Three‐dimensional architecture and hydrostratigraphy of cross‐cutting buried valleys using airborne electromagnetics,glaciated Central Lowlands,Nebraska, USA

Buried valleys are characteristic features of glaciated landscapes, and their deposits host important aquifers worldwide. Understanding the stratigraphic architecture of these deposits is essential for protecting groundwater and interpreting sedimentary processes in subglacial and ice‐marginal environments. The relationships between depositional architecture, topography and hydrostratigraphy in dissected, pre‐Illinoian till sheets is poorly understood. Boreholes alone are inadequate to characterize the complex geology of buried valleys, but airborne electromagnetic surveys have proven useful for this purpose. A key question is whether the sedimentary architecture of buried valleys can be interpreted from airborne electromagnetic profiles. This study employs airborne electromagnetic resistivity profiles to interpret the three‐dimensional sedimentary architecture of cross‐cutting buried valleys in a ca 400 km² area along the western margin of Laurentide glaciation in North America. A progenitor bedrock valley is succeeded by at least five generations of tunnel valleys that become progressively younger northward. Tunnel‐valley infills are highly variable, reflecting under‐filled and over‐filled conditions. Under‐filled tunnel valleys are expressed on the modern landscape and contain fine sediments that act as hydraulic barriers. Over‐filled tunnel valleys are not recognized in the modern landscape, but where they are present they form hydraulic windows between deep aquifer units and the land surface. The interpretation of tunnel‐valley genesis herein provides evidence of the relationships between depositional processes and glacial landforms in a dissected, pre‐Illinoian till sheet, and contributes to the understanding of the complex physical hydrology of glacial aquifers in general.     

Regional reconstruction of subglacial hydrology and glaciodynamic behaviour along the southern margin of the Cordilleran Ice Sheet in British Columbia,Canada and northern Washington State,USA

Subglacial landsystems in and around Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, Canada are investigated in order to evaluate landscape development, subglacial hydrology and Cordilleran Ice Sheet dynamics along its southern margin. Major landscape elements include drumlin swarms and tunnel valleys. Drumlins are composed of bedrock, diamicton and glaciofluvial sediments; their form truncates the substrate. Tunnel valleys of various scales (km to 100s km length), incised into bedrock and sediment, exhibit convex longitudinal profiles, and truncate drumlin swarms. Okanagan Valley is the largest tunnel valley in the area and is eroded >300 m below sea level. Over 600 m of Late Wisconsin-age sediments, consisting of a fining-up sequence of cobble gravel, sand and silt fill Okanagan Valley. Landform–substrate relationships, landform associations, and sedimentary sequences are incompatible with prevailing explanations of landsystem development centred mainly on deforming beds. They are best explained by meltwater erosion and deposition during ice sheet underbursts.During the Late-Wisconsin glaciation, Okanagan Valley functioned as part of a subglacial lake spanning multiple connected valleys (few 100s km) of southern British Columbia. Subglacial lake development started either as glaciers advanced over a pre-existing sub-aerial lake (catch lake) or by incremental production and storage of basal meltwater. High geothermal heat flux, geothermal springs and/or subglacial volcanic eruptions contributed to ice melt, and may have triggered, along with priming from supraglacial lakes, subglacial lake drainage. During the underburst(s), sheetflows eroded drumlins in corridors and channelized flows eroded tunnel valleys. Progressive flow channelization focused flows toward major bedrock valleys. In Okanagan Valley, most of the pre-glacial and early-glacial sediment fill was removed. A fining-up sequence of boulder gravel and sand was deposited during waning stages of the underburst(s) and bedrock drumlins in Okanagan Valley were enhanced or wholly formed by this underburst(s).Subglacial lake development and drainage had an impact on ice sheet geometry and ice volumes. The prevailing conceptual model for growth and decay of the CIS suggests significantly thicker ice in valleys compared to plateaus. Subglacial lake development created a reversal of this ice sheet geometry where grounded ice on plateaus thickened while floating valley ice remained thinner (due to melting and enhanced sliding, with significant transfer of ice toward the ice sheet margin). Subglacial lake drainage may have hastened deglaciation by melting ice, lowering ice-surface elevations, and causing lid fracture. This paper highlights the importance of ice sheet hydrology: its control on ice flow dynamics, distribution and volume in continental ice masses.     

