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Timing and extent of early marine oxygen isotope stage 2 alpine glaciation in Skagit Valley, Washington

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Jon L. Riedel ,
John J. Clague  and
Brent C. Ward
Jon L. Riedel*
Affiliation:
National Park Service, USA
John J. Clague
Affiliation:
Simon Fraser University, Canada
Brent C. Ward
Affiliation:
Simon Fraser University, Canada
*
*Corresponding author. Fax: +1 360 873 4086.E-mail addresses:jon_riedel@nps.gov (J.L. Riedel), jclague@sfu.ca (J.J. Clague), bcward@sfu.ca (B.C. Ward)
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Abstract

Twenty-two new radiocarbon ages from Skagit valley provide a detailed chronology of alpine glaciation during the Evans Creek stade of the Fraser Glaciation (early marine oxygen isotope stage (MIS) 2) in the Cascade Range, Washington State. Sediments at sites near Concrete, Washington, record two advances of the Baker valley glacier between ca. 30.3 and 19.5 cal ka BP, with an intervening period of glacier recession about 24.9 cal ka BP. The Baker valley glacier dammed lower Skagit valley, creating glacial Lake Concrete, which discharged around the ice dam along Finney Creek, or south into the Sauk valley. Sediments along the shores of Ross Lake in upper Skagit valley accumulated in glacial Lake Skymo after ca. 28.7 cal ka BP behind a glacier flowing out of Big Beaver valley. Horizontally laminated silt and bedded sand and gravel up to 20 m thick record as much as 8000 yr of deposition in these glacially dammed lakes. The data indicate that alpine glaciers in Skagit valley were far less extensive than previously thought. Alpine glaciers remained in advanced positions for much of the Evans Creek stade, which may have ended as early as 20.8 cal ka BP.

Keywords

Alpine glaciationGeochronologyCascadesSkagit valleyWashingtonEvans Creek stade
Type
Original Articles
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 73 , Issue 2 , March 2010 , pp. 313 - 323
Copyright
University of Washington

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