Gravity-induced soft-sediment deformation in glaciomarine sequences of the Upper Proterozoic Port Askaig Formation, Scotland

Large numbers of post-depositional deformation structures in the form of downward penetrating sandstone bodies are identified on well-exposed diamictite surfaces of the glaciogenic Upper Proterozoic Port Askaig Formation, Scotland. On the Garvellach Islands, downfolds, irregular dykes and a polygonal network of wedges are composed predominantly of massive, fine- to medium-grained sandstone. These structures occur towards the top of crude coarsening-upward glaciomarine sequences of massive diamictite, stratified diamictite, variably cross-stratified sandstone and conglomeratic lags. Massive diamictites record the dominance of pelagic sedimentation and ice-rafting; succeeding lithofacies indicate the increasing importance of marine traction currents. These sequences are repeated in the Port Askaig Formation and by comparison with Late Cenozoic glaciomarine sequences may have formed in response to changing water depths during basin subsidence. Downfolds, dykes and a polygonal wedge network appear to be genetically related expressions of subaqueous gravitational loading and intrusion of sand into low-strength diamict acting in response to reverse density gradients created by coarsening-upward glaciomarine sedimentation. Analogues are provided by published laboratory investigations. Analysis of the regional tectonic setting of the formation suggests the importance of seismic shock as a triggering agent. The subaqueous deformation model presented in this paper is of considerable significance for reconstruction of Late Proterozoic palaeoenvironments because the downward penetrating sandstone structures of the Port Askaig Formation are widely reported to be indicative of the former presence of subaerial permafrost. This paper stresses the importance of identifying the lithofacies sequence in which structures occur as a guide to ‘deformational environment’.