Deformation in the Neoproterozoic Smalfjord Formation,northern Norway: an indicator of glacial depositional conditions?

Recent studies on Neoproterozoic climate change have prompted renewed interest in Neoproterozoic glacial deposits and renewed debate over the criteria used to identify the nature of glacial influence on sedimentation. Analyses of soft sediment deformation structures have provided important clues to distinguish between competing palaeoenvironmental interpretations of Quaternary glacial deposits; a similar approach is presented here in the analysis of Neoproterozoic glacial deposits of the Smalfjord Formation, northern Norway. A detailed sedimentological and structural analysis at several sites in the Varangerfjorden area reveals complex soft sediment deformation at various scales in conglomerate, sandstone and diamictite. Deformation is predominantly ductile and includes anticlinal and synclinal folding, flow noses, flame structures, recumbent folding and shear structures. The deformed sediments are associated predominantly with conglomerate and sandstone, which record glaciofluvial and deltaic depositional conditions. Some deformations can be attributed to rapid deposition and slumping, whereas others appear to record shear stress associated with overriding ice. The scale, style and range of deformation, together with the coarse-grained nature of the deformed sediments and facies associations, suggest that these were unfrozen outwash sediments that were overridden by ice and resedimented in a dynamic ice-proximal setting. Whereas recent studies of diamictite-bearing strata of the Smalfjord Formation had revealed no clear evidence of glacial influence on deposition, deformation structures documented here suggest that glacial conditions prevailed on the basin margin during deposition of Smalfjord Formation sediments, with sedimentary facies and deformation structures typical of temperate ice-proximal settings.     

Historical to Post Glacial glaciation and their differentiation from the Late Glacial period on examples of the Tian Shan and the N.W. Karakorum

The historical to post-glacial glacier positions have beenreconstructed from the recent glaciation history of selectedexamples. The chronological sequence of the ice margin positionscan be deduced from the increasing ages of the structures, whichare proportional to the distance from the recent terminus of theglacial tongue, or to the difference between the elevation of theice surface and that of the crest of the lateral moraine. Achronological classification of the glacial events in `phases'can be defined by calculating the snow-line depression aftertaking the relief factor into account. On a small scale, theyoungest glacial positions may vary depending on the localrelief. In both areas under investigation, the post-glacial iceextents are similar in so far as they are not more than 6 km fromthe Recent ice margin, and the historical and Neoglacial phasesare spatially close to one another. A decrease in the elevationof the glacial surface is a more important factor, compared tothe oscillations of the glacial tongue, influencing thedevelopment of the multiphase, lateral moraines that characterisethe Holocene glacial fluctuations.     

Facies model for sedimentation in the glaciolacustrine environment

Diamictons which have characteristics of both basal tills and lacustrine sedimenis have been called by various authors waterlaid tills, lacuatrotills, subaqueous tills, aqualills, underwater tills, and other terms with the word till replaced by moraine. It is proposed that a more restrictive definition of these terms be applied based on criteria indicative of the environment of deposition.
The term lacustrotill is proposed for the till-like sediments deposited in the lacustrine environment by flow mechanisms. Their clasts are often striated and may exhibit preferred orientation unrelated to glacier movement. Deformation structures suggestive of slumping or flowage during deposition are usually present.
The term waterlaid till is proposed for sediments deposited beneath a floating glacier, where the water depth does not allow appreciable size separation during settling: glacial drift dumped in standing water at the snout of a glacier grounded on a lake bottom: or till deposited during re advances (perhaps annually) into a lake basin and subsequently slightly reworked by lacustrine processes.
These sediments contain glacially abraded clasts which may even show a weak preferred orientation related to glacial movement; deformation and flow structures will not normally be present: and they may he massive, or exhibit crude stratification.     

