GEOLOGICAL NOTES ON THE VICINITY OF BANFF, 



ALBERTA. 



Banff, the easternmost of the resorts estabhshed by the Canadian 

 Pacific Railroad in the mountains of the Northwest, hes a httle east 

 of the axis of the Rocky Mountain range, on the Bow River, at an 

 altitude of 4,521 feet. The surrounding mountains rise to heights 

 of 8,000 to 10,000 feet and upward. 



Structure of the mountains.- — The Rocky Mountains in Alberta 

 contrast with the same range in the United States in that folding 

 and overthrust faulting are their predominant features. Their 

 structure closely resembles that of the southern Appalachians, con- 

 trasting strongly with the Basin type where normal faulting is the 

 rule. 



In Alberta parallel ridges of folded Carbonic limestones are the 

 prevailing features. These are underlain by Cambrian sandstones, 

 and overlain by coal-bearing Cretaceous sandstones. About Banff 

 the general trend of the ridges is northwest-southeast. 



Drainage. — The normal drainage of the region is similar to that 

 often noted in the Appalachian region; the channels being established 

 either along the strike of some soft layer, or cutting across the ridges 

 at right angles to the strike. In such a region stream robbery is 

 common, and one river will, at an advanced stage of adjustment, 

 present a series of right-angled turns, wind-gaps often indicating 

 former channels. 



Glaciation. — The Canadian Rockies have been heavily glaciated 

 at a comparatively recent date. The glacial action appears to have 

 been that of very large valley glaciers, rather than of the continental 

 ice-sheet. Local moraines are common, and the larger valleys are 

 bordered by glacial terraces. 



The drainage in the vicinity of Banff presents several interesting 

 features. The Bow River, after flowing southwest along the strike 

 of the Cambrian sandstones, turns abruptly northeast, cutting a 

 gap in the Sawback, Vermilion, and Cascade ranges (see map, Fig. i). 

 It then turns southeast again, flowing along the strike of a Cretaceous 



