Late Pleistocene and late Holocene lake highstands in the Pyramid Lake subbasin of Lake Lahontan, Nevada, USA

Shoreline geomorphology, shoreline stratigraphy, and radiocarbon dates of organic material incorporated in constructional beach ridges record large lakes during the late Pleistocene and late Holocene in the Pyramid Lake subbasin of Lake Lahontan, Nevada, USA. During the late Holocene, a transgression began at or after 3595 ± 35 ¹⁴C yr B.P. and continued, perhaps in pulses, through 2635 ± 40 ¹⁴C yr B.P., resulting in a lake as high as 1199 m. During the latest Pleistocene and overlapping with the earliest part of the Younger Dryas interval, a lake stood at approximately 1212 m at 10,820 ± 35 ¹⁴C yr B.P. and a geomorphically and stratigraphically distinct suite of constructional shorelines associated with this lake can be traced to 1230 m. These two lake highstands correspond to periods of elevated regional wetness in the western Basin and Range that are not clearly represented in existing northern Sierra Nevada climate proxy records.     

Lake levels and sedimentary environments during deposition of the Trego Hot Springs and Wono tephras in the Lake Lahontan basin, Nevada, USA

The Wono and Trego Hot Springs (THS) tephras are widespread in the Lahontan basin and have been identified in a variety of sedimentary environments at different elevations. Davis (1983) reported lake level to be at about 1256 m when the THS tephra was deposited, an interpretation questioned by Benson et al. (1997) who interpreted lake level to be ≤ 1177 m at that time. This is a significant difference in lake size with important implications for interpreting the climate that prevailed at that time. Based on new interpretations of depositional settings of the THS bed at multiple sites, the larger lake size is correct. Additional sites containing the Wono tephra indicate that it was deposited when lake level was at about 1217 m in the western subbasins and at about 1205 m in the Carson Sink. Sedimentary features associated with progressively deeper paleowater depths follow a predictable pattern that is modulated by proximity to sediment sources and local slope. Fine to coarse sands with wave-formed features are commonly associated with relatively shallow water. Silty clay or clay dominates in paleowater depths > 25 m, with thin laminae of sand and ostracods at sites located adjacent to or downslope from steep mountain fronts.     

Sedimentology of a lacustrine fan-delta system, Miocene Horse Camp Formation, Nevada, USA

A 1600-m-thick succession of the Miocene Horse Camp Formation (Member 2) exposed in east-central Nevada records predominantly terrigenous clastic deposition in subaerial and subaqueous fan-delta environments and nearshore and offshore lacustrine environments. These four depositional environments are distinguished by particular associations of individual facies (14 defined facies). Subaerial and subaqueous fan-delta facies associations include: ungraded, matrix-and clast-supported conglomerate; normally graded, matrix- and clast-supported conglomerate; ungraded and normally graded sandstone; and massive to poorly laminated mudstone. Subaqueous fan-delta deposits typically have dewatering structures, distorted bedding and interbedded mudstone. The subaerial fan-delta environment was characterized by debris flows, hyperconcentrated flows and minor sheetfloods; the subaqueous fan-delta environment by debris flows, high- and low-density turbidity currents, and suspension fallout. The nearshore lacustrine facies association provides examples of deposits and processes rarely documented in lacustrine environments. High-energy oscillatory wave currents, probably related to a large fetch, reworked grains as large as 2 cm into horizontally stratified sand and gravel. Offshore-directed currents produced uncommonly large (typically 1–2 m thick) trough cross-stratified sandstone. In addition, stromatolitic carbonate interbedded with stratified coarse sandstone and conglomerate suggests a dynamic environment characterized by episodic terrigenous clastic deposition under high-energy conditions alternating with periods of carbonate precipitation under reduced energy conditions. Massive and normally graded sandstone and massive to poorly laminated mudstone characterize the offshore lacustrine facies association and record deposition by turbidity currents and suspension fallout. A depositional model constructed for the Horse Camp Formation (Member 2) precludes the existence of all four depositional environments at any particular time. Rather, phases characterized by deposition in subaerial fan, nearshore lacustrine and offshore lacustrine environments alternated with phases of subaerial fan-delta, subaqueous fan-delta and offshore lacustrine deposition. This model suggests that high-energy nearshore currents due to deep water along the lake margin reworked sediment of the fan edge, thus preventing development of a subaqueous fan-delta environment and promoting development of a well-defined nearshore lacustrine environment. Low-energy nearshore currents induced by shallow water along the     

