Glacial Lake Camelsfoot: a Late Wisconsinan advance stage proglacial lake in the Fraser River valley, Gang Ranch area, British Columbia

1994 ◽  
Vol 31 (5) ◽  
pp. 798-807 ◽  
Author(s):  
David H. Huntley ◽  
Bruce E. Broster
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Glacial Lake ◽  
Fraser River ◽  
Ice Flow ◽  
Lake System ◽  
Reference Sections ◽  
Lithostratigraphic Units ◽  
Proglacial Lake ◽  
Late Wisconsinan ◽  
Cordilleran Ice Sheet

In the Gang Ranch area, British Columbia, interaction between the regional physiography and ice flow during the Late Wisconsinan Fraser Glaciation resulted in the formation of a proglacial lake confined to valleys of the Fraser River and its tributaries. Lithostratigraphic and geomorphic evidence suggests that ponding was initiated in the Big Bar Creek area where the Fraser River is confined to a deep canyon in the Camelsfoot Range. During ice advance, a proglacial lake system developed that progressively deepened and reached a minimum upper elevation of approximately 710 m asl prior to being overridden by ice. We propose that this system be formally named "Glacial Lake Camelsfoot." A composite stratotype, comprising lithostratigraphic units associated with Glacial Lake Camelsfoot, is described from eight reference sections along Fraser River, Churn, and Lone Cabin creeks in the Gang Ranch area. Additional geomorphic evidence indicates that at the Fraser Glaciation maximum, the Cordilleran Ice Sheet in the study area ranged from 600 to 2000 m in thickness.

Coalescence of late Wisconsinan Cordilleran and Laurentide ice sheets east of the Rocky Mountain Foothills in the Dawson Creek region, northeast British Columbia, Canada

2016 ◽  
Vol 85 (3) ◽  
pp. 409-429 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adrian Scott Hickin ◽  
Olav B. Lian ◽  
Victor M. Levson
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Flow Direction ◽  
Ice Sheet ◽  
Rocky Mountain ◽  
Ice Flow ◽  
Oxygen Isotope Stage ◽  
Digital Elevation ◽  
Late Wisconsinan ◽  
Cordilleran Ice Sheet ◽  
River Valleys

Geomorphic, stratigraphic and geochronological evidence from northeast British Columbia (Canada) indicates that, during the late Wisconsinan (approximately equivalent to marine oxygen isotope stage [MIS] 2), a major lobe of western-sourced ice coalesced with the northeastern-sourced Laurentide Ice Sheet (LIS). High-resolution digital elevation models reveal a continuous 75 km-long field of streamlined landforms that indicate the ice flow direction of a major northeast-flowing lobe of the Cordilleran Ice Sheet (CIS) or a montane glacier (>200 km wide) was deflected to a north-northwest trajectory as it coalesced with the retreating LIS. The streamlined landforms are composed of till containing clasts of eastern provenance that imply that the LIS reached its maximum extent before the western-sourced ice flow crossed the area. Since the LIS only reached this region in the late Wisconsinan, the CIS/montane ice responsible for the streamlined landforms must have occupied the area after the LIS withdrew. Stratigraphy from the Murray and Pine river valleys supports a late Wisconsinan age for the surface landforms and records two glacial events separated by a non-glacial interval that was dated to be of middle Wisconsinan (MIS 3) age.

scholarly journals The pattern and style of deglaciation at the Late Wisconsinan Laurentide and Cordilleran ice sheet limits in northeastern British Columbia

2017 ◽  
Vol 54 (1) ◽  
pp. 52-75 ◽  
Author(s):  
David H. Huntley ◽  
Adrian S. Hickin ◽  
Olav B. Lian
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Ice Sheets ◽  
Ice Sheet ◽  
Yukon Territory ◽  
Glacial Lake ◽  
Glacial Lakes ◽  
Lake Formation ◽  
Late Wisconsinan ◽  
Cordilleran Ice Sheet ◽  
Lake Deposits

This paper reports on the landform assemblages at the northern confluence of the Late Wisconsinan Laurentide and Cordilleran ice sheets with montane and piedmont glaciers in the northern Rockies and southern Mackenzie Mountains. Recent observations in northeastern British Columbia refine our knowledge of the pattern and style of ice sheet retreat, glacial lake formation, and meltwater drainage. At the onset of deglaciation, confluent Laurentide and Cordilleran terminal ice margins lay between 59°N, 124°30′W and 60°N, 125°15′W. From this terminal limit, ice sheets retreated into north-central British Columbia and Yukon Territory, with remnant Cordilleran ice and montane glaciers confined to mountain valleys and the Liard Plateau. Distinctive end moraines are not associated with the retreat of Cordilleran ice in these areas. Laurentide ice retreated northeastward from uplands and the plateaus; then separated into lobes occupying the Fort Nelson and Petitot river valleys. Ice-retreat landforms include recessional end moraines (sometimes overridden and drumlinized), hill–hole pairs, crevasse-fill deposits, De Geer-like ribbed till ridges, hummocky moraines, kames, meltwater features, and glacial lake deposits that fall within the elevation range of glacial Lake Liard and glacial Lake Fort Nelson (ca. 840–380 m). Meltwater and sediment transport into glacial lakes Fort Nelson, Liard, Nahanni, and Mackenzie was sustained by remnant ice in the Liard River and Fort Nelson River drainage basins until the end of glaciation. Optical dating of sand from stabilized parabolic dunes on the Liard Plateau indicates that proglacial conditions, lake formation, and drainage began before 13.0 ± 0.5 ka (calendar years). The Petitot, Fort Nelson, and Liard rivers all occupy spillways incised into glacial deposits and bedrock by meltwater overflow from glacial lakes Peace and Hay.

