Preliminary results and structural interpretations from drone lidar surveys over the Eastern Denali fault, Yukon

The Yukon Geological Survey and Kluane First Nation intend to drill a temperature gradient well near Burwash Landing, YT, to evaluate the geothermal energy potential of the area. The preferred drill site is located immediately southwest of the Eastern Denali fault (EDF), which has ruptured multiple times in the Holocene. The kinematics and recent activity of the fault are important factors to consider when developing a geothermal resource, for two purposes: 1. identifying zones of enhanced permeability due to local fault geometry and 2. assessing the seismic hazard of drilling and developing a geothermal system along an active fault. Here, we present new lidar data collected from a drone platform, which enabled the production of 30 cm spatial resolution bare-earth Digital Terrain Models (DTMs) over several segments of the EDF. These products offer a considerable increase in both spatial resolution and canopy penetration compared to existing spaceborne and airborne photogrammetric Digital Surface Models (DSMs) and DTMs of the area. We use hillshades to map segments of the EDF surface trace in detail, and we make preliminary interpretations about the structure and kinematics of the…

Publisher

Government of Yukon

Resources

3

Catalogue metadata updated

2026-08-26