Microstructures,subglacial till deposition,and shear band development revealing up-section changes in shear–A study from Weissbach,Austria

Tills from an exposure in Wildschönau Valley, northern Austria were examined using microsedimentological techniques. The tills exhibit a range of microstructures indicative of soft sediment deformation within temperate subglacial bed conditions. The tills can be subdivided at the macroscale into a lower grey and upper red till both of which exhibit some sedimentological variations; however, at the micro-level the tills appear essentially identical. The microstructures in the tills are illustrative of structures developed during deformation both during and following their emplacement. Of note are the microshears within these tills that are demonstrative of changes in applied stress. Both low (<25°) and high angle (>25°) microshears were mapped and their fabric data analyzed. The microshears show a change in stress levels ascending through successive till units. The changes in stress are demonstrative of spatially and temporally changing rheological conditions undergone by the subglacial tills during deformation, ongoing deposition/ emplacement and stress localization. These findings indicate that microstructures reveal local deformation conditions in tills and a more detailed micro-history of paleo-stress.     

Weichselian till stratigraphy in borings from northern Falster, Denmark

A detailed lithological and petrographical investigation of 102 borings across the island of Falster, Denmark, shows that four till-beds can be distinguished. The borings are on both sides of the recessional ice border line of the G-stage of the Young Baltic Ice. The stratigraphy indicates that the morphological petrographical parameters show regional significance in differentiating the two uppermost tills. The upper one is referred to the Weichselian Young Baltic advance on the basis of stone counts and till fabrics. The lower one is referred to the Weichselian Northeast advance on the basis of stone counts and the orientation of a chalk floe. In one boring additional till-beds were recognized, one of which referred to the Weichselian Old Baltic advance, because of the clast petrography and content of reworked Eemian foraminifera. The lowermost till is interpreted as being of Saalean age on the basis of the counts of the tine gravel fraction (3–5 mm). The landscape is dominated by the morphology produced by the Northeast Ice advance, whereas the later Young Baltic advance had only a drumlinizing effect.     

Microstructural interpretations of modern and Pleistocene subglacially deformed sediments: the relative role of parent material and subglacial processes

Analysis of till micromorphology represents a relatively new technique that has been used most frequently to infer the importance of subglacial shear in till genesis. This study aims to calibrate the technique by comparing Pleistocene tills from United Kingdom with a modern till (the UpB till) from beneath Ice Stream B, West Antarctica. Despite the fact that all of the tills examined have been interpreted as deforming‐bed deposits, the modern till has significantly less abundant and diverse microstructures than those found in the Pleistocene tills. Seventeen examined thin‐sections of the UpB till contain recognisable microstructures over only 0–30% of individual thin‐section area. The most common microstructures are: (i) birefringent clay patterns that are interpreted as shear zones and (ii) adherent matrix structures, which we interpret as uncomminuted remnants of the parent glacial/glaciomarine diamictons. Fourteen thin‐sections of the Pleistocene tills were covered by microstructures in 10–95% of their area. The Pleistocene microstructures include birefringent clays and adherent matrix structures, as in the UpB till, but also laminations and deformed pods made of chalk and sorted sediments. We conclude that the same till‐forming process, i.e. subglacial deformation, may result in distinctly different till micromorphology. This is a consequence of the fact that microstructural characteristics are strongly influenced by factors other than shear deformation. We identify three controls that may be important for forming contrasting microstructural assemblages: (i) strain magnitude, (ii) the degree of heterogeneity of parent material, and (iii) relative importance of sediment sorting by flowing water in the subglacial environment. Thus till micromorphology is sensitive to multiple factors, which with proper calibration may enhance the existing capability to interpret past subglacial conditions from microstructures. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Grain-size distribution and grain-size parameters of different till types on Hardangervidda, south Norway

Vorren, T. O. 1977 06 01: Grain-size distribution and grain-size parameters of differcnt till type on Hardangervidda, south Norway.
Grain-size characteristics for different till types on Hardangervidda havc been studied: Basal tills are finer grained than ablation tills: phyllitic basal tills are relatively rich in gravel and clay: basal tills derived from a semiporphyritic granite are poor in clay and have a deficiency of very coarse sand. Of the Folk a Ward's (1957) grain-size distribution parameters, sorting and kurtosis seem to he the most diagnostic parameters for distinguishing between different types of till. A linear corrclation betwen sorting and the other grain-size parameters is indicated for the basal tills.     

