Quantitative X-ray diffraction (qXRD) mineralogy of bedrock, ice-rafted, and fluvial clasts, 239 seafloor samples (<2 mm), and samples from two long piston cores were used to (i) define regional patterns and sources within Baffin Bay, (ii) evaluate two areas from west Greenland and east Baffin Island in more detail, and (iii) apply these findings to the interpretation of downcore variations in sediment sources. A sediment-unmixing program is used to define surface regional mineral assemblages and to examine changes in sediment sources in cores HU2013029-77PC (southern Baffin Island slope) and HU2008029-8PC (Davis Strait) during Marine Isotope Stages 1 through 3. Distinct regional patterns are observed in the association between the mineralogy of surface sediments and carbonate and basalt bedrock outcrops. Detailed analysis of seafloor samples from the west Greenland troughs and Baffin Island fjords show regional differences in mineralogy, with sediments derived from the Foxe Fold Belt (north-central Baffin Island) being mineralogically distinct from sediments to the north and south. Grain-size spectra from the west Greenland troughs suggested an association between grain-size spectra and mineral assemblages. Sediment unmixing of qXRD data from the two piston cores shows discrete intervals where one or more mineral sources were dominant. However, chronological control is such that it is unclear whether the various ice streams draining into Baffin Bay behaved synchronously.
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Research Article|
March 26, 2018
The variability of Baffin Bay seafloor sediment mineralogy: the identification of discrete glacial sediment sources and application to Late Quaternary downcore analysis
John T. Andrews;
a
INSTAAR and Department of Geological Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309, USA.Corresponding author: John Andrews (email: [email protected]).
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Anna J. Klein;
Anna J. Klein
a
INSTAAR and Department of Geological Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309, USA.
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Kimberly A. Jenner;
Kimberly A. Jenner
b
Geological Survey of Canada-Atlantic, 1 Challenger Drive, Dartmouth, NS B2Y 4A2, Canada.
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Anne E. Jennings;
Anne E. Jennings
a
INSTAAR and Department of Geological Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309, USA.
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Calvin Campbell
Calvin Campbell
b
Geological Survey of Canada-Atlantic, 1 Challenger Drive, Dartmouth, NS B2Y 4A2, Canada.
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a
INSTAAR and Department of Geological Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309, USA.
Anna J. Klein
a
INSTAAR and Department of Geological Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309, USA.
Kimberly A. Jenner
b
Geological Survey of Canada-Atlantic, 1 Challenger Drive, Dartmouth, NS B2Y 4A2, Canada.
Anne E. Jennings
a
INSTAAR and Department of Geological Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309, USA.
Calvin Campbell
b
Geological Survey of Canada-Atlantic, 1 Challenger Drive, Dartmouth, NS B2Y 4A2, Canada.Corresponding author: John Andrews (email: [email protected]).
Publisher: Canadian Science Publishing
Received:
01 Nov 2017
Accepted:
13 Mar 2018
First Online:
07 Jun 2018
Online ISSN: 1480-3313
Print ISSN: 0008-4077
Published by NRC Research Press
Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences (2018) 55 (6): 620–639.
Article history
Received:
01 Nov 2017
Accepted:
13 Mar 2018
First Online:
07 Jun 2018
Citation
John T. Andrews, Anna J. Klein, Kimberly A. Jenner, Anne E. Jennings, Calvin Campbell; The variability of Baffin Bay seafloor sediment mineralogy: the identification of discrete glacial sediment sources and application to Late Quaternary downcore analysis. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 2018;; 55 (6): 620–639. doi: https://doi.org/10.1139/cjes-2017-0223
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