Calcium Carbonate Nucleation in an Alkaline Lake Surface Water, Pyramid Lake, Nevada, USA

Calcium concentration and calcite supersaturation (Ω) needed for calcium carbonate nucleation and crystal growth in Pyramid Lake (PL) surface water were determined during August of 1997, 2000, and 2001. PL surface water has Ω values of 10–16. Notwithstanding high Ω, calcium carbonate growth did not occur on aragonite single crystals suspended PL surface water for several months. However, calcium solution addition to PL surface-water samples caused reproducible calcium carbonate mineral nucleation and crystal growth. Mean PL surface-water calcium concentration at nucleation was 2.33 mM (n = 10), a value about nine times higher than the ambient PL surface-water calcium concentration (0.26 mM); mean Ω at nucleation (109 with a standard deviation of 8) is about eight times the PL surface-water Ω. Calcium concentration and Ω regulated the calcium carbonate formation in PL nucleation experiments and surface water. Unfiltered samples nucleated at lower Ω than filtered samples. Calcium concentration and Ω at nucleation for experiments in the presence of added particles were within one standard deviation of the mean for all samples. Calcium carbonate formation rates followed a simple rate expression of the form, rate (mM/min) = A (Ω) + B. The best fit rate equation “Rate (Δ mM/Δ min) = −0.0026 Ω + 0.0175 (r = 0.904, n = 10)” was statistically significant at greater than the 0.01 confidence level and gives, after rearrangement, Ω at zero rate of 6.7. Nucleation in PL surface water and morphology of calcium carbonate particles formed in PL nucleation experiments and in PL surface-water samples suggest crystal growth inhibition by multiple substances present in PL surface water mediates PL calcium carbonate formation, but there is insufficient information to determine the chemical nature of all inhibitors.     

Stratigraphy and chronology of Provo shoreline deposits and lake‐level implications,Late Pleistocene Lake Bonneville,eastern Great Basin,USA

The Provo shoreline of Lake Bonneville formed following the Bonneville flood, and, based on previous dating, was formed during a period of overflow from about 17.5 to 15.0 cal. ka. In many places the Provo shoreline consists of a pair of distinct shorelines, one ～3 m higher than the other. We present data from two cuts through double beaches to show that the upper beach is younger and represents sedimentation after a lake‐level rise. In addition, the lower beach deposits are internally stratified by beds that suggest three more lake‐level rises during its development. The Provo beach complex thus appears to have been built during rising lake levels, which can be explained by rises in the overflow threshold by sequential landslide deposition. Evaluation of beach altitudes demonstrates that the two beach crests throughout the Bonneville basin experienced equivalent rebound from removal of the lake load, and therefore they formed after the rebound associated with the Bonneville flood occurred in early Provo time. However, radiocarbon ages on gastropods collected within the beach deposits suggest both that the sequence of five beach deposits formed from c.18.1 to c. 17.0 cal. ka, and that the Bonneville flood occurred before 18 cal. ka. These ages are discordant with previous dates on shells within offshore sands, and raise questions about the validity of radiocarbon ages for shells in Lake Bonneville as well as about the age of the Bonneville flood and Provo shoreline. The timing for maximum Provo lake depths and its association with climate stages during deglaciation remain unresolved.     

Transtensional deformation in the Lake Tahoe region, California and Nevada, USA

Dextral transtensional deformation is occurring along the Sierra Nevada–Great Basin boundary zone (SNGBBZ) at the eastern edge of the Sierra Nevada microplate. In the Lake Tahoe region of the SNGBBZ, transtension is partitioned spatially and temporally into domains of north–south striking normal faults and transitional domains with conjugate strike-slip faults. The normal fault domains, which have had large Holocene earthquakes but account only for background seismicity in the historic period, primarily accommodate east–west extension, while the transitional domains, which have had moderate Holocene and historic earthquakes and are currently seismically active, primarily record north–south shortening. Through partitioned slip, the upper crust in this region undergoes overall constrictional strain.Major fault zones within the Lake Tahoe basin include two normal fault zones: the northwest-trending Tahoe–Sierra frontal fault zone (TSFFZ) and the north-trending West Tahoe–Dollar Point fault zone. Most faults in these zones show eastside down displacements. Both of these fault zones show evidence of Holocene earthquakes but are relatively quiet seismically through the historic record. The northeast-trending North Tahoe–Incline Village fault zone is a major normal to sinistral-oblique fault zone. This fault zone shows evidence for large Holocene earthquakes and based on the historic record is seismically active at the microearthquake level. The zone forms the boundary between the Lake Tahoe normal fault domain to the south and the Truckee transition zone to the north.Several lines of evidence, including both geology and historic seismicity, indicate that the seismically active Truckee and Gardnerville transition zones, north and southeast of Lake Tahoe basin, respectively, are undergoing north–south shortening. In addition, the central Carson Range, a major north-trending range block between two large normal fault zones, shows internal fault patterns that suggest the range is undergoing north–south shortening in addition to east–west extension.A model capable of explaining the spatial and temporal partitioning of slip suggests that seismic behavior in the region alternates between two modes, one mode characterized by an east–west minimum principal stress and a north–south maximum principal stress as at present. In this mode, seismicity and small-scale faulting reflecting north–south shortening concentrate in mechanically weak transition zones with primarily strike-slip faulting in relatively small-magnitude events, and domains with major normal faults are relatively quiet. A second mode occurs after sufficient north–south shortening reduces the north–south S_hmax in magnitude until it is less than S_v, at which point S_v becomes the maximum principal stress. This second mode is then characterized by large earthquakes on major normal faults in the large normal fault domains, which dominate the overall moment release in the region, producing significant east–west extension.     