Structural trends and palaeogeography of the central and western Sicily belt: new insights

The geology of the Sicilian mainland is summarized by N–S geological sections. A continuous late Cenozoic orogenic belt through central and western Sicily resulted from a complex deformative history, recorded by several tectonic events. The deformation mainly involved the sedimentary cover of the old African continental margin, formed in a large basinal area, bordered at its southern margin by a shallow-water carbonate environment attached to Gondwana. The orogenic belt involves a complex architecture of thrust systems, of different size, geometry and palaeogeographical origin. Deformation, which mainly developed in the earlier stages of thrusting in the basinal rock assemblages, mainly gave rise to a stack of three different duplex structures, respectively, composed of Palaeozoic, Mesozoic–Palaeogene and Neogene strata. Large-scale clockwise rotation of the thrusts predated transpressional movements in the hinterland during the latest Miocene to Pliocene. High- angle reverse faults, with lateral components, modified earlier tectonic contacts within the allochthons. Contemporaneous southwards- directed imbrications affected the external southern areas, progressively incorporating foreland and piggyback basirts. The stratigraphic relationships of basin-fills to the tectonic structures reveals that reactivation processes have been active during the last Plio-Pleistocene.     

利用陆面岩石中生成的宇生同位素重建冰川漂砾运动历史的尝试

冰川漂砾的形成年代通常难以直接测定，并且漂砾形成以后是否被再次搬运或者移动过，更是无法知道。本文研究发现，通过测试砾石不同部位的宇生同位素，不仅可以测定砾石形成的时代，而且可以确定砾石再次被搬运或者被翻转的年代，从而恢复砾石运动的历史。本文以石英中生成的宇生同位素^10Be，对青藏高原东南部海子山的冰川漂砾进行了探讨，结果表明该砾石形成于倒数第二次冰期(186～128ka BP之间)，在末次冰期中再次被冰川搬运，使之反转。该方法不局限于^10Be和冰川漂砾，也适用于其他陆面岩石中生成的宇生同位素以及其他成因的石块或者砾石。因此为探讨冰川作用、泥石流活动、重力崩塌等过程提供了一种重要的方法和技术途径。     

Kineto-stratigraphic glacial drift units on Hindsholm, Denmark

Geological sections from gravel pits and coastal cliffs at Hindsholm, Funen, Denmark are described. By combining information from these sections at least three kineto-stratigraphic drift units can he demonstrated. The oldest unit is represented by glacial drift and structures which are the result of an ice sheet moving from NE. The intermediate unit consists of glacial drift and structures formed by a movement from SW. The youngest unit is associated with a glacial movement from SSE. This last movement drumlinized preexisting kames and dislocated earlier glacial drifts. Younger kames and real drumlins were also formed at this stage. A stationary ice margin along the line Skoven - Fyns Hoved - Røsnas is proposed.     

Deglaciation pattern indicated by the ice-margin formations in Northern Karelia, eastern Finland

A map has been reconstructed representing the large-scale glacial and glaciofluvial morphology of Northern Karelia and the adjacent area of Soviet Karelia. Observations have been made on the directions of glacial striae and on the distribution of sub-aquatic and supra-aquatic terrain in order to obtain a consistent picture of the course of deglaciation in the area and the factors affecting it. The map indicates that the behaviour of the glacier during the deglaciation was largely governed by the distribution of sub-aquatic and supra-aquatic areas. The marginal zone of the ice sheet was divided into two large lobes in this area. The Finnish Lake District Lobe terminated mostly in water, giving rise to massive glaciofluvial accumulations, while the North Karelian Lobe flowed on the land above the highest shore levels, pushing up several more or less discontinuous narrow end-moraine ridges. Relatively large glaciofluvial deposits were also formed in the supra-aquatic area in places where the ice margin terminated in a local ice-dammed lake. It is evident that the Salpausselkä I and II end-moraines extend as continuous formations only to the zone where the former ice margin rose onto dry land during the deglaciation phase. The spatial and temporal differences in the glacial dynamics and differing depositional environments gave rise to the complex glacial morphology of Northern Karelia.     