Early middle Pleistocene glacial sediments (780000-620000 BP) near Kansas City, northeastern Kansas and northwestern Missouri, USA

Two lithologically distinct tills are present near the pre-Illinoian glacial boundary in northeastern Kansas and northwestern Missouri. The tills are probably early middle Pleistocene (780 000-620 000 BP) based on normal polarity and their stratigraphic relationship to dated terraces. The upper till is sandier than the lower till and contains more expandable clay minerals and less illite than the lower till. Glaciofluvial and supraglacial sediments are preserved between the tills, yet palaeosols, or other evidence of an interglacial, are not present, suggesting that the tills were deposited during a single glaciation. Southeasterly and southwesterly trending striae and till fabric suggest that the glacial succession was deposited by at least two fluctuations (phases) of a lobe, which probably advanced down the axis of the present Missouri River lowland. These tills probably correlate to early middle Pleistocene tills in southwestern Iowa and eastern Nebraska, although it is possible that the lower till may correlate to even older tills in these areas.     

Fluted moraine formation and till genesis below a temperate valley glacier: Slettmarkbreen, Jotunheimen, southern Norway

Clast fabric and morphological data have been used to determine the origin of fluted subglacial tills exposed by recent retreat of the Slettmarkbreen glacier, Norway. A new method for the interpretation of clast fabric data allows aspects of the strain and depositional history of the till to be reconstructed. The till formed by a combination of lodgement and subsole deformation by slip along discrete shear planes. Lodgement was dominant for the larger size fractions (>125 mm), while the smaller material was more susceptible to deformation. The fluted till surface reflects the tendency for the till matrix to deform into regions of low confining pressure in the lee of lodged boulders. Downglacier components of till flow are thought to have resulted in significant sediment transfer towards the margin.     

Provenance of Des Moines lobe till records ice‐stream catchment evolution during Laurentide deglaciation

Lusardi, B. A., Jennings, C. E. & Harris, K. L. 2011: Provenance of Des Moines lobe till records ice‐stream catchment evolution during Laurentide deglaciation. Boreas, 10.1111/j.1502‐3885.2011.00208.x. ISSN 0300‐9483. Mapping and analysis of deposits of the Des Moines lobe of the Laurentide Ice Sheet, active after the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), reveal several texturally and lithologically distinct tills within what had been considered to be a homogeneous deposit. Although the differences between tills are subtle, minor distinctions are predictable and mappable, and till sheets within the area covered by the lobe can be correlated for hundreds of kilometres parallel to ice flow. Lateral till‐sheet contacts are abrupt or overlap in a narrow zone, coincident with a geomorphic discontinuity interpreted to be a shear margin. Till sheets 10 to 20 m thick show mixing in their lower 2 to 3 m. We suggest that: (i) lithologically distinct till sheets correspond to unique ice‐stream source areas; (ii) the sequence of tills deposited by the Des Moines lobe was the result of the evolution and varying dominance of nearby and competing ice streams and their tributaries; and (iii) in at least one instance, more than one ice stream simultaneously contributed to the lobe. Therefore the complex sequence of tills of subtly different provenances, and the unconformities between them record the evolution of an ice‐catchment area during Laurentide Ice Sheet drawdown. Till provenance data suggest that, after till is created in the ice‐stream source area, the subglacial conditions required for transporting till decline and incorporation of new material is limited.     

Some properties of Norwegian tills

Grain size distribution data for a large number of basal tills from different areas are presented. The Norwegian tills can be divided in two major groups: Tills derived from Precambrian bedrock and tills derived from Cambro-Silurian sedimentary rocks. Both types are significantly different from Danish tills where unconsolidated sediments are incorporatcd. Chemical and mineralogical composition of the 125–250 μm fraction of tills derived from Precambrian rocks and tills derived from phyllites are presented. These data are used to determine transport distances for the till material.
Due to a marked relief and short distances from the ice-divides to the coast, the tills found in the Norwegian mountains have generally had a short transport and are, unless large amounts of unconsolidated sediments are incorporated, strongly influenced by the underlying bedrock.     

Till stratigraphy and ice movements in eastern Overijssel, The Netherlands

A three–till section in eastern Overijssel, eastern Netherlands, represents the most complete till sequence of the Older Saalian glaciation presently known from The Netherlands and adjacent Germany. On the basis of structural analyses, four different glacial events within one continuous glacial cover can be distinguished: (1) deposition of till 1 (lowest till) by ice probably moving in a southerly direction, (2) glaciotectonic dislocation of till 1 under a compressive strain regime acting towards the west, (3) deposition of till 2 by ice moving in a westerly direction, and (4) deposition of till 3 by southeasterly moving ice. During deposition of tills 2 and 3, the underlying older tills were subjected to a strong extensional tectonic regimc, leading among other things to the development of characteristic sheath folds. On the basis of directional and compositional characteristics, the three tills can be correlated with the till stratigraphy of the northern Netherlands.     