A Holocene pollen record of persistent droughts from Pyramid Lake, Nevada, USA

Pollen and algae microfossils preserved in sediments from Pyramid Lake, Nevada, provide evidence for periods of persistent drought during the Holocene age. We analyzed one hundred nineteen 1-cm-thick samples for pollen and algae from a set of cores that span the past 7630 years. The early middle Holocene, 7600 to 6300 cal yr B.P., was found to be the driest period, although it included one short but intense wet phase. We suggest that Lake Tahoe was below its rim for most of this period, greatly reducing the volume and depth of Pyramid Lake. Middle Holocene aridity eased between 5000 and 3500 cal yr B.P. and climate became variable with distinct wet and dry phases. Lake Tahoe probably spilled intermittently during this time. No core was recovered that represented the period between 3500 and 2600 cal yr B.P. The past 2500 years appear to have had recurrent persistent droughts. The timing and magnitude of droughts identified in the pollen record compares favorably with previously published δ¹⁸O data from Pyramid Lake. The timing of these droughts also agrees with the ages of submerged rooted stumps in the Eastern Sierra Nevada and woodrat midden data from central Nevada. Prolonged drought episodes appear to correspond with the timing of ice drift minima (solar maxima) identified from North Atlantic marine sediments, suggesting that changes in solar irradiance may be a possible mechanism influencing century-scale drought in the western Great Basin.     

The influence of faults in basin-fill deposits on land subsidence,Las Vegas Valley,Nevada, USA

The role of horizontal deformation caused by pumping of confined-aquifer systems is recognized as contributing to the development of earth fissures in semiarid regions, including Las Vegas Valley, Nevada. In spite of stabilizing water levels, new earth fissures continue to develop while existing ones continue to lengthen and widen near basin-fill faults. A three-dimensional granular displacement model based on Biot's consolidation theory (Biot, MA, 1941, General theory of three-dimensional consolidation. Jour. Applied Physics 12:155–164) has been used to evaluate the nature of displacement in the vicinity of two vertical faults. The fault was simulated as (1) a low-permeability barrier to horizontal flow, (2) a gap or structural break in the medium, but where groundwater flow is not obstructed, and (3) a combination of conditions (1) and (2). Results indicate that the low-permeability barrier greatly enhances horizontal displacement. The fault plane also represents a location of significant differential vertical subsidence. Large computed strains in the vicinity of the fault may suggest high potential for failure and the development of earth fissures when the fault is assumed to have low permeability. Results using a combination of the two boundaries suggest that potential fissure development may be great at or near the fault plane and that horizontal deformation is likely to play a key role in this development. Electronic Publication     

Sedimentology and luminescence ages of Glacial Lake Humber deposits in the central Vale of York

The sedimentary sequence through the Hemingbrough Formation exposed at two sites in the central part of the Vale of York, south of the Escrick moraine ridge, is described and used to reconstruct the palaeoenvironmental history of Glacial Lake Humber. Interbedded wave ripples and laminated silts and clays at both sites indicate that Lake Humber was characterised by fluctuating water levels, often no deeper than wave base. Optically stimulated luminescence ages of 21.0 ± 1.9, 21.9 ± 2.0, and 24.1 ± 2.2 kyr returned from two wave-rippled sandy beds within the glaciolacustrine sequence at Hemingbrough, c. 10 km south of the Escrick moraine ridge, provide the first direct chronological determination for the low-level phase of Lake Humber. As these beds are principally attributed to glacial meltwater emanating from the Vale of York ice lobe of the British Ice Sheet, when its margin was at or near the Escrick moraine ridge, this corroborates the interpretation that this ridge marks the LGM ice limit.     