Late Quaternary record of sea-level changes in the Antarctic

The Late Quaternary sediment sequence of the continental margin in the eastern Weddell Sea is well suited for palaeoenvironmental reconstructions. Two cores from the upper slope, which contain the sedimentary record of the last 300 ky, have been sedimentologically investigated. Age models are based on lithostratigraphy and are correlated with the stable isotope record. As a result of a detailed analysis of the clay mineral composition, grain size distributions and structures, this sedimentary record provides the first marine evidence that the Antarctic ice sheet extended to the shelf edge during the last glacial.The variations in volume and size of the ice sheet were also simulated in numerical models. Changes in accumulation rate and ice temperature are of some importance, but the model revealed that fluctuations are primarily driven by changes in eustatic sea-level and that the ice edge extended to the shelf edge during the last glacial maximum. This causal relationship implies that the maximum ice extension strongly depends on the magnitude and duration of the sea-level depression during a glacial period. The results of the sedimentological investigations and of the numerical models show that the Antarctic ice sheet follows glacial events in the northern hemisphere by teleconnections of sea level. Correspondence to: H. Grobe     

Cenozoic tectonics in the Urumgi-Korla region of the Chinese Tien Shan

Cenozoic deformation within the Tien Shan of central Asia has accommodated part of the post-collisional indentation of the Indian plate into Asia. Within the Urumgi—Korla region of the Chinese Tien Shan this occurred dominantly on thrusts, with secondary strike-slip faulting. The gross pattern of deformation is of moderate to steeply dipping thrusts that have overthrust foreland basins to the north and south of the range, the Junggar and Tarim basins, respectively. Smaller foreland basins lie within the margins of the range itself (Turfan, Chai Wo Pu, Korla and Qumishi basins); these lie in the footwalls of local thrust systems. Both the Turfan and the Korla basins contain major thrusts within them; they are complex foreland basins. Deformation has progressively affected regions further into the interior of the Junggar Basin, and propagated into the interiors of the intermontane basins. No unidirectional deformation front has passed across the Tien Shan in the Neogene and Quaternary. An Oligocene unconformity may indicate the time of the onset of the Cenozoic deformation, but most of the Cenozoic molasse has been deposited after the Palaeogene. The rate of deposition in basins next to the uplifted ranges has increased since the onset of deformation. There has been at least about 80 km of Cenozoic shortening across this part of the Tien Shan. Cenozoic shortening is greater in sections of the range further west; these are nearer to the northern margin of the Indian indenter. Cenozoic compression has reactivated structures created by the two late Palaeozoic collisions that created the ancestral Tien Shan. These Palaeozoic structures have exerted a strong control over the style and location of the Cenozoic deformation.     

Sediment record of short-lived ice-contact lakes, Burroughs Glacier, Alaska

Sediments deposited in two small ice-contact lakes with low rates of sediment input have been studied in subaerial exposures. Sediment characteristics are a function of the water source (glacial meltwater versus non-meltwater), proximity to the glacier margin and lake shore, amount of supraglacial debris, and lake duration. Calving Lake expanded (and later partially drained) as a calving ice margin retreated. Nearshore deltas contain 1 × 10⁵ m³ stratified sand and gravel deposited at rates up to 1 m/yr during a 9-yr interval. Deltaic sediment contains types A and B ripple-drift cross-lamination, draped lamination, and scour surfaces caused by variations in water-flow velocity and the amount of sediment settling from suspension. Most water inflow came from non-subglacial meltwater sources and was sediment-poor, so overflow and interflow sedimentation processes dominated the offshore environment. Offshore sediment generally contains massive silt or silt interbedded with fine-grained sand deposited at rates of 1.3-1.5 cm/yr. Iceberg gravity craters observed on the lake plain were formed when icebergs impacted the lake floor during calving events. In Bruce Hills Lake, proximity to glacier ice and the presence of supraglacial sediment formed coarsening-upward successions when debris fell directly from an ice ledge onto silty lacustrine sediment.     