Glacial deposits at Wylfa Head,Anglesey, North Wales: Evidence for Late Devensian deposition in a non-marine environment

The nature and origin of glacial sediments at Wylfa Head are described, and their significance with regard to sedimentary environments during Late Devensian deglaciation of the Irish Sea Basin is discussed. Recent models of deglaciation under glaciomarine conditions are challenged. The Quaternary sequence at Wylfa consists of eroded and glaciotectonically deformed bedrock, locally derived lodgement till, calcareous silt-rich lodgement till containing northern erratics, discontinuous units of orange-brown silty sand of possible aeolian origin, and grey laminated freshwater silts filling a small kettle hole. The till units thicken to the south where the surface is drumlinised. It is concluded that the landforms and deposits result from a warm-based Irish Sea glacier, which moved towards the southwest. Spatial variation in basal water pressure resulted from localised drainage through zones of more heavily jointed bedrock. Rapid glacial erosion occurred in areas where subglacial water pressure was relatively high, while deposition of the resulting basal sediment took place where water pressures were reduced. The glacier also carried basal calcareous silty till onshore, which was deposited by lodgement processes. None of the deposits at Wylfa are interpreted as glaciomarine in origin, and there is no evidence at this site for an isostatically induced marine transgression prior to deglaciation.     

Hydraulic relationships between buried valley sediments of the glacial drift and adjacent bedrock formations in northeastern Ohio,USA

Buried valleys are ancient river or stream valleys that predate the recent glaciation and since have been filled with glacial till and/or outwash. Outwash deposits are known to store and transmit large amounts of groundwater. In addition to their intrinsic hydraulic properties, their productivity depends on their hydraulic relationships with the adjacent bedrock formations. These relationships are examined using a steady-state three-dimensional groundwater flow model through a section of a buried valley in northeastern Ohio, USA. The flow domain was divided into five hydrostratigraphic units: low-conductivity (K) till, high-K outwash, and three bedrock units (Pottsville Formation, Cuyahoga Group and Berea Sandstone). The model input was prepared using the data from well logs and drilling reports of residential water wells. The model was calibrated using observed heads with mean residual head error of 0.3 m. The calibrated model was used to quantify flux between the buried valley and bedrock formations. Mass balance was calculated to within an error of 2–3 %. Mass balance of the buried valley layer indicates that it receives 1.6 Mm³/year (≈40 % of the total inflow) from the adjacent bedrock aquifers: Pottsville Formation contributes 0.96 Mm³/year (60 %) while the Berea Sandstone 0.64 Mm³/year (40 %).     

Climate change in southern Illinois, USA, based on the age and δC of organic matter in cave sediments

Matrix-supported diamicton and uniform to laminated, silty, fine-grained sediment deposited from about 42,500 to 27,600 cal yr B.P. under slackwater conditions nearly filled two caves in southwestern Illinois. At some point, most of the sediment was flushed from the caves and from about 22,700 to 4000 cal yr B.P., floods deposited a drape of sandy and silty sediment on remnant slackwater successions, cobbly alluvium, and bedrock (especially from 7700 to 4000 cal yr B.P.). Clay mineral analyses of the slackwater cave sediment reveal a provenance of chiefly Petersburg Silt, a smectite- and illite-rich proglacial lacustrine unit present in the overlying Illinois Episode glacial succession. Today, remnants of the ancient subterranean slackwater deposits nearly fill several secondary passages and, in at least two locations, cover a cobble-mantled strath terrace 1.3 to 1.5 m above active stream channels. Slumping and sinkhole formation appear to have been important mechanisms for deposition of the ancient subterranean deposits. Slumping of these surficial deposits and associated vegetation can occur along the flanks of sinkholes (in addition to sinkhole formation) and enter caves; however, the finer organics, some of them comminuted during transport into the caves, become part of the cave alluvium. This finer organic fraction is the modern analog of the humified organic matter disseminated in slackwater sediment dated in this investigation by radiocarbon methods. Twenty-four ¹⁴C ages on humified organic matter provide chronologic control. The δ¹³C values of the organic matter reflect the proportion of C₄-type to C₃-type vegetation growing in and around swallets and sinkholes at the time of redeposition. Drought-tolerant C₄-type vegetation was more prevalent relative to C₃-type vegetation from 42,500 to 31,200 cal yr B.P. compared to conditions from 28,800 cal yr B.P. to the present. The δ¹³C values are consistent with the results from other investigations of speleothems and organic matter from loessial paleosols.     

