Survey Metadata

During a 3-week period in September in 1984, a five-person team collected over 5000 samples of a variety of vegetation, humus and rock from approximately 1200 locations within a 300 km² area north of Lac La Ronge in central Saskatchewan.  Where possible, samples were collected at 200 m intervals on traverses that ran normal to the north-easterly regional bedrock strike.  Mountain alder and speckled alder twigs were collected as well as black or white spruce bark.  At selected sites, samples were taken of: balsam fir twigs, needles, bark and trunk wood; black and white spruce twigs, leaves and bark; poplar bark; jack pine bark; Labrador tea steams and leaves; leather leaf steams and leaves; and tamarack twigs and needles.  At each sample station, the layer of forest litter beneath alder shrubs or near the trunk of a balsam fir or spruce was scraped to one side and a stainless steel trowel was used to dig out sufficient humic material to fill a standard kraft soil sample bag.  The humus data are published in Geological Survey of Canada Open File 3345.  A summary of the vegetation sampling can be found in Summary of Investigations 1984, Saskatchewan Geological Survey Miscellaneous Report 84-4.

In general, 200 g of twigs and needles/leaves, 30 g of bark and 400 g of trunk wood were collected in order to provide adequate ashed material.