Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dzt6s Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T18:48:47.715Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

A 20th-Century Record of Climatologically Modulated Sediment Accumulation Rates in a Canadian Fjord

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

John N. Smith  and
Charles T. Schafer
John N. Smith
Affiliation:
Atlantic Oceanographic Laboratory, Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Bedford Institute of Oceanography, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia B2Y 4A2
Charles T. Schafer
Affiliation:
Atlantic Geoscience Centre, Geological Survey of Canada, Bedford Institute of Oceanography, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia B2Y 4A2
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The geochronology of a gravity core collected from an anoxic, high sedimentation rate (>2.5 cm/yr) setting near the head of the Saguenay Fjord in Quebec has been established for the period 1900–1979 to a resolution of better than 1 yr using a constant flux 210Pb model. Interannual variations of the sedimentation rate of between 28 and 50% are caused by rapid inputs of coarse silt and fine sand during spring freshet events. A significant correlation between sand percentage and sediment accumulation rate reflects the increase in stream competence during the spring freshet; the sand percentage parameter can be used in conjunction with sediment size parameters to estimate temporal variations in river discharge intensity. Between 1914 and 1979 sediment accumulation rates were about 60% higher during the spring and summer compared to fall and winter seasons. Both the magnitude of the Saguenay River spring discharge and the quantity of precipitation stored as snow decrease through the 20th century suggesting that the freshet intensity was governed largely by natural rather than anthropogenic (e.g., dam construction) factors. A direct correlation between sand flux, peak river discharge, and a snow storage parameter provides a link between sediment texture and climate. Detailed analyses of the grain-size distributions for dated core intervals offer a method for the reconstruction of a proxy record of paleodischarge for the Saguenay River spring freshets.

Type
Research Article
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 27 , Issue 3 , May 1987 , pp. 232 - 247
Copyright
University of Washington

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

Allen, J.R.L., (1974). Reaction, relaxation and lag in natural sedimentary systems, general principles, examples and lessons Earth Science Reviews 10, 263–342 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Andrews, E.D., (1980). Effective and bankful discharges of streams in the Yampa River Basin, Colorado and Wyoming Journal of Hydrology 46, 311–330 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Annuaire Hydrologique (1980). Service de l'Hydrométrie Ministère des Richesses Naturelles Québec, Qué Google Scholar
Barbeau, C. Bougie, R. Cote, J.E., (1981). Temporal and spatial variations of mercury, lead, zinc and copper in sediments of the Saguenay Fjord Canadian Journal of Earth Science 18, 1065–1074 Google Scholar
Barrowdale, I. Erickson, R.G., (1980). Algorithms for least squares linear prediction and maximum entropy spectral analysis Geophysics 45, 433–446 Google Scholar
Bikshamaiah, G. Subramanian, V., (1980). Chemical and sediment mass transfer in the Godavari River Basin in India Journal of Hydrology 46, 331–342 Google Scholar
Bouchard, R. Dion, D.J. Tavenas, F., (1981). Origine de la préconsolidation des argiles du Saguenay, Québec Canadian Geotechnical Journal 20, 315–328 Google Scholar
Chanton, J.P. Martens, C.S. Kipphut, W., (1983). Lead-210 sediment geochronology in a changing coastal environment Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 47, 791–1804 Google Scholar
Legget, R.F., (1945). Pleistocene deposits of the Shipshaw area, Québec Transactions of the Royal Society of Canada, Section 4, Series 3 39, 27–39 Google Scholar
Leonard, E.M., (1986). Varve studies at Hector Lake, Alberta, Canada, and the relationship between glacial activity and sedimentation Quaternary Research 25, 199–214 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Loring, D.H. Rantala, R.T., (1977). Geochemical Analysis of Marine Sediments and Suspended Particulate Matter Government of Canada, Fisheries and Marine Service Report No. 700 Google Scholar
McAndrews, J.H., (1980). Pollen Analysis and Interpretation of a Sediment Core from the Saguenay Fjord, Québec Contract Report, Geological Survey of Canada, No. 08SC-23420-9-M585 Google Scholar
Nie, N.N. Hull, C.H. Jenkins, J.G. Steinbrenner, K. Bent, D.H., (1975). Statistical Package for the Social Sciences 2nd ed. McGraw-Hill New York Google Scholar
Oldfield, F. Appleby, P.G. Battarbee, R.W., (1978). Alternative 210Pb dating, results from the New Guinea Highlands and Lough Erne Nature 271, 334–342 Google Scholar
Robbins, J.A., (1978). Geochemical and geophysical applications of radioactive lead isotopes Nriagu, J.O. Biochemistry of Lead Elsevier Amsterdam/New York 285–393 Google Scholar
Schafer, C.T. Smith, J.N., (1986). Evidence of the occurrence and magnitude of terrestrial landslides in recent Saguenay Fjord sediments Proceedings, International Symposium on Natural and Man-Made Hazzards University of Quebec at Rimouski in press Google Scholar
Schafer, C.T. Smith, J.N. Loring, D.H., (1980). Recent sedimentation events at the head of the Saguenay Fjord Environmental Geology 3, 139–150 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schafer, C.T. Smith, J.N. Seibert, G., (1983). Significance of natural and anthropogenic sediment inputs to the Saguenay Fjord, Québec Sedimentology 36, 177–194 Google Scholar
Schumm, S.A., (1977). The Fluvial System Wiley New York Google Scholar
Smith, J.N. Walton, A., (1980). Sediment accumulation rates and geochronologies measured in the Saguenay Fjord using the 210Pb dating method Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 44, 225–240 Google Scholar
Smith, J.N. Ellis, K.M., (1982). Transport mechanism for 210Pb, 137Cs and Pu fallout radionuclides through fluvial-marine systems Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 46, 941–954 Google Scholar
Smith, J.N. Ellis, K.M. Nelson, D.M., (1987). Time-dependent model for fallout radionuclide transport through a drainage basin Chemical Geology in press Google Scholar
Smith, J.N. Loring, D.H., (1981). Geochronology for mercury pollution in the sediments of the Saguenay Fjord, Québec Environmental Science and Technology 115, 944–951 Google Scholar
Tavenas, F. Chagnon, J.Y. LaRochelle, P., (1971). The Saint-Jean-Vianney Landslide: Observations and eye witnesses accounts Canadian Geotechnical Journal 8, 463–478 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Terzaghi, K., (1950). Mechanism of Landslides The Geological Society of America-Berkey 83–123 Google Scholar
Tricart, J., (1962). Discontinuities in erosion process Laronne, J.B. Mosley, M.P. Erosion and Sediment Yield Hutchinson Ross Publ. Co 34–43 Google Scholar
Wolman, M.G. Gerson, R., (1978). Relative scales of time and effectiveness of climate in watershed geomorphology Earth Surface Processes 3, 189–208 Google Scholar