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Location: 6 km NW from Blair, Wisconsin, United States
500, 438 - 11th Avenue SECalgaryAlberta, CanadaT2G 0Y4
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The silica sand at the Blair Property is hosted within the Cambrian Wonewoc Formation. At Blair, the Wonewoc Formation sandstone varies in thickness from 40 to 130 feet (12 to 39 m) and is principally medium to coarse grained quartzose sandstone. The Wonewoc Formation is overlain by very fine to fine grained sandstone, siltstone and mudstone of the Tunnel City Group, and thin and discontinuous Pleistocene surficial deposits (slightly gravelly sandy loam till).The Wonewoc Formation and other Cambrian-aged silica sand units in the midcontinental United States formed during a major transgressive event where shallow ocean currents formed a texturally graded shelf. The advanced level of textural maturity in Cambrian quartz grains is thought to be related to a long history of weathering that included wind and marine shoreface abrasion and chemical weathering that preferentially dissolved plagioclase and similarly unstable minerals.The position of the Wonewoc Formation is consistent with this unit being situated within topographic ridges of a rugged landscape that is associated with the Driftless Area of southwestern Wisconsin. At the Blair Property, the Wonewoc Formation is situated between a topographic low (the Trempealeau River) and a ridge to the west. The ‘floor’ portion of the Blair Property, in which the Wet-Processing Plant is situated, occurs within the Wonewoc Formation at an elevation of approximately 930 feet above sea level (284 m asl). The Wonewoc Formation within the open pit excavation (Blair Property) is dominated by white to iron-stained, medium to coarse grained quartzose sandstone. The overall observation of the open pit face(s) at the Blair Property is that the Wonewoc is stratigraphically continuous, and uniformly, is composed of clean, white silica sand. Intercalated mudstone-sandstone horizons appear to be thin less than one foot (<15 cm) in thickness.The overburden consists of dark grey to reddish dark grey, clay-rich sandy till with abundant pebbles and minor cobbles; the basal portion of the Tunnel City Group was not seen either Property but does occur on the elevated portions of the ridges where it consists of fine-grained sandstone and siltstone with a higher component of mudstone in comparison to the underlying Wonewoc. The Wonewoc Formation silica sand was also observed in archived auger clippings from Blair; here the auger return material was composed of white to slightly iron-stained medium to coarse grained silica sand.The basal portion and lowermost contact of the Wonewoc Formation was not observed (in outcrop or in auger return material).
