Prospective Devonian - Mississippian shale gas strata in Liard basin are the focus of a new collaborative study among research scientists of the Yukon Geological Survey, Northwest Territories Geoscience Office, and British Columbia Ministry of Energy, Mines and Natural Gas. Reconnaissance fieldwork in July 2012 involved measuring and sampling outcrops in each jurisdiction. One hundred eighty-seven metres of Besa River Formation shale and mudstone was measured and described in the Yukon part of Liard basin (NTS 95C/11). The section comprises three lithofacies: 1) mudstone and shale; 2) silty mudstone and shale; and 3) interbedded mudstone/shale and silty mudstone and shale. Shale is generally recessive, fissile, carbonaceous, very thinly laminated (<1 cm), and black on fresh surfaces. Mudstone is more competent than shale, thin to medium-bedded (1-5 cm), and medium to dark grey on fresh surfaces. Mudstone has variable silt and silica components based on observations of hand samples. Fossils are rare and include cephalopod impressions and unidentified biological fragments. The sampling program involved spectral gamma-radiation readings at one-metre intervals, and chip samples through two-metre intervals for Rock-Eval/total organic carbon, vitrinite reflectance, X-ray diffraction mineralogy, lithogeochemistry, and microfossil biostratigraphy. Laboratory results are anticipated in 2013.