Evolution and deposits of a gravelly braid bar, Sagavanirktok River, Alaska

The evolution, migration and deposits of a gravelly braid bar in the Sagavanirktok River, northern Alaska, are described in unprecedented detail using annual aerial photographs, ground‐penetrating radar (GPR) profiles, trenches and cores. Compound braid bars in the Sagavanirktok River form by chute cut‐off of point bars and by growth of mid‐channel unit bars. Subsequent growth is primarily by accretion of unit bars onto their lateral and downstream margins. The upstream ends of braid bars may be sites of erosion or unit bar deposition. Compound braid bar deposits vary in thickness laterally and are thickest in medial sections and near cut banks. Compound bar deposits are typically composed of three to seven sets of simple large‐scale inclined strata, each simple set formed by a unit bar. The simple large‐scale strata contain medium‐scale cross‐strata (from dune migration) and planar strata (from migration of bedload sheets). The upstream and medial parts of compound braid bar deposits show very little vertical variation in grain size, but downstream and lateral margins tend to fine upwards. The deposits are mostly poorly sorted sands and gravels, although sands tend to be deposited at the top of the braid bar, and open‐framework gravels preferentially occur near the top and base of the braid bar. The patterns of braid bar growth and migration, and the nature of the deposits, described from the Sagavanirktok River are generally similar to other sandy and gravelly braided rivers, and consistent with the theoretical braid bar model of Bridge (1993).     

A review of wave-dominated clastic shoreline deposits

Barrier islands, beaches, wave-dominated deltas and chenier plains probably form more than one-fifth of present coasts, and constitute an even larger proportion of the subsiding lowland coasts likely to be preserved in the stratigraphic record. The geometry, vertical sequences and composition of their deposits are the result of: (1) shoreline behaviour, whether transgressive, regressive or stable; (2) physical processes, particularly the relative intensities of waves and tides; (3) climate; (4) global tectonic setting; and (5) topography of underlying deposits.Published interpretations indicate that equivalent deposits are abundant in the geological record. Sandstones are mostly quartzose, cemented by carbonates and quartz, and have sheet or linear geometries. Ancient deposits can provide evidence of palaeogeography and some are economically significant, particularly as hydrocarbon reservoir rocks.Four end-member sedimentation models are proposed for the interpretation of ancient deposits: (1) transgressive sheet sands associated with deltas; (2) non-deltaic transgressive sheet sands; (3) regressive sheet sands; and (4) linear sand bodies. Probable depositional settings, geometries, characteristics of deposits and palaeocurrent patterns are discussed.     

Upper Jurassic coal-bearing shoreline deposits,Hochstetter Forland,east Greenland

Upper Jurassic coal-bearing yellow sandstones occur at several localities on Hochstetter Forland, northern east Greenland. The sandstones have been divided into eight sedimentary facies, each facies characterized by an assemblage of sedimentary structures, a specific lithology and, occasionally by the content of fossils, notably oysters. The interpretations of the established facies range from high subtidal oyster banks over intertidal beach sand to lagoonal and coastal swamp deposits. The sedimentary facies occur in a vertical sequence where two slightly different facies associations could be discerned. It is suggested that both facies associations have been deposited in a barrier—lagoon coastal area characterized by minor shoreline oscillations. The palaeogeographic setting of the investigated sequence in the fault-controlled basins along the east Greenland continental margin is discussed.     

Long-term shoreline retreat rates on Whidbey Island,Washington, USA

Long-term retreat rates of Puget Sound's unconsolidated sediment shorelines have been difficult to quantify, and little systematic research has been completed to constrain retreat in this area. We put forward a new application of cosmogenic ¹⁰Be exposure dating to assess long-term shoreline retreat on Whidbey Island, WA by dating lag boulders exposed on the shore platform as the shoreline erodes. Production of ¹⁰Be in shoreline boulders is modulated by both tidal submergence and topographic shielding from the retreating bluff. By modeling the combined effect of these variables on ¹⁰Be production, the timing of exposure can be determined and used to calculate long-term (10³–10⁴ yr) bluff retreat rates. In rare cases, retreat rates are underestimated due to inherited ¹⁰Be. Within the study area, average retreat rates ranged between 0 and 8 cm yr^? 1. Our results demonstrate the utility of cosmogenic nuclides for determining long-term shoreline retreat rates in areas with thick sediment cover, where large numbers of samples can be collected, and where the pre-depositional history of the boulders is uncomplicated.     