The Late Wisconsinan deglacial history of the east-central Taseko Lakes area, British Columbia

1997 ◽  
Vol 34 (11) ◽  
pp. 1509-1520 ◽  
Author(s):  
David H. Huntley ◽  
Bruce E. Broster
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Phase Iii ◽  
Fraser River ◽  
Glacial Lakes ◽  
East Central ◽  
Valley Fill ◽  
Drainage Patterns ◽  
History Of ◽  
Late Wisconsinan ◽  
Cordilleran Ice Sheet

Late Wisconsinan Fraser Glaciation retreat-phase deposits and landforms in the east-central Taseko Lakes area, British Columbia, are used to demonstrate a four-phase model of deglaciation. During phase I, at the onset of ice retreat, the Cordilleran Ice Sheet occupied much of the study area, blocking southward drainage of Fraser River. Phase II was marked by the deglaciation of uplands and plateaux. Meltwater drainage patterns were controlled by stagnating glaciers confined to valleys. Phase III commenced as remnant ice in the Fraser Valley downwasted to between 850 and 760 m elevation. At this time, interlobate glacial lakes formed in hanging valleys east of Fraser River. Drainage of glacial lakes occurred subglacially, and was accompanied by disintegration of remnant ice and an increase in mass movements in valleys. These events were followed by decreased sedimentation rates, reflecting lower meltwater volumes and exhaustion of unstable glacial debris during phase IV. Postglaciation valley fill was subject to fluvial degradation and terracing as modern drainage patterns became established.

Ice-free conditions in southwestern British Columbia at 16000 years BP

1988 ◽  
Vol 25 (6) ◽  
pp. 938-941 ◽  
Author(s):  
John J. Clague ◽  
Ian R. Saunders ◽  
Michael C. Roberts
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Ice Sheet ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Maximum Extent ◽  
Late Wisconsinan ◽  
Cordilleran Ice Sheet

New radiocarbon dates on wood from two exposures in Chilliwack valley, southwestern British Columbia, indicate that this area was ice free and locally forested 16 000 radiocarbon years ago. This suggests that the Late Wisconsinan Cordilleran Ice Sheet reached its maximum extent in this region after 16 000 years BP. The Chilliwack valley dates are the youngest in British Columbia that bear on the growth of the Cordilleran Ice Sheet.

Laurentide and montane glaciation along the Rocky Mountain Foothills of northeastern British Columbia

2007 ◽  
Vol 44 (4) ◽  
pp. 445-457 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan M Bednarski ◽  
I Rod Smith
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Ice Sheet ◽  
Rocky Mountain ◽  
Laurentide Ice Sheet ◽  
Cosmogenic Dating ◽  
Surficial Geology ◽  
Continental Divide ◽  
Mountain Front ◽  
Late Wisconsinan ◽  
Cordilleran Ice Sheet

Mapping the surficial geology of the Trutch map area (NTS 94G) provides new data on the timing of continental and montane glaciations along the Foothills of northeastern British Columbia. Striated surfaces on mountain crests were dated to the Late Wisconsinan substage by cosmogenic dating. The striations were produced by eastward-flowing ice emanating from the region of the Continental Divide. This ice was thick enough to cross the main ranges and overtop the Rocky Mountain Foothill summits at 2000 m above sea level (asl). It is argued here that such a flow, unhindered by topography, could only have been produced by the Cordilleran Ice Sheet and not by local cirque glaciation. During this time, the Cordilleran Ice Sheet dispersed limestone and schist erratics of western provenance onto the plains beyond the mountain front. Conversely, the Laurentide Ice Sheet did not reach its western limit in the Foothills until after Cordilleran ice retreated from the area. During its maximum, the Laurentide ice penetrated the mountain valleys up to 17 km west of the mountain front, and deposited crystalline erratics from the Canadian Shield as high as 1588 m asl along the Foothills. In some valleys a smaller montane advance followed the retreat of the Laurentide Ice Sheet.