The glacially sculptured landscape in Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica, formed by wet-based mountain glaciation and not by the present ice sheet

The glacial landscape beneath the Maudheimvidda ice sheet in East Antarctica was most probably formed during a more temperate phase of Antarctic glaciation than the present. Overdeepened glacial cirques and U-shaped valleys are found in the Heimefrontfjella and Vestfjella mountain ranges. These glacial landforms, located beneath the ice sheet, have been mapped with radio-echo sounders. The present ice sheet covering these landforms is cold and frozen to its bed, and has a negligible erosive effect on the substrate. Ice sheet thickening during the Quaternary glacial periods is not believed to have caused any significant increase in erosion at the investigated sites. Instead, the glacial morphology was most likely formed by smaller, temperate glaciers when the Antarctic climate was warmer than at present. Datings of foraminifera and ash layers from the Transantarc-tic Mountains indicate that the present cold ice sheet was formed 2.5 Ma years ago. Other studies imply that a cold Antarctic ice sheet has lasted even longer. The glacial landforms in Maudheimvidda may thus be of a pre-Quaternary age.     

Mechanical development of vein structures due to the passage of earthquake waves through poorly-consolidated sediments

Vein structures are typically the earliest expression of brittle deformation within sediments. These mud-filled veins, which characteristically occur regularly spaced within bed-parallel arrays, form in sediments that possess a strong interlocking particle framework. Downslope creep has been proposed to explain the origins of vein structures, however, a recent suggestion that they are generated by the passage of earthquake shear waves through sediments explains aspects of their morphology, and their dominant occurrence at active convergent margins. Their coexistence with less disruptive “ghost veins” in Peru margin sediments, and their almost normal attitude to bedding, however, suggests that vein structures were formed by processes more complex than downslope creep, or seismically induced shearing alone.

Experimental earthquake simulation was undertaken by laterally shaking a box containing crushed diatomite. Fractures were induced almost normal to the horizontal shaking direction, and to a lesser extent as antithetic Riedel shears, both of which closely resembled vein structures. The fracturing process during shaking may be viewed as a progressive fragmentation of the diatomite, in which new fractures form half-way between pre-existing ones. Thus fracture spacings are progressively halved. Shear zones oriented at a low angle to the shaking direction were also generated, combining with the high-angle fractures to form structures very similar to those observed in Peru margin sediments. When shaken, fines added to the diatomite segregated into planar zones that resembled ghost veins, half-way between fractures. The alternating pattern of fractures and fines indicated that a standing pressure wave had been created within the box during shaking. The fractures were created by alternating compression and extension at the antinodes, while the fines concentrated in zones of minimum grain movement around the nodal planes. This suggests that vein structures are initiated by the combined action of shear and pressure waves within a sediment. The strain waves may be seismic in origin, or may also form in downslope movement system.     

Synorogenic basins of central Cuba and collision between the Caribbean and North American plates

The synorogenic basins of central Cuba formed in a collision-related system. A tectono-stratigraphic analysis of these basins allows us to distinguish different structural styles along the Central Cuban Orogenic Belt. We recognize three distinct structural domains: (1) the Escambray Metamorphic Complex, (2) the Axial Zone, and (3) the Northern Deformation Belt. The structural evolution of the Escambray Metamorphic Complex includes a latest Cretaceous compressional phase followed by a Palaeogene extensional phase. Contraction created an antiformal stack in a subduction environment, and extension produced exhumation in an intra-arc setting. The Axial Zone was strongly deformed and shortened from the latest Cretaceous to Eocene. Compression occurred in an initial phase and subsequent transpressive deformation took place in the middle Eocene. The Northern Deformation Belt consists of a thin-skinned thrust fault system formed during the Palaeocene to middle Eocene; folding and faulting occurred in a piggyback sequence with tectonic transport towards the NNE. In the Central Cuban Orogenic Belt, some major SW–NE structures are coeval with the Cuban NW–SE striking folds and thrusts, and form tectonic corridors and/or transfer faults that facilitated strain-partitioning regime attending the collision. The shortening direction rotated clockwise during deformation from SSW–NNE to WSW–ENE. The synchronicity of compression in the north with extension in the south is consistent with the opening of the Yucatan Basin; the evolution from compression–extension to transpression is in keeping with the increase in obliquity in the collision between the Caribbean and North American plates.     