我国右江盆地与美国“大盆地”卡林型金矿对比研究

系统的成矿背景、矿床地质特征、成矿流体和成矿物质示踪、成矿时代和成矿模式的对比研究,表明美国"大盆地"与我国右江盆地(滇黔桂"金三角")卡林型金矿存在许多相似之处.包括:(1)矿集区均位于某一盆地范围内,大地构造演化史类似,均经历了大陆裂解→被动大陆边缘沉积→挤压造山→伸展变形等过程.成矿发生在造山后的伸展阶段;(2)矿床成带分布和聚集,容矿岩石以含钙质沉积岩为特征,与岩浆岩没有成因联系,同生正断层和构造高点是重要的控矿构造;(3)成矿作用相似,热液蚀变具特征的去碳酸盐化,含砷黄铁矿是主要的载金矿物,金以显微-次显微状赋存于黄铁矿的富砷环带中;(4)成矿流体具中低温,偏还原,弱酸性的特点,同位素示踪表明流体和物质来源比较复杂,没有单一的来源;(5)矿集区内矿床形成于一个很短的时间段内,表明矿床的形成受控于统一的动力学背景;(6)均缺乏一个被广泛认同的成矿模式.同时,两地的卡林型矿床也存在若干差异:①成矿前的构造背景复杂程度不一样;②赋矿地层层位不一样;③成矿时代不同;④成矿模式中关注的重点不同.根据两国卡林型金矿对比的结果,认为我国滇黔桂"金三角"仍有很大的找矿潜力.成矿时代、成矿流体来源、成矿地球动力学背景以及成矿模式仍将是今后研究的主要方向.     

Evidence for a magmatic origin for Carlin-type gold deposits: isotopic composition of sulfur in the Betze-Post-Screamer Deposit, Nevada, USA

We report here new sulfur isotope analyses from the Betze-Post-Screamer deposit, the largest Carlin-type gold deposit in the world. Carlin-type deposits contain high concentrations of arsenic, antimony, mercury, tellurium and other elements of environmental interest, and are surrounded by large volumes of crust in which these elements are also enriched. Uncertainty about the source of sulfur and metals in and around Carlin-type deposits has hampered formulation of models for their origin, which are needed for improved mineral exploration and environmental assessment. Previous studies have concluded that most Carlin-type deposits formed from sulfide sulfur that is largely of sedimentary origin. Most of these studies are based on analyses of mineral separates consisting of pre-ore diagenetic pyrite with thin overgrowths of ore-related arsenian pyrite rather than pure, ore-related pyrite. Our SIMS spot analyses of ore-related pyrite overgrowths in the Screamer zone of the Betze-Post-Screamer deposit yield δ³⁴S values of about −1 to 4‰ with one value of about 7‰. Conventional analyses of realgar and orpiment separates from throughout the deposit yield δ³⁴S values of about 5–7‰ with one value of 10‰ in the Screamer zone. These results, along with results from an earlier SIMS study in the Post zone of the deposit and phase equilibrium constraints, indicate that early arsenian pyrite were formed from fluids of magmatic origin with variable contamination from sulfur in Paleozoic sedimentary rocks. Later arsenic sulfides were formed from solutions to which sulfur of sedimentary origin had been added. The presence of Paleozoic sedimentary sulfur in Carlin-type deposits does not require direct involvement of hydrothermal solutions of sedimentary origin. Instead, it could have been added by magmatic assimilation of Paleozoic sedimentary rocks or by hydrothermal leaching of sulfur from wall rocks to the deposit. Thus, the dominant process delivering sulfur, arsenic, gold and mineralizing fluids to Carlin-type systems and their surrounding country rocks was probably separation of fluids from a magmatic source. Editorial handling: G. Beaudoin     

Quaternary sedimentology of the Rose Creek fan delta, Walker Lake, Nevada, USA, and implications to fan-delta facies models

