Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-m6dg7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-17T19:23:05.319Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Glacial history reflected by geochemically constrained stratigraphic sections in the Chaudière River drainage basin of the Canadian Appalachians

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 October 2018

William W. Shilts  and
Olivier J. Caron
William W. Shilts*
Affiliation:
Illinois State Geological Survey, Prairie Research Institute, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 615 East Peabody Drive, Champaign, Illinois 61820, USA
Olivier J. Caron
Affiliation:
Illinois State Geological Survey, Prairie Research Institute, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 615 East Peabody Drive, Champaign, Illinois 61820, USA
*
* Corresponding author at: Illinois State Geological Survey, Prairie Research Institute, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 615 East Peabody Drive, Champaign, Illinois 61820, USA. E-mail address: shilts@illinois.edu (W.W. Shilts).
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The Chaudière River region in the Appalachian Mountains of eastern Canada is approximately 700 km north of the southernmost Pleistocene glacial deposits in New York and New Jersey. Detailed compositional analyses of glacial and non-glacial sediments from stratigraphic exposures and more than 40 boreholes drilled to bedrock provide a compositionally constrained record of glacial events, which include deposits of one Marine Oxygen Isotope Stage (MIS) 6 and two post-MIS 5 glaciations. The glacial and associated proglacial deposits rest on compositionally distinctive, preglacial saprolite that is preserved in deeper valleys. These observations constrain interpretations of the glacial/Pleistocene history of the eastern United States and Canada. The fact that there is no unequivocal evidence of pre-MIS 6 till in the Chaudière River region, while there are well-documented pre-MIS 6 glacial deposits south of there and in the American Midwest, also has major climatic implications. The Laurentide Ice Sheet and its ancestors must have been more robust in the west in the early Pleistocene and in the east most recently.

Keywords

Nickel dispersalGeochemistryAppalachian glacial stratigraphyInterglacialTillMelt-outGlacial lakesGlacial deformationSangamonLaurentide Ice Sheet
Type
Research Article
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 91 , Issue 1 , January 2019 , pp. 234 - 249
Copyright
Copyright © Crown Copyright. Published by Cambridge University Press, 2018 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Balescu, S., Lamothe, M., Auclair, M., Shilts, W.W., 2001. IRSL dating of Middle Pleistocene interglacial sediments from southern Québec (Canada) using multiple and single grain aliquots. Quaternary Science Reviews 20, 821–824.10.1016/S0277-3791(00)00013-5Google Scholar
Blais, A., 1989. Lennoxville Glaciation of the Middle Chaudière and Etchemin Valleys, Beauce Region, Québec. Master’s thesis, Carleton University, Ontario, Canada.Google Scholar
Blais, A., Shilts, W.W., 1992a. Surficial Geology of the St-Joseph and Beauceville Areas, Québec. Maps 21L/07 and 21L/02, 1:50,000. Dossier public 2537. Commission Géologique du Canada, Ottawa, Ontario.Google Scholar
Blais, A., Shilts, W.W., 1992b. Surficial Geology of the Ste-Justine and St-Zacharie Areas, Québec. Maps 21L/08; 21L/01SW; 21L/01NW, 1:50,000. Dossier public 2536. Commission Géologique du Canada, Ottawa, Ontario.10.4095/133407Google Scholar
Caron, O.J., 2013. Synthèse et modèle cartographique 3D des formations quaternaires pour les bassins-versants des rivières Chaudière et Saint-François: Géochronologie, stratigraphie et paléogéographie wisconsinienne du sud du Québec. PhD dissertation, Université du Québec à Montréal, Montréal.Google Scholar
Chalmers, R., 1898. Surface Geology and Auriferous Deposits of Southeastern Québec. Geological Survey of Canada Annual Report, Vol. 10. Geological Survey of Canada, Ottowa, Ontario, Canada.Google Scholar
Courtney, S.J., 1989. The Geochemistry and Glacial Dispersal Patterns of the Lennoxville Till of the Southern Quebec Appalachians. Master’s thesis, Waterloo University, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.Google Scholar
Cousineau, P.A., 1990. Le Groupe de Caldwell et le domaine océanique entre Saint-Joseph-de-Beauce et Sainte-Sabine. Ministère de l’Énergie et des Ressources du Québec, Mémoire MM 87-02. Ministère de l’Énergie et des Ressources du Québec, Québec, Canada.Google Scholar