Subglacial Lake McGregor, south-central Alberta, Canada

It is proposed that a lake, here named “Subglacial Lake McGregor”, existed beneath the Laurentide Ice Sheet at, or near, the last glacial maximum. The lake resided in the ancient buried McGregor and Tee Pee preglacial valleys, which are now mostly filled with glacigenic deposits. The greatest thickness of sediment in the valleys is in the form of chaotically deposited lake beds that were laid down in a subaqueous environment by a number of process: gravity flow, water transport, and suspension settling. Topographic, sedimentary, and stratigraphic evidence point to a subglacial, not a proglacial, origin for the beds. During the early stages of lake existence, ice movement was significant as there are numerous sets of shear planes in the sedimentary beds. This indicates that the lake filled (lake sedimentation) and drained (shearing of the beds by overlying ice when ice contacted the bed) often. Thus, early in its history, the lake(s) was/were ephemeral. During the later stages of lake existence, the lake was relatively stable with no rapid draining or influx of sediment. Gradual drainage of the lake resulted in lowering of the ice onto the lake beds resulting in subglacial till deposition. Drainage was not a single continuous event. Rather it was characterized by multiple phases of near total drainage (till deposition), followed by water accumulation (lake sedimentation). Water accumulation events became successively less significant reflected by thinning of lake beds and thickening of till beds higher in the stratigraphic sequence. Since subglacial lake sedimentation appears to be restricted to the subglacial valleys, it is suggested that the valleys acted as a large-scale interconnected cavity system that both stored and transported water. It is also suggested that these acted as the main routes of water flow beneath the Laurentide Ice Sheet.     

Sedimentology and depositional model for glaciolacustrine deposits in an ice-dammed tributary valley, western Tasmania, Australia

Quaternary sedimentary successions are described from the Linda Valley, a small valley in western Tasmania that was dammed by ice during Early and Middle Pleistocene glaciations. Mapping and logging of exposures suggest that an orderly sequence of deposits formed during ice incursion, occupation and withdrawal from tributary valleys. Four principal sediment assemblages record different stages of ice occupation in the valley. As the glacier advanced, a proglacial, lacustrine sediment assemblage dominated by laminated silts and muds deposited from suspension accumulated in front of the glacier. A subglacial sediment assemblage consisting of deformed lacustrine deposits and lodgement till records the overriding of lake-bottom sediments as the glacier advanced up the valley into the proglacial lake. As the glacier withdrew from the valley, a supraglacial sediment assemblage of diamict, gravel, sand and silt facies formed on melting ice in the upper part of the valley. A lacustrine regression in the supraglacial assemblage is inferred on the basis of a change from deposits mainly resulting from suspension in a subaqueous setting to relatively thin and laterally discontinuous laminated sediments, occurrence of clastic dykes, and increasing complexity of the geometry of deposits that indicate deposition in a subaerial setting. A deltaic sediment assemblage deposited during the final stage of ice withdrawal from the valley consists of steeply dipping diamict and normally graded gravel facies formed on delta foresets by subaqueous sediment gravity flows. The sediment source for the delta, which prograded toward the retreating ice margin, was the supraglacial sediment assemblage previously deposited in the upper part of the valley. A depositional model developed from the study of the Linda Valley may be applicable to other alpine glaciated areas where glaciers flowed through or terminated in medium- to high-relief topography.     

