[ Contents | Search | Post | Reply | Next | Previous | Up ]
From: r.a.myers@ns.sympatico.ca
Date: 09 Mar 2001
Time: 06:29:46
Remote Name: hlfx48-75.ns.sympatico.ca
I am researching possible methods for dating iceberg scour marks located in 80-200m water depth on the Grand Banks of Newfoundland, Eastern Canada, in support for an upcoming research cruise this summer.
The seafloor sediments are predominantly lag sands and gravels (including cobble-boulder clasts) formed by reworking of glacial diamict during an early Holocene marine transgession. During scouring, previously buried material is freshly exposed at the base of the scour and on the scour berms. The Grand Bank is largely a non-depositional environment to 110m water depth although older scours in deeper water are buried beneath a thin sandy veneer. Range of possible scour ages is from the present to 12-15,000 years BP, but we are primarily focussing on "fresh" scours with potential ages from less than one hundred to a few thousand years. Secondary objectives are to date scours in deeper water which are buried beneath a fine sand veneer.
Dating of these scours is very problematic. I am interested in hearing from anyone with research experience/contacts/thoughts/insights into possible dating techniques for marine disturbances (i.e. ice scours) in non-depositional environments.