Summation of Quaternary glaciations in the United States of America
[No abstract available]
Quaternary Science Reviews↗
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Introduction to quaternary glaciations in the United States of America
No abstract available.
Quaternary Science Reviews↗
Late quaternary regional geoarchaeology of Southeast Alaska Karst: A progress report
Karst systems, sea caves, and rock shelters within the coastal temperate rain forest of Alaska's Alexander Archipelago preserve important records of regional archaeology, sea level history, glacial and climatic history, and vertebrate paleontology. Two 14C AMS dates on human bone discovered in a remote cave (49-PET-408) on Prince of Wales Island document the oldest reliably dated human in Alaska to ca. 9800 B.P. A series of 14C AMS dates from cave deposits span the past 40,000 years and provide the first evidence of Pleistocene faunas from the northwest coast of North America. Other discoveries include sea caves and marine beach deposits elevated above modern sea level, extensive solution caves, and mammalian remains of species previously undocumented within the region. Records of human activity, including cave art, artifacts, and habitation sites may provide new insights into the early human colonization of the Americas. ??1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Alaska↗
Latest Quaternary paleoseismology and evidence of distributed dextral shear along the Mohawk Valley fault zone, northern Walker Lane, California
The dextral-slip Mohawk Valley fault zone (MVFZ) strikes northwestward along the eastern margin of the Sierra Nevada in the northern Walker Lane. Geodetic block modeling indicates that the MVFZ may accommodate ~3 mm/yr of regional dextral strain, implying that it is the highest slip-rate strike-slip fault in the region; however, only limited geologic data are available to constrain the system’s slip rate and earthquake history. We mapped the MVFZ using airborne lidar data and field observations and identified a site near Sulphur Creek for paleoseismic investigation. At this site, oblique dextral-normal faulting on the steep valley margin has created a closed depression that floods annually during spring snowmelt to form an ephemeral pond. We excavated three fault-perpendicular trenches at the site and exposed pond sediment that interfingers with multiple colluvial packages eroded from the scarp that bounds the eastern side of the pond. We documented evidence for four surface-rupturing earthquakes on this strand of the MVFZ. OxCal modeling of radiocarbon and luminescence ages indicates that these earthquakes occurred at 14.0 ka, 12.8 ka, 5.7 ka, and 1.9 ka. The mean ~4 kyr recurrence interval is inconsistent with slip rates of ~3 mm/yr; these rates imply surface ruptures of more than 10 m per event, which is geologically implausible for the subdued geomorphic expression and 60 km length of the MVFZ. We propose that unidentified structures not yet incorporated into geodetic models may accommodate significant dextral shear across the northern Walker Lane, highlighting the role of distributed deformation in this region.
California↗
Geo-botanical evidence of Late Quaternary mass wasting in block field areas of Virginia
Studies of block fields at Massanutten Mountain, Virginia, document and provide information on the magnitude and frequency of mass movement on these coarse-grained slopes. Although Pleistocene periglacial climate may have facilitated original formation of block fields, some block fields now continue to spread downslope during intense runoff events. Present block-field mass wasting may be the principal erosional process in these areas of resistant rock.
Virginia↗
Soils and late-Quaternary landscape evolution in the Cottonwood River basin, east-central Kansas: Implications for archaeological research
Temporal and spatial patterns of landscape evolution strongly influence the temporal and spatial patterns of the archaeological record in drainage systems. In this geoarchaeological investigation we took a basin‐wide approach in assessing the soil stratigraphy, lithostratigraphy, and geochronology of alluvial deposits and associated buried soils in the Cottonwood River basin of east‐central Kansas. Patterns of landscape evolution emerge when stratigraphic sequences and radiocarbon chronologies are compared by stream size and landform type. In the valleys of high‐order streams (≥4th order) the Younger Dryas Chronozone (ca. 11,000–10,000 14 C yr B.P.) was characterized by slow aggradation accompanied by pedogenesis, resulting in the development of organic‐rich cumulic soils. Between ca. 10,000 and 4900 14 C yr B.P., aggradation punctuated by soil formation was the dominant process in those valleys. Alluvial fans formed on the margins of high‐order stream valleys during the early and middle Holocene (ca. 9000–5000 14 C yr B.P.) and continued to develop slowly until ca. 3000–2000 14 C yr B.P. The late‐Holocene record of high‐order streams is characterized by episodes of entrenchment, rapid aggradation, and slow aggradation punctuated by soil development. By contrast, the early and middle Holocene (ca. 10,000–5000 14 C yr B.P.) was a period of net erosion in the valleys of low‐order streams. However, during the late Holocene small valleys became zones of net sediment storage. Consideration of the effects of these patterns of landscape evolution on the archaeological record is crucial for accurately interpreting that record and searching for buried archaeological deposits dating to specific cultural periods.