Deglaciation models from the Swedish West Coast

Deglaciation processes within different rock relief types are discussed. The lower parts of the fissure-valley landscape in western Sweden were covered by the late-glacial sea at deglaciation, while the rock plateaux between the valleys formed an arctic archipelago. The glacial movements, deposition activity and recession were intimately dependent on the variations of the topography and on the buoyancy of the seawater in the valleys. The opinion that a piedmont glaciation existed in eastern Halland during the deglaciation stage has been corroborated concerning areas above the marine limit. In the valleys below this limit the ice margin, however, was straight or slightly concave. The western part of the South Swedish Highland, situated high above the marine limit, is characterized by a zonal deglaciation; zone by zone of the ice margin was detached from the actively moving ice and became immobile. Subglacially formed eskers appear together with glaciofluvial deltas which formed extramarginally in ice-dammed lakes. The moraine forms are often dominated by 1–2 km long drumlins with rock cores. Where the ice diverged over a convex bedrock basement, Rogen-like moraine ridges, radial as well as transverse, were formed during the deglaciation stage when the ice was stagnating.     

Greenland ice sheet history since the last glaciation

The position of the Inland Ice margin during the late Wisconsin-Würm glaciation (ca. 15,000 yr BP) is probably marked by offshore banks (submarine moraines?) in the Davis Strait. The history of the Inland Ice since the late Wisconsin-Würm can be divided into four principal phases: (1) Relatively slow retreat from the offshore banks occurred at an average rate of approximately 1 km/100 yr until ca. 10,000 yr BP (Younger Dryas?) when the Taserqat moraine system was formed by a readvance. (2) At ca. 9500 yr BP, the rate of retreat increased markedly to about 3 km/100 yr, and although nearly 100 km of retreat occurred by ca. 6500 yr BP, it was punctuated by frequent regional reexpansions of the Inland Ice that formed extensive moraine systems at ca. 8800-8700 yr BP (Avatdleq-Sarfartôq moraines), 8400-8100 yr BP (Angujârtorfik-Fjord moraines), 7300 yr BP (Umîvît moraines), and 7200-6500 yr BP (Keglen-Mt, Keglen moraines). (3) Between 6500 and 700 yr BP, discontinous ice-margin deposits and ice-disintegration features were formed during retreat, which may have continued until the ice margin was near or behind its present position by ca. 6000 yr BP. Most of the discontinuous ice-margin deposits occur within 5–10 km of the present ice margin, and may have been formed by two main phases of readvance at ca. 4800-4000 yr BP and 2500-2000 yr BP. (4) Since a readvance at ca. 700 yr BP, the Inland Ice margin has undergone several minor retreats and readvances resulting in deposition of numerous closely spaced moraines within about 3 km of the present ice margin. The young moraines are diffieulto to correlate regionally, but several individual moraines have the following approximate ages: A.D. 1650, 1750, and 1880–1920.Inland Ice fluctuations in West Greenland were very closely paralleled by Holocene glacial events in East Greenland and the eastern Canadian Aretic. Such similarity of glacier behavior over a large area strongly suggests that widespread climatic change was the direct cause of Holocene glacial fluctuations. Moreover, historical advances of the Inland Ice margin followed slight temperature decreases by no more than a few decades, and ¹⁸O data from Greenland ice cores show that slight temperature decreases occurred frequently throughout the Holocene. Therefore, we conclude that construction of the major Holocene moraine systems in West Greenland was caused by slight temperature decreases, which decreased rates of ablation and thereby produced practically immediate advances of the ice sheet margin, but did not necessarily affect the long-term equilibrium of the ice sheet.     