Dean, R.S., 1969. Provenance Studies, by X-Ray Diffraction Analysis, of Five Samples of Tills from Southeastern Quebec. Geological Survey of Canada, Department of Energy, Mines, and Resources, Internal Report IR-69-60. Geological Survey of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.Google Scholar
Gadd, N.R., McDonald, B.C., Shilts, W.W., 1972. Deglaciation of Southern Québec. Geological Survey of Canada, Department of Energy, Mines and Resources. Paper 71-47. Geological Survey of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario.Google Scholar
LaSalle, P., Ledoux, R., 1975. An autochthonous lateritic soil profile near Quebec city, P.Q. Canada. Abstract with programs. Geological Society of America 7, 804.Google Scholar
LaSalle, P., Martineau, G., Chavin, L., 1977. Morphologie, stratigraphie et déglaciation dans la région de Beauce-Monts Notre-Dame-Parc des Laurentides. Ministère des Richesse Naturelles, Direction Générale des Mines, Report DPV-516. Ministère des Richesses Naturelles, Québec City, Québec, Canada.Google Scholar
Lortie, G., Martineau, G., 1987. Les systèmes de stries glaciaires dans les Appalaches du Québec. Ministère de l’Energie et des Ressources, Report DV 85-10. Ministère des Richesses Naturelles, Québec City, Québec, Canada.Google Scholar
Lowell, T.V., Kite, J.S., 1986. Deglaciation of northwestern Maine. In: Kite, J.S., Lowell, T.V., Thompson, W.B. (Eds.), Contributions to the Quaternary Geology of Northern Maine and Adjacent Canada. Maine Geological Survey Bulletin 37, 53–68.Google Scholar
Matthews, J.V. Jr., 1987. Macrofossils of insects and plants from Southern Québec. In: Lamothe, M. (Ed.), Pleistocene Stratigraphy in the St. Lawrence Lowland and the Appalachians of Southern Québec: A Field Guide, Vol. 4. Université de Montréal, Montréal, Canada, pp. 166–181.Google Scholar
Matthews, J.V. Jr., Smith, S.L., Mott, R.J., 1987. Plant macrofossils, pollen, and insects of arctic affinity from Wisconsinan sediments in Chaudière Valley, southern Quebec. In Current Research Part A / Recherches En Cours Partie A. Paper no. A87-1A. Geological Survey of Canada, pp. 165–175.Google Scholar
McDonald, B.C., 1967. Pleistocene Events and Chronology in the Appalachian Region of Southeastern Québec, Canada. PhD dissertation, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut.Google Scholar
McDonald, B.C., Shilts, W.W., 1971. Quaternary stratigraphy and events in Southeastern Québec. Geological Society of America Bulletin 82, 683–692.10.1130/0016-7606(1971)82[683:QSAEIS]2.0.CO;2Google Scholar
Ovenden, L., 1988. Rivière des Plante Peat. Geological Survey of Canada, Peat Report L015. Geological Survey of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.Google Scholar
Parent, M., 1987. Late Pleistocene stratigraphy and events in the Asbestos-Valcourt region, southeastern Québec. PhD dissertation, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada.Google Scholar
Paul, J., 1987. Character and Provenance of Lennoxville Till as Exposed in Two Sections on Rivière des Plante, Southeastern Québec. Bachelor’s thesis, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.Google Scholar
Poliquin, I., 1987. Stratigraphic and Sedimentological Studies of Sections from Rivière des Plante, Southeastern Québec. Bachelor’s thesis, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.Google Scholar
Rencz, A.N., Shilts, W.W., 1980. Nickel in soils and vegetation of glaciated terrains. In: Nriagu, J.O. (Ed.), Nickel in the Environment. John Wiley and Sons, New York, pp. 151–188.Google Scholar
Ridge, J.C., 2004. The Quaternary glaciation of Western New England with correlations to surrounding areas. In: Ehlers J., Gibbard, P.L. (Eds.), Quaternary Glaciations, Extent and Chronology, Part II: North America. Developments in Ouaternary Sciences, Vol. 2. Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp. 169–199.10.1016/S1571-0866(04)80196-9Google Scholar
Rovey, C.W. II, McLouth, T., 2015. A near synthesis of pre-Illinoian till stratigraphy in the central United States: Iowa, Nebraska and Missouri. Quaternary Science Review 126, 96–111.10.1016/j.quascirev.2015.08.024Google Scholar
Shilts, W.W., 1969. Quaternary Geology of the Upper Chaudière River Drainage Basin, Quebec. Geological Survey of Canada Paper 69-1A. Queen’s Printer and Controller of Stationary, Ottawa, Ontario.Google Scholar
Shilts, W.W., 1970. Pleistocene Geology of the Lac Mégantic Region, Southeastern Québec, Canada. PhD dissertation, Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York.Google Scholar
Shilts, W.W., 1973. Glacial dispersal of rocks, minerals and trace elements in Wisconsinan till, southeastern Québec. In Black, R.B., Goldwaith, R.B., Willman, H.B. (Eds.), The Wisconsian Stage. Geological Society of America Memoir 136, 189–219.10.1130/MEM136-p189Google Scholar