The 3·2 km long Rose Creek fan delta of west‐central Nevada is prograding from an active rift margin into the 32 m deep Walker Lake. A case study of the forms, processes and facies of this fan delta reveals that the proximal and medial zones mainly are of sub‐aerial origin, and the distal zone is of lacustrine origin. Pebbly to bouldery rock‐avalanche mounds >100 m thick (Facies A) and muddy to bouldery debris flow levées 0·5 to 2·0 m thick (Facies B) dominate the proximal zone, whereas mostly matrix‐supported cobbly pebbly debris flow lobes 0·1 to 1·0 m thick (Facies C) typify the medial zone. Surficial pebble lags and gully fills (Facies D) are widespread in both zones but, in exposures, comprise only partings or lenticles between debris flow units. The distal fan delta mainly consists of lakeshore to lake‐bottom tracts formed by extensive wave reworking of debris flow facies. Nearshore deposits include erosional cobbly boulder lag beaches (Facies E), pebbly constructional beaches attached at headcuts or on barrier spits (Facies F), pebbly upper shoreface (Facies G) and sandy lower shoreface (Facies H) tracts positioned lakeward of the beach, and pebbly landward‐dipping foresets (Facies I) and backshore‐pond sand and mud (Facies J) present landward of the spits. Erosional lag beaches fringe the windward north side of the fan‐delta front, attached constructional beaches characterize the central zone, and southward‐elongating barrier spits typify the leeward south side, extending from the zone of greatest projection of the fan delta into the lake. Shoreline facies asymmetry results from largely unidirectional longshore drift caused by high fetch to the north and minimal fetch to the south, combined with the arcuate shape of the fan‐delta front. The spits overlie a platform deposited below common wave base consisting of south‐east‐trending cones of pebbly Gilbert foresets (Facies K) and sandy toesets (Facies L). Typically slumped silt and mud (Facies M) fringe both this platform and lower shoreface sand in deeper water. This case demonstrates facies types and patterns that are inconsistent with the widely promoted fan‐delta facies model having a front consisting of an apron of radially directed Gilbert foresets deposited where sub‐aerial flows enter the lake. The Rose Creek fan‐delta front instead features a sharp contact between sub‐aerial and lakeshore facies formed where waves erode, sort and redistribute heterogeneous debris flow sediment into the various shallow‐to‐deep lake facies. Gilbert foresets are present only in the lee of the fan delta where sediment moving by longshore drift reaches the brink of the spit front. This facies scenario results from the infrequency of fan‐building events versus nearly constant wind‐induced waves, a scenario that, in contrast to the popular Gilbert model, probably is the norm for fan deltas. The level of Walker Lake, and thus the position of wave reworking on the Rose Creek fan delta, fluctuated over a range of ～157 m during the last 18 kyr, producing complex interfingering between sub‐aerial and lakeshore facies across a 1700 m wide radial belt, typifying a wave‐modified, freestand lacustrine fan delta.     

Coexisting cummingtonite and aluminous hornblende from garnet amphibolite,Boehls Butte area,Idaho, USA

Electron microprobe analyses of green hornblende and coexisting cummingtonite from garnet amphibolite show identical Fe/Mg ratios ( = 0.9). Cummingtonite is iron-magnesium silicate with very little calcium and aluminum and practically no alkalies. In contrast, the hornblende has 1.5 tetrahedral Al, 0.9 octahedral Al and a considerable amount of Ca and alkalies. Comparison with the hornblendes from the Sierra Nevada shows a higher relative amount of tschemakite molecule in the hornblendes from Idaho where pressures during the recrystallization were higher.     

Early Cambrian wave-formed shoreline deposits: the Hardeberga Formation,Bornholm, Denmark

International Journal of Earth Sciences - During the early Cambrian, the Danish island Bornholm was situated on the northern edge of the continent Baltica with palaeolatitudes of about 35°S....     

Sedimentology and origin of deposits from a small ice-dammed lake, Leirbreen, Norway

This paper describes recent proglacial lacustrine sediments exposed by the drainage of a small (probably never more than 0·03 km²) ice-dammed lake basin at Leirbreen, central Jotunheimen, Norway. The dominant facies include ripple-laminated, massive and horizontally-stratified sands, massive and horizontally-laminated silts, and irregularly-laminated fine sands and silts. The major control on lake circulation and the nature and distribution of these facies was an underflow driven by a subglacial meltwater stream which formed the major lake input. Although much of the sedimentary sequence indicates a pulsatory input, the proximal character of this small lake prevented the development of classic varved silts. Compressional deformation of shoreline sediments was due to winter lake ice push. Other deformational processes included the grounding of icebergs, water escape and syn-sedimentary downslope collapse. Observations from an adjacent small ice-marginal lake at Leirbreen provide support for several of the inferences drawn from the sediments of the former ice-dammed lake.