Recent mineral discoveries made by soil geochemical sampling along ridges and spurs prompted an increase in exploration in the unglaciated Klondike Plateau of west-central Yukon. Extensive and detailed soil sampling campaigns were extended across hillsides and into valleys, where eolian deposits, periglacial processes, and mass movements complicate the collection and interpretation of geochemical data. In support of exploration efforts, property-scale (1:20 000) surficial geology mapping was completed for several exploration projects to provide more detailed insight than is available in regional-scale (1:50 000) mapping. The culmination of this mapping work is the identification of 12 ‘landform-soil types’ (LSTs) that exhibit recognizable and repetitive patterns in the field and in aerial photographs. The suitability of each LST for different soil geochemical sampling methods and interpretation strategies depends on its soil depth, permafrost depth, surface organic thickness, loess thickness, transport distance, and type of geochemical anomaly.