A reconstruction of glacial events in southeastern New Brunswick

1991 ◽  
Vol 28 (10) ◽  
pp. 1594-1612 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marc Foisy ◽  
Gilbert Prichonnet
Keyword(s):  
New Brunswick ◽  
Ice Flow ◽  
Ice Cap ◽  
The North ◽  
Lithostratigraphic Units ◽  
Glaciofluvial Deposits ◽  
Southern Border ◽  
Late Wisconsinan ◽  
Radial Outflow ◽  
North And South

Sedimentological and petrographical data obtained from five sections located north and south of the Caledonian Highlands in southeastern New Brunswick demonstrate the existence of three main till units and one glaciofluvial unit, which have been grouped in four distinct lithostratigraphic units. The lower till was deposited by a glacier that overrode the Caledonian Highlands from northwest to southeast and advanced as far as Nova Scotia during Middle(?) to Late Wisconsinan times. The overlying middle till from the north provides evidence that ice continued to advance across the Highlands from northwest toward southeast and then was partially overwhelmed by another glacier that was advancing southwest along the southern border of the Highlands: this glacier deposited a coeval middle till. During Late Wisconsinan deglaciation, ice separated into two masses: a residual ice cap with radial outflow from the Highlands; and a lobe in the Chignecto Bay, retreating toward the northeast. The existence of a plateau ice cap is demonstrated by the presence of till and glaciofluvial deposits in the upper part of all surveyed sections, and is supported by the sequence of ice flow patterns recorded by striae and the centrifugal distribution of meltwater flow indicators. The weak development of soils, the fresh appearance of till and morainic landforms, and the lack of periglacial features throughout the area, especially on the Highlands, all favour the interpretation that the Caledonian Highlands were not a nunatak during the glacial maximum of the Late Wisconsinan Substage.

scholarly journals Polyphase Glacigenic Deformation of Advance Glaciofluvial Sediments, Near Big Creek, British Colombia

2007 ◽  
Vol 47 (2) ◽  
pp. 211-219 ◽  
Author(s):  
David H. Huntley ◽  
Bruce E. Broster
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Brittle Failure ◽  
Lateral Extension ◽  
Polyphase Deformation ◽  
Deformation Structures ◽  
Vertical Extension ◽  
British Colombia ◽  
Late Wisconsinan ◽  
Cordilleran Ice Sheet ◽  
Sheet Deformation

ABSTRACT Deformation structures were observed in glaciofluvial sediments near Big Creek, central British Columbia. These sediments record a sequence of polyphase deformation resulting from the advance and retreat of the Late Wisconsinan (Fraser Glaciation) Cordilleran Ice Sheet. Deformation is attributed to ductile then brittle failure resulting from: (a) horizontal compression and loading as ice advanced over saturated sediments; followed by (b) lateral extension then (c) compression under frozen conditions during glacier overriding; and finally (d) vertical extension during unloading upon déglaciation. Most deformation (a-c, above) appears to have occurred during the advance phase of the Fraser Glaciation.

Late Quaternary geology and geomorphology of the Elk Valley, southeastern British Columbia

1987 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 741-751 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. George ◽  
W. A. Gorman ◽  
D. F. VanDine
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Late Quaternary ◽  
Rocky Mountain ◽  
Quaternary Geology ◽  
Glacial Lake ◽  
Three Stages ◽  
Late Wisconsinan ◽  
Two Stages

Glacial stratigraphy and geomorphology of the bottom areas of the Elk Valley support the existence of one major ice advance, presumably during the late Wisconsinan. Its retreat probably occurred in two stages by orderly frontal withdrawal. Glacial Lake Elk, formed within the Elk Valley from meltwaters released by this glacier, was dammed initially by an ice plug from the Rocky Mountain Trench glacier at a point near Morrissey and subsequently less than 3 km upvalley from Elko. The lake drained in at least three stages.

Landsliding caused by Pleistocene glacial lake ponding–an example from central British Columbia

1987 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 656-663 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Eyles ◽  
John J. Clague
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Debris Flows ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Slope Failure ◽  
Glacial Lake ◽  
Fraser River ◽  
Stability Of Slopes ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Stability ◽  
Glacier Advance

Sections cut through the Quaternary sediment fill of the Fraser River valley in central British Columbia provide evidence for large-scale landsliding during Pleistocene time. Especially notable are thick, laterally extensive diamict beds, consisting mainly of Tertiary rock debris, that occur near the base of glaciolacustrine sequences. These beds were deposited by subaqueous debris flows during one or more periods of lake ponding when advancing Pleistocene glaciers blocked the ancestral Fraser River. The association of diamict beds and glaciolacustrine sediments deposited during periods of glacier advance may indicate a genetic link between slope failure and lake filling. These observations (1) demonstrate the adverse effects of high pore pressures on the stability of slopes underlain by poorly indurated Tertiary rocks and (2) extend the known history of landslides involving these rocks back into the Pleistocene. Key words: landslides, debris flows, Pleistocene, glacial lake.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document