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GEOREF RECORD

Lithostratigraphy and limiting optical ages of the Pleistocene fill in Fraser River valley near Clinton, south-central British Columbia

Olav B. Lian and Stephen R. Hicock
Lithostratigraphy and limiting optical ages of the Pleistocene fill in Fraser River valley near Clinton, south-central British Columbia
Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences = Revue Canadienne des Sciences de la Terre (May 2001) 38 (5): 839-850

Abstract

The Fraser River valley near Clinton contains a thick sediment fill that is presently incised down to bedrock. The sequence, approximately 500 m thick, is generally upward fining and consists of up to 100 m of glacigenic debris flow diamicton and glaciofluvial-deltaic gravel and sand at the base, overlain by about 350 m of glaciolacustrine sediments and minor diamicton, which is in turn capped by several metres of till. The sequence is interpreted to represent (i) valley aggradation in response to glaciation, followed by (ii) the impoundment of the valley by sediment and (or) ice, and the formation of a large proglacial lake(s), and finally (iii) overriding of the valley fill by glaciers. This glacial advance sequence can be readily correlated with previously studied units situated immediately to the north, most of which have been associated with the last glaciation; however, the age of these units has been based only on stratigraphic relations. We introduce limiting optical ages from a widespread glaciolacustrine unit that show that the glacial advance sequence was formed, at the earliest, during the penultimate Okanagan Centre Glaciation (oxygen isotope stage 4; ca. 74-59 ka), but almost certainly during the (last) Fraser Glaciation (oxygen isotope stage 2; ca. 24-12 ka). It could not have been deposited during oxygen isotope stage 6, or during an older glaciation.


ISSN: 0008-4077
EISSN: 1480-3313
Coden: CJESAP
Serial Title: Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences = Revue Canadienne des Sciences de la Terre
Serial Volume: 38
Serial Issue: 5
Title: Lithostratigraphy and limiting optical ages of the Pleistocene fill in Fraser River valley near Clinton, south-central British Columbia
Affiliation: Victoria University of Wellington, School of Earth Sciences, Wellington, New Zealand
Pages: 839-850
Published: 200105
Text Language: English
Summary Language: French
Publisher: National Research Council of Canada, Ottawa, ON, Canada
References: 34
Accession Number: 2001-055376
Categories: Quaternary geology
Document Type: Serial
Bibliographic Level: Analytic
Annotation: Includes appendix
Illustration Description: illus. incl. strat. cols., sketch maps
N51°06'00" - N51°12'00", W122°07'00" - W122°01'00"
Secondary Affiliation: University of Western Ontario, CAN, Canada
Country of Publication: Canada
Secondary Affiliation: GeoRef, Copyright 2018, American Geosciences Institute.
Update Code: 200117
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