the tributaries of the Klondike river these White Channel gra- 
vels are, as far as at present known, confined to one level, but on Indian 
river in the vicinity of the mouth of Australia creek, they are found not 
only on the bottom of the valley, but they also occur on a wide terrace. 

* Rep. on Gold Values in the Klondike High Level Gravels, by R. G. McConnell, 
Geol. Sur. Can. Ottawa, 1907, pp. 7 and 8. 
* Rep. on the Klondike Gold Fields, by R. G. McConnell, Geol. Sur. of Canada, 
1905, p. 32. 
