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Age of the Five Islands Formation, Nova Scotia, and the Deglaciation of the Bay of Fundy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Rudolph R. Stea  and
Daryl M. Wightman
Rudolph R. Stea
Affiliation:
Nova Scotia Department of Mines and Energy, P.O. Box 1087, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada B3J 2X1
Daryl M. Wightman
Affiliation:
Alberta Research Council, P.O. Box 8330, Station F, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T6H 5X2
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Abstract

Three atomic mass spectrometry (AMS) dates have been obtained for shell material from the bottomset beds of a glaciomarine delta at Spencers Island, Nova Scotia, near the head of the Bay of Fundy. The sediments in the delta are part of the previously undated Five Islands Formation, and are the first direct indictaion of the age of deglaciation in this region. The dates range from 14,300 to 12,600 yr B.P. and record the duration of deposition of a diamicton under the deltaic deposits and of the delta itself. The diamicton may have formed around 14,000 yr B.P. under ice-shelf or calving-bay conditions, or by a readvance of grounded ice. The Spencers Island delta is part of a prominent ice-marginal stand marked by numerous deltas along the Minas Basin. The time of formation of the deltas and the inferred ice margin is between 13,500 and 12,000 yr B.P. based on the Spencers Island dates and palynologically confirmed dates on the base of lake-sediment cores from the delta surface. Ice-marginal glaciomarine deposits near St. John, New Brunswick, record a range of radiocarbon dates similar to the Spencers Island dates. This implies that the Bay of Fundy became virtually ice free about 14,000 yr B.P.

Type
Research Article
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 27 , Issue 3 , May 1987 , pp. 211 - 219
Copyright
University of Washington

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