Kansas↗
Late quaternary climate variations reflected in Baltic Sea sediments
Late Pleistocene to Holocene climate change of the Atlantic and the northern European realm is reflected by the facies of sediments in the Baltic Sea. The sedimentary sequence have been subdivided into zones reflecting the main postglacial stages of the Baltic Sea basin development according to sediment echosounder profiling and investigating sediment cores from the central Baltic. The changes in the environment of Baltic Sea bottom water is displayed by sediment physical, geochemical, and microfossil proxies. These proxies mark the main shift in the sedimentary facies of the Baltic Basin at 8.14 cal. years BP, from a freshwater to a brackish/marine environment due to the Littorina transgression of marine water masses from the North Sea. The downhole physical facies variation from the Eastern Gotland can be correlated basinwide. Thickness maps of the freshwater and the brackish sediments ascribe the general change in the hydrographic circulation from a coast-to-basin to a basin-to-basin system along with the Littorina transgression. Variations in the salinity of the brackish Littorina Baltic Basin are attributed to changes in the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) ascribing the wind forces driving the inflow of marine water into the Baltic Basin. Time series analysis of facies variation reveals distinct periodicities of 900 and 1,500 years. These periods can be compared with data from North Atlantic marine sediments and Greenland ice cores identifying global climate change effects in Baltic Basin sediments.
Book chapter↗
Slope-stability analysis and creep susceptibility of Quaternary sediments on the northeastern United States continental slope
The continental slope off the northeastern United States is a relatively steep, morphologically complex surface which shows abundant evidence of submarine slides and related processes. Because this area may be developed by the petroleum industry, questions arise concerning the potential for further slope failures or unacceptable deformations and the conditions necessary to cause such instabilities. Accordingly, a generalized analysis of slope stability and the stress—strain—time-dependent behavior of the sediments is being conducted.
Conference Paper↗
Stable isotope variations in the Quaternary epithermal calcite-fluorite deposit at Monte delle Fate near Cerveteri (Latium, central Italy)
Carbon, oxygen and hydrogen isotope variations have been measured in samples from the epithermal fluorite vein deposit at Monte delle Fate, Latium. The ranges in ?? 13C and ??18O of calcite are -1.3 to 3.4 and 9.5 to 17.3, respectively. ??D values of water extracted from fluid inclusions are -49 to -39 for calcite and -41 to -34 for fluorite. Fluid inclusion filling temperatures (225??-240??C) and salinites (3.75) are nearly the same for both fluorite and sparry calcite. An elongated form of calcite, of minor abundance, precipitated at lower temperatures. The data indicate that (1) the CO2 involved in the mineralization was provided by the local marine limestones, (2) the waters were meteoric in origin and underwent an 18O shift of ??? 10 permil by exchange with marine country rocks, and (3) all geochemical features can be explained by the action of two hydrothermal fluids. Hot brines recently discovered in the Cesano geothermal area, 30 km to the east, have temperatures and some chemical characteristics similar to the hydrothermal fluids at Monte delle Fate. ?? 1980 Springer-Verlag.
Mineralium Deposita↗
Genesis and continuity of quaternary sand and gravel in glacigenic sediment at a proposed low-level radioactive waste disposal site in east-central Illinois
The Illinois Department of Nuclear Safety has characterized the Martinsville Alternative Site (MAS) for a proposed low-level radioactive waste disposal facility. The MAS is located in east-central Illinois approximately 1.6 km (1 mi) north of the city of Martinsville. Geologic investigation of the 5.5-km2 (1380-acre) site revealed a sequence of chiefly Illinoian glacigenic sediments from 6 to 60 m (20-200 ft) thick overlying two major bedrock valleys carved in Pennsylvanian strata. Relatively permeable buried units include basal, preglacial alluvium; a complex of intraglacial and subglacial sediment; englacial deposits; and supraglacial fluvial deposits. Postglacial alluvium underlies stream valleys on and adjacent to the site. In most areas, the buried sand units are confined by low-permeability till, lacustrine sediment, colluvium, and loess. The distribution and thickness of the most extensive and continuous buried sand units have been modified considerably by subglacial erosion, and their distributions have been influenced by the buried bedrock valleys. The most continuous of the various sand units were deposited as preglacial and postglacial alluvium and are the uppermost and lowermost stratigraphic units at the alternative site. Sand units that were deposited in englacial or ice-marginal environments are less continuous. Aquifer pumping tests, potentiometric head data, and groundwater geochemistry analyses indicate minimal interaction of groundwater across localized interconnections of the permeable units. ?? 1991 Springer-Verlag New York Inc.