The friction and deformation behaviour of rock joints

SummaryThe Friction and Deformation Behaviour of Rock Joints The present investigation deals with the influence of joint roughness and material strength on the friction and deformation behaviour of rough indented joints. Besides the analytical determination of the joint roughness by the dilatation behaviour of the joint, friction tests on models with natural joint morphology and rock samples have been conducted.A material law is developed, describing the friction resistance and the dilatation behaviour at large deformations in their dependence on normal stress and material strength.

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ZusammenfassungDas Reibungs- und Verformungsverhalten von Klüften Die vorliegende Untersuchung war dem Einfluß der Kluftflächenunebenheit und der Materialfestigkeit auf das Reibungs- und Verformungsverhalten rauher, verzahnter Kluftflächen gewidmet.Neben der analytischen Bestimmung der Kluftflächenunebenheit anhand des Dilatationsverhaltens der Kluftfuge wurden Reibungsversuche an Modellkörpern mit natürlicher Kluftmorphologie und an Gesteinen durchgeführt. Es wird ein Stoffgesetz entwickelt, mit welchem der Reibungswiderstand und das Dilatationsverhalten in Abhängigkeit von der Normalspannung und der Materialfestigkeit bei längeren Gleitwegen beschrieben werden kann.

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RésuméLe comportement des fissures au frottement et aux déformations La présente étude traite de l'influence de la rugosité d'une diaclase et de la résistance de la roche sur le comportement au frottement et aux déformations d'une fissure âpre et endentée. La rugosité de la fissure a été déterminée d'après la dilatation maximale. Des éssais de frottement ont été exécutés à l'aide de modèles ayant une surface de fissure naturelle et à l'aide d'échantillons de roche. Une loi a été développée qui décrit la resistancé au frottement et le comportement à la dilatation de la fissure pour de grandes déformations en fonction de la contrainte normale et de la résistance des matériaux.

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List of Symbols h dilatation - i deviation angle, dilatation angle - s shear deformation - residual friction angle - normal stress - _F tensile strength - shear stress With 15 Figures     

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.     

考虑硬化软化和剪胀特性的绿泥石片岩力学模型

绿泥石片岩是一种典型的软岩,开挖过程中出现的围岩大变形和塌方对工程安全危害极大。为了深入研究绿泥石片岩的力学特征并建立其合理的力学模型,首先进行了不同围压下的三轴压缩试验,并考虑应力状态对塑性演化的影响,定义了新的内变量;分析了凝聚力和内摩擦角随内变量的演化规律,结果表明,凝聚力先近似呈线性减小,而后近似呈抛物线递减至残余破坏;而内摩擦角一直近似呈抛物线递增;研究了绿泥石片岩的剪胀特性,分析了剪胀角随内变量演化规律,结果表明,剪胀角与内摩擦角呈相反的演化趋势。考虑硬化、软化和剪胀特性,建立了绿泥石片岩的力学模型,对室内三轴压缩试验结果的模拟分析表明,该力学模型可以较好地描述绿泥石片岩的硬化、软化规律和剪胀等性质,为工程安全性分析提供了基本的力学模型,对于类似软岩力学性质的研究也具有重要的参考意义。     

Reconstructing flow paths of the Middle Pleistocene British Ice Sheet in central-eastern England: the application of regional soil geochemical data

High-density regional geochemical data for surface soils in central England and East Anglia reveal that much of their geochemical character is inherited from the tills that they are developed upon. Multivariate statistical analysis highlighted three significant element associations of Al–Fe–Ga–K–La–Mg–Rb, Ca–Sr and K–Fe accounting for almost 93% of the geochemical variability of soils derived from tills. Provenancing the geochemical signatures of the latter elements enabled the construction of ice flow paths associated with two different Middle Pleistocene ‘chalky’ till sheets. A lower till sheet relating to ‘Pennine’ ice flowing from west to east across the region, and an upper till sheet deposited by North Sea ice moving into northern East Anglia, and to the west of the Fen Basin, before fanning-out across central England. Overall, geochemical signatures of different till units are largely derived from local bedrock sources, with dilution and a new geochemical signature acquired as the ice flows over and incorporates new bedrock lithologies. The results show that high resolution soil geochemical data provides a further proxy with which the flow paths of former ice sheets can be delineated.     