Glacigenic Characteristics of the Luoquan Formation and Sediment Gravity Flow Reworking on It

The origin of the Luoquan Formation which occurs along the southern margin of the North China Blockhas long been argued. Based on recent work. the Formation is considered as a glacial sedimentary sequencepartially reworked by sediment gravity flow. The major evidence for the glacigene of Luoquan Formationdiamictites is as follows: 1, a striated and polished pavement with various features resulting from glacialabrasion and plucking, such as crescentic gouge, crescentic fracture, streamlined form and glaciated step; 2.unsorted diamictites with striated clast. faceted clast and iron-shaped stone formed by glaciation; 3. rhythmitewith dropstones; 4. a glacial sedimentary sequence bearing advance-retreat cycles; and 5. wide distribution ofthe diamictites. Glacial deposits can be distinguished from sediment gravity flow deposits by the features men-tioned above. Some characteristics of sediment gravity flow existing in the Luoquan Formation diamictites in-dicate that glacial deposits might have been partially reworked by sediment gravity flow. Therefore, this papersuggests that the Luoquan Formation diamictite is a result of a glacial event rather than a mud flow deposit.The primary tillites are the principal contribution of the Luoquan Formation, while sediment gravity flow de-posits are the redeposited diamictites and should be termed as glacigenic sediment gravity flow deposits.     

Be data from meltwater channels suggest that Jameson Land, east Greenland, was ice-covered during the last glacial maximum

Along the northeast Greenland continental margin, bedrock on interfjord plateaus is highly weathered, whereas rock surfaces in fjord troughs are characterized by glacial scour. Based on the intense bedrock weathering and lack of glacial deposits from the last glaciation, interfjord plateaus have long been thought to be ice-free throughout the last glacial maximum (LGM). In recent years there is growing evidence from shelf and fjord settings that the northeast Greenland continental margin was more extensively glaciated during the LGM than previously thought. However, little is still known from interfjord settings. We present cosmogenic ¹⁰Be data from meltwater channels and weathered sandstone outcrops on Jameson Land, an interfjord highland north of Scoresby Sund. The mean exposure age of samples from channel beds (n = 3) constrains on the onset of deglaciation on interior Jameson Land to 18.5 ± 1.3–21.4 ± 1.9 ka (for erosion conditions of 0–10 mm/ka, respectively). This finding adds to growing evidence that the northeast Greenland continental margin was more heavily glaciated during the LGM than previously thought.     

STAGES OF THE NEOTECTONIC MOVEMENT IN THE MENYUAN BASIN, QINGHAI PROVINCE

STAGES OF THE NEOTECTONIC MOVEMENT IN THE MENYUAN BASIN, QINGHAI PROVINCE     

Glaciotectonics of the ltterbeck - Uelsen push moraines,Germany

The two Saalian push moraines of ltterbeck - Uelsen, formed during the Older Saalian glaciation, consist of Tertiary and Quaternary deposits. Locally, glaciofluvial deposits are prominent as a result of reworking of older deposits by meltwater. The push moraines are built up from a number of imbricated and folded structural units, which have moved laterally and, in part, frontally from two glacial basins. Dominant structures are large, shallow and flat-lying glaciotectonic nappes that have been displaced over distances of at lest 1 km in the direction of tectonic transport. Overprinting relations of two deformation phases give a relative age difference between the two push morianes.     

西秦岭迭山西北部冰川地貌分布及其特征

迭山西北部位于青藏高原的东缘, 属西秦岭山脉的西段. 在海拔3 700 m以上保存有类型较为齐全的冰蚀地形(冰斗、刃脊、U形谷、悬谷、粒雪盆、鲸背岩与基岩磨光面等)与冰碛地形(侧碛垄与终碛垄). 采用野外考察、遥感影像解译与填图等方法对该区的冰川地貌分布及其特征进行了探讨. 基于研究区冰川地形分布与特征, 结合青藏高原现代的抬升速率、邻近山地冰川地形的年代学资料以及其他古环境研究成果进行综合分析得出: 该区的古冰川发育于末次冰期, 末次冰期最盛期是其最主要的形成期. 冰川最盛时面积约38 km², 为具有暖底性质的冰帽冰川.