Soft-bedded subglacial meltwater channel from the Welzow-Süd opencast lignite mine, Lower Lusatia, eastern Germany

An excellent section in the Welzow-Süd open-cast lignite mine in Lower Lusatia, eastern Germany, provided a rare opportunity to study a small (5 m deep), buried subglacial meltwater channel of Saalian age. The channel is steep-sided and distinctly U-shaped. It is separated from undeformed outwash deposits in which it is incised by a sharp erosional contact and it is filled with meltwater sand and till. The till was possibly squeezed into the channel from the adjacent ice/bed interface. Directly beneath the channel, there is a partly truncated diapir of clayey silt, evidencing sediment intrusion into the channel from below. During channel formation, the pressure gradient was oriented from the surrounding sediments into the channel, so that the channel served as a drainage conduit for groundwater from the adjacent subglacial aquifer. The substratum consists largely of sandy aquifers with a total thickness of about 100 m, separated by two aquitards. Channel formation was initiated when hydraulic transmissivity of the bed did not suffice to evacuate all the subglacial meltwater as groundwater flow. As the Welzow-Süd channel belongs to a dense network of subglacial channels in eastern Germany, temporary ice-sheet instability in this region prior to channel formation seems possible.     

Insights into subglacial processes inferred from the micromorphological analyses of complex diamicton stratigraphy near Illmensee‐Lichtenegg,Höchsten,Germany

Menzies, J. & Ellwanger, D. 2010: Insights into subglacial processes inferred from the micromorphological analyses of complex diamicton stratigraphy near Illmensee‐Lichtenegg, Höchsten, Germany. Boreas, 10.1111/j.1502‐3885.2010.00194.x. ISSN 0300‐9483. Investigations of a 30‐m‐high section of Pleistocene sediments at Illmensee‐Lichtenegg, Höchsten in Baden‐Württemberg provide detailed information on subglacial conditions beneath the Rhine Glacier outlet of the Alpine ice sheet in southern Germany. The sediment exposure extends from an upper cemented sand and gravel (Deckenschotter) into diamictic units that extend down to weathered Molasse bedrock. The exposure reveals sediments symptomatic of active syndepositional stress/strain processes ongoing beneath the ice sheet. Macrosedimentology reveals diamicton subfacies units and a strong uni‐direction of ice motion based on clast fabric analyses. At the microscale level, thin‐section analyses provide a substantially clearer picture of the dynamics of subglacial sediment deformation and till emplacement. Evidence based on detailed micromorphological analyses reveals microstructural strain and depositional markers that indicate a subglacial environment of ongoing soft bed deformation in which the diamictons can be readily identified as subglacial tills. Within this subglacial environment, distinct changes in pore‐water pressure and sediment rheology can be detected. These changes reveal fluctuating conditions of progressive, non‐pervasive deformation associated with rapid changes in effective stress and shear strain leading to till emplacement. This site, through the application of micromorphology, increases our understanding of localized subglacial conditions and till formation.     

Examining the geometry,age and genesis of buried Quaternary valley systems in the Midland Valley of Scotland,UK

Buried palaeo‐valley systems have been identified widely beneath lowland parts of the UK including eastern England, central England, south Wales and the North Sea. In the Midland Valley of Scotland palaeo‐valleys have been identified yet the age and genesis of these enigmatic features remain poorly understood. This study utilizes a digital data set of over 100 000 boreholes that penetrate the full thickness of deposits in the Midland Valley of Scotland. It identified 18 buried palaeo‐valleys, which range from 4 to 36 km in length and 24 to 162 m in depth. Geometric analysis has revealed four distinct valley morphologies, which were formed by different subglacial and subaerial processes. Some palaeo‐valleys cross‐cut each other with the deepest features aligning east–west. These east–west features align with the reconstructed ice‐flow direction under maximum conditions of the Main Late Devensian glaciation. The shallower features appear more aligned to ice‐flow direction during ice‐sheet retreat, and were therefore probably incised under more restricted ice‐sheet configurations. The bedrock lithology influences and enhances the position and depth of palaeo‐valleys in this lowland glacial terrain. Faults have juxtaposed Palaeozoic sedimentary and igneous rocks and the deepest palaeo‐valleys occur immediately down‐ice of knick‐points in the more resistant igneous bedrock. The features are regularly reused and the fills are dominated by glacial fluvial and glacial marine deposits. This suggests that the majority of infilling of the features happened during deglaciation and may be unrelated to the processes that cut them.     

