136 



Miles and 

 Kilometres. 



932 m. Bickerdike — Altitude 3,110 ft. (948 m.). A 



1,600 km. branch railway from this point runs south to the 

 headwaters of Embarras and Little Pembina 

 rivers, where the coal seams of the Edmomton 

 formation are brought to the surface in the 

 outer foothills. Mines are there in operation 

 and are the forerunners of others to be opened 

 later on the very rich measures of the Brazeau, 

 which occur nearer the mountains. This field 

 and its extension northward contains a very 

 large reserve of both coking and steam coal. 

 Other industries dependent on the transpor- 

 tation facilities afforded by the railway include 

 a cement factory, situated at Marlborough, 8 

 miles (12 -8 km.) west of Bickerdike. The 

 materials used are marl from a lake basin and 

 clay from a nearby sedimentary deposit. 

 958 m. Obed — Altitude 3,560 ft. (1,085 m.). Surface 



1,542 km. deposits of this vicinity show erratics derived 

 from the mountains to the west and possibly 

 also from an eastern source, the latter, perhaps, 

 having been transported westward by the Kee- 

 watin glacier. The elevation of the railway at 

 this point is only 200 feet (61 m.) below that 

 of the divide in the pass across the mountains. 

 978 m. Hinton — Altitude 3,325 ft. (1,013 m.). To the 



1,574 km. north can be seen the valley of Athabaska river 

 flanked by terraces, on one of which the railway 

 has been built. The rocks of the Edmonton 

 series, which to the east of this point dip at low 

 angles, or lie nearly flat, here have an easterly 

 dip. Westward this dip increases and the strata 

 become folded and faulted to such an extent 

 that the region has been termed the "disturbed 

 belt" of the foothills. 



Brule lake — For about six miles (9-6 km.) 

 the railway follows the eastern shore of Brule 

 lake, which is a shallow basin gradually being 

 silted up by the detritus carried down from the 

 mountains by the Athabaska river. Inside the 

 mountains other portions of the valley show 

 the completion of this process of silting up and 

 the incision of a channel across the basins. 