Shilts, W.W., 1976. Glacial till and mineral exploration. In: Legget, R.F. (Ed.), Glacial Till: An Interdisciplinary Study. Royal Society of Canada, Special Publication 12, Royal Society of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, pp. 205–224.Google Scholar
Shilts, W.W., 1978. Detailed sedimentological study of till sheets in a stratigraphic section, Samson River, Québec. Geological Survey of Canada Bulletin 285.Google Scholar
Shilts, W.W., 1981. Surficial Geology of the Lac Mégantic Area, Québec. Geological Survey of Canada, Memoir 397, Geological Survey of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.10.4095/109357Google Scholar
Shilts, W.W., Caron, O., Lamothe, M., 2007. Late Pleistocene glaciation and deglaciation in the Beauce area, from Saint-Georges to Vallée-Jonction. In: Corriveau, L., Clark, T. (Eds.), Guidebook for Field Trips in Southern Quebec. 99th Annual Meeting of the New England Intercollegiate Geological Conference, Friends of the Grenville, and Association québécoise des Sciences de la Terre, October 5–7, Ministère des Ressources naturelles et de la faune (Géologie Québec), Québec City, Québec, Canada, pp. 53–78.Google Scholar
Shilts, W.W., McDonald, B.C., 1975. Dispersal of Clasts and Trace Elements in the Windsor Esker, Southern Quebec. Geological Survey of Canada Paper 75-1A, Geological Survey of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, pp. 495–499.10.4095/104631Google Scholar
Shilts, W.W., Smith, S.L., 1986a. Stratigraphy of Placer Gold Deposits: Overburden Drilling in Chaudière Valley, Québec. Geological Survey of Canada, Current Research, Paper 86-1A, Geological Survey of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, pp. 703–712.10.4095/120442Google Scholar
Shilts, W.W., Smith, S.L., 1986b. Stratigraphic Setting of Buried Gold-Bearing Sediments, Beauceville Area, Québec. Geological Survey of Canada, Current Research, Paper 86-1B, Geological Survey of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, pp. 271–278.10.4095/120652Google Scholar
Shilts, W.W., Smith, S.L., 1987. Pleistocene stratigraphy in the Appalachians of southern Québec. In: Lamothe, M. (Ed.), Pleistocene Stratigraphy in the St. Lawrence Lowland and the Appalachians of Southern Québec: A Field Guide. Collection Environnement et Géologie, Vol. 4. Université de Montréal, Montréal, Canada, pp. 72–101.Google Scholar
Shilts, W.W., Smith, S.L., 1988. Glacial geology and overburden drilling in prospecting for buried gold placer deposits, southeastern Québec. In: Rogers, P. (Ed.), Prospecting in Areas of Glaciated Terrains—1988. Canadian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, Geology Division, Westmount, Québec, Canada, pp. 141–169.Google Scholar
Shilts, W.W., Smith, S.L., 1989. Drift prospecting in the Appalachians of Estrie-Beauce, Québec. In: DiLabio, R.N.W., Coker, W.B. (Eds.), Drift Prospecting. Geological Survey of Canada Paper 89-20, Geological Survey of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, pp. 41–59.Google Scholar
Smith, S.L., Shilts, W.W., 1987. Quaternary Stratigraphy of Noire River Cores, Beauceville Area, Quebec. Geological Survey of Canada, Paper 87-1A, Geological Survey of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, pp. 159–164.10.4095/122512Google Scholar
Smith, S.L., Rainbird, R.H., 1987. Soft-sediment deformation structures in overburden drill core, Quebec. In Current Research, Part A. Geological Survey of Canada, Paper 87-1A, Geological Survey of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, pp. 53–60.Google Scholar
Stanford, S.D., 1993. Late Cenozoic surficial deposits and valley evolution of unglaciated northern New Jersey. Geomorphology 7, 267–288.10.1016/0169-555X(93)90058-AGoogle Scholar
Stanford, S.L., Witte, R.W., 2017. Pre-Wisconsinan glaciations of New Jersey. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs 49, 2.Google Scholar
Stewart, D.P., MacClintock, P., 1964. The Wisconsin stratigraphy of northern Vermont. American Journal of Science 262, 1089–1097.Google Scholar
Stone, B.D., Stanford, S.D., White, R.W., 2002. Surficial Geological Map of Northern New Jersey. United States Geological Survey Miscellaneous Investigations Map I-2540-C, 1:100,000. United States Geological Survey, Reston, Virginia.Google Scholar
St-Julien, P., Hubert, C., 1975. Evolution of the Taconian orogen in the Québec Appalachians. American Journal of Science 275-A, 337–362.Google Scholar
Tremblay, A., De Souza, S., Perrot, M., Theriault, R., 2015. Géologie des Appalaches du Québec: feuillet Sud-Ouest-Regions de Montérégie, Cantons-de-l’Est. Centre-de-Québec et Chaudières-Appalaches, Ministère des Ressources naturelles et de la faune (MRNF), Québec.Google Scholar