Sedimentology and palynology of Middle Wisconsinan deposits in the Pecatonica River valley,Wisconsin and Illinois

The bedrock valley of the Pecatonica River north of Freeport, Illinois, contains a thick valley-fill complex of alluvium and drift. Within the valley, loess-capped benches surround hills of silty Illinoian drift. Beneath these benches lie thick deposits of poorly sorted stony silt interbedded with thin lenses of silt, sand, and organic-rich loam. Channel deposits and peat cap the diamicton in places. We interpret the stony silts as solifluction debris shed from silty slopes within the valley-fill during the Early or Middle Wisconsinan (Altonian). Top and bottom radiocarbon dates from a 2.5-m section of peat overlying the diamicton are 26,820 ± 200 and 40,500 ± 1700 yr B.P., respectively. We informally refer to the stony silts, channel sediments, and peat as the “Martintown unit.” Geomorphic position, sediment input, and macrofossils suggest that the dated peat was deposited in a floodplain pond (oxbow?). The pollen record from the peat indicates that a boreal forest dominated this area during the Middle Wisconsinan (late Altonian and Farmdalian). Two pollen zones are recognized: a basal Zone I with Pinus slightly more abundant than Picea and with few herbs and shrubs, and an upper Zone II dominated by Picea and with a larger representation of herbaceous and shrub taxa. Little displacement of vegetation zones is indicated, even though ice advanced to within 100 km of the site during the time of peat accumulation. Because of the problems involved in clearly defining Middle Wisconsinan forest-tundra in mid-latitudes by using analogs of Holocene forest-tundra in high latitudes, caution is required in making geomorphic inferences solely from vegetation data. Together, though, pollen and sediment data indicate that during the Middle Wisconsinan, Pecatonica hillslopes progressed through a sequence of instability-stability-instability related to climatic fluctuations.     

Geoarchaeology of dissected loess uplands in Western Illinois

Late Quaternary hillslope and valley evolution of the loess-mantled uplands between the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers has produced a landscape composed of surfaces of different ages. Archaeological remains occur in a variety of geological contexts, including intact surfaces that predate the artifacts upon them, as lag on surfaces formed by subsequent erosion, and buried within alluvium, colluvium, and upland loess soil profiles. Holocene channel belts are largely confined to trenches formed by deep stream incision during the late Pleistocene, and much of the alluvial record is intact, especially in valleys with aggraded floodplains. Modest Holocene hillslope retreat in backslope and shoulder landscape settings and temporary storage of footslope colluvium is documented at some sites. Historic land use practices have resulted in severe hillslope retreat and near complete burial of Holocene valleys with a 0.5-1-m-thick veneer of historic sediment. © 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

冰川冰内及冰下水系研究综述

冰内及冰下水系的形成与演化具有时空变化性,对冰川汇水储水及径流过程产生影响,与之紧密联系的冰下水文过程(水力状况)与冰川运动、冰川侵蚀及冰川洪水形成等过程息息相关。冰内及冰下水系空间结构和形态复杂,且不同于一般喀斯特水文系统,具有明显的季节变化性,其空间分布和水力状况会因外界水体输入(降水和冰雪融水)的变化而改变。冰内及冰下水系的变化通过影响汇流对冰川融水的径流过程产生影响,冰川区一些溃决洪水事件的发生与冰内及冰下蓄水的突然释放有很大关系。冰川蓄排水还通过改变冰下水力条件来影响冰川运动,反之冰川运动不仅影响蓄排水过程的转换效率,且通过改变冰川消融强度(冰体向下游消融区输送速率的变化)影响冰川排水系统的空间分布范围。在气候变暖及冰川变化的背景下,研究冰内冰下水系演化的时空特征及其影响具有重要科学意义。综述了目前国内外针对冰川冰内及冰下水系相关研究的进展及主要成果,并对该领域的研究前景进行了展望。     

Hydrogeological implications of paleo-fluvial architecture for the Paskapoo Formation, SW Alberta, Canada: a stochastic analysis