Characterization of pebble fabrics in modern terrestrial glacigenic sediments

ABSTRACT Pebble fabric data are available from several facies of glacigenic sediments deposited by modern glaciers, where sedimentary processes can be observed or inferred with relatively little ambiguity. Over 100 samples from contemporary environments illustrate fabrics characterizing melt-out till, deformed and undeformed lodgement till, sediment flow deposits and ice slope colluvium. Lodgement till fabric variability is related to the two-layer structure of these sediments; a structureless, friable upper layer with low shear strength and high consolidation coefficient, overlying a very compact material of horizontal platy structure. Fabric strength (assessed by eigenvalue analysis) is weaker and pebble dip is more dispersed in the upper structureless horizon. Stronger fabrics in the lower platy horizon may be primary depositional fabrics which are destroyed by subglacial shearing to give weaker fabrics in the upper horizon. Alternatively, upper horizon fabrics may be characteristic of all recently-deposited lodgement tills, with stronger fabrics developing at depth by dewatering and consolidation. There is a general reduction in fabric strength and an increase in particle dip associated with the transition from melt-out tills, through undeformed and deformed lodgement tills, to sediment flow deposits and ice slope colluvium. There is, however, considerable overlap in the fabric strengths characteristic of sediment flow deposits and deformed lodgement tills. Fabric data from modern glacial sedimentary facies are used to assist in interpreting the mode of deposition of some Quaternary glacial sediments. Relatively strong fabrics characteristic of melt-out tills and undeformed lodgement tills are more likely to be diagnostic of genesis than weaker fabrics associated with deformed sediments.     

Microsedimentology of ice stream tills from the Eastern Alps,Austria – a new perspective on till microstructures

This study of tills from the Eastern Alps, Austria, illustrates the insights obtained using microsedimentology on subglacial tills in the context of palaeogeographical reconstructions of glacier advances. Investigations of several sites with tills derived from both local glaciers and the ice‐sheet streaming of the Inn Glacier during the Last Glacial Maximum and its termination reveal a detailed picture of subglacial sedimentology that provides evidence of soft sediment subglacial deformation under polythermal conditions. All the tills exhibit microstructures that are proxy evidence of significant changes in till rheology. The tills originate from multiple sources, incorporating older tills and other deposits picked up by the subglacial deformation within a polythermal but dominantly warm temperate subglacial thermal regime. The analyses of till microstructures reveal a direct relationship between basal ice strain conditions and their development. A hypothesis is derived, from the various microstructures observed in these Austrian tills formed under soft sediment deforming basal ice conditions, that suggests that with basal thermal changes and fluctuations in clay content, pore‐water content and pressure, microstructures form in a non‐random manner. It is postulated that in clay‐deficient sediments, edge‐to‐edge events are most likely to occur first; and where clay content increases, grain stacks, rotation structures, deformation bands and, finally, shear zones are likely to evolve in an approximate sequential manner. After repeated transport, emplacement, reworking and, probably, further shearing and deformation events, an emplaced ‘till’, as observed in these Austrian tills, will form that carries most, if not all of these microstructures, in varying percentages. Finally, the impact of the Inn Glacier Ice Stream on these tills is not easily detected and/or differentiated, but indications of high pore water and probable dilatant events leading to reductions in the number of edge‐to‐edge events point to the impact of fast or thick ice upon these subglacial tills.     

基于Hoek-Brown准则的冻融循环条件下露天煤矿边坡岩体力学系数修正

在露天矿边坡稳定性计算和评价过程中,边坡稳定性评价结果与岩体力学参数的选取密切相关。而在冻融循环条件下,岩石的物理力学参数随着冻融次数的变化而变化。首先通过室内模拟的方法对粗砂岩和细砂岩进行不同次数的冻融循环试验,然后进行一系列的单轴和三轴压缩试验,得到冻融循环条件下完整粗砂岩和细砂岩的物理力学参数;基于Hoek-Brown强度准则中的爆破扰动参数D,提出冻融循环劣化参数D_f,利用修正的Hoek-Brown准则得到冻融循环条件下岩体力学参数,并分析了边坡岩体的破坏模式。结果表明:随着冻融循环次数的增加,粗砂岩和细砂岩的单轴抗压强度、弹性模量和黏聚力降低减小,内摩擦角变化较小;而岩体的单轴抗压强度、整体抗压强度、抗拉强度、变形模量、黏聚力和内摩擦角均减小,这说明岩体在冻融循环环境中是不断损伤的,质量逐渐变差;随着冻融循环次数不断增加,岩体的抗剪强度劣化在不断加速,边坡的破坏形式主要为剪切破坏。修正的岩体力学参数为露天矿边坡稳定性分析提供更为准确的数据。      