Environmental Geology and Water Sciences↗
Using hydrogeochemical methods to evaluate complex quaternary subsurface stratigraphy Block Island, Rhode Island, USA
One of the major problems in hydrogeologic investigations of glaciated regions is the determination of complex stratigraphic relationships in the subsurface where insufficient information is available from drilling and geophysical records. In this paper, chemical characteristics of groundwater were used to identify stratigraphic changes in glacial deposits that were previously inferred on Block Island, Rhode Island, USA, an emergent remnant of the late Wisconsinan terminal moraine, located approximately 16 km south of the Rhode Island mainland. Two chemically distinct water types are recognized on the island: 1) high-iron, characterized by dissolved silica levels in excess of 20 mg/L, bicarbonate greater than 30 mg/L and dissolved iron ranging from 1-20 mg/L; and 2) low-iron, characterized by dissolved silica levels below 16 mg/L, bicarbonate less than 30 mg/L, and less than 0.3 mg/L dissolved iron. The spatial distribution of iron-bearing minerals and organic matter and the resulting redox conditions are believed to control the occurrence of highiron groundwater. The high-iron waters occur almost exclusively in the eastern half of the island and appear to coincide with the presence of allochthonous blocks of Cretaceous-age coastal-plain sediments that were incorporated into Pleistocene-age deposits derived from the Narragansett Bay-Buzzard's Bay lobe of the Late Wisconsinan Laurentide ice sheet. The low-iron waters occur in the western half of the island, where the occurrence of these Cretaceous-age blocks is rare and the sediments are attributed to a sublobe of the Hudson-Champlain lobe of the Late Wisconsinan ice sheet.
Rhode Island↗
Studies of quaternary saline lakes-I. Hydrogen isotope fractionation in saline minerals
Borax, gaylussite, nahcolite and trona were synthesized in aqueous solution at temperatures ranging from 8° to 35°C. Except for borax, deuterium was always depleted in these hydrated minerals relative to the solutions from which they were crystallized. In borax, no significant fractionation was found. The fractionation factor of D H "> DH for the trona-water system exhibited a marked temperature dependence. By combining the deuterium contents of trona and the solution from which trona was crystallized, the following thermometer scale was obtained: In ( D H ) trona ( D H )water = 1.420 × 10 4 T 2 + 23.56 T "> (DH) trona(DH)water =1.420 × 104T2+23.56T (1) An attempt to establish a geothermometer based on C 13 C 12 "> C13C12 fractionation between carbonate minerals and carbonate ions in aqueous solution was not successful.
Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta↗
Studies of quaternary saline lakes-II. Isotopic and compositional changes during desiccation of the brines in Owens Lake, California, 1969-1971
Owens Lake is an alkaline salt lake in a closed basin in southeast California. It is normally nearly dry, but in early 1969, an abnormal runoff from the Sierra Nevada flooded it to a maximum depth of 2·4 m. By late summer of 1971, the lake was again nearly dry and the dissolved salts recrystallized. Changes in the chemistry, pH, and deuterium content were monitored during desiccation. During flooding, salts (mostly trona, halite, and burkeite) dissolved slowly from the lake floor. Their concentration in the lake waters increased as evaporation removed water and salts again crystallized, but winter temperatures caused precipitation of some salts and the following summer warming caused their solution, resulting in seasonal variations in the concentration patterns of some ions. The pH values (9·4–10·4) changed with time but showed no detectable diurnal pattern. The deuterium concentration increased during evaporation and appeared to be in equilibrium with vapor leaving the lake according to the Rayleigh equation. The effective α(D/H in liquid/D/H in vapor) decreased as salinity increased; the earliest measured value was 1·069 [as total dissolved solids (TDS) of lake waters changed from 136,200 to 250,400 mg/1]and the last value (calc.) was 1·025 (as TDS changed from 450,000 to 470,300 mg/1). Deuterium exchange with the atmosphere was apparently small except during late desiccation stages when the isotopic contrast became great. Eventually, atmospheric exchange, combined with decreasing α and lake size and increasing salinity, stopped further deuterium concentration in the lake. The maximum contrast between atmospheric vapor and lake deuterium contents was about 110%.
Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta↗
Amino-acid racemizarion in Quaternary shell deposits at Willapa Bay, Washington
Extents of racemization ( d l "> dl ratios) of amino acids in fossil Saxidomus giganteus (Deshayes) and Ostrea lurida Carpenter were measured on shell deposits exposed at 21 sites on the east side of Willapa Bay, Washington. Amino acids from Saxidomus show less variability in d Spl "> dSpl ratios and, therefore, are of greater use in correlation and age estimation than are amino acids from Ostrea . Shells of two different ages, about 120,000 ± 40,000 yr old and about 190,000 ± 40,000 yr old, are present. These ages correspond to Stages 5 and 7 of the marine isotope record defined by Shackleton and Opdyke in 1973 and hence the shell deposits likely formed during two different high stands of sea level. The stratigraphic record at Willapa Bay is consistent with this interpretation.
Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta↗
Studies of Quaternary saline lakes-III. Mineral, chemical, and isotopic evidence of salt solution and crystallization processes in Owens Lake, California, 1969-1971
As a consequence of the 1969–1970 flooding of normally dry Owens Lake, a 2.4-m-deep lake formed and 20% of the 2-m-thick salt bed dissolved in it. Its desiccation began August 1969, and salts started crystallizing September 1970, ending August 1971. Mineralogic, brine-composition, and stable-isotope data plus field observations showed that while the evolving brine composition established the general crystallization timetable and range of primary and secondary mineral assemblages, it was the daily, monthly, and seasonal temperature changes that controlled the details of timing and mineralogy during this depositional process. Deuterium analyses of lake brine, interstitial brine, and hydrated saline phases helped confirm the sequence of mineral crystallizations and transformations, and they documented the sources and temperatures of waters involved in the reactions. Salts first crystallized as floating rafts on the lake surface. Natron and mirabilite, salts whose solubilities decrease greatly with lowering temperatures, crystallized late at night in winter, when surface-water temperatures reached their minima; trona, nahcolite, burkeite, and halite, salts with solubilities less sensitive to temperature, crystallized during the afternoon in summer, when surface salinities reached their maxima. However, different temperatures were generally associated with crystallization (at the surface) and accumulation (on the lake floor) because short-term temperature changes were transmitted to surface and bottom waters at different rates. Consequently, even when solubilities were exceeded at the surface, salts were preserved or not as a function of bottom-water temperatures. Halite, a nearly temperature-insensitive salt, was always preserved. Monitoring the lake-brine chemistry and mineralogy of the accumulating salts shows: (1) An estimated 0.9 × 10 6 tons of CO 2 was released to the atmosphere or consumed by the lake's biomass prior to most salt crystallization. (2) After deposition, some salts reacted in situ to form other minerals in less than one month, and all salts (except halite) decomposed or recrystallized at least once in response to seasons. (3) Warming in early 1971 caused solution of all the mirabilite and some of the natron deposited a few months earlier, a deepening of the lake (though the lake-surface lowered), and an increase in dissolved solids. (4) Phase and solubility-index data suggest that at the close of desiccation, Na 2 CO 3 ·7H 2 O, never reported as a mineral, could have been the next phase to crystallize.
Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta↗
Carbon dioxide retention and carbon exchange on unsaturated Quaternary sediments
Retention of CO 2 on three air-dried and partly water-saturated glacial and eolian sediments was measured at 20°C for a range in, P CO 2 that commonly occurs in unsaturated zones. Ratios of the relative losses of CO 2 and 14 CO 2 from a surrogate atmosphere overlying the sediments were 1:1 for the dry condition. For the wet condition, those relative losses were generally ⪯ 1:2, indicating bicarbonateion formation and C-isotope exchange. Mass losses of CO 2 per surface area of sediment were similar for dry and wet conditions; however, CO 2 losses for the wet condition were 8 to 17 times greater than losses predicted by calcite equilibria. Occurrence of this comparatively large reservoir of immobile, exchangeable C in unsaturated zones can cause alteration of the C-isotope composition of soil CO 2 and of dissolved inorganic C in interstitial water, and needs to be considered when modeling 14 CO 2 movement in the unsaturated zone or when interpreting radiocarbon ages of infiltrating water.
Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta↗
Late quaternary sediments, minerals, and inferred geochemical history of Didwana Lake, Thar Desert, India
Variations in clastic sediment texture, mineralogy of both evaporites formed at the surface and precipitates formed below the lake floor, and the relative chemical activities of the major dissolved components of the chemical precipitates, have allowed reconstruction of the history of salinity and water-level changes in Didwana Lake, Thar Desert, India. Hypersaline conditions prevailed at about the Last Glacial Maximum, with little evidence of clastic sediments entering the lake. Between ca. 13,000 and 6000 B.P. the lake level fluctuated widely, the lake alternately hypersaline and fresh, and clastic sediments were delivered to the lake at a low rate. Deep-water conditions occurred ca. 6000 B.P. and clastic influx increased abruptly. The water level dropped towards 4000 B.P. when the lake dried briefly. Since 4000 B.P. the lake has been ephemeral with a lowered rate of sedimentation and mildly saline conditions rather like those of today. This sequence of changes documented in the lake parallels changes in vegetation recorded in published pollen diagrams from both the Thar and the Arabian Sea. Correlation of the various lines of evidence suggests that the climate of the Last Glacial Maximum at Didwana was dry and windy with a weak monsoon circulation. The monsoon was re-established between ca. 13,000 and a little before 6000 B.P., and, when winter rainfall increased ca. 6000 B.P., the lake filled to its maximum depth.
Didwana Lake, Thar Deser↗