Fluvial systems tend to deposit sediment in well-defined relational geometries and in vertically and laterally repeating patterns. These sedimentary deposits are preserved to varying degrees depending on how much the fluvial system reworks the deposits. The Paskapoo bedrock aquifer system in southern Alberta, Canada, was deposited in a foreland depositional basin during uplift of the Rocky Mountains, and both the geomorphic model and field evidence indicate that the upper 100 m of the local aquifer system contains well-preserved, highly connected paleo-channels and associated overbank deposits. In order to evaluate the value of different types of data, a simplified stochastic-numerical groundwater flow model was developed to examine the sensitivity of results to model parameters. Parameters examined include: fraction of the formation made up of channel sands; meander and sinuosity factors; width-to-depth ratios of preserved channels; and crevasse splay conductivity. In all cases examined, the system exhibited anisotropic behavior with the along-channel flow direction being the most permeable and the vertical direction being least permeable. In general, the strongest control on the resulting effective anisotropic hydraulic conductivities was channel fraction, but geometric factors that control between-channel connectivity (e.g., channel sinuosity) had an appreciable effect on the across-channel flow direction effective permeability.     

Subglacial emplacement of tills and meltwater deposits at the base of overdeepened bedrock troughs

The sedimentary infills of subglacially eroded bedrock troughs in the Alps are underexplored archives for the timing, extent and character of Pleistocene glaciations but may contain excellent records of the Quaternary landscape evolution over several glacial–interglacial cycles. The onset of sedimentation in these bedrock troughs is often reflected by diamicts and gravels directly overlying bedrock in the deepest basin segments. Subglacial or proglacial depositional environments have been proposed for these coarse‐grained basal units but their characteristics and origin remain controversial. This article presents results from drill cores that recovered a coarse‐grained basal unit in a major buried bedrock‐trough system in the Lower Glatt Valley, northern Switzerland. The excellent core recovery allowed a detailed study combining macroscopic, microscopic and geochemical methods and gives unprecedented insights into the transition from erosion to deposition in overdeepened bedrock troughs. These results show that the basal infill comprises diamicts, interpreted as subglacial tills, separated by thin sorted interbeds, originating from subglacial cavity deposition. The stacking of these units is interpreted to represent repeated switching between a coupled and decoupled ice–bed‐interface indicating an ever‐transforming mosaic of subglacial bed conditions. Decoupling in response to high basal water pressures is probably promoted by the confined subglacial hydraulic conditions resulting from the bedrock acting as aquitards, the narrow reverse sloping outlet and a large catchment area. While stratigraphic and lithological evidence suggests that erosion and the onset of basal sedimentation occurred during the same glaciation, different scenarios for the relative timing of infilling in relation to formation and glaciation of the bedrock trough are discussed. Overlying deltaic and glaciolacustrine sediments suggest deposition during subsequent deglaciation of the bedrock trough. The basal sediment characteristics are in agreement with previous reports in hydrogeological and seismic exploration and suggest the occurrence of similar basal successions in other subglacially overdeepened basins in the Alps and elsewhere.     

Glaciomarine facies within subglacial tunnel valleys: the sedimentary record of glacioisostatic downwarping in the Irish Sea Basin

Coastal exposures of Late Pleistocene sediments deposited after 19 000 yr BP near Dublin, Ireland, provide a window into the infill of a subglacially-cut tunnel valley. Exposures close to the steeply dipping bedrock wall of the valley show boulder gravels within multi-storey U-shaped channels cut and filled by subglacial meltwaters driven by a high hydrostatic head. Gravels are truncated by poorly sorted ice-proximal glaciomarine sediments that record the pumping of large volumes of subglacial debris along the tunnel valley to a tidewater ice sheet margin. The sedimentary succession is dominated by sediment gravity flow facies comprising interbedded diamict and massive, poorly sorted gravel facies interpreted as subaqueous debris flow deposits. Gravel beds show local inverse and normal coarse-tail graded facies recording the restricted development of turbulent flow. Sediment gravity flow deposits fill broad (<2 km) shallow (10 m) and overlapping channels. Penetrative deformation structures (e.g. dykes) are common at the base of channels. The same subglacially-eroded topography and glaciomarine infill stratigraphy can be identified on high resolution seismic profiles across nearly 600 km² of the western Irish Sea. Tunnel valleys are argued to have been exposed to glaciomarine processes by the rapid retreat of a calving tidewater ice sheet margin in response to marine flooding caused by glacio-isostatic downwarping below the last British Ice Sheet. The facies associations described in this paper comprise an event stratigraphy that may be found on other glaciated continental shelves.     