Late Wisconsinan glaciation models of northern Maine and adjacent Canada

Surficial stratigraphic units of Aroostook County, Maine, have been mapped and formal stratigraphic names for these units are proposed. Evidence exists for at least two distinct glacial phases which are represented by three tills. Two of these tills were deposited penecontemporaneously either as the result of coalescing ice sheets or as the result of the thermal regime existing within a single ice sheet. The oldest till is named the St. Francis and is correlated with the Chaudière Till of southeastern Quebec. The other tills are named the Mars Hill and Van Buren tills, respectively, and are correlated with the Lennoxville till of southeastern Quebec. Interbedded stratified sediments associated with the St. Francis till are correlated with the Gayhurst Formation. Stratified sediments associated with Van Buren and Mars Hill tills are correlated with post Lennoxville sediments of Quebec. Granite-gneiss erratics of Canadian Shield provenance in the Van Buren till indicate advance of the Laurentide ice into northern Maine during late Wisconsinan time. Moraines in southern Aroostook County with associated outwash and eskers record general recession from coastal Maine. Recession occurred after the formation of the Pineo Ridge moraine in Maine and the St. Antonin-Highland Front moraine complex in Quebec. The Caribou-Winterville moraine complex in northern Maine marks the boundary between the penecontemporaneously deposited Van Buren and Mars Hill surface tills and is correlated with the Grand Falls moraine at Grand Falls, New Brunswick.     

Laurentide and Cordilleran fast ice flow: some sedimentological evidence from Wisconsinan subglacial till and its substrate

With the aid of three case studies we summarize sedimentological and structural evidence in Wisconsinan subglacial till and its substrate that can be used to infer the presence of former fast-moving ice. We compare sedimentological characteristics of till with its stone fabric, stone surface erosional features and orientations of fractures, faults and folds in till and substrate, in order to interpret the processes that formed the till. In the cases we studied, stones in tills that experienced ductile deformation (inferred to be associated with fast-moving ice) show variable alignment of latest surface striae. Moreover, striae are inconsistent with the orientations of lee ends and chattermarks on the same stones, and with the dip directions of shallow shear planes and (or) steeper tension fractures in the till matrix. These observations indicate that stones were rotating in a flowing till matrix prior to their final emplacement. Ductile shear of fine-textured, water-saturated till and Jeffrey-like rotation of stones are invoked where most of the following occur together: (i) delicate striae follow the curvature of stone surfaces; (ii) a-axis fabrics are multimodal to girdle-like; (iii) stone a axis eigenvectors, striae orientation and stone lee end alignments fall between the modes of stone fabrics; (iv) stone pavements are uneven with vertically oriented and inverted bullet-shaped stones; (v) soft sediment clasts and (or) fragile fossils are preserved.     

Distribution and genesis of tills in central south Norway

The morphogenesis of tills below the culmination zones of the Weichsclian inland ice has been studied an an upland area with a relief of 1500 m. The thickness of the tills varies considerably, depending principally on gee-morphology, ice-movement directions, and glaciofluvial drainage during the last deglaciation period. The thickest tills, found in valleys, accumulated in three ways. Glaciofluvial/lacustrine sediments of prcsumed Mid-Weichselian age have been discovered beneath the tills at niorc than 10 localities. The overlying tills are correlated with different phases of ice movement reconstructed on the basis of detailed studies of stt-iae. The till stratigraphy of one locality, Stenseng, is described in detail. Based upon combined analyses of texture, structure, and fabric, four different hasal tills are recognized, each corresponding to a particular ice direction. A characteristic boulder layer represents a change in thc direction of glacial movement. Boulder layers in till are thought to he essential for the development of earth pillars.     

The quartile-deviation/median-diameter relationships of glacial deposits

Quartile-deviation (QDa) and median-diameter (Md) values have been calculated from the grain-size distributions of a variety of Pleistocene and modern glacial and para-glacial sediments. The QDa—Md pairs are plotted on double-log graph paper to determine whether their graphic distributions are distinctive, and to examine their sedimentological implications. Three distributions emerge. The first has a shallow gradient and represents coarse bi-modal tills consisting largely of rock fragments — distribution (a). The second, with an intermediate gradient, represents fine uni- or non-modal tills consisting mainly of monomineralic grains — distribution (b). The third (c) has a steep gradient and consists of bi-modal tills with a dominant proportion of monomineralic grains. Each of these distributions is explained by using the grain-size characteristics of physically weathered rock debris as a starting point for discussion. By a process dominated by the continual addition of weathered-grain populations (population addition), tills with (a) characteristics are formed. By a process dominated by comminution and the selective removal of grains by ablation (population subtraction), tills with (b) characteristics are formed. Any of these tills, when subjected to flowing water, rapidly lose their glacial characteristics and assume QDa—Md characteristics of fluvial deposits (although they are fluvioglacial).