Glacial deposits and ice-sheet dynamics in the north-central Baltic Sea during the last deglaciation

Nine seismic stratigraphic units were distinguished, and their distribution mapped, in an 80 × 130 km submeridionally oriented area in the north-central Baltic Sea, east of Gotska Sandön and Farö. Analysis of these units revealed a great influence of the bedrock topography on the structure and distribution of the glacial deposits. Major glacially eroded valleys in the Baltic Clint, connecting the Faro Deep and the North Central Baltic Basin (Harff & Winterhalter 1996) across a narrow sill, form an extensive submeridional bedrock depression. The concentration of ice flow into this depression is reflected in the drumlinized surface of the till near the Baltic Clint. Large eskers in the elongated bedrock depressions and on the Ordovician Plateau mark the locations of former subglacial meltwater conduits. Termination of the eskers with extensive glacio fluvial outwash fans at the northern limit of the Farö Deep, the presence of subaquatic melt-out till in the bottom of it, and wedge-shaped ice-marginal grounding-line deposit on the Silurian Plateau suggest floating ice margin conditions in the low-lying areas and a local ice shelf confined to the Frö Deep during the deglaciation.     

Glacial deposits and Late Weichselian ice-sheet dynamics in the northeastern Baltic Sea

Glacial deposits and landforms, interpreted from the continuous seismic reflection data, have been used to reconstruct the Late Weichselian ice-sheet dynamics and the sedimentary environments in the northeastern Baltic Sea. The bedrock geology and topography played an important role in the glacial dynamics and subglacial meltwater drainage in the area. Drumlins suggest a south-southeasterly flow direction of the last ice sheet on the Ordovician Plateau. Eskers demonstrate that subglacial meltwater flow was focused mostly within bedrock valleys. The eskers have locally been overlain by a thin layer of till. Thick proximal outwash deposits occupy elongated depressions in the substratum, which often occur along the sides of esker ridges. Ice-marginal grounding-line deposit in the southern part of the area has a continuation on the adjacent Island of Saaremaa. Therefore, we assume that its formation took place during Palivere Stadial of the last deglaciation, whereas the moraine bank extending southwestward from the Serve Peninsula is tentatively correlated with the Pandivere Stadial. The wedge-shaped ice-marginal grounding-line deposit was locally fed by subglacial meltwater streams during a standstill or slight readvance of the ice margin. The thickness of the glacier at the grounding-line was estimated to reach approximately 180 m. In the western part of the area, terrace-like morphology of the ice-marginal deposit and series of small retreat moraines 10–20 km north of it suggest stepwise retreat of the ice margin. Therefore, a rather thin and mobile ice stream was probably covering the northeastern Baltic Sea during the last deglaciation.     

Subglacial tunnel valleys in the Alpine foreland: an example from Bern, Switzerland

The morphology of the Alpine and adjacent landscapes is directly related to glacial erosion and associated sediment transport. Here we report the effects of glacio-hydrologic erosion on bedrock topography in the Swiss Plateau. Specifically, we identify the presence of subsurface valleys beneath the city of Bern and discuss their genesis. Stratigraphic investigations of more than 4,000 borehole data within a 430 km²-large area reveal the presence of a network of >200 m-deep and 1,000 m-wide valleys. They are flat floored with steep sided walls and are filled by Quaternary glacial deposits. The central valley beneath Bern is straight and oriented towards the NNW, with valley flanks more than 20° steep. The valley bottom has an irregular undulating profile along the thalweg, with differences between sills and hollows higher than 50–100 m over a reach of 4 km length. Approximately 500 m high bedrock highlands flank the valley network. The highlands are dissected by up to 80 m-deep and 500 m-broad hanging valleys that currently drain away from the axis of the main valley. We interpret the valleys beneath the city of Bern to be a tunnel valley network which originated from subglacial erosion by melt water. The highland valleys served as proglacial meltwater paths and are hanging with respect to the trunk system, indicating that these incipient highland systems as well as the main gorge beneath Bern formed by glacial melt water under pressure.